News Archive

Crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe and YouCaring have turned sympathy for Americans drowning in medical expenses into a cottage industry. Now Republican efforts in Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare could swell the ranks of the uninsured and spur the business of helping people raise donations online to pay for health care.

But medical crowdfunding doesn’t have to wait for Congress to act. Business is already booming, and its leaders expect the rapid growth to continue no matter what happens on the Hill.

President Trump has named Norman “Ned” Sharpless, the director of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, to lead the National Cancer Institute.

The oncologist and geneticist will succeed Doug Lowy, who has been acting director of NCI since early 2015. Lowy is expected to remain at the institute as deputy director and a researcher.

Johns Hopkins University is among the top ten institutions worldwide to receive U.S. utility patents in 2016, according to a rankings report published by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. The report ranks JHU at No. 7, with the university listed as the first assignee on 167 patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last year.

A program at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise aimed to bolster economic development in the region has received millions to help more students and the community get involved.

The Wise County school announced Friday that their parent school in Charlottesville has allocated $3.5 million from its Strategic Fund for the Wise Innovation Ecosystem.

German research company Qiagen has announced its expansion in Thailand and has opened an office in Bangkok to enhance relationships with life-science researchers and healthcare providers in this growing market.

Qiagen also announced two new collaborations in Thailand: a molecular techniques centre established with the faculty of tropical medicine at Mahidol University, and a collaboration with Ramathibodi Hospital to study genomic insights from next-generation sequencing (NGS).

Johns Hopkins University has been ranked among the top 2 percent of universities in the world by the 2018 QS World University Rankings released today.

Out of 950 universities from more than 80 countries, Johns Hopkins came in at No. 17—the same ranking as last year—and was the ninth-highest ranked U.S. school. QS has ranked JHU among the world’s top 20 universities for the past ten years, and among the top 30 since the rankings list debuted in 2004.

There’s no shame in getting a little bit of help, particularly when it comes to running a business. Sure, you can bootstrap a one-man company with no advice from seasoned entrepreneurs and a notable lack of experience yourself, but you know what’s going to happen? You’re probably going to fail. And all you had to do was ask for a little bit of guidance for your friendly neighborhood startup accelerator.

Can they do whatever a spider can? Definitely not. But what they can do is provide you with capital, mentorship, and perhaps most importantly, a little structure to your budding business. A startup accelerator is designed to make life as an entrepreneur easier. Well, the good ones are anyway.

Ty Alston is helping microfunding website Kiva.org find its place in Baltimore’s startup scene.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) today announced it will continue to serve as a catalyst for identifying and engaging with emerging innovators and disruptors with the second annual Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge. Building on the success of the inaugural program in which 500 startups participated, the Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge brings together leading-edge startups with prominent health and life sciences companies to tackle some of the world’s greatest health challenges including access, affordability and transparency.

UMBC officials are planning to add new space at the research and technology park adjacent to the Catonsville campus over the next two to five years.

Up to 100,000 additional square feet for tech companies could be added at the south campus of bwtech@UMBC, said Gregory Simmons, UMBC’s VP of Institutional Advancement.