News Archive

Superbugs are causing a super problem in health care, but combating these drug-resistant bacteria presents quite a challenge. Many antibiotic prescriptions administered in the U.S. are either unnecessary or inappropriate and can lead to antibiotic-resistant infections or other adverse events. In an effort to improve antibiotic use, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality a $16 million contract, which will be spread over a period of five years — two initial years, plus three optional years. The Armstrong Institute will collaborate with the Chicago-based research institute NORC to identify which approaches are most helpful and to operationalize efforts to optimize antibiotic prescribing.

Two University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) researchers and a UM Venture startup company stemming from the University’s tech transfer efforts received financial awards to accelerate the commercial development of their biomedical inventions into treatments and devices to meet today’s health challenges.

 For the last eight years, the UMB Commercial Advisory Board and the Johns Hopkins Alliance for Science and Technology have held a yearly meeting of faculty of both universities, advisors and potential investors to explore pathways to commercializing inventions created in the universities’ laboratories, and encourage entrepreneurship among faculty members.  This year, $200,000 was awarded to faculty and startup companies from both universities. UMB inventors competed for a UM Ventures Award and one of two Abell Foundation Awards. UM Venture start-ups presented their companies for the chance to win a UM Venture Start-up Award.  This year’s UMB-affiliated awards went to:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Amitiza (lubiprostone; Sucampo and Takeda) for the addition of two adverse reactions: syncope and hypotension.

Cases of syncope and hypotension have been reported with Amitiza in the postmarketing setting. Most cases have occurred in patients taking 24mcg twice daily and some occurred within an hour after taking the first dose or subsequent doses. The new label addition states that syncope and hypotension generally resolved following Amitiza discontinuation or prior to next dose, but recurrence has been reported with subsequent doses. Several cases reported concomitant use of medications known to lower blood pressure, which may increase the risk for the development of syncope or hypotension. Clinicians are advised to make patients aware of the risk; side effects such as diarrhea and vomiting may increase the risk for syncope and hypotension. 

THE 7TH GALIEN FORUM EVENT: The 2016 Galien Forum will take place on the morning of October 27th, 2016, and will feature round table debates focusing on critical global healthcare issues and challenges. Our annual life science Forum is rapidly becoming a leading event for discussing issues of innovation in the industry. The Galien Forum brings together leading CEOs, biomedical experts from industry, academia and government.

Your search ends at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG), where nine top Maryland universities bring 40 of their best degree programs to YOU on one convenient campus in Rockville. Take your classes at USG, and earn your bachelor’s degree from the university offering your major.

Your search ends at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG), where nine top Maryland universities bring 40 of their best degree programs to YOU on one convenient campus in Rockville. Take your classes at USG, and earn your bachelor’s degree from the university offering your major.

Marriott International Inc. has selected downtown Bethesda as the site of its new headquarters. Exactly where is still to be determined.

The hospitality giant (NASDAQ: MAR), now the largest in the world following its merger with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., says it is still considering several Metro-accessible sites for a $600 million facility. It expects to make that selection in the first half of 2017.

On Jan. 20, 2015, about 30 minutes into his State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama said the words that would set in motion a health research initiative that could exceed the scope of any that has come before it.

Obama told listeners that he was green-lighting the launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative, a program two decades in the making that would begin where the groundbreaking Human Genome Project left off.

The Clark Charitable Foundation gifted Johns Hopkins University $15 million to provide financial aid and create a new academic program for undergraduate engineering students.

The gift honors the late A. James Clark, a former trustee of the university and of Johns Hopkins Medicine and former CEO of Clark Enterprises and Clark Construction Group LLC, one of the country’s largest privately held general building contractors. It is the largest endowed scholarship gift ever given to the university’s Whiting School of Engineering.