Pines, Jarrell: Funding Research Important Even in Tough Times

The following letter by Darryll J. Pines, University of Maryland, College Park president, and Bruce E. Jarrell, University of Maryland, Baltimore president, was published last week in the Baltimore Banner:

The potential impacts of a changing landscape on research and the labor market are increasingly top of mind for higher education leaders (Jobs lost in every state and lifesaving cures not discovered: Possible impacts of research cuts, March 6, 2025).

Here in Maryland, we are grateful to state legislators for recognizing the importance of investing in research and the power of collaboration, as exemplified by the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower), a partnership between the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Since 2016, when the late state Senate President Mike Miller and current state Senate President Bill Ferguson championed the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership Act, MPower has delivered a transformative impact that far surpasses what each campus could achieve independently. Our combined $1.4 billion research enterprise ranks 11th among public institutions and 18th nationally, according to the National Science Foundation.

In just the past year, our collaborations have:

• resulted in 17 startups and 98 patents;
• supported 1,000+ jobs and raised hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, grants and revenue;
• reached 2,000 Marylanders with an agricultural law education initiative; and
• served 450+ survivors and families and provided awareness training for 12,000 people through the SAFE Center for Human Trafficking Survivors

At the Institute for Health Computing in Montgomery County, we are working together to identify predictive biomarkers for Alzheimer’s and enhance infectious disease modeling. In Baltimore, the new Edward and Jennifer St. John Center for Translational Engineering and Medicine is translating laboratory discoveries to patient care, supported in part by MPower.

In a few short years, we have delivered a life-changing, and even lifesaving, impact across the state. As we thank our predecessor presidents Wallace Loh and Dr. Jay Perman for their vision and commitment, we also thank the General Assembly and ask that they reaffirm their ongoing support of MPower. Even in the toughest of fiscal climates, progress for our great state and its people must continue.