April 2020
A Newsletter for Legislative and Business Communities
#ShellsUnited
These are extraordinary times. Our world has changed. Yet the University of Maryland continues to advance unbowed in carrying out its mission of education, research, innovation and service to our state and the world. Terps are separated by distance, but connected in spirit. By supporting each other, we will emerge from this pandemic with strength, pride and #ShellsUnited.
University of Maryland Providing Masks, Personal Protective Equipment to Hospitals
As hospitals around the country face a shortage of personal protective equipment to fight the new coronavirus, UMD discovered face masks in emergency stockpiles stored more than 15 years ago and is delivering them to the University of Maryland Medical System.
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UMD Engineering Students Making 'Terpsanitizer' to Fight Coronavirus Spread
Associate Professor Dongxia Liu and Assistant Professor Chen Zhang and trained graduate are using their chemical smarts to make hand sanitizer or what they like to call, "Terpsanitizer."
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Highlights
UMD Engineers Convert Breast Pumps into Ventilators to Help Hospitals During Shortage: A group of Maryland engineers is getting creative to solve the problem: using 3D printers and even breast pumps to make face masks and ventilators that can be used in hospitals that are running out. Director Tommy Luginbill said some have already 3D printed face shields and face mask frames. The breast pump ventilator is still in the prototype phase.
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Maryland Center for Health Equity Director Explains Disproportionate Impact of Coronavirus on Minorities: Stephen Thomas shares his expertise on the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report analyzed data from a handful of states and found that among patients for whom information on race and ethnicity was available, black Americans were hospitalized at higher rates than white Americans for COVID-19.
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David C. Driskell, African American Art Pioneer, Dies at 88: The legendary artist and Distinguished UMD Professor recognized worldwide for his scholarship and expertise in African American art, passed away on Wednesday from complications of COVID-19.
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University Loses Staff Member to COVID-19: UMD announces the university's first staff death related to COVID-19. Dining Services manager, Luckmann Simon served the university faithfully and well for nearly 30 years He is beloved by campus colleagues and friends.
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Student Volunteers Step Up at College Park Fire Station: While career firefighters work at the station from 7 a.m.–3 p.m. each day, up to 24 student volunteers are on call after that. Although some are now living off-site and standing by as backup—which helps with social distancing—most, live year-round in dorm-like rooms above the firehouse and consider that space home.
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Student Crisis Fund Distributes over $500,000: UMD's Student Crisis Fund has given more than $505,000 in grants to nearly 1,100 students struggling with lost jobs and mounting bills amid the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 11.
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Seed Grants to Grow 9 UMD Research Projects on COVID-19: The Division of Research announced nine recipients of Coronavirus Research Seed Fund Awards. Vice President for Research Laurie Locascio put out a call for proposals from across campus that leverage UMD's research strengths to rapidly contribute to human health and related outcomes, including prevention, control and response efforts.
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UMD Book Center Offers Free Access to Virtual Textbooks for Rest of Semester: As the university shifts to all-online learning, students will have free access to virtual textbooks from the University Book Center through the rest of the semester. Tens of thousands of online textbooks are available through the program.
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UMD Freezes Hiring, Plans to Reduce, Delay Expenditures: President Wallace D. Loh announces suspension of all faculty/staff hiring and plans to reduce/delay any expenditures that are not deemed absolutely critical. Details on the implementation of spending restrictions for the campus will be forthcoming from Provost Rankin and Vice President for Administration and Finance Carlo Colella.
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School of Public Health Official Explains What Lies Ahead Amid COVID-19: Boris Lushniak, the Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, has been on the front lines for more than 20 years, but he's never seen anything like the coronavirus pandemic. He stated, "No one's really experienced this… It's an invisible threat—you don't see the virus, and that brings in excess fear. This is uncharted terrain.”
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Research Impact
UMD Researchers Speed Development of Medical Equipment: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers in the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices have zeroed in on several advances that could fundamentally impact the U.S. response to the virus. The goal, they say, is to begin providing new solutions within days, a warp-speed deviation from the normal pace of medical equipment development.
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Wearing Surgical Masks in Public Could Help Slow Pandemic's Advance, New Study Suggests: Dr. Don Milton, a professor of environmental health, pointed to other measures his research has found are even more effective than masks, such as improving ventilation in public places like grocery stores, or installing UV-C lights near the ceiling that work in conjunction with ceiling fans to pull air upward and destroy viruses and bacteria.
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Geography Researchers Show Disease Progression Over Space, Time: Researchers in the Center for Geospatial Information Sciences (CGIS) present case data at the county level, tracking it day by day since late January, when the first positive case of the novel coronavirus was diagnosed in Washington State. One animated map shows how, throughout February, small clusters of cases begin to appear, mainly on the West Coast..
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Alumni Spotlight
Fighting COVID-19 in the ER: An Alum's Story: Dr. Larry Edelman '01 works the night shift as an emergency physician in two hospitals north of Baltimore, and is facing it himself while bracing for the worst still to come. "You just take it one day at a time and try to get through. You hope you don't see anyone too sick, and you hope you don't make any mistakes at work that would cause you to contaminate yourself," Edelman said. "And when you see your relief, you're happy and try to get your stuff wrapped up and try to get yourself home."
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