Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Research Institute Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County staff: UM3 Institute for Health Computing continuing partnerships; county support likely to recur
Summary
Staff provided the committee an update on the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing (UM3/IHC), describing the institute’s second year of operations and its ties to local industry partnerships and commercialization efforts.
Staff provided the committee an update on the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing (referred to in the packet as UM3/IHC), describing the institute’s second year of operations and its ties to local industry partnerships and commercialization efforts.
By way of background, county staff said the institute was authorized for FY24 and that the most recent budget discussion included a $1,300,000 increase above an average $5,000,000 figure described in the governing memorandum of understanding. "This is the 2nd year of UM3's, ... existence," a staff presenter said while summarizing the packet, and staff told the committee they expect UM3 to request $5,000,000 again in a forthcoming budget cycle.
Why it matters: committee members were seeking clarity about economic outcomes tied to county support, including jobs and commercialization. Staff described active collaborations with local companies, staff increases and at least one spin‑off company emerging from institute research.
Reported outcomes and pending funding Staff said UM3 has engaged local businesses by providing access to specialized facilities and computing resources, has hired staff to support commercialization and reported at least one company spun out of its work. The packet also noted an application to the federal ARPA‑H program: staff described an application that would include $15,000,000 in ARPA‑H funds plus $30,000,000 in matching funds reportedly pledged by the city of Baltimore and another institution, for a total of approximately $45,000,000; staff cautioned that the ARPA‑H application was new and its status uncertain.
County coordination and next steps Judy Costello, who represented the county executive’s office, said the county leverages the institute frequently in economic‑development discussions and that the institute is discussed as part of the North Bethesda Metro development vision. Staff asked the committee to consider how the county might further promote industry engagement while noting that some UM3 work is confidential. Committee members asked for more detail in the budget process about how ongoing county funding would translate into measurable local economic outcomes, including workforce hires and commercialization benchmarks.
