Strong application demand highlights Maryland’s academic strength and growing company interest in regenerative medicine

COLUMBIA, Md., Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission announced over $4.8 million in awards through the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) during the first funding cycle of fiscal year 2027, supporting innovative stem cell and regenerative medicine research across Maryland.

This funding supports 15 investigators from Maryland-based research institutions and companies working on diverse medical conditions and diseases ranging from blindness, Huntington disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, acute myeloid leukemia, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmias, muscular dystrophy, osteoarthritis, viral infections and other neurological, psychiatric and developmental disorders.

The awards come amid strong and growing demand for MSCRF funding, with high-quality applications and requested funding continuing to significantly exceed the resources available for the current cycle. The level of interest reflects not only the strength of Maryland’s research community, but also the growing number of technologies progressing beyond early discovery into validation, commercialization, clinical development and manufacturing—stages that typically require substantially greater capital.

“This funding cycle demonstrates just how much Maryland’s regenerative medicine ecosystem has grown,” said Rachel Brewster, Ph.D., chair, Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission. “We continue to see highly competitive proposals from researchers and companies working at different stages of development, from emerging ideas to technologies moving closer to patients. The strength of the applicant pool speaks to the scientific talent and innovation that Maryland has built over many years.”

For MSCRF, the increase in demand also reflects the maturation of research supported through earlier MSCRF investments. As discoveries advance, the need for funding does not diminish; in many cases, it grows as projects require more extensive validation, regulatory preparation, clinical studies, manufacturing capabilities and commercialization activities.

“What we are seeing is not simply more applications—it is a maturing pipeline,” said Ruchika Nijhara, Ph.D., executive director, MSCRF. “Research that began in laboratories is progressing toward new technologies, companies, clinical applications and manufacturing. That is exactly the progression we want to see, but these later stages are also increasingly capital-intensive. The level of funding requested this cycle shows both the opportunity in front of us and the importance of continuing to provide a pathway for the strongest projects to move forward.”

MSCRF has increasingly focused on supporting that continuum, providing funding mechanisms that allow promising discoveries to advance without losing momentum between traditional stages of research and commercialization. The Fund currently offers seven programs spanning discovery, postdoctoral fellows training, validation, commercialization, clinical translation and manufacturing.

Since its establishment under the Maryland Stem Cell Research Act of 2006, MSCRF has supported 770 research and commercialization projects with more than $250 million in funding, helping build a statewide regenerative medicine ecosystem that includes academic research, emerging biotechnology companies, clinical programs and manufacturing capabilities.

The Commission expects to release Requests for Applications for the next MSCRF funding cycle in late October or early November 2026. Additional information on MSCRF programs and funding opportunities is available through the MSCRF’s website (https://www.mscrf.org/funding-opportunities).

The first round of MSCRF awards for the 2027 fiscal year includes the following:

• Launch: These awards are to encourage new and new-to-the-field faculty to bring innovative research and technology to the regenerative medicine field. Totaling $3,084,250, the Launch Award recipients are Drs. Leonardo Parra-Rivas, Saima Riazuddin, Christopher Ward, and Mary Kay Lobo from the University of Maryland – Baltimore, Dr. Taeyoung Hwang from the Lieber Institute for Brain Development, as well as Drs. Anthony Leung, Hyeoncheol Park, Yang Ding, and Hungoo Lee from Johns Hopkins University.
• Commercialization: These awards are for companies to develop new human stem cell-based products in Maryland. Totaling $399,575, the Commercialization Award recipient is SereNeuro Therapeutics, Inc. (Dr. Tea Soon Park).
• Validation: This award supports faculty at Maryland-based academic institutions with intellectual property for human stem cell-based technologies that require additional validation. Totaling $1,349,999, the validation award recipients are Drs. Michal Zalzman and Alexandros Poulopoulos from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, as well as Drs. Ludovic Zimmerlin, Elias Zambidis, and Hee Cheol Cho from Johns Hopkins University.

More information about all current MSCRF awardees is available at: https://www.mscrf.org/awardees.

About the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission and Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund 

The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission, through Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund supports innovative stem cell and regenerative medicine research, development, commercialization, clinical translation and manufacturing in Maryland. The Fund supports academic researchers, companies and other organizations working to advance stem cell-based technologies and treatments from scientific discovery toward patient and commercial impact.

About TEDCO

TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Learn more at www.tedcomd.com.

MSCRF Contact
Ruchika Nijhara, PhD, MBA, Executive Director, MSCRF, mscrfinfo@tedcomd.com

Media Contact
Tammi Thomas, President, TEDCO, tthomas@tedcomd.com
Rachael Kalinyak, Associate Director, Marketing & Communications, TEDCO, rkalinyak@tedcomd.com 

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SOURCE Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission