Equipment and Facilities

The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB); University of Michigan (UMICH); and their health care systems boast significant teaching and research capabilities and equipment to help facilitate the development and evaluation of FDA-regulated products, including complex generics.

UMB Equipment and Capabilities

UMB is the Baltimore campus of the University System of Maryland. Its seven professional and graduate schools train the majority of the state’s physicians, nurses, dentists, lawyers, social workers, and pharmacists. Many faculty also hold appointments with local hospital partners, including the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) and the Baltimore VA Medical Center (BVAMC).

Example capabilities and equipment at UMB include

  • Center for Innovative Biomedical Resources (CIBR): A large number of Baltimore-based basic, clinical, and translational biomedical research resources (e.g., drug development, imaging, bioinformatics, animal, genomic) are available through CIBR.
  • Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) Center: The CADD Center develops and maintains computer-aided drug design software and methods, and identifies/optimizes chemical compounds with desired biological activity.
  • Institute for Clinical & Translational Research (ICTR): ICTR facilitates clinical translational research initiatives across UMB, providing financial support as well as infrastructure, environment, training, and workforce to invigorate, facilitate, and accelerate clinical translational research to improve patient and community health.
  • Mass Spectrometry Center: The Mass Spectrometry Center in Pharmacy Hall provides access to cutting-edge technologies in mass spectrometry, including GLP-bioanalysis.
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility: The NMR Facility provides comprehensive support for researchers in the areas of complex pharmaceuticals and biologics (e.g., structure and characterization). NMR facilities are often used in tandem with studies that employ Mass Spectrometry Center.
  • Pharmaceutical Research Computing (PRC): PRC provides computational programming and data management support for health services research. Work is HIPAA compliant, as well as compliant in the use and execution of Data Use Agreements and Institutional Review Board standards of practice.
  • Pharmacy Hall: Pharmacy Hall is home to the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and easily accessible via major airports, train stations, and I-95. It houses exceptional laboratory and teaching facilities, which can be viewed through this virtual tour.

UMICH Equipment and Capabilities

UMICH at Ann Arbor features 19 schools and colleges, including one of the largest institutions for graduate education in the United States. The campus includes the Central Campus, Medical Campus, North Campus, and North Campus Research Complex (NCRC). Many faculty also hold appointments with the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS).

Example capabilities and equipment at UMICH include:

  • College of Pharmacy: The main college building is well situated on the Central Campus, within walking distance of the Medical Campus and major campus meeting spaces.
  • Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences: In-house equipment covers a wide range of pharmaceutical science tools, such as analytical chemistry and tissue culture facilities, including a class 1000 clean room.
  • Pharmacokinetic and Mass Spectrometry Core: Facility houses an extensive array of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry instruments and the technical expertise to design quantitative assays for drug-like compounds.
  • Biointerfaces Institute: The Biointerfaces Institute emphasizes interactions among the life sciences, the physical sciences and engineering, with the goal of developing new drug delivery systems, new treatments, and new medical devices (e.g., nanoparticle self-assembly, nanofilms, microfluidics, stem cell research, neuronal probes, wireless sensors, drug delivery, and prostate/breast cancer).
  • Life Sciences Institute (LSI): LSI boasts extensive computational infrastructure for computational analysis of large digital data sets in support of libraries of natural products, a comprehensive protein production and crystallography facility, a stem-cell biology center, and the Chemical Genomics Center.
  • Proteomics & Peptide Synthesis Core: This core offers research services in qualitative and quantitative proteomics, including (non-routine) peptide synthesis, quantitative amino acid analysis, clinical sample analysis, and pathway analysis.
  • Michigan Clinical Research Unit (MCRU): MCRU promotes clinical research. One site includes the Cardiovascular Center on the Medical Campus, which comprises approximately 7,400 square feet of space, including research-only outpatient examination rooms, and research-only overnight stay beds in private rooms.