The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission announced over $4.8 million in awards on September 29, 2026 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. The funding supports 15 investigators from Maryland-based research institutions and companies working on conditions ranging from blindness, Huntington disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ALS to acute myeloid leukemia, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmias, muscular dystrophy, osteoarthritis, viral infections, and other neurological, psychiatric, and developmental disorders.
Demand Keeps Outpacing Available Funding
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. Rachel Brewster, PhD, Chair of the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission, said: “This funding cycle demonstrates just how much Maryland’s regenerative medicine ecosystem has grown. 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.
” Ruchika Nijhara, PhD, Executive Director of MSCRF, tied the demand to a maturing research pipeline rather than simple growth in applicant volume: “What we are seeing is not simply more applications—it is a maturing pipeline. 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.”
Seven Programs Supporting the Full Research-to-Market Pipeline
MSCRF currently offers seven programs spanning discovery, postdoctoral fellows training, validation, commercialization, clinical translation, and manufacturing, designed to let promising discoveries advance without losing momentum between stages. 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 total funding, helping build a statewide regenerative medicine ecosystem spanning academic research, emerging biotech 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.
This Cycle’s Awards
- Launch (encouraging new and new-to-the-field faculty to bring innovative research into regenerative medicine): $3,084,250 total, awarded to Drs. Leonardo Parra-Rivas, Saima Riazuddin, Christopher Ward, and Mary Kay Lobo (University of Maryland, Baltimore); Dr. Taeyoung Hwang (Lieber Institute for Brain Development); and Drs. Anthony Leung, Hyeoncheol Park, Yang Ding, and Hungoo Lee (Johns Hopkins University).
- Commercialization (helping companies develop new human stem cell-based products in Maryland): $399,575, awarded to SereNeuro Therapeutics, Inc. (Dr. Tea Soon Park).
- Validation (supporting faculty with IP for human stem cell-based technologies requiring further validation): $1,349,999 total, awarded to Drs. Michal Zalzman and Alexandros Poulopoulos (University of Maryland, Baltimore) and Drs. Ludovic Zimmerlin, Elias Zambidis, and Hee Cheol Cho (Johns Hopkins University).
More information on current MSCRF awardees is available at mscrf.org/awardees.
About the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission and Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund
The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission, through MSCRF, supports innovative stem cell and regenerative medicine research, development, commercialization, clinical translation, and manufacturing in Maryland, funding academic researchers, companies, and organizations advancing stem cell-based technologies 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.
