Progress Notes

2002-2023

The MDFF invests in the future by supporting the University of Maryland and other organizations through gifts and scholarship endowments.

2023

The MDFF adopts a new mission to prevent families from experiencing the heartbreaking loss of a loved one due to an organ shortage. With this goal in mind, our initiative to increase the availability of life-saving organs emerged.

2024

The MDFF requests the University of Maryland School of Public Health research and report on (1) organ donation and transplantation practices around the world and (2) organ donation messaging and measures of effectiveness.

2025

The MDFF proposes support for collaborative research efforts between the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland. The ultimate goal is to reduce the organ waiting list to zero.

The MDFF gifts the University of Maryland to support bioengineering research on organ transplantation, from extending organ viability to improving patient outcomes. The gift specifically includes:

  1. The MDFF Endowed Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Bioengineering. Checkout our current superfellow, Martin Carrasco!
  2. The MDFF “Engineering the Future of Organ Transplantation” Symposium – a platform to highlight groundbreaking research, support emerging scholars, and advance the mission of improving transplantation outcomes through innovation and collaboration. The inaugural Symposium is scheduled for Fall, 2026.

The MDFF fellowship and symposium are fortuitously buoyed by the recent gift by Edward & Jennifer St. John to support a collaboration at UMD between two powerhouse fields: Medicine & Engineering. Read more about The Edward and Jennifer St. John Center for Translational Engineering and Medicine (CTEM).

2026

The MDFF submitted a Practicum to Georgia Tech’s Data Science team for inclusion as a student project this Summer. The applied research initiative focuses on evaluating kidney procurement, allocation, and transplant outcomes in the US using both publicly available and restricted-access datasets.

Eight separate teams tackled questions along the patient experience journey, from being waitlisted to transplant surgery and outcomes. Students were looking for potential biases in the system and the short answer is “Yes.” A summary of their thought-provoking conclusions will soon be available online, stay tuned.

Our first Symposium has arrived: October 2, 2026 at UMD’s new 4MLK building in Baltimore. Distinguished moderators John P. Fisher, Ph.D. (Fischell Department of Bioengineering at UMD) and Raphael P. H. Meier, MD, Ph.D. (Division of Transplant Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine) have a renowned list of speakers, including Anthony Atala, MD; Alexandre Loupy, MD, Ph.D; and Elias T. Zambidis, MD, Ph.D. Each of them with a long list of credentials, read more here. Grad students and poster sessions are also planned.

More soon!