Faculty affiliated with the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) are playing leading roles in several projects selected for funding through the University of Maryland's Grand Challenges Grants 2.0 program, an initiative that supports interdisciplinary research addressing some of society's most pressing challenges.
Announced by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Research, the latest round of Grand Challenges Grants will invest nearly $15 million over three years in 11 interdisciplinary research projects. The awards were selected from nearly 80 proposals involving more than 400 researchers representing every college and school at the university.
The program builds on the inaugural Grand Challenges Grants competition in 2023, which committed $30 million to 50 projects and has since helped researchers secure an additional $55 million in external funding. The 2023 awards also established the University of Maryland Center of Excellence in Microbiome Sciences, which receives administrative and technical support from UMIACS.
Among this year's largest awards is an Impact Award led by UMIACS affiliate Joshua Weitz, whose team will develop next-generation predictive tools to better anticipate disease outbreaks, improve human health and protect vital ecosystems. Bringing together experts in artificial intelligence, computational modeling and the life sciences, the project spans challenges ranging from infectious disease to neuroscience and bioinspired engineering.
The research will unfold in three phases. During the first year, the team will develop predictive models to better understand the global ecology of infectious diseases, including anthrax—a spore-forming bacterium that spreads between animals and humans—and cyanophages, marine viruses that infect blue-green algae responsible for producing more than half of Earth's oxygen. These pathogens can have significant ecological and public health consequences, including in the Chesapeake Bay.
In the second year, researchers will develop predictive brain-network models to help guide personalized treatments for depression, chronic pain and related neurological disorders. The project's final phase will focus on AI-powered design methods to accelerate the miniaturization of bioinspired technologies.
UMIACS affiliates Evan Economo and Haizhao Yang are among the researchers contributing to the effort.
UMIACS researchers are also contributing to a Team Award. UMIACS member Xiaodi Wu is part of AI for Precision Cancer Treatment, which uses artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery and design of catalytic cancer therapies. By replacing much of today's trial-and-error approach with predictive computational methods, the project aims to improve treatment effectiveness while reducing the time and cost required to develop new therapeutic materials.
UMIACS-affiliated researchers are also contributing to three additional Grand Challenges projects through the University of Maryland Center of Excellence in Microbiome Sciences:
Gut Healing Smart Pill, which includes Reza Ghodssi and Katharina Maisel, will develop a swallowable capsule capable of detecting damaged sections of the intestine and delivering targeted therapies that activate the body's natural repair mechanisms. The technology could improve treatment for inflammatory bowel disease while reducing the need for surgery.
Maryland Initiative Against Superbugs, led by Norberto Gonzalez-Juarbe, aims to accelerate the development of phage-based therapies to combat multidrug-resistant bacterial infections by combining large-scale genomic analysis, AI models and laboratory testing.
The Air We Share: A Public Health Revolution for the 21st Century, with Huang Lin, will investigate how airborne diseases spread in indoor environments and develop practical strategies to improve air quality in schools, hospitals and other public spaces, reducing respiratory illness while strengthening preparedness for future pandemics.
The awards reflect UMIACS' continued involvement in universitywide interdisciplinary research, with affiliated faculty contributing to projects that span public health, medicine, environmental science and artificial intelligence.
—Story by UMIACS communications group