Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission Announces $12.6M For Regenerative Medicine, Next Funding Cycle Taking Applications Now
The 38 projects include work in diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's disease, stroke, sickle cell disease, chronic pain, and cardiovascular, bone, blood, digestive, and neurological disorders
Key Points
- The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission has awarded $12,665,189 across 38 projects through the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund.
- The funding supports academic and commercial work across six program areas, including discovery, clinical, commercialization, and fellowship awards.
- The commission has also opened applications for five funding programs in the next cycle, submissions due June 23, 2026.
The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission has announced 38 new awards totaling $12,665,189 through the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund to support stem cell and regenerative medicine research, technology development, and commercialization in the Old Line State.
The funding covers work across 32 medical conditions and disease areas, including diabetes, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, sickle cell disease, chronic pain, and cardiovascular, bone, blood, digestive, and neurological disorders.
The awardees include academic institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the University of Maryland, College Park, the Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, and the Lieber Institute for Brain Development. Company recipients include Theradaptive, Caleo Biotechnologies, Mirecule, SereNeuro Therapeutics, Reprocell USA, NuGate Therapeutics, and Lentigen Technology.
How the funding was distributed
The latest fiscal year 2026 round included awards across six categories:
- Commercialization: $2,597,560 to support companies developing new human stem cell-based products in Maryland. Recipients were Caleo Biotechnologies Inc., Mirecule Inc, SereNeuro Therapeutics, Reprocell USA, NuGate Therapeutics, and Lentigen Technology, a Miltenyi Biotechnology Company.
- Clinical: $2,000,000 to support human stem cell-based clinical trials in Maryland. Recipients were Dr. Amir Kashani of Johns Hopkins University and Dr. Luis Alvarez of Theradaptive, Inc.
- Validation: $478,533 to support validation of stem cell-based technologies at Maryland academic institutions. Recipients were Drs. Annie Kathuria and Sashank Reddy from John Hopkins University.
- Launch: $2,799,887 to support new and new-to-the-field faculty entering regenerative medicine research. Recipients included investigators from the Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, the Lieber Institute for Brain Development, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and Johns Hopkins University.
- Discovery: $3,489,209 for Maryland-based academic researchers developing new human stem cell-based technologies and therapies. Recipients included researchers from the Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the University of Maryland, College Park, and Johns Hopkins University.
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship: $1,300,000 to support post-doctoral fellows conducting research in Maryland, including recipients from the University of Maryland, College Park and Johns Hopkins University.
Next funding cycle now open
The commission said these awards were made in response to the second fiscal year 2026 request for applications. Earlier in the same fiscal year, it also allocated more than $4.7 million in additional research grants.
Since it was established under the Maryland Stem Cell Research Act of 2006, the fund has supported more than 750 research and commercialization projects with nearly $250 million in funding.
The commission has now opened the first fiscal year 2027 funding round for five programs:
- Launch
- Validation
- Clinical
- Commercialization
- Manufacturing Assistance
Applications are due by June 23, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. EST. More information is available at mscrf.org.
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