In Support Of:

J. Marc and Philippe Simard Neurosurgery Endowment at the University of Maryland

Executive Summary

The Department of Neurosurgery at University of Maryland School of Medicine has reached numerous milestones and achieved remarkable success. Ongoing efforts in the Department offer great promise to improve the care of patients with many neurological diseases including stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, and brain tumors. The Department of Neurosurgery has consistently been ranked as one of the top 15 programs in the United States for NIH funding, which is a testament to the quality of research and ongoing innovation within the Neurosurgery Department.

Dr. J. Marc Simard, M.D.,Ph.D., is the Bizhan Aarabi Professor of Neurosurgery, Pathology and Physiology, Distinguished University Professor, and Chief of Neurosurgery at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Hospital. He has been on the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine for over 30 years. Following his seminal discovery of a new ion channel in the brain, the SUR1-TRPM4 channel, Dr. Simard is on the brink of a medical break-through for providing advanced treatments for the most devastating forms of stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI). When the brain is deprived of its blood supply and swells, it can have devastating consequences. Brain surgery has been the only life-saving technique, but often, the results leave patients bedridden and completely dependent. However, a promising alternative, discovered by Dr. Simard could offer new hope to patients.

The ground-breaking science initiated by Dr. Simard is now being advanced by Remedy Pharmaceuticals with clinical trials underway that could result in the first-ever pharmacological intervention for stroke and TBI aimed at reducing cerebral edema.

Dr. Simard continues his focus on moving basic science discoveries from the laboratory to the bedside, with the goal of providing safer and more effective treatments for patients. To advance the ground-breaking research of Dr. Simard, the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Department of Neurosurgery have endowed the FIRST research laboratory at this institution with the establishment of the J. Marc and Philippe Simard Neurosurgery Endowment Fund.

Thank you for your philanthropic consideration, we look forward to partnering with you as a member of our team of innovators.

About J. Marc and Philippe Simard Neurosurgery Endowment Fund

A luminary in the field of neuroscience, Dr. Simard is well known for his pivotal discovery of a new ion channel in the brain, the SUR1-TRPM4 channel, and has been awarded 33 U.S. and international patents, plus several patents pending. Notably, this discovery has matured to the point of clinical trials using a patented formulation of the antidiabetic drug, Glyburide (glibenclamide), to reduce dangerous swelling in the brain. This work, initially championed by Dr. Simard, subsequently advanced by Biogen, and now being led forward by Remedy Pharmaceuticals, could in the near future, change the outcomes for patients with stroke and TBI. This is just one example of how Maryland Neurosurgery is pioneering solutions to complex neurological disorders and innovating the future of patient care.

To honor Dr. Simard’s medical innovation, the University of Maryland School of Medicine has created the J. Marc and Philippe Simard Neurosurgery Endowment—a fund to ensure Dr. Simard’s ground-breaking translational laboratory continues to be at the nexus for excellence and innovation in neurosurgery research in perpetuity. The endowment will pay tribute to an exceptional scientist and mentor. Proceeds from the Endowment will be used to: 

  • Accelerate research to advance patient outcomes in the neurosciences
  • Enhance recruitment and retention of world-class physician-scientists with an emphasis on expanding a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce
  • Provide research and training opportunities for UMSOM students and neurosurgery residents with an emphasis on expanding a diverse, equitable, and inclusive pipeline of future neurosurgeons
  • Memorialize in perpetuity the Simard Laboratory in the Department of Neurosurgery

Innovation and discovery are creative processes; they often cannot be defined in advance by precise timelines or projections, and their pursuit sometimes follows an unpredictable course. Yet persistence and sustained investment are critical. In this respect, endowment funding serves as the lifeblood for discovery; it provides the security and flexibility conducive to scientific exploration and innovation.

The J. Marc and Philippe Simard Neurosurgery Endowment fund will accelerate discovery and advance clinical breakthroughs. Income from this fund will support the most urgent and contemporary needs with respect to advances in neurosciences and the care of neurosurgical patients in perpetuity.

Collaboration as a Powerful Catalyst to Advance the Field of Neuroscience

Neurological disorders are complex diseases that stem from numerous disruptions in the brain. To successfully advance treatments for these patients, collaborative expertise in multiple clinical and scientific fields is required. Therapeutic advancements do not happen in a silo. Our goal is to pursue innovative and promising research in collaboration with other leading translational neuroscience experts who recognize that collaboration is a powerful catalyst towards advancing promising therapeutics for patients. In this spirit of collaboration, the University of Maryland School of Medicine has announced a new institute, called the University of Maryland-Medicine Institute for Neuroscience Discovery (UM-MIND).

The Institute will recruit new talent to campus and leverage the more than 120 leading neuroscientists at UMSOM under one umbrella and elevate the prominence of UMSOM’s basic and clinical science research portfolio. With leadership from multiple departments including Neurosurgery, Neurology, Radiology, Psychiatry, Anatomy & Neurobiology, and Pharmacology Physiology & Drug Development, the research laboratories will all be located within the newly built Health Sciences Research Facility III to foster close collaboration. The Simard Laboratory, supported in part by the Endowment, will be an integral part of UM-MIND.

Currently, UMSOM has more than $65 million in research funding for neuroscience research projects. Overall, UMB has some $107 million devoted to studies of the brain, with research spread out across several schools, centers, and departments. UM-MIND will be divided into three pillars of focus: Brain Development, Aging and Cognition, and Brain Injury and Disease. UM-MIND is committed to enhancing efforts at recruiting and training junior faculty from underrepresented groups in biomedical science. A recently awarded National Institutes of Health FIRST grant will allow the institute to recruit additional underrepresented faculty who can enhance research in key areas including the neurosciences.

About J. Marc Simard, MD, PhD

Professor of Neurosurgery, Pathology and Physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Simard received his M.D., Ph.D. from Creighton University in 1980 and completed his residency training in neurosurgery at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

In 1983, he worked with Professor Hans Meves as a post-doctoral fellow at the Physiologisches Institut at the Universitat des Saarlandes in Germany. A board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Simard specializes in the treatment of stroke and related disorders with special emphasis on brain aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations treated by advanced microsurgical techniques and by non-invasive stereotactic radiosurgery. He also serves as Chief of Neurological Surgery at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Dr. Simard is an experienced investigative scientist who is responsible for the original discovery of the SUR1-TRPM4 channel 25 years ago, and for initiating the work showing involvement of the channel in acute diseases of the Central Nervous System (CNS). He heads an active laboratory focused on acute CNS pathology that employs numerous scientists with expertise in patch clamp electrophysiology, molecular biology, transcriptional regulation, and preclinical models of disease. In recent years, the laboratory has focused heavily on studies of the SUR1-TRPM4 channel in acute CNS diseases, including stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, intracerebral, subarachnoid and intraventricular hemorrhage, encephalopathy of prematurity, and multiple sclerosis.

Dr. Simard’s work on the SUR1-TRPM4 channel has led to the award of 33 US and international patents, as well as filings for several others.

Discovery    SUR1-TRPM4 channel regulates swelling in the brain​
Clinical Trial    Blocking the SUR1-TRPM4 channel with the patented Glyburide formulation reduces brain swelling
Placebo
Patented Glyburide Formulation
Patient Success Story    Jaclyn made a remarkable recovery from her sudden and devastating stroke

Philanthropic Opportunity

We respectfully ask for your philanthropic consideration to support the J. Marc and Philippe Simard Neurosurgery Endowment. By joining our collective efforts, you will enable our relentless focus on the mission of discovery-based medicine to potentially bring forth new innovative treatments for neurosurgical patients.

Providing an invaluable combination of stability and flexibility, philanthropy is the financial foundation of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Philanthropic funds offer reliable financial support to underwrite important research, enhance education, and advance the future of patient-centered healthcare. Furthermore, philanthropy can help advance our core values and foster an atmosphere of diversity, equity and inclusion. Thank you for your philanthropic consideration, we look forward to you joining our team of innovators.

To make your gift by check:

Please make your check payable to University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation or UMBF, Inc. and note in memo line The Simard Laboratory Endowment.

Address:

University of Maryland School of Medicine

Attn: Traci Morgan

Office of Development

31 South Greene Street, Suite 302

Baltimore, MD 21201

Federal ID number/ Tax ID#: 31-1678679

To make your gift online please click here:

Click Other in the drop-down menu and type in Simard Laboratory Endowment.

For additional ways to give please contact Danielle DeVeau Crawford, Director of Development, on 410-562-8204 or danielle.crawford@som.umaryland.edu.