Computing & Health

Our researchers are active on multiple fronts to improve the human condition. This includes partnering with physicians and clinicians to build new technologies for diagnostic procedures and medical training, developing new analysis tools to explore the human genome, and emerging research and scholarship involving the microbiome. Much of this activity takes places in the multiple centers and several large interdisciplinary labs that UMIACS supports.

The University of Maryland Center of Excellence in Microbiome Sciences joins faculty, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students from across campus in pursuit of a deeper understanding of complex microbial communities, and how those microbiomes interact with each other and with our ecosystem. The center receives technical and administrative support from UMIACS.

Featured News

A 3D medical illustration showing multiple human macrophage cells infected with Leishmania parasites. The parasites appear as small, reddish-pink oval shapes clustered inside the larger, irregular translucent immune cells, set against a dark red background.

April 24, 2026

Repurposing Cancer Research to Defeat a Disfiguring Tropical Disease

With new NIH funding, Najib El-Sayed is repurposing cancer-fighting inhibitors to block the metabolic “off-switch” Leishmania uses to hijack the immune system.

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Nazifa Ahmed Moumi pointing at a presentation containing machine learning models and metagenomic diagrams with Mihai Pop

April 8, 2026

UMD Researcher Advances Computational Tools to Decode the Unknowns of Metagenomics

Nazifa Ahmed Moumi is working to develop faster, more accessible tools to analyze vast amounts of genetic data.

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July 15, 2025

UMIACS Researchers Track the Rise of Deadly Bacteria in Maryland’s Coastal Areas

Kyle Brumfield and Rita Colwell are developing a forecasting system that can predict the risk of coming into contact with Vibrio bacteria.

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