Credit: UMSOM
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Professor of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Linda Chang, MD, MS, received the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 2021 Avant Garde Award (DP1) for HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Disorder Research a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director s Pioneer Award. This prestigious award supports researchers with exceptional creativity, who propose high-impact research with the potential to be transformative to the field. Her proposed project will involve a team of experts in brain imaging, infectious diseases, addiction, animal research, and gene-editing technology with the goal to essentially eradicate all traces of HIV from the body, and treat commonly co-existing substance use disorders. 2021 Avant Garde Awardees are expected to receive more than $5 million over five years.