St. Mary’s College of Maryland has secured more than $1 million in external awards during the first three months of fiscal year 2027, reaching 69% of the College’s total external funding for all of the previous fiscal year and marking a strong start to another year of growing research and sponsored activity.
Among the awards driving that momentum is a $495,296, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to Associate Professor of Neuroscience Sarah Latchney. Only the third NIH award in St. Mary’s College history, the grant will support an innovative undergraduate research experience connecting SMCM students with cutting-edge neuroscience technologies and resources.
Latchney’s project, “Promoting Two-Way Knowledge Transfer of Scientific and Public Outreach of Cell Type Taxonomies (SPOCTT) Resources Through the Development of a Scalable Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE),” will establish a new collaboration with the Allen Institute and provide 24 St. Mary’s College students with hands-on experience using advanced neuroscience technologies and research resources.
The project draws on resources associated with the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, a national effort to advance understanding of the human brain.
The experience will include foundational instruction at St. Mary’s College, a two-week domestic study tour at the Allen Institute in Seattle and a capstone research experience. The course will also be designed so it can be adapted by other resource-limited institutions, extending the potential impact beyond St. Mary’s College.
"At an undergraduate institution like St. Mary’s, opportunities for students to engage directly in research experiences can be transformative and shape their decisions about pursuing graduate study or careers in science,” said Latchney. “By working directly with scientists at the Allen Institute, students will be able to explore how large-scale, open-access resources can be used to study the brain and how sharing data and tools across the scientific community accelerates scientific discovery.”
“This grant also builds on work to incorporate the Allen Institute’s open-access resources into my own teaching and mentoring,” Latchney continued. “I’m particularly excited to develop an approach that benefits our own students while creating a model that other institutions can adapt to expand access to research supported by the BRAIN Initiative.”
The NIH award comes amid growing momentum in externally funded research and programs at St. Mary’s College. In just the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the College secured new external awards representing more than two-thirds of the total awarded during the entire previous fiscal year.
The momentum extends beyond the current fiscal year. Over the past three years, the College has submitted 97 proposals and secured 61 awards, while proposal submissions have increased 31% over the past five years.
External funding is also creating opportunities directly for students. Forty-nine students are currently employed through sponsored research awards, gaining experience alongside faculty while contributing to research and other externally supported projects.
Recent awards reflect the breadth of that work across disciplines, supporting projects in biomedical research, STEM education, archaeology, environmental stewardship, sustainable agriculture and the visual and performing arts.
“Dr. Latchney’s project exemplifies the union between faculty scholarship and student opportunity at the National Public Honors College,” observed St. Mary’s College Provost Katherine Gantz. “Combining classroom learning with an immersive study tour at the Allen Institute gives our students the chance to tackle real-world neuroscientific questions alongside leading experts.”
The College’s growing portfolio includes partnerships and support from organizations including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Park Service, Chesapeake Bay Trust, Maryland Historic Trust, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland State Arts Council and Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division.
Together, the awards reflect St. Mary’s College’s continued growth as a primarily undergraduate institution where faculty scholarship and externally funded research create meaningful opportunities for students to participate directly in discovery, research and public-impact work.
