Research overview

It’s no coincidence that one of the best places to get a degree in medicine is also a hotbed of groundbreaking medical research and innovation.

At the University of Minnesota Medical School, our commitment to research:

• allows us to attract the best and brightest faculty and students,
• results in discoveries that change people’s lives and redefine the way health care is delivered,
• creates jobs and fuels a thriving biomedical industry in Minnesota and beyond, and
• provides a cutting-edge learning environment, making the University of Minnesota a leader in educating the next generation of top-notch medical professionals.

Our research ranges from investigating the innermost workings of cells to analyzing health data at a population level. Our faculty search for answers to who is susceptible to disease, and why. The results lead to new ways for preventive care, to treatments for some of the most complex and devastating diseases.

Most importantly, we are finding better and faster ways to translate our laboratory research into clinical trials for patients—the only path to new treatments and cures.

We are leaders in diabetes, neurosciences, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and infectious disease research.

Currently, researchers at the University’s Center for Magnetic Resonance Research are mapping the connections of the human brain. Every one of them.

Masonic Cancer Center researchers have created breathing lungs in University laboratories.

Since our first islet cell transplant a decade ago, Schulze Diabetes Institute researchers have performed dozens of islet transplantations and many of those patients are insulin independent.

And investigators in our Stem Cell Institute worked with UMPhysicians researchers to find a groundbreaking new way to use stem cells to treat a rare skin disorder.

These are just a few examples of how we are constantly forging new frontiers in medicine.

Our research also serves as an economic engine that drives Minnesota’s health industry. In the Biomedical Discovery District, we’ve created state-of-the-art research spaces that facilitate interdisciplinary discoveries and focus on moving them to market faster -- so they can begin saving lives and helping people right away.

We develop new health technologies. And we collaborate with Minnesota’s biomedical companies to bring these technologies to clinics and hospitals worldwide.