Adam Porter Tapped to Co-Lead the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing

Adam Porter has been named co-executive director of the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing (UM-IHC), effective July 28, 2024. Porter is a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and has served since 2015 as executive director of the Fraunhofer USA Center Mid-Atlantic, an applied research center affiliated with UMCP. 

In his new role, Porter will co-lead UM-IHC, an academic health research institute in North Bethesda, Maryland, that serves as a hub for health computing innovation and collaboration in Montgomery County. Founded in November 2022, UM-IHC merges the computational expertise, clinical expertise, biomedical innovation, health data, and academic resources of UMCP, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the University of Maryland Medical System to support the Montgomery County life science ecosystem. Funding support for UM-IHC comes from Montgomery County, the MPowering the State initiative and the state of Maryland.

“Dr. Porter will be a strong and collaborative leader and help the institute succeed in its core purpose of economic development for Montgomery County,” said Amitabh Varshney, dean of UMCP’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. “His decades of experience working with industry partners on cutting-edge algorithms and high-performance computing will help UM-IHC partner with life science companies to translate the latest computational health care innovations into economic development.”

Porter has over 35 years of experience in computer science and software engineering with an emphasis on the development of algorithms, methods and tools for software specification, development and validation. He holds joint appointments in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and is affiliated with the university’s Institute for Systems Research and the Applied Research Laboratory Institute for Intelligence and Security.

“I’m so honored to have been chosen to help lead this unique institute,” Porter said. “I think all researchers dream that their work will touch someone in a meaningful way. The work done by UM-IHC holds out the promise of longer, healthier lives for people all around the world. I can’t think of a more exciting and worthwhile challenge.”

Porter’s work has been supported by a wide variety of funding agencies and companies, including the National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, U.S. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, AT&T, Motorola, Sun Microsystems, Apple, IBM and Microsoft. His current research focuses on software and systems engineering for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems and AI applications for software and systems engineers.

He has published more than 150 technical articles. Before joining the UMCP faculty in 1991, Porter received his M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Irvine in 1988 and 1991 respectively, and his B.S. in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1986.

Porter succeeds Sujal Bista, who served as interim co-executive director since January 2023 and will now direct UM-IHC's Immersive Visualization Research Center. During his tenure, Bista organized workshops and events aimed at strengthening the biotech community in Montgomery County, provided vital input that led to permanent state funding for UM-IHC, secured UM-IHC's first corporate partnership and hired essential personnel to help launch the institute.

—Story by CMNS