BALTIMORE & IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 16, 2025--
The University of Maryland, Baltimore and Axis Research & Technologies today announced a groundbreaking joint venture to establish the nation’s first AI-powered Smart Surgical Performance Center. The new Smart Surgical Performance Center—powered by the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Axis—will set a new national standard for innovation in surgical training, performance, and patient care.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251217527344/en/
This 36,000 sq. ft. facility will unite the University of Maryland’s two centuries of leadership in medical education with Axis’s national expertise in surgical training and innovation to create a novel ecosystem for education, performance optimization, research, and discovery. The Smart Surgical Performance Center will be powered by OMNIMED SmartOR™, an AI-enabled platform that integrates real-time data and performance analytics into surgical environments.
The Smart Surgical Performance Center represents a new model for the future of surgical education and innovation. Purpose-built to blend the strengths of academic medicine with industry collaboration, the facility will integrate cadaveric and model training, immersive simulation suites, and OMNIMED SmartOR™—an AI-powered telemetry platform that captures and analyzes data across classroom, simulation, and operating-room environments. This combination creates a next-generation ecosystem where education, research, and technology converge, giving students, clinicians, and engineers unparalleled insights and opportunities to advance the practice of surgery and patient care.
Building on a Legacy of Innovation
The University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807. Its first building, Davidge Hall, was built in 1812 and remains the oldest continuously operating medical education facility in the Western Hemisphere. Established by pioneering physicians who advanced anatomical understanding as foundational to patient care—at a time when this idea was controversial—Davidge Hall helped establish the early standards of medical education in America and around the world. The standard continues today as nearly all medical schools include human anatomy courses in the first year. This same foundational spirit unites and guides the University of Maryland, Baltimore and its partnership with Axis, marking the next evolution in anatomical education and surgical performance.
“Through the lens of advancing clinical patient care, University of Maryland Faculty Physicians have led medical innovation through novel discoveries and state-of-the-art education,” said William F. Regine, MD, FACR, FACRO, Isadore & Fannie Schneider Foxman Chair of Radiation Oncology and President of UM Faculty Physicians. “Our partnerships with cutting-edge biotech leaders such as Axis, and the incorporation of AI, will only accelerate the pace of our contributions into the next century of medicine.”
Adding to that, Graeme F. Woodworth, MD, Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, emphasized the transformative nature of the collaboration:
“This partnership represents the convergence of surgical expertise, advanced computation, and intelligent systems that will shape the future of surgical education and innovation. Together, we’re creating a data-driven environment that allows us to measure, refine, and elevate surgical performance—benefiting both clinicians and the patients they serve.”
Axis’s National Network and Industry Partners
Axis Research & Technologies currently operates advanced training and research facilities in Irvine, CA; Columbia (Baltimore), MD; Nashville, TN; and Houston, TX. Each location is designed to accommodate complex surgical education, cadaveric research, device development, and live broadcast collaboration. Axis works with many of the world’s leading medical device companies and health systems, making the new Smart Surgical Performance Center a destination for innovators who want to collaborate, invest, or establish a presence within this groundbreaking environment. The center represents the next evolution of Axis’s national network—creating the first fully integrated, AI-powered training ecosystem in partnership with a premier academic institution.
“Axis was built to provide platforms where surgeons, educators, and innovators can come together to push healthcare forward,” said Jill Goodwin, Chief Executive Officer of Axis Research & Technologies. “Partnering with the University of Maryland allows us to expand that vision into a connected, data-rich training ecosystem that will shape the future of surgery.”
About the University of Maryland School of Medicine
Established in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States, the University of Maryland School of Medicine is one of the nation’s top-tier biomedical research institutions. With more than 3,000 faculty and 46 departments, centers, and institutes, the School continues to drive discovery and innovation in medicine, science, and education—locally and globally. www.medschool.umaryland.edu
About Axis Research & Technologies
Axis Research & Technologies operates a national network of advanced facilities supporting surgical training, cadaver-based research, and healthcare innovation serving as a trusted partner to medical device companies, universities, and health systems nationwide. www.axisrt.com
About OMNIMED® SmartOR™ / SmartAI
OMNIMED® is a leader in surgical intelligence and data-driven healthcare innovation. Its flagship platform, SmartOR™ / SmartAI, combines artificial intelligence, real-time performance analytics, and multimodal sensor integration to elevate surgical performance, enhance safety, and accelerate clinical learning. www.omnimed.ai
University of Maryland, Baltimore and Axis Research & Technologies Unveil Future of Nation's 1st AI-Powered Smart Surgical Performance Center
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — In a city that often seems to be staggering from one crisis to the next, the sudden resignation of police Chief Brian O’Hara after a finding he likely interfered in a misconduct investigation has left Minneapolis searching again for a way forward.
O’Hara was an outsider brought in with a mandate to reform the police department after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, which led to federal and state investigative findings of excessive force and racist policing practices. O’Hara had spent most of his career in Newark, New Jersey, where he instituted changes after that department was put under a federal consent decree for patterns of excessive force and unconstitutional stops and searches.
The challenges in Minneapolis were clear before O'Hara arrived in late 2022. For a time, it had seemed the department itself might not survive. In 2021, more than 43% of voters supported disbanding the department as the city reeled from Floyd’s killing and the massive protests and widespread rioting that followed.
Policing experts had noted the monumental task that faced the city’s next police chief, who would have to rebuild community trust and a department whose morale had dipped so low that it was hemorrhaging officers.
“I don’t think there was a bigger challenge to any American city than what Minneapolis faced when he arrived,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of a Washington think tank, the Police Executive Research Forum. “They had gone from 850 to 500 officers, violent crime was significantly up, trust with the community was broken, a police station had burned down and a federal consent decree would face the next chief. Then you had the politics of Minneapolis.”
Coming in as an outsider to lead a large department is daunting, even without being asked to reform and rebuild, said Renée Hall, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives who moved from Detroit to lead the Dallas Police Department from 2017 to 2020.
“It’s extremely challenging to walk into an organization, where you don’t even know where the light switches are, where the bathrooms are. And that’s just the basics,” Hall said. “You have to learn the officers, the community, the politics of that particular city, and try to learn and navigate the existing relationships, like unions or officer associations and who is tied to whom and who is fighting for whom.”
Hall said outside hires can face resentment from those within an organization who supported internal candidates. They also have to earn the trust of the community, which she said takes time.
After the police disbandment measure failed, O'Hara joined the bureaucracy of a deeply progressive city that is regularly buffeted by political battles between the mayor and the City Council, and among council members.
Those battles were on full display Wednesday, when a City Council news conference about O'Hara's resignation quickly turned into an opportunity for the council's resolute progressives to attack Mayor Jacob Frey, who has long portrayed himself as a “pragmatic progressive.”
The resignation “is a symptom of a much larger problem, which is simply that Mayor Frey continues to be unable to effectively manage the Minneapolis Police Department,” said Council member Robin Wonsley, a cornerstone of the council's progressive bloc.
Frey, who just weeks ago pushed to have O'Hara reappointed as chief, fired back at criticism that he didn’t move aggressively enough when allegations of the chief's potential misconduct emerged.
“I don’t make decisions based on rumors and anonymous complaints,” he said in a statement, adding that he would work with the council to find a replacement. “I took action promptly after receiving the investigative report. … Decisions this serious have to be grounded in facts, evidence and completed investigations. Anything less would be irresponsible.”
O'Hara did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday. His attorney, Doug Kelley, released a statement touting successes during O'Hara's tenure, including diversifying and increasing the department's ranks, the decreasing violent crime rate and mitigating violent clashes during the immigration crackdown.
“The circumstances of Chief O’Hara’s departure should not define his service," Kelley wrote. "He was proud to serve Minneapolis, remains grateful to the officers and community partners who did difficult work under extraordinary pressure, and hopes the city continues moving forward. He understandably looks forward to returning to his young family in New Jersey.”
The resignation came just months after Minneapolis was plunged into the national spotlight amid a federal immigration surge that left three civilians shot, two fatally. O'Hara faced criticism he hadn't done enough to stop the crackdown.
Violence plagued the city in 2025, including deadly attacks on state politicians in the Minneapolis suburbs; gunfire that erupted at a popular city picnic spot; and a shooting during Mass at the Church of the Annunciation that left two children dead and more than a dozen people injured. O’Hara called the church attack a “ truly unthinkable tragedy. ”
Critics say dozens of complaints were filed against O'Hara, from accusations that he was rude to the public to the recent investigation into an ultimately unproven allegation he had a sexual relationship with a city employee. Most of the complaints have not been made public, and 17 complaints are still being investigated. Investigators closed 17 more without any disciplinary actions.
An independent investigator did not find evidence to substantiate the alleged sexual relationship with a city employee, but a second report released this week said O'Hara likely deleted the employee's contact from his phone during the investigation and that he talked to another employee about the probe despite being told it was not to be discussed.
That recent report led to a written reprimand; Frey told O'Hara he would be disciplined and that he could be terminated. Frey said O'Hara chose to resign instead.
Lauer reported from Philadelphia.
Minneapolis City Council Members, from left, Jason Chavez, Robin Wonsley and Council President Elliot Payne speak to reporters about the resignation of Police Chief Brian O'Hara on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at City Hall in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
FILE - Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara speaks during a news conference, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck, File)
