The School of Nursing shares a 61-acre campus in downtown Baltimore with the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) six other professional schools—Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Social Work, and the Graduate School—and is in close proximity to the University of Maryland Medical Center, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, University of Maryland Biopark, and the Baltimore VA Medical Center. UMB is a national leader in health sciences research, with $450 million in grants and contracts in fiscal year 2008. The School of Nursing also maintains facilities and conducts classes at the University System of Maryland regional center at Shady Grove in Rockville, Md. The School is dedicated to creating a research-intensive environment that will advance the science of nursing through research and scholarship of the highest quality.