About Our Research

The University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) is the Commonwealth’s first and only public medical school. Founded in 1962 to provide affordable, high-quality medical education to state residents and to increase the number of primary care physicians practicing in underserved areas of the state, we retain the same pioneering spirit that attracted founding faculty and students.

With the addition of graduate schools in biomedical science and nursing, our mission evolved into a three-pronged one of teaching, research, and service. Almost 50 years later, a leader in medical education, biomedical research, and healthcare delivery, we are now one of the nation’s top 50 medical schools and home to 2,683 full and part-time faculty, 445 medical, 394 biomedical sciences, and 96 graduate nursing students. Read about our existing and upcoming facilities.

The scientific climate at the UMMS is conducive to the conduct of interdisciplinary research. The extraordinary resourcefulness of our faculty and their commitment to excellence have contributed significantly to the success of our research initiatives.  Areas of concentration include

External Funding

Over the course of the last two decades, UMMS has experienced a period of sustained growth in its research enterprise. From fiscal year 1994 to1998, NIH funding of our researchers more than tripled ($35 to $128 million), and from fiscal year 2002 to 2008, total research and development expenditures increased 44 percent ($133 to $190 million).

In 2005, the last year NIH ranked US medical schools, UMMS ranked 39 out of 125 overall. In terms of funding for the basic sciences, UMMS ranked 18 out of 125, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Strategic Plan

According to every research benchmark including federal funding, and faculty recognition, UMMS demonstrates exceptional progress, much of it the direct result of a multi-phase institutional Strategic Plan.

Phase I began in the late 1990s. It called for the recruitment of world-class and entrepreneurially-minded basic science and clinical research faculty. In just a decade, these recruits have contributed pivotal advances in HIV, cancer, diabetes, infectious disease, and in understanding the molecular basis of disease and are integral to solidifying the Medical School’s strong basic science reputation.

Among our faculty are: a Nobel Prize and a Lasker Award winner; 7 Howard Hughes investigators; 3 Keck Foundation grantees; 3 Ellison Medical Foundation awardees in aging research; 2 American Diabetes Association’s Banting Medal winners; 2 National Academy of Sciences members; 2 Presidential Early Career awardees; and a Royal Society member (UK). Further, they are key to Phase II of our Plan - to build an equally vibrant clinical research enterprise.

Give to Research

The generous support of our many donors has benefited medical research, patient care and education at UMMS. This support continues to positively impact the many scientific advancements ongoing at the Medical School.  There are many Ways to Give...

Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer

Research investments lead to new technologies for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. Many of the medical breakthroughs developed in UMMS laboratories have significant commercial potential.  The Office of Technology Management (OTM) is the link between our faculty and industry.

For our faculty, OTM evaluates technologies, shepherds them through the patenting process, identifies potential industry collaborators and negotiates agreements for funded research and other commercial relationships.

For industry, it serves as a central repository for information about inventions and potential research collaborations and as a sophisticated partner in negotiating agreements.