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The NeuroNexus Institute at UMass Chan Medical School

Nexus: a connection, hub or junction, a connected group or series, the center or focus.

  • The NeuroNexus Institute at UMass Chan Medical School brings together basic scientists, clinicians and trainees with the goal of understanding nervous system function and dysfunction, leading to improved diagnosis and treatment of neurological, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.
  • Institute faculty also teach, supervise, and mentor the next generation of academic and industry leaders, medical practitioners and educators. 
  • Our community also reaches out to increase public awareness of nervous system function and diseases, of fact-based scientific investigation, and to reduce the stigma of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Our Mission: From Discoveries to Therapies

The mission of the NeuroNexus Institute at UMass Chan Medical School is to catalyze interactions between basic scientists and translational or clinician scientists, forming interdisciplinary teams that tackle innovative projects, achieve breakthroughs in basic neuroscience knowledge, and accelerate development and implementation of innovative therapies to treat neurological conditions.

Our Vision

To integrate our extensive local community of basic and clinical neuroscientists into a hub of interactions, leading to innovation, discovery, and development of new treatments for neurological disorders, and attract diverse funding sources.

Our Approach is to:

  • Understand principles of nervous system physiology
  • Leverage these principles of neuroscience to understand disease mechanisms
  • Accelerate treatments
  • Educate future generations of academic leaders and medical practitioners
  • Impact patient care
  • Reach out and Educate the public of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and beyond

Mission and Vision

Getting Results…
  • Stroke survivors may be saddled with an invisible disability known as spatial neglect – but a simple treatment offers significant improvement

    Stroke survivors may be saddled with an invisible disability known as spatial neglect – but a simple treatment offers significant improvement

    Stroke survivors often experience spatial neglect, an underdiagnosed condition impairing their ability to navigate their surroundings. In a new article for The Conversation, A.M. Barrett, MD, chair and professor of neurology, and Kevin Houston, OD, MSc, associate professor of neurology, highlight prism adaptation therapy as a promising treatment. This simple, effective therapy significantly improves patients' spatial awareness and independence.

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  • UMass Chan receives $2.2 million to fund gene therapy for Cockayne syndrome

    UMass Chan receives $2.2 million to fund gene therapy for Cockayne syndrome

    UMass Chan Medical School has received $2.2 million from a nonprofit patient-advocacy organization to contract with Andelyn Biosciences to manufacture clinical grade AAV9-CSA vector to treat Cockayne syndrome.  

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  • New education and research building unveiled; honorary degree awarded to WHO Director-General

    New education and research building unveiled; honorary degree awarded to WHO Director-General

    UMass Chan leaders and invited dignitaries cut the ribbon on the new education and research building, as WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, received an honorary degree and delivered the keynote address.  

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  • Twenty rising faculty members graduate from Junior Faculty Development Program

    Twenty rising faculty members graduate from Junior Faculty Development Program

    The 12-month program is the longest-running professional development program at UMass Chan Medical School and has nearly 300 graduates.

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