News

UMass Chan Medical School students describe how their diverse backgrounds have prepared them to become doctors.

Research coordinators and their mentors share their takeaways from the Pipeline for Underrepresented Students in Medicine program. The deadline to apply for the next cycle is March 31.

UMass Chan Medical School celebrated Black History Month with a focus on the research of four of its Black scientists: Brain Lewis, PhD; Ayorkor Gaba, PsyD; MD/PhD student Zach Dyer; and Natalie Anumba, PhD.

The UMass Chan Medical School Diversity Engagement Survey will be emailed to all faculty, staff and students on March 6 and remain open through the end of March.

The Worcester Youth Behavioral Health Pathway Program seeks to create, maintain and sustain a pipeline of students of color to consider being clinicians, therapists, board-certified behavioral analysts and behavior technicians.

Crista Johnson-Agbakwu, MD, an accomplished physician who has focused her career on reducing the disparities between social determinants of health and health care, has been appointed the inaugural executive director of the new UMass Chan Medical School Collaborative in Health Equity.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office will present the series Black History Month: A Celebration of Black Excellence at UMass Chan Medical School.

Thirty faculty, staff and residents at UMass Chan Medical School were training in restorative justice, which is a method of conflict resolution and community building.

Robert E. Layne, MEd, received the 2023 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion at the annual tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. in recognition of his long term commitment to bringing students underrepresented in health care careers into the STEM pipeline.

Marlina Duncan, EdD, received the Diamond Award for Excellence in Education, Leadership, Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, Humanitarian, Philanthropic and Community Engagement at a gala in Atlanta on Jan. 21.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office is preparing for the March 6 launch of the Diversity Engagement Survey, and held the last in a three-part informational series, the “Diversity Engagement Survey and You,” on Tuesday, Jan. 17. Marlina Duncan, EdD, and Sharina Person, PhD, also discuss the DES in a Voices of UMass Chan podcast.

In recognition of its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, UMass Chan Medical School was named one of “America's Greatest Workplaces 2023 For Diversity," by Newsweek and market data research firm Plant-A Insights. 

The Diversity and Inclusion Office is presenting a virtual event, the “Diversity Engagement Survey and You,” on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at noon. The 2023 survey will be sent via email to all faculty, staff and students on March 6.

The UMass Chan Medical School community will gather virtually for its 35th annual tribute in honor of the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at noon.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office at UMass Chan Medical School is hosting its 2023 Diversity Campus Read featuring Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides by Geoffrey L. Cohen.

With a grant from the Dermatology Foundation, Morehouse School of Medicine student Sachi Desse is researching cutaneous T cell lymphoma, with Jillian Richmond, PhD, as her mentor.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2023 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion and the MLK Semester of Service Awards. Recipients will be announced at the UMass Chan Martin Luther King Jr. celebration on Jan. 25.

Linda M. Long-Bellil, PhD, JD, of UMass Chan Medical School; Monika Mitra, PhD, of Brandeis University; and Charity Hueckstedt, of the National Center of Disability and Pregnancy Advisory Board led a forum on the intersectionality of disability, race and pregnancy.

More than 60 college students from across Massachusetts attended “A Day in the Life of a Surgeon” event last month, organized by two UMass Chan Medical School surgery residents to give students underrepresented in medicine the opportunity to learn about the surgical field.

With support from the Diversity and Inclusion Office, 15 departments and offices volunteered to participate in a pilot program in which they are developing plans to align their work with the five priority areas outlined in the diversity pillar of IMPACT 2025, the UMass Chan strategic plan.

UMass Chan Medical School hosted an inaugural observation of Native American Heritage Month with a virtual presentation by David Shane Lowry, PhD, anthropologist and citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

Cailin Duram, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, led the monthly Diversity and Inclusion series, Centering the Margins, on reproductive rights and justice for queer and gender nonconforming people of color on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office featured the second of a three-part speaker series on Tuesday, Oct. 25, on the Diversity Engagement Survey developed by UMass Chan Medical School in collaboration with the Association of American Medical College.

MD/PhD student Bethany Berry plans to champion diversity and advocacy as UMass Chan Medical School’s student representative on the UMass Board of Trustees. Her research focuses on epigenetic mechanisms of meningioma, a type of intracranial tumor.

In her new role, Mary Munson, PhD, will serve as a leader in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in science at UMass Chan Medical School.

Ashley Gomez, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Pittsburgh, served as UMass Chan Medical School’s keynote speaker to conclude the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

The annual Steven L. Putterman Memorial Lecture was presented by Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, chief health equity officer and senior vice president for the American Medical Association, on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

Third-year medical student Colin Burnett was invited to present his research on LGBTQI+ cancer survivors at a national conference. Burnett and his co-authors discovered that most LGBTQI+ cancer survivors did not have access to health education resources tailored to their gender and sexual identities.

Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Marlina Duncan, EdD, called the 10th Annual LGBT Convocation Welcome, “a celebration that fosters a sense of belonging in the city of Worcester.”

The pride flag was raised on Sept. 1 at UMass Chan Medical School and will be flown every September, when Worcester celebrates LGBT pride.

This 10-week program, focused on students from groups historically marginalized in STEM, health sciences and medicine, provides students with hands-on experience and insight into a range of fields of fields, such as diversity and inclusion, public safety, communications, and community and government relations.

Thirty-two college undergraduates interested in careers in medicine and science spent 10 weeks immersed in the cutting-edge laboratories of UMass Chan investigators.

One hundred seventy-two new students attended the learners of color orientation at UMass Chan Medical School on Aug. 18. The day-long program included workshops and speakers on topics ranging from mental health to finding mentors, from financial literacy to “power mapping” students’ first year.

The Office of Student Life led its first combined orientation for new medical, biomedical sciences and nursing students on Wednesday, Aug. 17, responding to requests by students for increased interaction among schools.

Shalom Njau and Yutian “Tina” Li are grateful and proud to be among the 16 members of the High School Health Careers Program Class of 2022 at UMass Chan Medical School, and confident that their experiences in the summer outreach program will help them achieve their goals.

The Diversity for Health Care, Innovation and Medicine Summer Learning Opportunity at UMass Chan Medical School welcomed 11 students from Morehouse School of Medicine and the CUNY School of Medicine in New York.

UMass Chan Medical School is posting data on the diversity composition of its campus community in support of its strategic goal to increase diversity, equity and inclusion. The Diversity Data Dashboards include self-reported data from UMass Chan’s faculty, staff and students by race, ethnicity and gender.

Thirty-nine students completed the 2022 Summer Enrichment/BaccMD Program, an intensive immersion program aimed to help college undergraduates from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds who want to become physicians improve their qualifications and competitive standing for admission.

Kodiak Soled, PhD, vice president of the Lesbian Health Fund at GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, presented, “Fighting for our families: A community-placed study of LGBTQ+ childbearing hardships, harms and hope for a brighter future.”

The Diversity and Inclusion Office led the UMass Chan Medical School community through a virtual art and poetry celebration of Juneteenth on June 15.

UMass Chan Medical School will recognize Pride Month with events on June 28 and 29 that focus on the experiences of LGBTQ families as they navigate the health care system and work as members of it.

Graduating UMass Chan Medical School students from paths historically underrepresented in medicine and science were ceremonially presented Kente and multicultural stoles on Friday, June 3, to wear at the 49th Commencement.

Two alums of UMass Chan Medical School pathway program are among those graduating on Sunday, June 5.

A new tradition will be celebrated at UMass Chan Medical School on Friday, June 3, when graduating students of color from all three schools at UMass Chan will be given colorful Kente and multicultural stoles to be worn as regalia during Commencement.

Leverett Wing, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Seminar, shared personal and historical narratives of anti-Asian racism in the United States during a UMass Chan Medical School forum recognizing Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Created by students in 2021, UMass LIGHT aims to increase diversity, equity and inclusion; promote career growth; and create professional development opportunities through mentorship and community events.

UMass Chan students Micaela Tobin and Laël Ngangmeni and two undergraduate students will conduct qualitative research focused on pregnancy and maternity care through a VA training program designed to diversify the research workforce. Kristin Mattocks, PhD, MPH, is the program director at UMass Chan.

Community organizer Chien-Chi Huang, founder of the Asian Breast Cancer Project, spoke at the April 20 Diversity and Inclusion Office Centering the Margins series and shared how her experience as a breast cancer survivor led her to advocate for Asian women’s health.

UMass Chan Medical School is accepting applications for the Emerging Professionals Summer Internship Program, which will be held in person on campus this year.

The Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Diversity Interest Group celebrated Women’s History Month by hosting a Women in STEM panel on Thursday, March 24, at which four women discussed their experiences, challenges and successes as scientists.

Khiara M. Bridges, JD, PhD, professor of law at University of California Berkeley School of Law, presented the talk “Explaining Racial Disparities in Health: The Limitations of Implicit Bias,” on March 16, as the guest speaker for the Centering the Margins series.

Learn about UMass Chan Medical School’s diversity and inclusion efforts in a Voices of UMass Chan podcast with Marlina Duncan, EdD, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion.

A new Voices of UMass Chan podcast takes a look at the UMass Chan Medical School’s new scribe fellowship.

The first graduate of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing's  Graduate Entry Pathway to PhD in Nursing program, Rita Konadu Amoah, RN, PhD’21, is now teaching UMass Chan nursing students how to safely care for patients.

Mentorship is central to a new paid, clinical research opportunity for diverse students and alumni of schools that are a part of the Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts.

The Worcester Black History Project recognizes and celebrates the experiences of Black people in Worcester and the surrounding areas.

Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Marlina Duncan said her office will coordinate the implementation of the DEI pillar and will support the development of goals and appropriate measures for departments and programs as they make new and creative commitments to diversity.

Yasmin Carter, PhD, has played a lead role in designing a new three-dimensional full female model on research publishing firm Elsevier’s Complete Anatomy app, the first ever on the platform.

In her talk, Harriet Washington took listeners on a journey through 400 years of American history, strategically beginning with the Nuremberg trials, which she called “the beginning of global dialogue about medical ethics and the history of medicine.”

Medical writer and editor Harriet Washington and Worcester Black History Project founder Deborah Hall will lead events at UMass Chan during February, Black History Month.

UMass Chan Medical School held the 34th annual Martin Luther King Jr. tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 24. Mary Munson, PhD, was named the 2022 recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion.

Five teams of UMass Chan Medical School students have been awarded 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Semester of Service Student Awards to implement community service programs that will cast a wide net over underserved communities.

The 34th annual UMass Chan Medical School tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. will take place online on Zoom, on Monday, Jan. 24, from noon to 1 p.m.

Janet Lubov, a dermatology research fellow at UMass Chan who hopes to help underserved and under-resourced populations through global dermatology, received a grant from the Lupus Research Alliance to support her work.

Janjay Innis, communications content specialist for diversity and inclusion at UMass Chan Medical School, was named one of the Worcester Magazine’s “Worcester’s Women to Watch 2022.”

UMass Chan Medical School MD/PhD student Zach Dyer is serving as a student trustee on the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees and is focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office at UMass Chan Medical School is hosting a Diversity Campus Read featuring Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington and The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee.

UMass Chan Medical School participated in the worldwide Transgender Day of Remembrance with a virtual event hosted by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies Committee of the Diversity & Inclusion Office as part of its Centering the Margins series.

UMass Chan Medical School exceeded diversity hiring goals in the construction of the newly completed community-based outpatient clinic  for veterans on its Worcester campus, according to the University of Massachusetts Building Authority, general contractor Suffolk Construction and UMass Chan.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children age 5 to 11 received final authorization from the CDC and Worcester officials, with the help of UMass Chan Medical School volunteers, have hit the ground running to vaccinate the city’s children.

UMass Chan Medical School faculty Pang-Yen Fan, MD; Natalie Anumba, PhD; and Yoel Carrasquillo Vega, MD, served as panelists for a discussion on racism in medicine.

On Thursday, Oct. 21, the journal club presented “The Changing Faces of Science,” at which members explored underrepresented in medicine learners in STEM.

Speaking at the UMass Chan virtual event, Quinsigamond Community College President Luis Pedraja, PhD, brought Hispanic Heritage Month to a close with his talk, “The Other Pandemic: Systemic Racism and the Latinx Community.”

On Oct. 14, the UMass Chan Medical School community will join the nation in celebration of “Esperanza: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage and Hope.” Quinsigamond Community College President Luis Pedraja, PhD, will deliver the keynote.

As president of UMass Chan Medical School’s chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, PhD candidate Daniel Hidalgo provides cultural training and advocates for diversity in STEM fields.

In its efforts to create intentional spaces to support faculty and staff of color at UMass Chan Medical School, the Diversity and Inclusion Office has formed two affinity groups.

Two newly established student mentoring programs, one for women and another for people underrepresented in science and medicine, are “changing the culture’’ at UMass Chan Medical School, says Mark Johnson, MD, PhD, senior vice provost for mentorship, leadership and transformation.

UMass Chan Medical School Registrar Michael Baker, MA, has been named to the 2021 Biomedical Science Careers Program Honor Roll in recognition of his efforts to diversify research and health professions.

J. Nwando Olayiwola, MD, MPH, FAAFP, delivered this year’s annual Putterman Lecture, “Moving Towards Health Equity: Why Anti-racism Must Be a Core Value in Medicine.”

UMass Chan Medical School’s Diversity and Inclusion Office facilitated the first of its “Centering the Margins” series on Wednesday, Sept. 15, with a discussion focused on a land acknowledgement for the Nipmuc Nation.

Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Marlina Duncan, EdD, welcomed participants and said it was important to introduce students to the various support structures and resources available to them while at UMass Medical School.

UMass Medical School welcomed two cohorts of college students to its annual Summer Enrichment Program and Summer Undergraduate Research Program for high-achieving undergraduates from backgrounds underrepresented in science and medicine.

The Diversity Research Supplement Award Jillian M. Richmond, PhD, has received from the Dermatology Foundation covers the stipend for medical student researcher Jadé Olayinka.

UMass Medical School family medicine resident Stephany Giraldo Eierle, DO, MPH, is a Latina first-generation American completing her first year as a physician at the Family Health Center of Worcester, and becoming a vocal advocate for diversity in medicine and public health.

The UMass Memorial Health Care and UMass Medical School communities stand in solidarity with Asian American and Pacific Islander colleagues, supporting the families and communities directly affected by the shooting deaths of eight people, six of whom were Asian Americans, in Atlanta.

The GSBS Diversity Interest Group is “centered on sharing the voices of our fellow trainees and having their stories and experiences heard.”

School of Medicine student Kassandra Jean-Marie, SOM ’24, credits the UMass Baccalaureate MD Pathway Program for helping her pursue a medical degree and increase diversity within the medical field.

The 2020 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion was presented to Linda Long-Bellil, JD, PhD, at the 33rd annual tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. MLK Semester of Service Awards and the inaugural Equity in Action Student Award was also presented.

The 33rd Annual community celebration will take place virtually. This year’s theme is “Disrupting Inequity through Structural Change: How the crises of 2020, the pandemic and social injustice brought forth the best in the UMMS community.”

The 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Semester of Service Award student projects address health disparities, including some worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UMass Medical School administration, faculty, staff and student leaders came together Thursday, Nov. 12 for Diversity Summit V, a two-hour virtual conference assessing the state of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at UMMS and outlining plans for future work.

Marlina Duncan, EdD, will serve as the vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion at UMass Medical School, beginning Dec. 28, according to an announcement from Chancellor Michael F. Collins.

The book, How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi, PhD, was the subject of a campus read discussion on Thursday, Nov. 5.

The UMass Medical School Campus Conversation on Faculty Diversity, moderated by Vice Provost for Health Equity Milagros Rosal, PhD, provided an opportunity to learn about and provide input to improve efforts to increase recruitment and retention of diverse faculty.

LGBTQ health equity was the focus of a Diversity and Inclusion Campus Conversation. Also, Chancellor Michael F. Collins announced the establishment of a scholarship program and named School of Medicine students Theo Eldore and Patricia Giunta the inaugural recipients.

As the UMass Medical School community addresses diversity and advocacy through a virtual campus conversation series this fall, students took the lead on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in a discussion about diversifying the face of science and medicine.

Members of the UMass Medical School community discussed over Zoom ideas for eliminating health disparities at the individual, institutional and community levels during the second in a series of campus conversations on diversity and inclusion.

What makes an organization committed to fully inclusive gender equity? Gayle Capozzalo, executive director of The Equity Collaborative, discussed the purpose and goals of the collaborative and UMass Medical School’s involvement in a virtual campus conversation.

A new diversity and inclusion program at UMass Medical School called Project Civility aims to provide in-depth opportunities for students to explore diversity and inclusion, build personal skills, enhance learning outcomes and foster community and connections among the three schools.

Brian Lewis, PhD, was recognized in the Evening of Hope 2020 Honor Roll during the Biomedical Science Careers Program’s annual fundraising ceremony. He was honored for his commitment to the organization’s mission of closing the equity gap and increasing diversity in science professions.