UMass Cancer Center News

The 2023 UMass Cancer Walk presented by Harr Toyota marks the 25th year of commitment to cancer research. Many participants and sponsors have a personal connection to cancer and have supported the event for years.

Four faculty members were honored with chancellor’s medals and four others were invested as endowed professors at the Convocation and Investiture ceremony at UMass Chan Medical School.

Nicholas Harper, a PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, has received a prestigious award from the National Cancer Institute to study cell death as it relates to cancer therapies.

The BRIDGE Fund supports critical research milestones for inventions and discoveries that have high potential to change the course of disease and continues to grow, increasing from approximately $1 million per year in 2019 to $3 million in 2024.

MD/PhD student Ayush Kumar has received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Award from the National Cancer Institute to study the most aggressive type of breast cancer.

Craig Ceol, PhD, and his team recently discovered a new way in which melanocytes, a small subset of epidermal cells, regenerate. Dr. Ceol explains why zebrafish are good models to study melanocytes in this piece for The Conversation.

Jessica Spinelli, PhD, and members of her lab are leveraging the discovery of a new mammalian metabolite and mitochondrial pathway to develop tools to reprogram the electron transport chain.

Phillip D. Zamore, PhD, is one of 120 newly elected members of the National Academy of Sciences who were recognized for distinguished achievements in original research. Dr. Zamore is credited with identifying the biochemical machinery responsible for RNA silencing.

The Program in Innate Immunity is hosting Innate Immunity Day 2023: Mechanisms and Consequences of Cell Death on May 10 in the Albert Sherman Center Auditorium in the Sherman Center from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Katherine Fitzgerald, PhD, and Phillip D. Zamore, PhD, were elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, which honors excellence and leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together to cultivate every art and science.

Athma A. Pai, PhD, was awarded a nearly $1 million CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation to use new high-throughput genomics approaches to study the regulation of mRNA splicing.

As the UMass Chan mourns the recent death of Michael Green, MD, PhD, two faculty have been appointed to fill positions that Dr. Green nobly held. Jonathan M. Gerber, MD, has been appointed director of the UMass Cancer Center, and Michelle A. Kelliher, PhD, will serve as interim chair of the Department of Molecular, Cell & Cancer Biology.

Breast cancer research pioneer V. Craig Jordan, PhD, will give the inaugural virtual lecture in a series on cancer drug discovery at UMass Chan Medical School on Thursday, Feb. 16.

In this Science for Living feature, colorectal expert Justin Maykel, MD, explains why colonoscopy is the best way to prevent colon cancer.

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.

Anastasia Khvorova, PhD, is one of 169 academic inventors selected as a 2022 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial Health partnered with DetecTogether to offer free cancer screenings for firefighters at an event at Polar Park in Worcester on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

Mary Munson, PhD, is one of 22 scientists named a fellow of the American Society for Cell Biology for 2022.

Participants in the 24th annual UMass Cancer Walk and Run presented by Harr Toyota proved that they were superheroes by raising money for cancer research and clinical trials at UMass Chan Medical School.

The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees voted to approve one new endowed chair at UMass Chan Medical School and the appointment of two accomplished faculty members to endowed chairs.

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.

UMass Chan Medical School has announced Harr Toyota as the presenting sponsor of the 24th annual UMass Cancer Walk and Run to be held on Sunday, Oct. 2, at Polar Park. 

A study co-authored by UMass Chan Medical School researchers showed that a technology-assisted abstinence game may help smokers kick the habit. Rajani Sadasivam was principal investigator on the study.

Chancellor Michael F. Collins announced that the University’s Board of Trustees has approved the appointment of three of faculty members to endowed chairs. They join more than 60 named chairs at UMass Chan.

The 24th annual UMass Cancer Walk and Run will take place on Sunday, Oct. 2, at Polar Park, with all funds raised going to pediatric and adult cancer research at UMass Chan Medical School.

UMass Chan Medical School scientist Job Dekker, PhD, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences on May 3 for his contributions to the field of genomics.

In her preliminary studies, PhD student Megan Honeywell has found that cells can trigger a cell death even when they do not have the p53 protein, the so-called “guardian of the genome.”

UMass Chan faculty in rheumatology, biochemistry & molecular biotechnology and cancer biology are being supported by endowments.

The early months of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a net increase in smoking rates among a group of people who had previously participated in a study to quit smoking, according to a new study led Rajani S. Sadasivam, PhD.

A large, double-blind, randomized controlled trial found that outpatients who received convalescent plasma within nine days of onset of COVID-19 symptoms were significantly less likely to be hospitalized than those who received placebo control plasma.

In recognition of creative advances in the development of nanomaterials for biophotonic application, Gang Han, PhD, has been elected by the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering to its College of Fellows.

Jonathan Gerber, MD, discusses a therapy that has been around for at least a century and how it has helped in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Katherine A. Fitzgerald, PhD, has been named the 2022 recipient of the American Association of Immunologists - Thermo Fisher Meritorious Career Award.

UMass Chan Medical School researchers are embarking on a clinical trial of an mRNA vaccine by Moderna against the Epstein-Barr virus, a common cause of infectious mononucleosis. Katherine Luzuriaga, MD, is principal investigator for the study at UMass Chan.

Worcester Business Journal readers have chosen the UMass Cancer Walk and Run as the best nonprofit fundraiser event in Central Massachusetts.

Hyundai Hope on Wheels has awarded Jason Shohet, MD, PhD, a second $300,000 Scholar Hope Grant to continue his research on neuroblastoma, a deadly cancer in children that affects the peripheral nervous system.

Ann Moormann, PhD, MPH, is recognized for outstanding contributions to the development of science and career advancement of scientists in Africa.

Brian Lewis, PhD, is studying therapeutic resistance in pancreatic cancer cells, hoping to change the grim statistics for patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

William Flavahan, PhD, has received a four-year, $600,000 award from the Sontag Foundation to advance his studies of the genetic processes leading to brain tumors.

Gang Han, PhD, said newly developed nano-optogenetic immunotherapy represents a new generation of personalized cancer treatment, in which precise control of the timing, location and dosage of T cell activation could be tailored to an individual patient.

The UMass Cancer Center Pilot Project Program has awarded seed grants to five UMass Chan Medical School research projects to enable investigators to gather pilot data for external cancer-focused funding.

Research by Sharon Cantor, PhD, into how chemotherapy works in inherited breast and ovarian cancer overturned a long-held model in the field and will play a key role in developing successful therapies.

The 23rd annual UMass Cancer Walk and Run, held on Sunday, Oct. 17, at Polar Park in Worcester, is expected to bring in more than $700,000, exceeding fundraising goals.

In its most diverse class to date, the National Academy of Medicine has elected Job Dekker, PhD, and Katherine Fitzgerald, PhD, for their distinguished contributions to medicine and health.

The 23rd annual UMass Cancer Walk and Run will be held Sunday, Oct. 17, at Polar Park in Worcester. More than 2,300 participants have registered for the event. Gates open at 9:30 a.m.

Research from the lab of Sharon Cantor, PhD, provides a new understanding of a PARP inhibitor, a chemotherapy drug commonly used against breast and ovarian cancer.

Two UMass Medical School professors have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Roger J. Davis, PhD, FRS, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in recognition of his research on stress signaling pathways that are connected to a range of diseases, such as arthritis, cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes.

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

The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees approved two “accomplished and visionary” University of Massachusetts faculty as endowed chairs at its April meeting.

UMass Medical School has entered into a three-year, collaborative research agreement with Pfizer to evaluate determinants that influence the manufacturing quality and yield of viral vectors used in gene therapy. The research at UMMS is being performed under the direction of Guangping Gao, PhD, and Dan Wang, PhD.

Six UMass Medical School scientists are among the members of the National Institutes of Health’s Somatic Cell Genome Editing Consortium to publish a paper in Nature outlining the program’s goals.

PhD student Catherine Nagawa received a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research.

Breast and prostate cancer screenings declined rapidly in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a new study by UMass Medical School researchers working with Reliant Medical Group.

The journal Nature Medicine has published a study co-authored by Gopal Vijayaraghavan, MD, finding that an artificial intelligence model for computer-aided reading of mammograms may improve the detection of breast cancer.

In recognition of his unique contributions to UMass Medical School, Robert W. Finberg, MD, has been named a distinguished professor of medicine.

A multidisciplinary team of scientists led by Elinor Karlsson, PhD, has captured biodiversity at a genetic level, according to a new study published in Nature.

John Harris, MD, PhD, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the treatment and study of vitiligo, has been appointed chair of the Department of Dermatology beginning Jan. 1.

Investigators at UMass Medical School have received two, five-year grants totaling $13 million to explore how the 4D genome structure influences gene expression, cellular function, development and disease as it reshapes itself. Job Dekker, PhD, and Paul Kaufman, PhD, to investigate architecture of genome as it changes over time.

Maira Castañeda Avila, PhD candidate in the Clinical & Population Health Research Program, received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research, funded by the National Cancer Institute.

Gratitude, solidarity and hope were the themes of the day on Sunday, Sept. 13, at the 22nd annual—and first-ever virtual—UMass Cancer Walk and Run. Donors, fundraisers and sponsors maintained their steadfast support for cancer research and clinical trials at UMass Medical School.

Anne Carlisle, PhD candidate in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, came to Massachusetts from Nebraska in 2015. She is studying in the Dohoon Kim lab, investigating the role of selenium in cancer cells.

Oluwabunmi Emidio, MD, MPH, is a PhD candidate in the Clinical and Population Health Research Program, and a postdoctoral fellow in a National Cancer Institute-funded training program Prevention and Control Cancer: Postdoctoral Training in Implementation Science.

On Sunday, Sept. 13, the quad on the UMass Medical School campus will be unusually quiet. Instead of thousands gathering in person to walk or run in support of cancer research, care and clinical trials at UMMS, supporters will be participating virtually in the 22nd annual UMass Cancer Walk and Run.

Medical device research projects by Gopal Vijayaraghavan, MD, MPH, and Mary Rusckowski, PhD, are among 11 projects that have received a total of $8.3 million in capital funding awards from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded a team of researchers led by Craig J. Ceol, PhD, a $963,903 three-year grant to test potential approaches to killing metastatic melanoma tumors.

A UMass Medical School research team has been awarded a National Cancer Institute grant to advance understanding of how hereditary breast and ovarian cancer genes work, and why tumors lacking these genes are sensitive to chemotherapy.

Discoveries made by Beth McCormick, PhD, and licensed by Bacainn Therapeutics, Inc. are heading to Phase I clinical trials for ulcerative colitis and other diseases associated with uncontrolled inflammation in the gut.

A new study by a team of UMass Medical School researchers, led by Jordan Smith, MD/PhD candidate, has identified a new therapeutic target in hepatoblastoma, a rare, primarily pediatric liver cancer.

UMass Medical School researcher and world-renowned immunologist Katherine A. Fitzgerald, PhD, has been named an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Jennifer A. Benanti, PhD, was recently awarded a federal Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award, or MIRA grant, to advance her lab’s study of molecular mechanisms of cell cycle control, a key factor in understanding cancer development. 

UMass Medical School RNA therapeutics expert Anastasia Khvorova, PhD, has been elected by the membership of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy to a three-year term as director-at-large/scientific & research council chair, which will begin at the 2020 ASGCT virtual annual meeting.

A study by UMass Medical School researchers found that cigarette smokers who used both e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes smoked more combustible cigarettes daily and had less success at abstaining than smokers who only used combustible cigarettes.

As an educator, a scientist and a patient undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma, Jill A. Zitzewitz, PhD, has a unique perspective on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cole M. Haynes, PhD, professor of molecular, cell & cancer biology, has received a Method to Extend Research in Time award from the National Institute on Aging for his research on repair and regeneration of mitochondria dysfunction, a mechanism associated with age-related diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

The 15th annual Physician-Scientist Retreat at UMass Medical School shined a light on students working to complete both medical and biomedical sciences doctoral degrees through the Medical Scientist Training Program.

Minjin Kim is dedicating her career to addressing cross-cultural differences among Asian American women that may account for health disparities, such as low rates of vaccination against human papilloma virus.

In a piece originally published on The Conversation, Minjin Kim, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate, discusses the need to raise awareness among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders about HPV, the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer.

Katherine Fitzgerald, PhD, and Sanjay Ram, MD, were elected to the American Academy of Microbiology. Fellows are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.

In an essay originally published by The Conversation, Cancer Center Director Jonathan Gerber, MD, discusses the specifics of recently reported declines in cancer deaths and provides perspective for future continued progress.

The 11th annual Winter Ball raised more than $1.3 million to help support the clinical care, education and biomedical research missions of UMass Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center.

In a new Voices of UMassMed podcast, Jason Shohet, MD, PhD, highlights new advances in pediatric cancer research at UMass Medical School, and Luis Portillo Reyes, a young cancer patient, opens up about going through treatment for leukemia. 

Gregory J. Pazour, PhD, is one of 16 scientists named a 2019 fellow of the American Society for Cell Biology. An expert in cilia function and assembly, he was the first to draw an unexpected link between cilia dysfunction and polycystic kidney disease.

Amir Mitchell, PhD, has received the Maximizing Investigators' Research Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to support research into cellular decoding of signaling dynamics.

UMass Medical School clinician-scientist Jason Shohet, MD, PhD, accepted a $300,000 grant on Monday, Sept. 23, from the Hyundai Motor America Hope on Wheels campaign to continue his work toward developing more effective and less toxic therapies for childhood cancers with a special focus on neuroblastoma.

Thousands of people flocked to the UMass Cancer Walk and Run on Sunday, Sept. 22, helping organizers meet their $750,000 fundraising goal.

Learn about the UMass Cancer Walk and Run and the latest advancements in cancer research in this Voices of UMassMed podcast with Jonathan Gerber, MD.

When participants of the 21st Annual UMass Cancer Walk and Run on Sunday, Sept. 22, cross the finish line, they will find the campus green at UMass Medical School transformed into a festival of food, fun and hope.

Helen Tian, a member of the School of Medicine Class of 2021, has been selected by the American Society of Hematology to receive one of five 2019-2020 Physician-Scientist Career Development Awards.

Mark Johnson, MD, PhD, the Maroun Semaan Chair in Neurosurgery, and chair and professor of neurological surgery, has been named the vice president of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery.

Catherine Forconi, PhD, has received a 2019 Young Investigator Grant from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to support research into endemic Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive pediatric cancer and the most common childhood cancer in Africa.

At an event characterized by a mix of smiles and tears, the race to raise money for the 2019 UMass Cancer Walk and Run officially began on June 3 as more than 100 team leaders, cancer survivors and event sponsors gathered at the Albert Sherman Center.

The 2019 UMass Cancer Walk and Run kickoff reception for members of the campus community, sponsors and fundraising team leaders will be held on June 3 at 5:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Albert Sherman Center.

UMass Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center are hosting the biannual Consortium for New England Childhood Cancer Survivors for its members from all 13 pediatric oncology programs from all six New England states.

Roger J. Davis, PhD, FRS, has accepted the position of chair of the Program in Molecular Medicine, succeeding Michael P. Czech, PhD, the founding chair.

UMass Medical School has created the role of vice provost for strategic research initiatives and named Michael R. Green, MD, PhD, to the post.

Guangping Gao, PhD, has been elected to the American Academy of Microbiology, the honorific leadership group of the American Society of Microbiology.

Hemant Khanna, PhD, an ophthalmology and visual sciences researcher, writes for The Conversation about a recent report in which scientists have found a new approach to target retinoblastoma using cancer-killing viruses. 

Lori Pbert, PhD, has been appointed a member of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine that works to improve the health of all Americans.

Victor Ambros, PhD, has been elected by his peers as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.