Stories of giving

As a Worcester County native, Justin Maykel, MD, often meets familiar faces through his medical practice—a unique privilege he never takes for granted. Among his patients, the late George (Geof) F. Booth II stands out as a remarkable, enduring presence in his life and career. Before he passed away in 2023, Geof and his wife, Penny Booth, bequeathed generous funding that was used to establish the Geof and Penny Booth Colorectal Surgery Research Fellowship. 

Remembered for her generous spirit and her capacity to connect deeply with others, Kerri Appleton’s life was tragically cut short in January 2025 by cholangiocarcinoma, a rare, incurable cancer. In a fitting tribute, the inaugural Kerri Appleton Legacy Golf Tournament, held last summer, raised critical funds for cholangiocarcinoma research at UMass Chan Medical School—with the hope of changing the course of this intractable disease. 

Since 2011, Shrewsbury’s Turkey Trot for the Memory has united the local community on Thanksgiving morning to run or walk in support of people and families facing Alzheimer's disease. A generous portion of funds raised through the 2024 event are supporting the research of Honghuang Lin, PhD, professor of medicine and co-director of the Program in Digital Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School. 

A new scholarship from Tiffany A. Moore Simas, MD’00, R’04, MPH, MEd, MHCM, and her husband Brett Simas, MBA, will ease the financial stress on aspiring physicians at UMass Chan Medical School, where Tiffany is the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology, chair and professor of obstetrics & gynecology, and professor of pediatrics, psychiatry & behavioral sciences, and population & quantitative health sciences.

The last time we caught up with Donna Grogan, MD, R'87, P'18, in fall 2022, she and her husband, Paul Grogan, had recently endowed a scholarship for students in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine. Three years later, the Grogans have endowed a second scholarship that, when combined with their first, will fully offset the annual tuition of an in-state medical student, starting with the 2025-2026 school year. 

Two key priorities were front of mind when Dan Sullivan, MD’86, MPH, and his wife Anne Melvin considered how they could make a meaningful philanthropic impact. One was profound concern about the growing shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs) in Massachusetts. The other was gratitude to UMass Chan Medical School, the institution that made Dan’s fulfilling career in medicine possible. 

For David B. FitzGerald, MD’00, R'04, a global health experience in Vellore, India, forever changed his view of medicine. Two decades later, it also galvanized the creation of his family’s fund for international education at UMass Chan Medical School—giving aspiring physicians improved access to learning and discovery through travel. 

Accentuating an extraordinary career in public service, Carolyn Clancy, MD’79—recent recipient of an honorary degree from UMass Chan Medical School—has established a scholarship alongside her husband, Bill Kaplan, to help medical students at UMass Chan pursue their own dreams of serving others through compassionate health care. 

Satish P. Gupta, MD, who has witnessed the devastating toll of cancer on several close family members, has established an endowed annual award to support UMass Chan Medical School students engaged in cancer research. The award honors the memory of his wife, Sudha Gupta, MD, who died in 2020.

Inspirational words from UMass Chan Medical School’s most recent Nobel laureate Victor R. Ambros, PhD, brought added poignancy to the 40th annual meeting of the Hudson Hoagland Society (HHS) on May 21 amid a challenging moment for science.