Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Newsmakers

The awards are from the American Federation for Aging Research and the Glenn Foundation.

Global cancer cases have doubled since 1990. UMass Chan experts point to lifestyle, environmental and alcohol-related factors as key drivers.

Fifty-six people were inducted into the Delta chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society on Nov. 12, including 34 members of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Class of 2026.

Enrollment in the study will start in early 2026, with a focus on patients recently initiating GLP-1 therapies in the Worcester area.

MD/PhD student Bethany Berry is reprising her 2022-23 role as UMass Chan Medical School’s student representative on the UMass Board of Trustees. 

PhD candidate Katherine Murphy received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship for her pancreatic cancer research.

Chancellor Collins testified in favor of Gov. Maura Healey’s Discovery, Research and Innovation for a Vibrant Economy (DRIVE) legislation. 

The five-year study is funded by a $3.5 million award from the National Institutes of Health. 

UMass Chan scientists have received funding to explore gene editing technologies for treating frontotemporal dementia.

The Fredric Fay Memorial Symposium is being held on Wednesday, Nov. 4. 

The UMass Chan Cares annual charitable giving campaign launches Monday, Oct. 27. 

Postdoc Nikita Bhalerao, PhD, received the 2025 Rising Star Award from the National Pancreas Foundation and a fellowship from the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance.

Tiffany Moore Simas, MD, MPH, MEd, weighs in on the a worsening maternal health crisis driven by underfunded care, workforce shortages and hospital closures.

Martha Zimmermann, PhD, will be testing the text message intervention Reaching Calm at four obstetric practices.

Kathryn Sabella, PhD, is hoping to shed light on the social causes of increased alcohol use among women.

Stephanie Carreiro, MD, PhD’22, received a new NIH award to advance precision medicine research in opioid use disorder and mentor junior clinician-scientists. 

Jessica Spinelli, PhD, and Emma V. Watson, PhD’16, are the first UMass Chan faculty members to receive the award.

Jennifer E. Adair, PhD, received a $1.27 million National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center Global Infectious Disease research grant.

A study by Dorothy P. Schafer, PhD, and Travis E. Faust, PhD, explains how two different cell types in the brain communicate in response to changes in sensory input.

UMass Chan Medical School received a five-year, $4.4 million National Cancer Institute grant to study how transfer RNAs may fuel the spread of melanoma.

Caterina Strambio De Castillia, PhD, received a four-year, $4 million National Science Foundation grant to support her project, Imaging-PHD. 

The 27th annual UMass Cancer Walk at Polar Park raised more than $450,000 to support cancer research and clinical trials at UMass Chan.

Multiple projects examining the biology of opioid use disorder and the role of sleep/circadian rhythms in relapse are underway in the lab of Ryan W. Logan, PhD.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Edwin Boudreaux, PhD, discusses rising suicide rates in older men and shares prevention resources.

Roger J. Davis, PhD, FRS, has been awarded the 2026 Bert and Natalie Vallee Award in Biomedical Science from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

PhD candidate Jessica Peura has earned a prestigious NIH grant to advance her research on pancreatic cancer. After the death of her mother, she’s determined to help prevent families from experiencing cancer-related loss. 

UMass Chan Medical School has licensed worldwide rights to a long-lasting human monoclonal antibody that prevents Lyme disease to New Jersey-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. 

The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times and Washington Post have featured UMass Chan Medical School researchers in articles and videos about the impact of delays and cuts in federal research funding. 

The 40-foot hydroponic farm can produce up to three tons of produce each year.

Four faculty members were honored with chancellor's medals at the annual Convocation and Investiture ceremony. 

During the annual Recognition Ceremony, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences celebrated 74 PhD candidates and MD/PhD students who successfully completed their qualifying exam in 2024-2025.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office’s 13th annual Convocation Celebration was centered around the legal landscape for LGBTQIA+ health care.

These findings, published in Nature, point to potential new approaches to protect young infants from perinatal HIV transmission.

UMass Chan Medical licenses exNA oligonucleotide technology to Hongene Biotech Corporation

Festivities kick off on Friday, Sept. 5, with the T.H. Chan School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony.

The study collected data from a community sample of more than 80 children and their mothers. 

UMass Chan scientists explain how proteins that regulate gene function can increase genetic mutations by competing with DNA repair operations.

Five faculty members are assisting digital health care platform startups in developing and advancing technology aimed at addressing health issues impacting underserved communities.

UMass Chan Medical School welcomed 313 new students to campus on Monday, Aug. 18, for orientation, including 233 students in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Class of 2029, 16 students in the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing and 13 students in the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Clinical study of gene therapy for GM2 gangliosidosis, including Tay-Sachs disease, shows encouraging results

The two awards will help fund research aimed at improving pregnancy outcomes in women from low- and middle-income countries.

Four third-year medical students make up the first cohort for UMass Chan’s Indigenous health clerkship.

Eleven teams of medical students, faculty members, residents and staff are the recipients of the 2025 Remillard Family Community Service Fund grants.

Tara Delorme, PhD, received a $110,000 award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec.

Gov. Healey introduced the Discovery, Research & Innovation for a Vibrant Economy initiative.

Samara Vilca, PhD, is one of 30 postdoctoral researchers in the country to be selected to receive the award.

PhD student Claire Shamber has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to further her research focused on investigating the untapped.  

Jennifer Tjia, MD, MSCE, will spend four months focusing on a project aimed at optimizing medication prescribing in older adults.  

Read Pukkila-Worley, MD, professor of medicine, will succeed Catarina Kiefe, MD/PhD, as the director of the Medical Scientist Training Program.

MD/PhD student and aspiring dermatologist Vincent Azzolino volunteers at Camp Discovery, a free summer camp funded by the American Academy of Dermatology, for children with chronic skin conditions. In the lab at UMass Chan, he studies enteroviruses and their drug resistance.

The special event included a tour and an unveiling of the donor acknowledgement plaque in the building’s main lobby.

The $50,000 award will support collaborative research studying how the brain and organs communicate using extracellular vesicles.

Elise Stevens, PhD, addresses the rise nicotine pouch use among teens.

UMass Chan is a recruitment site for the study and is working in partnership with teams from Boston University and UCLA.

The $505,000 five-year grant will support Dr. Orzalli’s research on the skin’s immune system and its defense against viral infections

PhD candidate Bradley Class has received a NIH grant to further his research on neuron mutations and ataxia-telangiectasia, a rare disease characterized by impaired motor function, dilated blood vessels and a weakened immune system.

Research by Sumeda Nandadasa, PhD, a scientist at UMass Chan, uncovers a molecular mechanism affecting ciliopathies such as Meckel-Gruber and Joubert syndromes and cystic kidney disease.

UMass Chan Medical School Chancellor Michael F. Collins, MD, today announced that he will conclude his chancellorship at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year in July of 2026. At that time, Chancellor Collins, the longest serving chancellor in the history of the University of Massachusetts, will have led the university’s public academic health sciences center for 19 years.

Patrick Gallagher, MBA, will be joining UMass Chan as the deputy executive vice chancellor, people strategy on June 30.

The two-year agreement will allow UMass Chan to test, evaluate and certify health care AI products.

PhD candidate Favour Akabogu has earned a scholarship and an award to continue research developing new therapies for GIST, a rare type of cancer.

Gilles Martin, PhD, associate professor of neurobiology, wrote an article for The Conversation about a group of neurons discovered in the brain that are linked to binge drinking.

Stephanie Carreiro, MD, received a $50,000 grant from the Mass. Life Sciences Center to advance digital tools that expand access to substance use disorder care.

Kristen Matteson, MD, MPH, and Mary Munson, PhD, are two of 100 ELAM fellows in the class of 2025-26.

The University’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the establishment of six new endowed chairs, the appointment of faculty to five chairs, and the renaming of an existing chair.

UMass Chan researchers identify a neural ensemble that suppresses binge drinking.

The 52nd Commencement at UMass Chan Medical School was full of special moments, as captured in this video.

“A Day in the Life: Neurology Edition” welcomed high school juniors in the Allied Health Program at Worcester Technical High School.

Learn more about the four people who received honorary degrees at UMass Chan Medical School’s 52nd Commencement in these video profiles.

At the 52nd Commencement at UMass Chan on June 1, 265 degrees were presented.

During the Deborah Harmon Hines, PhD, Commencement Celebration, graduating UMass Chan Medical School students received Kente and multicultural stoles to wear at the 52nd Commencement.

The Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School honored student scientists for outstanding research and leadership qualities on May 29.

Tammy T. Nguyen, MD, PhD, succeeds Sally C. Kent, PhD, as the Fuller Foundation Term Chair in Diabetes.

Seven faculty members were honored at UMass Chan’s 25th annual Women’s Faculty Awards.

The Junior Faculty Development Program is the longest-running professional development program at UMass Chan.

Medical student Christopher Zaro, PhD candidate Clevanne Julce, MPH, and DNP student Jennifer Konjoian, RN, are the class speakers at UMass Chan 52nd Commencement on June 1.

Degrees will be awarded to 265 students at UMass Chan’s 52nd Commencement ceremony on June 1.

UMass Chan licenses potential RNA-based treatment for fragile X syndrome to QurAlis Corporation.

A siRNA therapeutic for dermatological diseases developed at UMass Chan Medical School has entered the clinical trial phase.

Mary Munson, PhD, received the 2025 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring.

Nobel laureate Victor R. Ambros, PhD, has been named TIME100 Health, a list recognizing the100 most influential people in health.

UMass Chan Medical School scientists Jun Xie, PhD, and Guangping Gao, PhD, have received $500,000 to help advance gene therapy.

Mary Callery O’Brien, MD, received the 2024 Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Teaching and will deliver the Last Lecture.

This special edition of @umasschan magazine celebrates Victor Ambros, PhD, the newest Nobel laureate at UMass Chan Medical School.

Forty-two students from 12 local high schools competed in the 19th annual Central Massachusetts Brain Bee competition on March 29.

UMass Chan Medical School leads efforts to establish a comprehensive database of cat genomics.

Medical student Beatriz Bacelar is teaching hands-only CPR in Worcester, driven by a desire to help her community and increase survival rates in Massachusetts for people who have suffered cardiac arrest.

The Office of Government and Community Relations is expanding the UMass Chan volunteer program with a Days of Service initiative in late May.

The visit included a tour of the new Paul J. DiMare Center and a closed-door meeting with UMass Chan faculty members.

Identification of the metabolite rhodoquinone as the second electron transporter may have clinical applications for treating ischemia.

More than 1,330 research projects were submitted to the 2024 AMA Research Challenge for consideration.

UMass Chan Medical School scientists detail simple rules for folding the genome during mitosis.

Pranoti Mandrekar, PhD, professor of medicine, wrote an article for The Conversation explaining the link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk.

The new nine-story, 350,000-square-foot new education and research building on the UMass Chan campus has an official name: the Paul J. DiMare Center.

Food can be medicine and reduce health care utilization and costs among high-need MassHealth patients with food insecurity, according to a recently published study led UMass Chan

Anastasia Khvorova, PhD, has been awarded the 2025 Else Kröner Fresenius Prize for Medical Research.

After losing her best friend to malaria, PhD student Winnie Mkandawire chose to study infectious diseases to prevent others from experiencing the same loss. 

UMass ALS Cellucci Fund Boston Marathon teams have raised more than $800,000 for ALS research since 2012. This year’s team hopes to add $50,000 to that.

UMass Chan supports translational research from faculty with internal funding mechanism.

The research team has found that a koala population in Australia has evolved a distinctive genomic immunity to a retrovirus.