Dear Colleagues,
With a busy academic year at its close and the summer quickly approaching, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on recent activities and highlights from our department. As you will read, our faculty and staff have continued their dedicated work and we have much to acknowledge and celebrate.
In May, we held the Department of Medicine Town Hall Meeting featuring speakers, Drs. Milagros Rosal and PY Fan, and honored and celebrated the life and career of Dr. Robert Finberg at the Innate Immunity Day 2022 symposium. As we enter the month of June, I am thrilled to announce the launch of the new Division of Health System Sciences, which will be led by Dr. Kathleen Mazor. Throughout this month, we are also highlighting the work of Dr. Ann Marshak-Rothstein in our Chair’s Spotlight. Dr. Marshak-Rothstein is an incredible leader and mentor with a vibrant research program in Rheumatology. All of these stories, faculty and staff honors, awards, links to recent Grand Rounds recordings, and more are highlighted below.
Thank you for your ongoing contributions to the vitality of our growing department!
Sincerely,
Dave
Don’t miss next month’s Chair’s Newsletter which will feature: June Grander Rounds, the UMass Chan Commencement Exercises and associated award ceremonies, Poster Day winners, and much more.
Chair's Spotlight
Please take a moment to check out our recent Chair's Spotlight, featuring Dr. Ann Marshak-Rothstein, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology.
Dr. Marshak-Rothstein’s research primarily focuses on the activation of autoreactive B cells, nucleic acid sensors in autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, and FasL regulation of ocular disorders. She joined the faculty at UMass Chan Medical School in 2009 and is the recipient of several awards and honors including most recently, the Distinguished Fellow award from the American Association of Immunologists in 2021, an NIH Merit Award in 2022, and the Women in Science and Health Achievements Award by the Women’s Faculty Committee at UMass Chan.
We are incredibly grateful to Dr. Marshak-Rothstein for her leadership, mentorship, and contributions to our department, UMass Chan, and the field!
Innate Immunity Day 2022: A Celebration in Honor of Dr. Robert Finberg
On May 25, 2022, members of the UMass Chan community, colleagues from around the region, family, and friends gathered on campus for Innate Immunity Day 2022: A celebration in honor of Dr. Robert Finberg. This day began with opening remarks from Chancellor Collins and Dean Flotte, as well as Kate Fitzgerald, PhD, Robert Brown, DPhil, MD, and David McManus, MD, ScM. Keynote speakers included Kenneth Rock MD, David Knipe PhD, and Sara Cherry, PhD, and featured talks were presented by Donna Ambrosino, MD, Peter Libby, MD, Jeffrey Bergelson, MD, Evelyn Kurt-Jones, PhD, and Jennifer Wang, MD. Closing remarks were given by Douglas Golenbock, MD. Speakers presented on topics including: COVID-19 clinical care and research, vaccines, and antivirals; innate immunity in cardiovascular disease; innate immunity to herpes simplex virus; innate immune sensing of necrotic cell death; coxsackievirus receptors; and innate immune receptors and the pathogenesis of viral infections. Many also shared personal memories, anecdotes, and photos of their time with Dr. Finberg. Additionally, his wife, Joyce Fingeroth, MD, shared heartfelt remarks on Dr. Finberg’s life and career, and his impact as an educator, clinician, and researcher. "I was delighted to be able to honor Bob with this symposium. The day went very well and it was a fitting tribute to his accomplished career as a physician scientist, clinician and leader of our department. The environment and community he helped build will be a wonderful legacy long into the future," said Dr. Fitzgerald of the day. Also highlighted throughout the day was The Robert Finberg, MD, Fund for Education and Training in Infectious Disease and Immunology which, to date, has raised over $80,000. To learn more about initiatives that will be funded and to donate, click here. Thank you to all who participated in this celebration. It was truly a memorable event.
Launch of the Division of Health System Sciences
At the beginning of June, the new Division of Health System Sciences was officially launched in the Department of Medicine. The goals of the Division will be to advance clinical research, education, and practice in quality, safety, the structures and processes of health care delivery, high-value care and evidence-based practice, professionalism, ethics, inter-professional care, leadership, and systems thinking. The new Division will be led by Kathleen Mazor, EdD, Professor of Medicine. Trained in psychometrics, Dr. Mazor's research interests include physician-patient communication, health literacy, disclosure of medical errors, and decision-making. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Mazor and other new faculty into the Division in the coming months!
Apurv Soni Interviewed about RADx COVID At-Home Test Programs
Apurv Soni, MD, PhD, '21 was recently interviewed in the New York Times article, "Mass distribution of coronavirus tests may have helped blunt the Delta surge in two Michigan cities," where he discussed the adherence and effectiveness of two RADx COVID at-home test programs. Learn more about Dr. Soni's research.
May Department of Medicine Town Hall Meeting
We hope you were able to join our recent Department of Medicine Town Hall Meeting that was held on May 16, 2022.The meeting featured talks from Milagros Rosal, PhD, Vice Provost for Health Equity, on the UMass Chan Cluster Hire/FIRST Cohort work, and updates on the DoM's educational vision from PY Fan, MD, Vice Chair for Education. The meeting also included the introduction of new department faculty, awards, news from the front lines, and upcoming events. If you missed it, we encourage you to view the recording and slides!
Congratulations to the following faculty and staff on their many accomplishments:
Brigid Carlson, MD, Recipient of the May Citizenship Award
Dr. Carlson is one of the most respected cardiologists in Central Massachusetts and splits her time between the University and Community practices. Her clinical skill, collegiality, work-ethic, and her willingness to step forward to help us recruit our next Cardiology Chief as a member of our Search Committee is why she has received this award.
Oliver Marasigan, MD, Inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society
Dr. Marasigan was one of 36 members inducted to the UMass Chan Medical School Chapter in early June. His commitment to teaching and compassionate treatment of patients, families, students, and colleagues were highlighted with this major achievement.
Alvaro Alonso, MD, Recipient of the UMass Memorial May 2022 Safety Award
Working collaboratively with Deborah Nadler, Dr. Alonso prevented an unnecessary test for a patient and went above and beyond to deliver exceptional patient care.
Faculty VISTA Curriculum Updates
We are pleased to announce that Christine MacGinnis, DO, and Susan Hogan, MD, are the new Co-directors of Early Clinical Learning piece for the first 18 months for the VISTA curriculum. We would also like to thank Nahida Islam, MD, and Read Pukkila-Worley, MD, for their exceptional resilience in leading the Blood, Immunity, and Infection (BII) block for the VISTA curriculum. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the VISTA curriculum initiative!
Paula Nims and Sue Webb, Recipients of the May Staff Award
Paula and Sue were recognized at the May Department of Medicine Town Hall for their ongoing hard work and contributions to the Department.
Congratulations to the following faculty on their recent grant awards:
Filiz Korkmaz, PhD, for an NIH award to study, “Establishing Mechanisms of LOX-1-Dependent Immune Regulation During Pneumonia”; Kate Fitzgerald, PhD, for awards from MLSC/RIP and Harvard/MassCPR-SARS-CoV-2 to study “Enabling nanoscale imaging of viruses of pandemic potential at UMCMS” and “Modeling SARS-CoV2 Variant Infections in vivo”, respectively; Chinmay Trivedi, MD, PhD, for an NIH/NHLBI award to study “Epigenetic regulation of lymphatic development”; Khanh-Van Tran, MD, PhD, for an NIH award to study “The Role of Highly Inflamed Epicardial Adipose Tissue in the Development of Atrial Fibrillation”; Neil Aronin, MD, for a CHID award on the “Exposition on studies of associative gene for the expansion of the CAG repeat in series in the Huntington gene”; Jae-Hyuck Shim, PhD, for awards from the AAVAA and NIH to study, the “Development of novel AAV-mediated gene therapy for Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP)”, the “Development of non-specific siRNAs targeting ACVR1 and Activin A for the treatment of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP)”, and “Novel approaches to promote healing of bone loss in inflammatory arthritis”, respectively; and ChingWen Chang, PhD for an MLSC/BWH award to study, “A human trophoblast-derived placental model for studying the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on early pregnancy.”
Recruitment and Promotions
I am excited to announce that Stefania Gallucci, MD, will join us on September 1, 2022 as a professor in the newly created Division of Innate Immunity led by Dr. Kate Fitzgerald. Formerly of Temple University, Dr. Gallucci is an expert in the impact of bacterial infection on the progression of autoimmune diseases. She will play a key role on our departmental promotions committee.
Additionally, new promotions and faculty appointments include:
Cardiovascular Medicine:
Kevin C. Floyd, MD, MS, promoted to Associate Professor
Hospital Medicine Appointments:
Kimiyoshi Kobayashi, MD, MBA, Associate Professor
Christina G. O’Brien, MD, Assistant Professor
Abena N. Yankah, MD, Assistant Professor
Bhavin Patel, DO, Assistant Professor
General Internal Medicine Appointments:
Tiffany Cook, MA, Assistant Professor
Elizabeth S. Ferzacca, MD, AAHIVS, Assistant Professor
Infectious Diseases and Immunology Appointments:
Yongzhi Chen, PhD, Instructor
Congratulations to all!
Interested in watching our Grand Rounds presentations? Click on the links below.
June 2 - Grander Rounds: "Development for the Clinician Educator"
June 1 - Special Seminar: Sex Differences in Atrial Fibrillation
May 19 - The Occupational Health Risks of Being a Firefighter
May 12 - Advances in Advanced Endoscopy: Yeah We Can Do That