News

Moderna’s TeenCOVE and KidCOVE mRNA COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials are on track to expand the number of children in the Moderna KidCOVE trial, as requested this week by the Food and Drug Administration.

Robert W. Finberg, MD, and Michael Hirsh, MD, explain how the Delta variant is fueling an increase in COVID-19 cases among unvaccinated people and how Massachusetts is affected.

UMass Medical School is participating in the ACTIV-2 Outpatient Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Therapies Trial, which is evaluating investigational agents for treating early COVID-19.

A longitudinal study co-authored by UMass Medical School researchers as part of the National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative reported that PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 and rapid antigen testing were equally effective in detecting infection when tests were given at least twice per week.

The Dan and Diane Riccio Fund for Neuroscience has awarded four teams of UMass Medical School researchers $50,000 seed grants for interdisciplinary collaborations leading to innovative discoveries that deepen understanding of normal brain function and what goes awry in neurological diseases.

Mark Klempner, MD, was recognized by Chancellor Michael F. Collins for his outstanding leadership of MassBiologics of UMass Medical School during a ceremony to welcome the next executive vice chancellor.

UMass Medical School intends to start enrolling by the end of June approximately 100 participants from its initial Pfizer trial in a study of a vaccine booster. The booster would be given roughly six months after participants received their second shot of the original vaccine.

Katherine A. Fitzgerald, PhD; Fiachra Humphries, PhD; and Liraz Galia, PhD, working with the British-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, have identified a novel molecule capable of stimulating the innate immune system against SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Researchers at UMass Medical School have reported on a case of mild heart inflammation in a young male received mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

UMass Medical School is a study site for the Phase II/III study of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents between ages 12 and 17, called TeenCOVE.

A new study co-authored by UMass Medical School preventive cardiology expert Lara Kovell, MD, finds that diets with lots of fruits and vegetables and not too much salt positively impact three markers that can predict or be evidence of existing cardiovascular disease.

United States senators visited the National Institutes of Health at its Bethesda campus on May 17 for a tour of its Vaccine Research Center and discussion of COVID-19 initiatives, including the National Institutes of Health Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative, or RADx.

Chancellor Michael F. Collins announced that Mireli Fino, MBA, will be the next executive vice chancellor for MassBiologics beginning in July.

UMass Medical School’s infection control officer, Sharone Green, MD, says a safe vacation starts with preparation, research and awareness of one’s own risk and risks to others.

Initial analysis of the Phase II/III TeenCOVE study of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine, in which UMass Medical School is participating, showed vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 of 96 percent, the company reported.

The Massachusetts Department of Education has named MD/PhD candidate Apurv Soni the UMass Medical School “29 Who Shine” honoree for 2021.

A case study by researchers from UMass Medical School and The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has documented evidence of COVID-19 reinfection in a patient who previously had the disease, highlighting the importance of widespread vaccination against COVID-19 to protect against community spread.

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.

Robert Finberg, MD, talks to The Conversation about the common misperception that side effects caused by the COVID-19 vaccine indicate a strong immune response in the recipient

David Cave, MD, PhD, and colleagues at UMass Medical School found that using video capsule endoscopy as a first procedure for the detection of the source of acute gastrointestinal bleeding could be a safe and effective alternative to the traditional method.

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

Chancellor Michael F. Collins has been selected by Holy Cross to receive an honorary degree and provide a reflection to the Class of 2021 at its commencement ceremony on Friday, May 21. He earned his undergraduate degree at the college in 1977.  

The national effort to bring convenient, affordable and rapid testing technology for SARS-CoV-2 infection to market is moving full speed ahead. The $1.5 billion effort was launched a year ago, with UMass Medical School playing a major role in coordinating the push for fast, accessible COVID-19 testing.

Thomas Lincoln, MD, has been awarded the W. Lester Henry Award for Diversity and Access to Care from the American College of Physicians. The award recognizes a member with outstanding accomplishments in advancing diversity in clinical medicine or research, or in access to care in relation to diverse populations.

A pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent Lyme disease, developed at MassBiologics of UMass Medical School and now being tested in a year-long human clinical trial, could be ready for licensure in about two and a half years, according to Mark Klempner, MD.

Lyme PrEP, a seasonal shot to prevent Lyme disease developed by MassBiologics at UMass Medical School, has begun enrolling volunteers to evaluate the safety and pharmacology of the treatment.

Five UMass Medical School scientists from the UMass Diabetes Center of Excellence are part of the JDRF Center of Excellence in New England that launched Feb. 23. The goal of the is to create a cell replacement therapy that could treat and potentially cure type 1 diabetes.

A new Voices of UMassMed podcast spotlights the robust Graduate Medical Education programs at UMass Medical School and UMass Memorial Health Care.

Worcester HIV Vaccine has received clearance from the FDA for its Investigational New Drug application for a novel polyvalent DNA/prime-protein boost vaccine to prevent HIV.

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.

UMass Medical School researchers are working with a statewide network in partnership with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine the extent of SARS-CoV-2 mutations in the Worcester area and what role they might play in community spread.

UMass Medical School researchers are about to start enrolling adolescents ages 12 through 17 in a clinical trial to test the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine made by Moderna.

Angela Essa, SOM ’23, said she has “always been really curious about medicine and the biology of disease and how we treat it.”

Atalanta Therapeutics, a biotech founded by UMass Medical School and three faculty research scientists to pioneer treatment options for neurodegenerative diseases, has launched with financing by venture capital fund F-Prime Capital and strategic collaborations with Biogen and Genentech.

Two MD/PhD students in the lab of Read Pukkila-Worley, MD, have each received Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards from the National Institute of Health.

Kimberly Fisher, MD, and Kathleen Mazor, EdD, are preparing a study to evaluate ways for health care providers to talk with their patients about the new COVID-19 vaccines and support them in getting vaccinated.

A new companionship wellness initiative at UMass Medical School is combating isolation and loneliness among COVID-19 patients 65 and older by having students virtually check in, comfort and emotionally support them at two Worcester hospitals.

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

Frontline health care workers employed by UMass Memorial Health Care are among those expected to receive vaccinations against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 beginning this week.

Jerry Gurwitz, MD, is leading a team that was recently awarded an $814,000 planning grant from the National Institute on Aging to enhance patient/caregiver communication with their health care provider about medications, which may help reduce inappropriate prescribing to people living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias.

David D. McManus, MD, has been appointed chair of the Department of Medicine, beginning next month. He will also be invested as the Richard M. Haidack Professor of Medicine and serve as founding director of the Program in Digital Medicine.

Prompted by a health issue that his grandmother had, MD/PhD student Eric Ding is studying how smart watches monitor heart rhythms and detect atrial fibrillation in older adults. His work is supported by a three-year National Institutes of Health grant.

Robert W. Finberg, MD, a member of Gov. Charlie Baker’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group, explains the process of getting the population vaccinated that will play out in phases over the coming year.

National Institutes of Health research funding to UMass Medical School grew by 78 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2021, which began July 1. Grants and contracts from all funding sources increased by nearly 50 percent.

Under the guidance of Sharone Green, MD, infectious disease officer at UMass Medical School, COVID-19 infection numbers at UMMS remain low, reflecting the community’s respect for the seriousness of the situation and following safety protocols.

Deborah DeMarco, MD, is the recipient of the ACGME 2020 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Lead Award. The award acknowledges the leadership and commitment of designated institutional officials who foster an excellent environment for resident/fellow education at their institutions.

First results from a Pfizer and BioNTech Phase III messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine trial, in which UMass Medical School is participating, show promising findings, with more than 90 percent effectiveness in preventing infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the companies announced.

School of Medicine and Graduate School of Nursing students explored a range of public health issues through population health clerkships and presented their work virtually.

As coronavirus cases surge and the flu season gets underway across the United States, infectious disease expert Roberg W. Finberg, MD, provides a snapshot of the COVID-19 pandemic, offers insight into the latest research and urges people to stay vigilant in a new Voices of UMassMed podcast.

Sarah Nicole Forrester, PhD, and Ann Moormann, PhD, MPH, are co-principal investigators on a new grant aimed at enhancing representation of Black and Hispanic people in SARS-CoV-2 immunology research through the use of storytelling.

Second-year School of Medicine student Mina Botros is the co-president of the Worcester Free Care Collaborative, a group of free medical programs in the greater Worcester area that offers free patient care. 

MD/PhD candidate Kevin Gao has received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to study a rare autoinflammatory disease in infants called STING-associated vasculopathy with onset in infancy.

Mary Callery O’Brien, MD, has been honored by the Massachusetts Medical Society with the 2020 Grant V. Rodkey Award for outstanding contributions to medical education and medical students.

Designed to amplify the impact of UMass Medical School on the local community, the Remillard Family Community Service Fund provides support for community outreach programs.

As many as four in 10 adults would refuse or hesitate to get a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a national survey, results of which were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Study co-authors Kimberly Fisher, MD, and Kathleen Mazor, EdD, say the findings indicate that health education outreach would be necessary to achieve widespread uptake of a safe and effective vaccine.

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.

Robert Finberg, MD, spoke with the Boston Globe and CNN about measures UMass Medical School has taken to reach a diverse population as it recruits for its involvement in the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine trail for COVID-19.

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.

UMass Medical School is enrolling healthy volunteers to take part in a Phase II/III clinical trial testing whether a messenger RNA vaccine candidate can prevent infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.

Infectious disease specialist Robert W. Finberg, MD, is urging people to get vaccinated soon against influenza, as the threat approaches of what has been called a “twindemic,” the annual spike in seasonal flu coinciding this year with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

A new study by researchers at MassBiologics of UMass Medical School published in Nature Communications suggests that COVID specific IgA monoclonal antibodies may provide effective immunity in the respiratory system against the novel coronavirus—a potentially critical feature of an effective vaccine.

UMass Medical School will bring the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science to its next level of innovation and collaboration with the five-year, $30 million renewal of its Clinical and Translational Sciences Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Sybil Crawford, PhD, has received the 2020 North American Menopause Society/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Menopause Journal Best Paper Award for a study which found that many women who are experiencing menopausal symptoms could benefit from hormone therapy with minimal health risks.

UMass Medical School has been awarded grants totaling more than $100 million to coordinate the nationwide push for fast, accessible COVID-19 testing, playing a major role in the National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics, or RADx, program.

Douglas T. Golenbock, MD; Gregory A. Volturo, MD; Anastasia Khvorova, PhD; Erik J. Sontheimer, PhD; and Jennifer A. Reidy, MD, have been named to endowed faculty posts at UMass Medical School.

In a new Voices of UMassMed podcast, Mark Klempner, MD, talks about promising new research into infectious diseases, including Lyme disease, at MassBiologics of UMass Medical School.

Celia Schiffer, PhD, has been selected as a fellow of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program at Drexel University College of Medicine.

David E. Chiriboga, MD, MPH, has organized a virtual international conference July 2 on “health equity in the pandemic and beyond,” an initiative driven by the pressing need to address health disparities within and among countries that are being amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UMass Medical School postdoctoral associate Yasaman Gholamalipour, PhD, was awarded the Huntington’s Disease Society of America Berman-Topper Family HD Career Development Fellowship for 2020.

Research expenditures at the University of Massachusetts increased by $33 million in one fiscal year to a record high of $684 million in fiscal year 2019. At UMass Medical School, research expenditures rose by 2.7 percent to $281.51 million.

In a memo to the UMass Medical School community, Chancellor Michael F. Collins and Dean Terence R. Flotte say racism is a public health crisis and outline changes underway at UMMS.

The Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, in collaboration with Morgan Stanley GIFT Cures, has chosen two UMass Medical School faculty members to receive Harrington Scholar Awards for Coronavirus.

David McManus, MD, and MD/PhD candidate Apurv Soni developed a tool to predict risk of severe illness in COVID-19 patients.

In a piece originally published on The Conversation, Mark Klempner, MD, talks about a yearly antibody for Lyme disease that shows promise for preventing infection.

More than 100 critically ill COVID-19 patients in the UMass Memorial Health Care system have been treated with convalescent plasma through a UMass Medical School clinical trial led by Jonathan M. Gerber, MD.

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

Colleen Harrington, MD; Seema Adhami, MD; Carolynn DeBenedectis, MD; Anastasia Khvorova, PhD; Suzanne Cashman, ScD; and Jennifer Bradford, MD, were honored as the recipients of the 2020 Women’s Faculty Awards.

The Center for Advancing Point of Care Technologies, co-directed by David McManus, MD, at UMass Medical School, will perform a key role in a new National Institutes of Health initiative aimed at speeding innovation, development and commercialization of COVID-19 testing technologies.

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.

Students at UMass Medical School worked with more than 60 local health care providers to get telehealth programs up and running in their clinics so that they can connect with patients through video conferencing.

Nancy A. Anoruo, MD, MPH, a third-year resident in the Department of Medicine, is working as a medical contributor and journalist for the ABC News Medical Unit in New York.

In interviews with the media, new graduates of the School of Medicine Class of 2020 say they are honored to begin serving patients and are well prepared to do so, amid the global pandemic.

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.

The Research Career and Writing Group, known as the “K Club”, helps junior investigators obtain early career training grants known as K awards to advance their research. Daniel Amante, PhD, is among the more than 80 percent of K Club participants who have applied for these awards and received funding.

Two research teams from UMass Medical School have been selected by STAT News to compete among 64 contestants in the 2020 STAT Madness, a bracket-style competition in which members of the public will vote for the best biomedical research from 2019.

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.

The UMass Diabetes Center of Excellence has established the Glass Family Fellow in Diabetes Research through a gift from Scott and Patricia Glass. It was presented to Richard A. Siller, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow in the lab of René Maehr, PhD.

A business incubator working to improve the lives of patients with heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders, the Center for Advancing Point of Care Technologies is expanding its reach to the next generation of biotech and medical-device entrepreneurs.

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.

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.