Faculty and Staff Recognitions

The RA-PROPR study is a pragmatic clinical trial designed to address the question of what the best next choice of treatment is for a patient with active rheumatoid arthritis despite TNF inhibitor therapy, a non-TNF biologic, or a JAK inhibitor. Presently, this treatment decision is made without any evidence from a comparative effectiveness study. Patients participating in RA-PROPR are randomized to receive either a non-TNF biologic or a JAK inhibitor and are followed by their treating provider, in the context of routine clinical care, to assess response to treatment over 12 months.  

UMass Chan is one of 26 sites in this multicenter clinical trial, which is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) and coordinated by the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB). Jonathan Kay MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, and the Timothy S. and Elaine L. Peterson Chair in Rheumatology, serves on the steering committee for this clinical trial and as site principal investigator, with Drs. Mauricio Leitao and Mohan Pahari of the DoM Research Core as its outstanding study coordinators. 

While the UMass Chan site began enrollment six months after other sites, the team has already enrolled five subjects as of March 1, 2023, is presently the fifth highest enrolling site overall, and is the second highest enrolling academic site (after UAB, which has enrolled only one more patient than UMass Chan). The UMass Chan site is poised to enroll two additional subjects, which will advance them to the position of the third highest enrolling site overall in the study. 

Read Pukkila-Worley, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology and faculty in the Program in Innate Immunity, and MD/PhD students Nicholas D. Peterson and Samantha Y. Tse, recently had a study published in Immunity, titled “Non-canonical pattern recognition of a pathogen-derived metabolite by a nuclear hormone receptor identifies virulent bacteria in C. elegans.”  

The study aims to detect microbial infection that intercepts pathogen-derived signals of growth to assess the relative threat of virulent bacteria. A nuclear hormone receptor in the nematode C. elegans senses a toxic metabolite produced by the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa to activate innate immunity. This data reveals an ancient strategy that informs the origins of pathogen detection and may be among the most primordial forms of immune sensing in animals.  

Atrial fibrillation (AF) currently affects up to six million Americans with 12 million projected by 2050. AF is particularly prevalent in long-term care (LTC) facilities (i.e. nursing homes) ranging from 7.5% to 17%. Over 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) or Alzheimer’s Disease-related dementias (ADRD). AD/ADRD co-occurs with AF 60% of the time in LTC residents. Research linking the development of AD and ADRD to AF has emerged recently, however, the impact of treatments for AF on LTC residents with co-occurring AF and AD/ADRD is not understood. Recent evidence has emerged that anticoagulation (AC), the main treatment for AF, may prevent cognitive impairment and slow further cognitive decline in individuals with existing AD/ADRD. Weighing against the benefits, however, are several burdens of AC on LTC residents including major bleeding episodes (requiring hospitalizations and procedures to control bleeding) and more frequently, nonmajor bleeding episodes which lead to trips to the emergency department. 

Alok Kapoor, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, and his team, recently received funding from the Alzheimer’s Association to investigate the benefits and burdens of AC in LTC residents with co-occurring AF and AD/ADRD. First, they will measure these benefits and burdens using merged Medicare datasets. Then, they will develop a conversation aid (CA) to promote discussions between LTC providers and residents with AF and AD/ADRD about the risks and benefits of AC. With their findings, the team hopes to foster shared AC decision-making between providers and their LTC residents with co-occurring AF and AD/ADRD. 

Jennifer Kodela, DO, a second-year Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellow, has developed a Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Medical Education (PCCM) track under the mentorship of Reid Evans, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and education specialist.   

The two-year, longitudinal curriculum is designed to develop skills in teaching, mentoring, and scholarship for those interested in pursuing a career as an educator in academic medicine. The curriculum consists of a short lecture series that occurs twice a year, supported by supplemental lectures offered by visiting speakers. In addition, fellows are expected to participate in authentic teaching practices, which involve standardized feedback, reflective practice, and experimental learning through committee participation and projects aimed at curriculum design. Fellows are also expected to complete a medical education portfolio by the end of the track and are encouraged to pursue scholarships throughout the two years.   

In total, five fellows are currently participating in or planning to join the track. There are six PCCM faculty members involved in the track, all of whom have completed the required trainings and are engaged in providing standardized feedback. The track offers core lectures for the residency and fellowship and is engaged in active projects directed at curriculum development and design. These projects include the revision of the VISTA curriculum respiratory block, the creation of the medical school ICU selective, and the development of the ECMO curriculum.   

In addition to her work on the PCCM track, Dr. Kodela was recently recognized for excelling in the care of a patient. The patient’s family expressed deep gratitude for Dr. Kodela, whom they said provided incredible physical care and treated their loved one with respect, compassion, and patience.  

We are grateful to Dr. Kodela for her many contributions to the Department of Medicine.  

Lara Kovell, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, is senior author on the study “Social Determinants, Blood Pressure Control, and Racial Inequities in Childbearing Age Women With Hypertension, 2001 to 2018,” which was featured in a special “Go Red for Women” issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association in late February.  

Dr. Kovell and her team aimed to understand the health inequities in maternal mortality for women from under-represented racial and ethnic groups. The focus of the study was to evaluate blood pressure control and social determinants of health in women of childbearing potential with hypertension. Dr. Kovell concluded that black women of childbearing age were more than twice as likely to have uncontrolled blood pressure than white women of similar age. In addition, food insecurity was found to be one of the common social factors that may affect high blood pressure risk. 

The liver transplant team, part of the UMass Memorial Transplant Program, was recently recognized for performing their one-thousandth liver transplant at the medical center. This milestone was featured on CBS News Boston in early February, in a story highlighting the patient who received the transplant.  

"Our patients are fortunate to have access to high-quality transplant services in Central Massachusetts from a dedicated multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, and support staff. The transplant team has been a model for teamwork across divisions, departments, and disciplines. While 1,000 liver transplants is a momentous milestone for our program, I am most excited to see what great things are yet to come from this group," stated Christopher Marshall, MD, clinical chief and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology. 

Savant Mehta, MD, transplant hepatologist and associate professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, added: “The initiation of liver transplant in 1998 at UMass Memorial Healthcare was a landmark event and helped to fulfill our mission of improving the health of the people of our diverse communities of Central New England through culturally sensitive excellence in clinical care, service, teaching, and research. I was privileged to be a part of this initiative from its very early stages and I am happy to report that completing 1,000 liver transplants at UMass is a step in the direction of fulfilling this mission and we hope to continue to improve and enhance this further over the coming years.”  

We applaud the transplant program for achieving this milestone and look forward to its many continued successes. 

Gisela Banauch, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, was recently featured in a blog by the American College of Chest Physicians.

In the blog titled "Improve Your Skills at the Bedside with CHEST's Thorough Ultrasound Courses," Dr. Banauch explains the importance of Ultrasonography courses, as they "provide an important supplementary pathway to reach competence in both knowledgeable interpretation and skillful application of this new bedside technology."

Sunita Puri, MD, associate professor of medicine, program director of the Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine Fellowship, and provider in the Division of Palliative Care Medicine, was recently featured in an article by Yahoo News on former President Jimmy Carter's decision to “spend his remaining time at home and receive hospice care.”

With hospice care often being misunderstood, Dr. Puri explains common misconceptions as well as the importance of the service and its benefits to patients.

Sanjay Ram, MD, and Peter Rice, MD, both professors of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, were recently featured in a UMass Chan News article describing the risk of a novel gonorrhea strain in Massachusetts.

January 19, 2023, two cases of multidrug-non susceptible Neisseria gonorrhoeae were detected, in which five classes of the strain were resistant to six of the seven antibiotics tested. Although ceftriaxone is available to treat gonorrhea, Dr. Ram explains the importance of performing cultures on patients in order to identify and screen asymptomatic cases to treat and stop the spread of the new strain. Without proper screenings, the strain could accumulate more resistant mutations as it is passed from one person to another. Dr. Rice explains that the lack of cultures being performed in the U.S. is why the strain can mutate and continue to survive. To help combat the spread of gonorrhea, Drs. Ram and Rice encourage patients to be forthcoming with their providers about their sexual history, especially teenagers and young adults.

Laura Gibson, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, was recently featured in a Voices of UMass Chan podcast, where she discussed her upcoming study with Moderna to investigate Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and its transmission in group childcare settings. CMV is a common virus and is often mild in healthy adults and children. However, CMV acquired before birth, known as Congenital CMV, can lead to severe infection in infants. Early studies show that the transmission of this type of disease is specifically common in group childcare and early childhood education settings, making the transmission from children to pregnant mothers easier. 

In the study titled “CMV Immune Transmission and Immune Tracking,” Dr. Gibson aims to collect saliva samples from children currently in group childcare or early education settings to examine how many children per facility are already infected with the disease. For stage two of the study, Dr. Gibson plans to enroll additional children and family members at various childcare locations in the study, with the goal of understanding the transmission of CMV in group childcare settings and how to reduce the risk factors of CMV. 

Several faculty members in the Department of Medicine were recently awarded Digital Health Insights (DIGI) Grants from UMass Memorial Health’s Center for Digital Health Solutions (CDHS). The program provides grants to health care providers in support of novel approaches for the use of digital health technologies that have a positive impact on quality, efficiency, patient and/or provider engagement, health equity, or financial outcomes. 

Faculty in the Department of Medicine were awarded the following DIGI Grants: 

Asem Ali, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, for “Utility & Feasibility of Continuous Glucose Monitoring for Insulin Dosing and Improving Glucose Control in Hospitalized Patients.” 

Madona Azar, MD, provider in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, for “Use of GLP1-RA's in patients with diabetes and established ASCVD: Underutilization and proposal to improve adherence to standards of care.” 

Jonathan Cheah, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, for “Optimizing Prescription of Proven Therapies for Osteoporosis.” 

Eric Cucchi, EICU, and John Mordes, MD, professor emeritus in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, for "Continuous Glucose Monitoring in the ICU: Validation & Implementation."

Michael Devine, DO, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, for “Improving Discharge by Noon and Discharge by 2:00 p.m.”

Matthew Greenwood, MD, provider in the Division of Hospital Medicine, for “An Epic Upgrade for the Transitional Care Team: Incorporating the Hospital Medicine Patient Triaging System Into the Current Electronic Medical Record.” 

Matthew Niemi, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Renal Medicine and Konstantin Abramov, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Renal Medicine for “Optimizing Medical Therapy for Diabetic Kidney Disease.” 

Khanh-Van Tran, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, for “Advanced Lipid Lowering Therapeutics.” 

Jeevarathna Subramanian, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, along with Jamie Faro, PhD, from the Department of Population & Quantitative Health Sciences, is leading a small pilot study at UMass Chan Medical School that will help determine how to effectively integrate patient wearable device data into electronic health records. This remote study also aims to allow providers to help patients set and monitor physical activities and fitness goals.  

The study will equip patients with a Fitbit, which syncs the Apple HealthKit mobile app to patient portal electronic health records. Focusing on tracking the number of steps each patient takes per day, researchers will use this data to determine how providers want to receive notifications about their patients’ device data, how often they want to communicate with the patient regarding the data, and how to provide goal-setting strategies.  

Learn more.

Deborah DeMarco, MD, professor of medicine, senior associate dean for clinical affairs, and associate dean for graduate medical education has dedicated over 30 years of service to the mission and growth of the Department of Medicine and UMass Chan Medical School and now has announced her retirement in June 2023.  

Dr. DeMarco’s service to our institution has been exemplary and highly impactful to the growth and success of our GME programs. Her commitment to making these programs more inclusive, supportive, and well-structured has strengthened our ability to continue to recruit top-tier students to our institute.  

Of her time in GME, Dr. DeMarco recently remarked, “I have been associate dean since 2001 and it has been the most rewarding career I could have ever wished for. The people I have worked and collaborated with in both the school and clinical system, and the variety of issues we deal with in the GME office have made every day different and never boring. When I started in this role in 2001, we had about 42 ACGME-accredited programs and 456 residents. We have grown to 63 programs with 628 residents and fellows. In the past several years we have achieved new residency programs in urology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology and just last week otorhinolaryngology so we now have the full cadre of core residency programs. Mentoring new program directors through the challenges they face and helping residents and fellows navigate their training years in a supportive environment have been some of the greatest joys in this role.”  

Beginning with her first academic leadership appointment as director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program in 1995, Dr. DeMarco has served UMass Chan as an active member and leader of important initiatives and programs. She has served on numerous committees, several of which focus on strengthening and growing GME programs through focused task forces for diversity, supporting the wellness and growth of our residents, and ongoing curriculum review and strategic planning. Specifically, her service on the GME and UMass Chan Diversity Task Forces, Woman’s Leadership Workgroup, Academic Accommodation Committee and Educational Diversity Initiatives demonstrate her long-standing dedication to the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion as they pertain to not only GME but also the greater campus community and beyond.  

Dr. DeMarco has received multiple honors and awards, including the Sarah Stone Excellence in Education Award and the ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage to Lead Award for demonstrating excellence in overseeing residency and fellowship programs in 2021. Most recently, Dr. DeMarco was the recipient of the 2022 Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Service.  

The Department of Medicine extends our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. DeMarco for her tireless work and dedication to the educational mission of our department and UMass Chan. Her work has had an important impact on countless educators and trainees during her tenure which will be felt for many years to come. We wish her all the best in her upcoming retirement later this year.  

Led by Emil Tigas, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Jodi Wilson, NP, and Kaileigh Lavin, NP, all of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, the COPD readmissions program improved upon its FY22 goal to reduce COPD readmissions to 20.5%, by achieving a rate of only 19.6% for FY22. 

The COPD readmission reduction program is a comprehensive program that identifies COPD patients at high risk for readmission and consists of collaborative evaluation and management by the Pulmonology service, COPD nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, social workers, nurse navigators, and other ancillary team members. 

Congratulations on this incredible achievement! 

Six million Americans suffer with atrial fibrillation (AF), a heart rhythm abnormality that is a major risk factor for stroke. Despite this, only 60% of eligible AF patients receive treatment, and this gap is even larger for African Americans who use anticoagulation 10-22% less frequently compared to White patients. As AF is a major risk factor for stroke, professional societies recommend anticoagulation (AC) in most patients. However, some patients are reluctant to start or continue taking AC due to onset of bleeding or other setbacks. This translates to roughly 900-2,000 preventable strokes and 180-400 preventable deaths occurring in African Americans each year. 

For these reasons, teams at UMass Chan Medical School, led by Alok Kapoor, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, and the University of Michigan, led by Geoff Barnes, MD, are partnering on Story-AF, a project dedicated to understanding the stories of African American patients who have AF and are on anticoagulant therapy. Through the project, African American patients will share their experiences, tell their stories about being diagnosed with AF and treated with anticoagulants, and share any obstacles they faced or setbacks that occurred. Researchers then plan to test the power of these stories to encourage other African American patients to take an anticoagulant to help prevent stroke and improve their overall health.

Members of the Division of Hematology/Oncology continue to demonstrate excellence in clinical care and medical education through their leadership, participation, and service in national societies and annual meetings. Division faculty recently accepted opportunities to contribute to their flagship societies, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Kriti Mittal, MD, MS, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology has been invited to serve as a member of the ASCO’s Digital Education Content Planning Group whose purpose is to assist with the planning of topical content in the areas of breast, lung, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary cancers. She will also work alongside faculty to plan and develop content across all ASCO Digital Education’s educational activities. Sakiko Suzuki, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and program director of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship program was accepted into ASH’s Medical Educator Institute through a national, competitive application process. This one-year program is offered for medical educators who are guided through in-person and virtual sessions, as well as longitudinal mentoring relationships with medical educator faculty, to gain hands-on experience in various aspects of medical education scholarship.

Members of the division also served as abstract reviewers and session moderators at the ASH Annual Meeting that was held this past December. In addition to his role as an abstract reviewer, Shyam Patel, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, served as the session moderator for Acute Myeloid Leukemias – Biomarkers, Molecular Markers, and Minimal Residual Disease in Diagnosis and Prognosis – Molecular Features and Response to Treatment in AML. Jonathan Gerber, MD, the Eleanor Eustis Farrington Chair in Cancer Research, professor of medicine, and chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, served as the coordinating abstract reviewer and session moderator for Acute Myeloid Leukemias – Investigational Therapies, Excluding Transplantation and Cellular Immunotherapies – Relapsed/Refractory AML. He also currently serves on ASH’s Committee on Practice, Subcommittee on Precision Medicine, and Continuing Certification Working Group, as well as the ASCO Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Trial’s Molecular Tumor Board. Additionally, Dr. Patel, Dr. Laurie Pearson, and Dr. Poorva Bindal were all first authors on abstracts presented in poster sessions at the annual ASH meeting. 

In this month’s Team Spotlight, we highlight the work of the Mission Behavioral Health Lab, which joined the Division of Health Systems Science in the fall of 2022. The lab is led by David Smelson, PsyD, professor of medicine in the Division of Health Systems Science and director of the Center of Excellence in Addiction and includes research team members Abigail Helm, PhD, research program manager, Paige Shaffer, MPH, PhD candidate, senior project director and chief data analyst, Jennifer Harter, PhD, senior project director, Michael Andre, MPH, research project director, Brooks Thompson, Kathryn Bruzios, MS, and Idalis Rivera-Ramirez, clinical research coordinators, and Kendra Caputo, Eleni Kachadoorian, Sarah Marcus, and Marinna Kaufman, clinical research assistants, as well as a dedicated team of clinical staff and students.

The Mission Behavioral Health Lab is dedicated to conducting state-of-the-art research toward advancing the understanding of the etiology, consequences, and treatment of addiction and mental health, as well as the implementation of evidence-based practices. Work in the lab includes an evidence-based intervention, called Maintaining Independence and Sobriety through Systems Integration, Outreach, and Networking (MISSION), which was developed in 2001 to specifically meet mental health, substance misuse, and other psychosocial needs of individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (CODs). MISSION combines several evidence-based practices into a system of care to address population-specific factors, provide COD treatment, and community-based support to sustain recovery.  

The Mission Behavioral Health Lab’s research includes testing other novel behavioral and pharmacological treatments, community-based treatment engagement approaches, racial and ethnic disparities in care, mobile health devices, multisite implementation trials, and examining psychiatric epidemiological research across addiction. The lab has received funding from the NIH (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Drug Abuse, and National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health), Department of Veterans Affairs, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, Bureau of Justice Administration, the Executive Office of the Massachusetts Trial Court, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, as well as several other states around the country. They have 12 federal grants including recently received funding for a 4-year grant titled “Supporting Treatment Access and Recovery for Co-occurring Opioid Use and Mental Health Disorders (STAR-COD),” as part of NIH’s The Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (HEAL Initiative).   

The Mission Behavioral Health Lab serves as an "academic incubator” for collaborations within the Department of Medicine, UMass Chan Medical School, other University of Massachusetts campuses, and beyond, and we are thrilled to welcome their group to the Division of Health Systems Science. 

Learn more about the Mission Behavioral Health Lab: Mission Behavioral Health Lab (umassmed.edu)

Learn more about MISSION here:  www.missionmodel.org 

Related Story by NIH on MISSION: A Whole Health Approach for Treating Opioid Addiction and Mental Illness  

In this month’s Chair’s Spotlight, we highlight the work of Lauren Feld, MD, physician and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and physician executive for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in the Department of Medicine.  

Dr. Feld’s clinical interests include adult gastroenterology, hepatology, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, women’s health in liver disease, and LGBTQ health. She also has a background in clinical medical ethics and quantitative assessment, with specific training and expertise in survey research and secondary data analysis on the impact of psychosocial factors in patient care. Her work focuses on patient-physician communication and access to care, and she is equally committed to advocating for workforce gender equity.

Dr. Feld joined the faculty at UMass Chan/UMMH in September 2022. She brings passion and enthusiasm to her work, and we are thrilled that she has joined us in the Department of Medicine!

Read the full spotlight here.

 Congratulations to Jessica Novia, project manager of the Administrative Services Group (ASG), for winning a staff award.

 Congratulations to Bridget Breault, program coordinator, in the Division of Renal Medicine, for winning a staff award.

 Congratulations to Lindsey Shanahan, PA, Bone Marrow Transplant, Division of Hematology/Oncology, for winning an APP citizenship award. 

 Congratulations to Caitlin Alves, PA, Division of Hospital Medicine, for winning an APP citizenship award. 

 Congratulations to Constantinos (Taki) Michaelidis, MD, MBA, MS, medical director, Hospital at Home Program, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, for winning a faculty citizenship award. 

 Congratulations to Jonathan Min, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, for winning a faculty citizenship award. 

Kevin Donahue, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, was recently awarded funding for an R01 grant titled "Translating post-infarct ventricular tachycardia mechanisms into a therapy” from the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Dr. Donahue and his team recently identified 2 potassium channel proteins, which increase only in the arrhythmogenic areas of the heart. The overexpression of these channels alters the electrical reset of the heart cells within the electrical circuit that causes an arrhythmia. With this funding, Dr. Donahue and his team propose to reverse the overexpression of the potassium channel proteins and evaluate the safety and efficacy of arrhythmia treatments in preclinical models. Successful completion of this project will be the first step toward the goal of a permanent cure for ventricular arrhythmias in humans. 

Dr. Blazey-Martin joins us from Tufts Medical Center, where she has served as Chief of Internal Medicine and Adult Primary Care for the last nine years. She has also served as the medical director for Tufts Medical Center LCO, NEQCA since 2021, and for Tufts Medical Center Community Care since 2016. During her time as Chief, she established herself as an accomplished leader, spearheading initiatives that have built models of care to utilize data in innovative ways and enhance performance improvement. She has also strived to lead with compassion and implement strategies to help physicians address burnout and the plethora of challenges that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has held several academic and educational appointments including the Director of Continuing Medical Education Conference in the Division of Internal Medicine and Adult Primary Care, the Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program, and the Director of Resident Education for General Internal Medicine. She was the recipient of the Castle Connelly Exceptional Women in Medicine award, 2017-19, and the Kritzman Primary Care Teaching Award at Tufts Medical Center in 2017. Dr. Blazey-Martin earned her medical degree from the Boston University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Primary Care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and her fellowship in Internal Medicine at Harvard University School of Medicine.

Dr. Blazey-Martin will serve as the new Vice Chair for Ambulatory Affairs and Chief of General Internal Medicine. In this role, she will oversee the Division of General Medicine and the Department’s ambulatory strategy and operations. She will support our ambulatory physician leads and will work closely with Medical Center and System leaders in this capacity to provide high-quality ambulatory care, access, and a positive work experience for our ambulatory physicians, advanced practitioners, and clinic staff. 

Apurv Soni, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Health Systems Science and co-director of the Program in Digital Medicine, is the principal investigator on a new study to evaluate a community health virtual intervention against COVID-19. As part of the National Institutes of Health’s Home Test to Treat program, he and other researchers at UMass Chan will evaluate the data collected from a virtual intervention that will provide free COVID-19 health services, which include rapid tests, telehealth sessions, and at-home treatments.

The program will make antiviral treatment available for eligible individuals who receive a positive COVID-19 test result. By gathering data from participants, Dr. Soni and scientists at UMass Chan will work to identify best practices and make improvements to the Home Test to Treat model. The communities chosen for the study were based on COVID-19 infection trends, a social vulnerability index, and discussions with state and local authorities. The program plans to enroll 100,000 people across the United States by the end of 2023. 

Learn more.

In this month’s Chair’s Spotlight, we highlight the work of Hardy Kornfeld, MD, professor of medicine, and Lorissa Smulan, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, both in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care. Dr. Kornfeld’s research focuses on host defense against bacterial and viral respiratory pathogens, with an emphasis on tuberculosis (TB), specifically, the immunometabolism of TB-diabetes interaction, host-directed TB therapies, and post-TB lung disease. Dr. Smulan was a postdoctoral fellow in the Kornfeld lab from 2017-2021 and has continued to work with Dr. Kornfeld while developing an independent line of research as a newly appointed assistant professor of medicine.

Read the full spotlight here.

Neal Silverman, PhD, research director and professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, and faculty in the Program in Innate Immunity was recently awarded continued funding on an R01 as well as a new R56, both from the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Silverman’s R01 grant titled “From Drosophila Immunity to Anti-Inflammatories,” aims to understand how host cells recognize microbial infections and induce protective immune responses using molecular and genetic resources available in Drosophila model systems, while translating key discoveries to mammalian systems. With this renewal, Dr. Silverman continues to focus on immune recognition and signal transduction on the immune deficiency (Imd) pathway, while examining related processes in mammalian NOD1/2 pathways.

In his R56 grant titled, “Elucidating Leishmania strategies for parasitophorous vacuole biogenesis,” Dr. Silverman aims to understand the cellular mechanisms that drive the biogenesis of the enlarged parasitophorous vacuole (PV), which allows the survival and replication of amastigotes within macrophages. Leishmania amazonensis (L. amazonesis) is a growing public health problem, as infection with this parasite creates diffuse non-healing lesions and lethal visceral disease, with increasing levels of resistance to standard therapies. Dr. Silverman and his team ultimately seek to investigate three novel mechanisms, identified in his earlier studies, involved in the biogenesis of the L. amazonensis amastigote enlarged PV.

A research team led by David Smelson, PsyD, professor of medicine in the Division of Health Systems Science and director of the Center of Excellence in Addiction, recently received funding for a 4-year grant titled “Supporting Treatment Access and Recovery for Co-occurring Opioid Use and Mental Health Disorders (STAR-COD),” as part of NIH’s The Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (HEAL Initiative).   

Using their intervention, Maintaining Independence and Sobriety through Systems Integration, Outreach, and Networking (MISSION), the team will combine three evidence-based practices: dual recovery therapy, peer support, and critical time intervention. Clients will be offered six months of MISSION treatment, delivered by a case manager and peer specialist team, along with medications for opioid use disorder. The focus of the grant for the team is to assess whether a less-intensive community intervention, combined with medication-assisted opioid use disorder treatment is effective and efficient among patients.  

Their work was featured this past Monday in an op-ed article by Abigail Helm, PhD, Research Program Director in Dr. Smelson’s group in BASIS (The Brief Addiction Science Information Source), a Harvard Medical School publication. Here, she described the team’s research and its effectiveness in improving substance and mental health outcomes.

Read Dr. Helm’s op-ed.  

Related Story by NIH on MISSION: A Whole Health Approach for Treating Opioid Addiction and Mental Illness  

Ann Moormann, PhD, MPH, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology in the Department of Medicine and a faculty member in the Program in Innate Immunity, has recently been elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH). Founded in 1903, the ASTMH is the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health. In 2011, the ASTMH Board of Directors established the Fellows of ASTMH, consisting of members who display professional excellence in any phase of tropical medicine, hygiene, global health, and other various disciplines.

“I have been a member of ASTMH since I was a graduate student so it’s a great honor to be recognized for my contributions to the society by this fellowship. I am especially proud of the rising scientists from all over the world who compete for the Young Investigator Award and have enjoyed chairing this committee.” 

We congratulate Dr. Moormann on being elected to this prestigious society and applaud her hard work and dedication to global health.  

Neal Silverman, PhD, research director and professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, and faculty in the Program in Innate Immunity, along with collaborators from the Duke University School of Medicine and the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, recently had their work, “Retrotransposon Activation During Drosophila Metamorphosis Conditions Adult Antiviral Responses,” published in Nature Genetics. 

Learn more about his publication here. 

The Department of Medicine would like to recognize Anna Gubala, MD, an Internal Medicine resident, who recently led a Thanksgiving food drive this month. With the help of medical students and the IM Residency Program, Dr. Gubala was able to collect a total of $1,605 for the Worcester County Food Bank. We thank Dr. Gubala and other members of the community for their generosity this holiday season!

The Department of Medicine would like to recognize the great work of Margaret Cabral, a cardiology APP working on the Heart Failure service, who recently stayed after hours at UMass Memorial Medical Center to assist current residents with the many admissions assigned to them. We thank Margaret for dedicating her time to the residents and applaud her for her professionalism and teamwork. 

Congratulations to David Lyons, MD, physician and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, who recently was awarded “Best Cardiologist” at the Telegram & Gazette’s Best of Central MA Awards Gala, on November 10th, at the DCU Convention Center in Worcester. The Best of Central MA program polls the Worcester County community each year to vote for the best of what the area has to offer. We would also like to congratulate Dennis Tighe, MD, physician and professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, who was also nominated for “Best Cardiologist.”  

Congratulations to The Cancer Research Office (CRO) at the UMass Cancer Center, which for the fourth year in a row, has been commended for its outstanding performance by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN). The ECOG-ACRIN is an organization that plays a key role in the National Cancer Institute’s mission through its National Clinical Trials Network and offers memberships to institutions with expertise in clinical research and translational science. Re-evaluation is conducted every year to ensure institutions meet their rigorous performance standards, assessing institutions on data quality, management, timeliness, imaging compliance, and committee service. This year’s commendation for the CRO specifically highlights the excellent data management and patient accruals of the center, enrolling five times as many patients as required. 

Learn more about their accomplishment. 

The Hospital at Home team has had much to celebrate this fall! In late October, the UMass Memorial Health (UMMH) Hospital at Home (HAH) team was awarded the “Hospital at Home Program of the Year,” and the “Hospital at Home Patient Video of the Year,” by the American Academy of Home Care Medicine (AAHCM) HAH User’s Group, a professional society that oversees and advocates for hospital at home services across the country. On receiving these honors on behalf of the UMMH HAH team, Constantinos (Taki) Michaelidis, MD, MBA, MS, medical director for the UMMH HAH program, and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, Candra Szymanski, MSN, RN, AVP for the UMMH HAH program stated, “The number of people who have been reaching out to [our team to] congratulate [us]…has just been deeply humbling. We are proud of our team and are truly just getting started!” Click here to learn more about HAH and their accomplishments.

Yoel Carrasquillo-Vega, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine and director of diversity, inclusion, and social justice in the Department of Medicine, was honored as a Hero of the Pandemic at CENTRO’s 3rd Central Mass Hispanic Heritage Breakfast that was held at Polar Park in Worcester on October 14th. Dr. Carrasquillo was honored alongside three other recipients during the breakfast. Of his efforts, Juan Gomez, President and CEO of CENTRO commented, “His bravery and dedication during the middle of this difficult period in our collective history, at the hospital, and while deployed to New York, was inspiring.”  

Kate Fitzgerald, PhD, the Worcester Foundation Chair in Biomedical Sciences, professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Innate Immunity, director of the Program in Innate Immunity, and vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine, was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) at the Class of 2021 New Member Class Induction Ceremony on October 14th. Dr. Fitzgerald was elected to the NAM in the fall of 2021, “For pioneering work on innate immune receptors, signaling pathways, and regulation of inflammatory gene expression.” 

Members of the Palliative Care team recently had work published in the Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, titled "Palliative Care Buddy System." This work published in September was authored by Palliative Care team members, Nancy McCool, LICSW, ACHP-SW, Jennifer Reidy, MD, the Joy McCann Professor for Women in Medicine, chief of the Division of Palliative Care and associate professor of family medicine and community health, Shawna Steadman, MS, RN, ACNP, and Vandana Nagpal, MD, associate program director of the Palliative Medicine Fellowship, associate chief and associate professor of medicine in the Division of Palliative Care. Read more.

Congratulations to Jennifer DeMaio, Operations Supervisor, and Anne Carney, Administrator, who both received Staff Awards at the October 3rd, Town Hall. 

Congratulations to Meridith Malysz, NP, who was awarded an October APP Citizenship Award at the October 3rd, Town Hall. 

Congratulations to Peter Rice, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Disease and Immunology, who was awarded the October Faculty Citizenship Award at the October 3rd Town Hall.

Congratulations to Ann Moormann, PhD, MPH, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Disease, and to Read Pukkila-Worley, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Disease, who recently received tenure!

Deborah DeMarco, MD, professor of medicine, senior associate dean for clinical affairs, and associate dean, Graduate Medical Education, awarded the Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Service. Melissa Fischer, MD, professor of medicine and associate dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, curriculum innovation and iCELS, awarded the Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Teaching. Ira Ockene, MD, the David J. and Barbara D. Milliken professor in Preventive Cardiology and professor of medicine, awarded the Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Clinical Excellence. 

Roberto Caricchio, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Rheumatology, was named to the Myles J. McDonough Chair in Rheumatology. Alan C. Mullen, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and academic chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, was invested as the Mary C. DeFeudis Chair in Biomedical Research. 

Congratulations to Chinmay Trivedi, MD, PhD, FAHA, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and his team, whose study, "Pathological MAPK activation–mediated lymphatic basement membrane disruption causes lymphangiectasia that is treatable with ravoxertinib," was recently published in JCI Insight as the cover story. Their paper discusses Lymphangiectasia, an abnormal dilation of lymphatic vessels, which is frequently associated with chylous effusion, respiratory failure, and high mortality in young patients, yet the underlying molecular pathogenesis and effective treatments remain elusive. Dr. Trivedi and his team identify an unexpected causal link between KRAS-Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) activation and defective development of the lymphatic basement membrane that drives lymphangiectasia in humans and mice. 

Congratulations to our faculty who have recently been awarded career development grants! Awardees include Khanh-Van Tran, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nisha Fahey, DO, assistant professor of Pediatrics and faculty in the Program in Digital Medicine, Lara Kovell, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and Laurel O’Connor, MD, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and faculty in the Program in Digital Medicine.