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November 16, 2018
UMass Medical School’s progress in Liberia to be discussed Nov. 19
On Monday, Nov. 19, David Chiriboga, MD, MPH, and colleagues will provide an update on UMass Medical School’s work to strengthen health care services in Liberia in the wake of the Ebola outbreak.
Full story »November 14, 2018Still time to give to 2018 COMECC
With just a few more days to go in the 2018 Commonwealth of Massachusetts Employees Charitable Campaign, members of the UMass Medical School community who have not yet donated are encouraged to do so. Everyone who pledges by the close of the campaign on Wednesday, Nov. 21, will be entered in raffle drawings.
Full story »November 13, 2018Listen: Aaron Remenschneider hopes to raise awareness of hearing loss and new treatments
Aaron Remenschneider, MD, MPH, runs an active research program at UMass Medical School focused on improving outcomes for patients who receive cochlear implants and other treatments. He explains his work in a new Voices of UMassMed podcast.
Full story »November 09, 2018M2D2 receives $7.9M NIH grant for new center to assist medical-device entrepreneurs
The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center, a joint partnership between UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School, will establish a new center to assist inventors pioneering promising new point-of-care devices and technologies for patients, thanks to a new $7.9 million grant for the National Institutes of Health.
Full story »November 07, 2018Vineyard Gazette: UMMS rural scholars study end-of-life planning as public health issue
Medical and graduate nursing Students in the Rural Health Scholars Pathway at UMass Medical School conducted a study to identify end-of-life planning concerns and needs of Martha’s Vineyard’s aging population, as reported in the Nov. 5 issue of the Vineyard Gazette.
Full story »November 02, 2018David Ayers, Patricia Franklin highlight value of patient-reported outcomes registries in NEJM Catalyst
A new analysis by Patricia Franklin, MD, MBA, MPH, and David Ayers, MD, published by NEJM Catalyst, explains why patient outcome registries such as the Function and Outcomes Research for Comparative Effectiveness in Total Joint Replacement are essential to informing health policy and treatment decisions.
Full story »November 01, 2018Robert Brown Jr. and Jonathan Watts honored by Angel Fund for ALS
Jonathan K. Watts, PhD, and Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, were recognized at the annual Angel Fund for ALS Gala on Oct. 27. The organization is a nonprofit charity dedicated to supporting Dr. Brown’s research.
Full story »October 31, 2018UMass Medical School scientists safely deliver RNAi-based gene therapy for ALS in animal model
A gene therapy delivered to motor neurons was able to silence SOD1 protein, mutations of which are linked to ALS, without causing any adverse effects, according to a new study published in Science Translational Medicine, by Christian Mueller, PhD, and Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD.
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October 31, 2018
Robert Finberg on what to expect and how to prepare for this flu season
Robert Finberg, MD, researches how to better prevent and treat influenza. He answers some of the most frequently asked questions in this Expert’s Corner Q&A.
Full story »October 29, 2018Better strategies to ID people at risk for opioid-related overdose deaths needed, study suggests
A new study by Gerardo Gonzalez, MD, examines how health care systems may be able to help prevent opioid-related overdose deaths. The findings are published in Psychiatric Services.
Full story »October 29, 2018LISTEN: UMass Medical School partnership with Worcester schools benefits students
In a new Voices of UMassMed podcast interview, Kola Akindele, JD, and Maura Mahoney, LISCW, discuss the impact UMass Medical School continues to have on the lives of students in the Worcester Public Schools.
Full story »October 29, 2018Silvia Corvera, Michael Czech receive $2.5M grant to advance potential therapy for type 2 diabetes
Silvia Corvera, MD, and Michael Czech, PhD, are investigating whether technologies developed in their labs will harness beige fat’s ability to burn energy and accelerate metabolism in order to improve the body’s response to sugar and lower blood glucose levels.
Full story »October 24, 2018Postdoc Tessa Simone explores role of immune cells in cancer
Tessa Simone, PhD, a postdoc in the lab of Michael R. Green, MD, PhD, is focused on identifying ways to teach the immune system to attack cancerous tumors without harming healthy tissue.
Full story »October 22, 2018UMMS scientists featured in special edition of Small Methods journal
Multidisciplinary research in chemical biology, life sciences and medicine at UMass Medical School is featured in a special issue of the journal Small Methods. The collection of papers spans a wide disciplinary range that includes biomedical engineering/materials science, frontiers in optical microscopy and organic synthesis, as well as nanoparticle technology and emerging CRISPR‐based genomic sciences.
Full story »October 19, 2018UMMS alum Raghu Kiran Appasani addresses UN General Assembly on global mental health
UMass Medical School alumnus Raghu Kiran Appasani, MD, SOM ’18, addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City recently to help launch the United for Global Mental Health campaign.
Full story »October 17, 2018UMass Medical School recognized with national award for opioid safe-prescribing curriculum
UMass Medical School has been selected as one of four recipients of the Association of American Medical Colleges Curricular Innovation Award for its Opioid Safe-prescribing Training Immersion program.
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October 16, 2018
Kimberly Fisher speaks at Arnold P. Gold Foundation event on patient-centered care
The Arnold P. Gold Foundation tapped UMass Medical School critical care expert Kimberly Fisher, MD, MSc, to address improving care in the ICU at the 2018 Planetree International Conference on Person-Centered Care.
Full story »October 16, 2018SACNAS-UMMS student chapter receives national recognition
The UMass Medical School student chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science was recognized as an Outstanding Chapter for Development during the organization’s annual conference recently held in San Antonio, Texas.
Full story »October 15, 2018LISTEN: Perinatal experts discuss screening for postpartum depression
In a new Voices of UMassMed podcast, UMass Medical School perinatal experts Nancy Byatt, DO, MS, MBA, and Tiffany Moore Simas, MD, MPH, MEd, talk about creating an opportunity to screen moms for postpartum depression.
Full story »October 15, 2018Rodrigo Lopez Gonzalez awarded Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship
Rodrigo Lopez Gonzalez, PhD, has been awarded the 2019 Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship to Promote Diversity.
Full story »October 10, 2018Boston Globe highlights palliative care training at UMass Medical School
UMass Medical School is working with Harvard, Tufts and Boston University to develop standards for end-of-life medical training, according to an article in the Oct. 10 Boston Globe.
Full story »October 09, 2018UMMS study identifies potential on/off switch for HIV-1
Research from the lab of Jeremy Luban, MD, suggests targeting the HUSH complex to activate HIV-1 may be an avenue for making latent viral reservoirs susceptible to antiviral therapies.
Full story »October 09, 2018Physician-scientist Jason Shohet researches path to better childhood cancer therapies
Jason Shohet, MD, PhD, is focused on developing more effective and less toxic therapies for childhood cancers with a special focus on neuroblastoma.
Full story »October 09, 2018Benjamin Nwosu finds youth exposure to second-hand smoke predicts vitamin D deficiency
A new study by UMass Medical School pediatric endocrinology expert Benjamin Nwosu, MD, finds that children in the United States exposed to second-hand smoke are far more likely to be low on vitamin D than their unexposed peers.
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October 04, 2018
UMass Cancer Walk and Run draws 7,000 for 20th anniversary event
More than 7,000 people flocked to Worcester on Sunday, Sept. 30, to celebrate the 20th anniversary UMass Cancer Walk & Run. This year’s event raised nearly $650,000, the largest amount raised in eight years, with plenty of time still left to donate.
Full story »October 04, 2018Cardiopulmonary Implementation Science Scholars tackle common clinical challenges
Westyn Branch-Elliman, MD, MMSc; Mayuko Ito Fukunaga, MD; and Lauren Westafer, DO, MPH, are studying solutions and how to put them into practice to address common clinical challenges. They are the inaugural fellows in the Massachusetts Consortium for Cardiopulmonary Implementation Science Scholars program at UMass Medical School.
Full story »October 03, 2018SOM student Amanda Whitehouse to chair American Medical Association standing committee
Second-year School of Medicine student Amanda Whitehouse has been selected as the new chair of American Medical Association’s Membership Engagement and Recruitment Committee.
Full story »October 02, 2018Brian Kelch lab to bring biomedical science lessons to Worcester Technical High School
Students from the lab of Brian Kelch, PhD, will share their biomedical training and laboratory experience with students at Worcester Technical High School, thanks to a 5-year, $1 million grant to study viral motors from the National Science Foundation.
Full story »October 01, 2018Inaugural Williams Scholars announced at UMMS
Timothy Kowalik, PhD; Stephenie Lemon, PhD; David McManus, MD; and Susan Sullivan-Bolyai, DNSc, MN, RN; have been named the inaugural Dr. Marcellette G. Williams distinguished Scholars at UMass Medical School.
Full story »October 01, 2018LISTEN: John Harris describes research into better treatments for vitiligo in ‘Voices of UMassMed’
In a new Voices of UMassMed podcast interview, John Harris, MD, PhD, talks about the stigma associated with having vitiligo and explains the promising research he’s working on to find better treatments for patients.
Full story »September 27, 2018Mass. tobacco policy expert working to stem teen vaping as FDA declares an e-cigarette epidemic
UMass Medical School tobacco prevention expert Tina Grosowsky, MA, is seeing evidence of the dramatic rise in teen vaping, as she fulfills frequent requests from parents and school administrators to teach them how to address the crisis.
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Liberian health care system grows as Patricia McQuilkin, UMMS colleagues maintain commitment
A new, three-year, $1.5 million Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research grant from the National Academies of Sciences and USAID will support the work of Patricia McQuilkin, MD, and colleagues in Liberia to establish family medicine residency and infectious disease training and research for Liberian medical residents and junior faculty.
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