Message from the Chancellor, cont...

Attracting more than $255 million in grants annually, our researchers consistently produce vital advances in basic and clinical science. Also, we are a key partner in the state’s visionary, 10-year, $1 billion Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative, enacted in 2008. In 2010, we received a five-year Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. This prestigious award recognizes the caliber of our basic research and the urgent need to accelerate development of new treatments.

UMass Chan’s RNA-focused research is particularly renowned. The program is led by Craig Mello, PhD, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine and distinguished professor of molecular medicine and cell biology. Dr. Mello was co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Medicine with colleague Andrew Fire, PhD, of Stanford University, for their discovery of RNA interference (RNAi). Their seminal Nature paper detailed gene silencing by double-stranded RNA. Since then, RNAi-based techniques have revolutionized biomedical research and ignited the study of RNA-based therapeutics. Building upon this strength, we have added outstanding faculty in stem cell biology and gene therapy to create the innovative Advanced Therapeutics Cluster, which will be located in the Albert Sherman Center, another new state-of-the-art facility that is currently under construction.

As a deeply caring and supportive community, we place the highest priority on civility and respect for the dignity and diversity of each individual. Many of our faculty, staff and students devote time to public service both here in Worcester and, increasingly, around the world. We are helping the city of Worcester re-invigorate its public health system, advising Liberia on the design of their health care system and working with Haitians to rebuild their medical education system.

This is indeed our moment, and one that is characterized by change, growth and transformation. However, despite the dynamism of our institution, we never lose sight of our core mission, which is to support each of our students in his or her dream of becoming a doctor.