Campus News

Celia Schiffer, PhD, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences for her distinguished and continuing achievements in original biomedical research.

The LabCentral Ignite community workshop was held on April 24 in partnership with MassBioEd and co-hosted by UMass Chan’s ScienceLIVE.

The Worcester Business Journal has named Chancellor Michael F. Collins, Vice Chancellor Marlina Duncan and Executive Vice Chancellor Parth Chakrabarti to its 2024 Power 100 list.

Faculty members from the three UMass Chan graduate schools were honored at the 2024 Educational Recognition Awards ceremony and Susan Zweizig, MD, delivered the annual honorary Last Lecture, titled “What You Don’t See.”

UMass Chan Medical School and Dubai Health signed a memorandum of understanding to establish mutually beneficial research projects to improve patient care, create an exchange framework for learners between the institutions, and drive transformative advancements for public health locally and globally.  

The Vanderbilt AUD Research and Education Center is funded in part by a five-year, $8.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Nine T.H. Chan School of Medicine students received a health professions scholarship for the 2023-2024 academic year.  

UMass Chan partnered with local organization Glo Mom to support expectant and new mothers with access to information and services as they navigate pregnancy and motherhood.

PhD candidate Seden Bedir moved from Turkey to the U.S. to study at UMass Chan Medical School. She aims to engineer RNA sequences that don’t exist in nature in order to enable mRNA-based therapeutics beyond vaccines. In her free time, she mentors students from Turkey.  

The two UMass Chan faculty members are among 500 scientists, engineers and innovators elected this year.

The UMass Cancer Walk presented by Harr Toyota returns to Polar Park on Sunday, Sept. 29. All proceeds support adult and pediatric cancer research and more than 150 clinical trials at UMass Chan Medical School.

UMass LIGHT, a mentorship program pairing students with faculty members, has formed meaningful bonds between industry leaders and aspiring doctors. UMass LIGHT will host a conference with keynote speakers Rochelle Walensky, MD, former CDC director, and Robert “Hoot” Gibson, former chief astronaut for NASA, on May 3. 

Mariana Noto Guillen, a PhD candidate in the lab of Amir Mitchell, PhD, associate professor of systems biology, wrote an article for The Conversation explaining a recent Science paper about how nonantibiotics have sufficient antibacterial activity to affect gut microbiome composition. It explains what nonantibiotics are, and the mechanisms behind their antibacterial effects.  

The new center will focus on advancing community living and participation outcomes for young adults from disadvantaged, marginalized and vulnerable populations who have serious mental health conditions.

UMass Chan Medical School and MITRE, operator of federally funded research and development centers, announced the establishment of the Health AI Assurance Laboratory, a collaborative initiative to advance health artificial intelligence in the public interest. The initiative is at the forefront of efforts in the United States, and the first in Massachusetts, to ensure AI technology in health care is safe and effective for everyone using it.

As they make their way 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Copley Square on April 15, the UMass ALS Cellucci Fund Boston Marathon Team will be the largest group of runners in the team’s 13-year history of raising funds to support ALS research.

Second Look Day introduced accepted medical students to the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and included programming from the Diversity and Inclusion office.

Natick resident and Stanford Online High School student Rebecca Ahn outperformed other local high school students in the final round of the competition on March 16.

The new statewide fellowship program aims to expand the pipeline of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners entering the community health center workforce and improve retention.

In the latest episode of Voices of UMass Chan, Cherise Hamblin, MD, delves into the critical topic of Black maternal health and the significance of Black Maternal Health Week at UMass Chan Medical School.

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Fourth-year medical student Omar Taweh is continuing his emergency medicine training at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The future doctor speaks three languages and is a proud advocate for refugees.  

Five graduates from the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences returned to campus to crown a winner for UMass Chan’s inaugural Three Minute Thesis competition. PhD student Najihah Aziz and MD/PhD student Ayush Kumar took home prizes.  

In a new Voices of UMass Chan podcast, Margret Chang, MD, discusses the opioid use disorder crisis and how providing treatment in a primary care setting can reduce the stigma attached to getting help.  

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The story of Raiden Pham, an Oregon toddler with an ultra-rare genetic disease was included on the Lunaprise Museum, a digital time capsule that went to the moon with the Odysseus spacecraft in February. Tommy and Linda Pham founded Raiden Science Foundation in 2021 to raise money to support research on a treatment at UMass Chan’s Translational Institute for Molecular Therapeutics.  

The second community convening of the Equity in Caregiving Project, which will be 10 a.m. – noon March 28 in the UMass Chan Faculty Conference Room S1-342, will host a panel of family and clinical caregivers to discuss caregivers’ experiences and what might reduce inequities.

Black Maternal Health Week raises awareness about the challenges faced by Black pregnant people and the importance of addressing disparities in maternal health care. Events are planned from April 11 to 17.  

Researchers have identified amino acid changes in the AGO1 protein that cause Argonaute syndrome. These genetic mutations, studied in the C. elegans model, cause an organism-wide disruption of the RNA silencing process impacting hundreds of different genes.  

UMass Chan Medical School and Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, part of the Beth Israel Lahey Health system, have signed a research affiliation agreement to create a new quantitative science research hub to improve health outcomes and disparities through population health, digital medicine and health systems science.  

In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine, UMass Chan researchers reported analyses from the National Institutes of Health RADx program showing a small percentage of people, largely women with autoimmune disorders, persistently test positive on rapid home antigen tests for COVID-19 despite concurrently testing negative on molecular PCR tests.  

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey will deliver the Commencement address and receive a Chancellor’s Medal at UMass Chan Medical School on Sunday, June 2, as UMass Chan celebrates the accomplishments of the Class of 2024 at its 51^st Commencement.  

The two graduates of the UMass Chan Baccalaureate MD Pathway Program in the Class of 2024 matched to their top choices on Match Day.

The fourth-year medical student matched in internal medicine at UC-San Francisco Medical Center.

Members of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Class of 2024—the largest in school history at 167—celebrated Match Day at UMass Chan Medical School on Friday, March 15, with hundreds of friends, relatives and faculty cheering them on.  

At noon on Friday, March 15, members of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Class of 2024 will simultaneously tear open their envelopes from the National Resident Matching Program to discover where they will begin their careers in medicine.

T.H. Chan School of Medicine students are heading to Brown University, Albany Medical College, New York Eye & Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai and UMass Chan Medical School for competitive ophthalmology residencies.

Lieutenant and fourth-year medical student Maddie Hatch successfully matched into a military residency in UC Davis’s emergency medicine program. The National Resident Matching Program announces matches on March 15.

Uché Blackstock, MD, joined the UMass Chan community for a talk about her book Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine, the 2024 Diversity Campus Read.

STAT News has selected three research teams from UMass Chan to compete in its 2024 STAT Madness competition. Members of the public are invited to vote for the best biomedical research from 2023. The first round of voting, which will narrow the field from 64 to 32, has begun.

Students will be competing for the Andrew Sheridan Young Neuroscientist Award and an all-expense paid trip to participate in the 2024 USA National Bee at the University of Central Florida in April. 

In an article for The Conversation, Nate Hafer, PhD, and Apurv Soni, MD, PhD’21, answer common questions related to how COVID-19 antigen tests perform against new variants. Anuradha Rao, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory University also contributed to the article.

Dean Flotte testified in support of policies that would encourage and accelerate gene therapy for rare diseases, in a Feb. 29 hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health.

Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students Atinuke G. Oyinbo and Favour Akabogu discussed their research for the Black Excellence series.

Fourth-year T.H. Chan School of Medicine students Elisa Rocha, MS, and Constantine Velmahos successfully matched through the Urology Residency Match Program and learned this month where they will serve their residencies. The National Resident Matching Program announces matches on March 15.

In an updated article originally published by The Conversation in Feb. 2023, Fen-Biao Gao, PhD, talks about how frontotemporal dementia changes the brain and the research that is untangling its genetic causes.

Construction equipment and office trailers used in the construction of the new education and research building at UMass Chan will soon be removed as construction enters the final phase before completion of the building in early June.

T.H. Chan School of Medicine Class of 2026 students were the first to participate in a mandatory course about anti-racism in medicine, led by Sarah Forrester, PhD, assistant professor of population & quantitative health sciences.

In a new Voices of UMass Chan podcast, John P. Haran, MD’07, PhD’18, and Ethan Loew, MD/PhD student, shed light on their ongoing research to better understand the connection between the gut microbiome and cognitive health, particularly how it impacts older people.

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Inspired by her local upbringing and global interests, DNP student Morgan Hill is conducting a cultural competency project in Worcester to evaluate how UMass Chan’s Doctor of Nursing Practice curriculum covers social determinants of health in a cultural context.

The scientists will use a human cerebral organoid platform to evaluate the role of COVID in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia.  

Membership in the new African Student Association at UMass Chan Medical School requires acknowledging cultural differences in order to provide better care for diverse patients, and a desire to connect and celebrate each member’s African identity. 

A new community service learning component that requires students to volunteer at local organizations is now part of the first-year curriculum for T.H. Chan School of Medicine students. 

A class of drugs designed to help patients manage diabetes also promotes weight loss, a feature that has made them wildly popular among many who want to shed some pounds. Samir Malkani, MD, from UMass Chan and UMass Memorial Health’s Diabetes Center of Excellence highlights what to know about these drugs.

MD/PhD student Pryce Michener has received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for his research on substance use and medications for opioid use disorder, a personal cause that has impacted his friends and family. 

The Department of Orthopedics & Physical Rehabilitation is working on creating space for belonging through focus groups, data collection and goal setting.  

Sharina Person, PhD, was honored with the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion at the annual tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Keynote speaker Joan Reede, MD, MS, MPH MBA called on the medical community to move forward in values that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Rebecca Beiter, PhD, a postdoc in the lab of Dorothy P. Schafer, PhD, has received an award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to analyze the role a type of brain cell plays in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

The research, led by UMass Chan viral immunologists Liisa Selin, MD, PhD, and Anna Gil, PhD, introduced a novel treatment and a method to track effective treatment interventions. 

The Diversity and Inclusion Office introduces Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock as its 2024 Diversity Campus Read book.

Marcus Ruscetti, PhD, resisted following in his parents’ scientist footsteps but ended up in a career dedicated to cancer research in and out of the lab.

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The award from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation will help fund a pilot program aimed at improving communication skills of fellows and residents around patient apology and disclosure.  

UMass Chan is one of the first sites to participate in the Lupus Landmark Study and enroll patients in Lupus Nexus, a nationwide collaborative research biorepository.  

Students plan to use Martin Luther King Jr. Semester of Service Awards to transform the health of refugee, immigrant and low-income families in Worcester. 

Joan Reede, MD, MS, MPH, MBA, dean for diversity and community partnership and champion of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Harvard Medical School, will serve as keynote speaker for UMass Chan’s 36th annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.

 A UMass Chan professor of molecular, cell & cancer biology explains the science behind CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology, following the FDA’s first approval of a gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease.

The New England Commission of Higher Education confirmed its inclusion of a new regional medical school campus at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington in UMass Chan Medical School’s accreditation.

Young adults ages 18 to 25 years old consistently report the highest rates of co-occurring alcohol use disorder and suicidal thoughts and also have very low participation in substance use treatment. 

Students at North High School received hands-only CPR training from UMass Chan medical students. The training is part of collaborative effort between the Manny 267 Foundation, Worcester Public Schools and UMass Chan. 

Debabrata Dutta, PhD, a postdoc in the lab of Roger Craig, PhD, and Raúl Padrón, PhD, has used cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to reveal in precise detail the molecular structure of the main contractile component of human cardiac muscle known as the thick filament.

More than half a million Americans are Deaf and experience problem drinking and trauma at significantly higher rates than the general population. A nationwide virtual clinical trial to test evidence-based therapy for Deaf people with trauma symptoms and alcohol use disorder is underway at UMass Chan Medical School. 

The cover story for the winter 2023-24 issue of @umasschan magazine highlights how the families of children with genetic disorders inspire gene therapy research and how UMass Chan is streamlining the pathway from bench research to clinical trials for new treatments.

Medical student Yuying Zhang has made advocacy for diverse populations her mission, establishing a FAFSA guidance program in North Quincy and creating a pipeline program in Worcester to increase the diversity of future dermatology applicant pools. 

MD/PhD student Abigail Hiller has received an award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study the role genes linked to Alzheimer’s disease play in ALS.

Researchers from Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing published an integrative review outlining expectant parents’ emotional impact, coping strategies and information needs to guide clinicians who work with them following diagnosis of a fetal anomaly.

A multisite Veterans Affairs study led by A.M. Barrett, MD, and Kevin Houston, OD, aims to define and validate brain imaging biomarkers that predict response to prism adaptation therapy in patients with spatial neglect following right-brain stroke.

UMass Chan researcher Li Li, PhD, writes for The Conversation about how mRNA drug development, which led to the first COVID-19 vaccine, offers significant advantages over traditional drug development.

A study published in Lancet Public Health and led by Nancy Byatt, DO, and Tiffany Moore Simas, MD'00, found that two approaches to helping obstetric practices screen, assess and treat perinatal depression were equally effective in improving depression symptoms.

A UMass Chan study led by Jean Frazier, MD, suggests maternal inflammation may influence emotional, cognitive, behavioral problems later in life.

A new study published in Nature Cell Biology by Mark Alkema, PhD, establishes an important molecular link between specific B12-producing bacteria in the gut of the roundworm C. elegans and the production of a neurotransmitter important to memory and cognitive function.

The MISSION program combines three evidence-based practices in a multidisciplinary team approach to treating adults with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental illness.

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Anthony Rothschild, MD, will lead a study at UMass Chan to evaluate the effectiveness of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression.

Video: In 2023, UMass Chan Medical School moved boldly forward to grow our deliberately inclusive campus, home to impactful research and the No. 1 program for primary care education in New England.

Top story: In a piece written for The Conversation, pediatrician Sydney Hartman-Munick, MD, talks about the rise in eating disorders among teens and highlights the importance of understanding some possible signs of worrisome behaviors and what to do about them.

Top story: Boston toddler Noa Greenwood, who was one of the first to receive an investigational gene therapy for Canavan disease developed at UMass Chan Medical School, delivered a very special “thank you” to the research team in a visit with her parents earlier this year.

Top story: The T.H. Chan School of Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School is best in New England and in the top 10 percent nationwide for primary care education according to the U.S News & World Report 2023-2024 Best Graduate Schools rankings.

UMass Chan Medical School and Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, have received approval from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education to establish a new regional medical school campus in Burlington.

Top story: Katie Couric, former host of NBC’s Today show and anchor of CBS Evening News, delivered the Commencement address at UMass Chan on Sunday, June 4.

UMass Chan MD/PhD student Nick Bolden has discovered a pathway in the brain that could block addictive behavior. Inspired by his father, a retired judge, Bolden has devoted his career to treating addiction.

UMass Chan Medical School researchers are taking lessons learned from a pilot study on at-home COVID-19 testing and telehealth and broadening their evaluation to a larger federal Home Test to Treat program.

Jeanna Lee, PhD, brings education, experience and new ideas to the role of assistant director for equity, inclusion and campus climate.

New study led by Nils Henninger, MD, PhD'18, suggests interplay between genetic factors and traumatic brain injury in behavioral and neurological deficits related to ALS and FTD in mice.

A new study by Michelle K. Trivedi, MD’09, MPH, will examine strategies to help ensure children receive their daily asthma medicine. 

A UMass Chan research team has secured a $21 million award to conduct maternal mental health equity research.

A pilot study of technology-based interventions for emergency department patients at risk of suicide found patients rated the interventions highly, leading to further studies on clinical efficacy and potential for sustainable use.

The $200,000 award from The March of Dimes Foundation will help support and expand a clinical trial led by Margaret Parker, MD, MPH, studying the effect of support for low-income mothers of preterm infants on parental caregiving in the NICU.

UMass Chan presented “scientist-in-training” lab coats to Lake View Elementary School, one of the 11 North Quadrant schools in Worcester that are part of the UMass Chan North Quadrant Support Services Initiative.

UMass Chan Medical School joins ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub and Spoke Consortium

Dohoon Kim, PhD, and colleagues have shown that blocking a specific detoxifying enzyme in lung cancer cells leads to cell death, making it a viable target for drug development.

UMass Chan Medical School has been named one of The Boston Globe’s 2023 Top Places to Work in Massachusetts and recognized for its diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Second-year students in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine are learning about the unique health care needs of military veterans through a new UMass Chan Medical School initiative with the Veterans Affairs clinic on campus.

Dr. Gibson’s leadership in CMV research and in advocacy for newborn CMV screening highlighted in inaugural Central Mass Champions of Health Care Award.