News

Andreas Bergmann, PhD, has received a five-year, $3.5 million Maximizing Investigators' Research Award from the National Institutes of Health.

UMass Medical School scientist Craig L. Peterson, PhD, has received a five-year, $4.5 million Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health for research that explores the role chromosome structure plays in regulating gene expression, DNA repair and DNA fidelity during cell division.

Researchers at UMass Medical School have developed a genome-editing strategy to correct disease-causing DNA mutations in mouse models of human genetic diseases. Dan Wang, PhD, is first author and Guangping Gao, PhD, is a co-corresponding author on the paper published in the Aug. 18 edition of Nature Biotechnology.

Guangping Gao, PhD, has been ranked one of the world’s top translational researchers, according to a new tabulation from Nature Biotechnology. The Top 20 Translational Researchers of 2017, published this month by Nature Biotechnology, places Dr. Gao fourth.

Job Dekker, PhD, creator of high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (known as Hi-C), and a team of researchers have developed a new computational framework combining optical mapping, Hi-C, and whole genome sequencing to find what are called “structural variants” within cancer genomes and learn more about how such cancers begin.

As part of UMass Medical School’s ongoing initiatives to share news about the research, academic and service achievements that take place every day on our campuses, a new magazine debuts this week, @umassmed.

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Dean Mary Ellen Lane, PhD, welcomed and congratulated 52 graduate students entering the transformative years of their doctoral research during the GSBS Qualifying Exam Recognition Ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

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.

The Toronto-based Blu Genes Foundation, which is dedicated to developing gene therapies for rare disease, has given $1.4 million to UMass Medical School to advance a Phase I/II clinical trial for Tay-Sachs. Miguel Sena-Esteves, PhD, Terence Flotte, MD, Heather Gray-Edwards, PhD, DVM, and colleagues at  Auburn University are leading the research.

Victor Ambros, PhD, has been elected by his peers as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Jeanne Lawrence, PhD, and Jaime Rivera, PhD, received a five-year, $2.8 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development at the National Institutes of Health to test a strategy in a mouse model for silencing the extra chromosome that causes Down Syndrome.

A new study by Sybil Crawford, PhD, finds that younger women with menopausal symptoms may have foregone hormone therapy for relief as a result of the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative recommendations, despite new research showing favorable benefits versus risks for their age group.

Lori Pbert, PhD, has been appointed a member of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine that works to improve the health of all Americans.

In a health report from WJAR-TV/NBC 10 of Providence, reporter Barbara Morse Silva explains research by Silvia Corvera, MD, into transforming white fat into beige to harness its ability to burn energy, accelerate metabolism and fight disease.

The American Society of Transplant Surgeons has recognized Paulo N. Martins, MD, PhD, with the 2019 Veloxis Rising Stars in Transplantation Surgery Award for his research of transplant immunobiology.

As the diabetes epidemic continues to grow, researchers are redoubling their efforts to understand the mechanisms that cause the disease. Learn about how MD/PhD student Rachel Stamateris is studying the disease in this Women in Science video.

Anthony Rothschild, MD, explains the latest developments into the use of Esketamine for treatment-resistant depression in a new episode of the podcast Voices of UMassMed.

Five people will represent the UMass ALS Cellucci Fund in the 2019 Boston Marathon on April 15 to support amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research (ALS) underway at UMass Medical School.

UMass Medical School has two research teams competing in the 2019 STAT Madness contest, in which readers are encouraged to vote online for the best pioneering biomedical research of 2018.

Researchers at UMass Medical School and Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center have developed a strategy to treat two of the most common inherited blood diseases—sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia—applying CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to a patient's own blood stem cells.

Scot A. Wolfe, PhD, and Charles P. Emerson Jr., PhD, discovered a “reset button” for disease-causing genetic microduplications using CRISPR gene editing and a rare, innate DNA repair mechanism.

Raúl Padrón, PhD, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences as a foreign associate and will be honored at the 156th Annual Meeting, April 27-30, in Washington, D.C.

Michael Brehm, PhD, and colleagues at UMass Medical School are working to bring precision medicine to patients with type 1 diabetes, developing a model system that allows scientists to better understand the autoimmune disease. Learn more in this Expert’s Corner video.

Two new studies from the Diabetes Center of Excellence at UMass Medical School investigate functions of the insulin-producing beta cells that are destroyed in patients with type 1 diabetes, and a reliable method to measure beta cell replication in individuals.

UMass Medical School physician-scientist Ellen M. Gravallese, MD, received the Carol Nachman Prize for Rheumatology, an international honor for research in rheumatology, from city dignitaries at a ceremony in Wiesbaden, Germany.

UMass Medical School has awarded the first BRIDGE Fund grants to support innovative translational research. The first recipients of funding are Jie Song, PhD, and Timothy Kowalik, PhD.

The first clinical trial of a gene therapy treatment based on discoveries made by UMass Medical School and Auburn University researchers has been administered in a child at the National Institutes of Health. UMMS researchers Heather Gray-Edwards, PhD, DVM, and Miguel Sena-Esteves, PhD, collaborated with colleagues at Auburn University on the research.

UMass Medical School awarded 214 degrees at its 46th Commencement exercises on Sunday, June 2, including honorary degrees to keynote speaker Darrell G. Kirch, MD; Susan Coghlin Mailman; and Richard P. Kennedy.

An article in Nature Medicine by Jeremy Luban, MD, highlights the benefits of more diverse and higher resolution genetic databases. As tools for genetic analysis become more powerful, it is critical for translational scientists to be better equipped to predict the full spectrum of consequences of given mutations, Dr. Luban said.

Jane E. Freedman, MD, is the new editor-in-chief of Circulation Research, one of 12 scientific journals of the American Heart Association. The first issue of the journal under her editorship was published online in June.

UMass Medical School students planted four raised beds with a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers. The launch heralds new growth for nutrition-focused, wellness-oriented initiatives that will be cultivated through the student-run community garden.

Ana Maldonado-Contreras, PhD, and Barbara Olendzki, RD, MPH, at UMass Medical School and colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are conducting a clinical trial to determine if an anti-inflammatory diet may reduce the risk of pregnant women with Crohn’s disease relapsing after child birth and of disease transmission to the baby.

The Duchenne Program at UMass Medical School is providing an integrative approach to treating young patients living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common and aggressive form of muscular dystrophy. Launched a year ago, the program provides comprehensive clinical care by a multidisciplinary of medical professionals.

Robert W. Finberg, MD, the Richard M. Haidack Professor of Medicine and chair and professor of medicine, has shared his intention to step down as chair to return to the faculty to pursue his academic and research roles on a full-time basis.

John Landers, PhD, spoke with NBC 10 Boston reporter Abbey Niezgoda at a fifth anniversary celebration of the Ice Bucket Challenge, telling her "We know so much more now than we did five and 10 years ago."

Michael P. Hirsh, MD, professor of surgery, chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery and surgeon-in-chief for the UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center, has been appointed to a newly created position of assistant vice provost for wellness and health promotion.

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences student Kellianne Alexander has been awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Graduate Fellowship. Learn more about her research in this Women in Science video.

Xiaoduo Fan, MD, MPH, will compare two psychosocial interventions that can result in meaningful improvement for persons with schizophrenia and related illnesses as a member of a PCORI Advisory Panel for Healthcare Delivery and Disparities Research.

The latest installment of the Artist in Residence series features images that illuminate research taking place in UMass Medical School’s RNA Therapeutics Institute. The exhibit will be on display in the Lamar Soutter Library from Tuesday, Sept. 3, through Wednesday, Oct. 30. 

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences has received a 2019 Innovations in Research and Research Education Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Helen Tian, a member of the School of Medicine Class of 2021, has been selected by the American Society of Hematology to receive one of five 2019-2020 Physician-Scientist Career Development Awards.

The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation has recognized Dorothy P. Schafer, PhD, for exceptional research of the role of microglia in regulating neural circuit structure and function as it relates to mental illness.

Human hookworm infection, even at low levels for short periods of time, can cause rapid, acute and measurable cognitive impairments in spatial memory among a mammalian animal model, according to new research from the lab of Raffi Van Aroian, PhD.

The UMass Medical School community will gather this week to celebrate accomplishments and officially launch the new academic year. Four distinguished faculty members will be invested as named professors, students from all three schools will be honored and the chancellor will deliver a Convocation address.

UMass Medical School has licensed the exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize novel adeno-associated virus gene therapy product candidates for the treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 to IVERIC bio, Inc. The product was developed from research by Hemant Khanna, PhD, in collaboration with Guangping Gao, PhD.

In his annual Convocation address to the UMass Medical School community, Chancellor Michael F. Collins announced the creation of the UMMS strategic plan, “IMPACT 2025,” and honored four faculty members for exemplary teaching, scholarship, clinical excellence and service.

Justin A. Maykel, MD; Beth A. McCormick, PhD; Lawrence M. Rhein, MD, MPH; and Celia A. Schiffer, PhD, were invested into named professorships at a ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 12 at UMass Medical School, thanks to the generous support of donors.

Researchers in the Mark Alkema lab have uncovered a mechanism that causes an imbalance in excitatory and inhibitory signaling in the nervous system. The research was carried out using the nematode C. elegans and published in ELife.

Students at UMass Medical School are attending events geared toward burnout prevention, mindfulness and healthy eating during “Wellness Week,” sponsored by the Office of Student Life and featured in a Worcester News Tonight newscast on Charter TV3.

When Kevin Enabulele arrived at UMass Medical School this year with classmates in the School of Medicine Class of 2023, he knew he had one advantage as he began his studies: older brother Skelly Enabulele, now in his third year at UMMS.

UMass Medical School geriatrics expert Jennifer Tjia, MD, MSCE, interspersed personal reflection with scholarly analysis in an editorial on a study which found that telephone support for caretakers of family members with dementia can improve quality of life for both patients and caregivers.

Paul L. Greer, PhD, has received a 2019 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, an honor reserved for exceptionally creative early career investigators who propose innovative, high-impact projects within the NIH mission.

Amir Mitchell, PhD, has received the Maximizing Investigators' Research Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to support research into cellular decoding of signaling dynamics.

Studies on wild koalas reveal an innate form of genome immunity which may suppress retroviruses that infect the germline cells that form sperm and eggs, according to research by William E. Theurkauf, PhD, and Zhiping Weng, PhD, at UMass Medical School and colleagues at the University of Queensland in Australia.

Preliminary data from an expanded access study of an investigational gene therapy in two patients with infantile Tay-Sachs disease indicates the potential to modify the rate of disease progression, according to a recent report presented in Barcelona by Terence R. Flotte, MD.

A report in the journal mBio, published by the American Society for Microbiology, describes a prototype vaccine candidate developed at UMass Medical School for the bacterium that causes gonorrhea.

John P. Haran, MD, PhD, has been awarded a 2019 Alzheimer’s Association grant to support research into how the intestinal microbiome differs in Alzheimer’s patients and whether imbalances are associated with memory decline.

The WooHealth Hackathon took place at UMass Medical School on Friday, Nov. 15, and Saturday, Nov. 16, bringing together students from nine Worcester colleges and universities for the city’s first-of-its-kind collaboration to improve public health.

In a new Voices of UMassMed podcast, David McManus, MD, discusses his research, which explores how digital devices can improve patient care and enhance understanding of disease.

Twenty-three School of Medicine students, four faculty members, six house staff and three alumni were inducted into the UMMS Delta Massachusetts Chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Sally C. Kent, PhD, has been named the George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation Term Chair in Diabetes. Dr. Kent studies autoimmune response in type 1 diabetes. 

Two UMass Medical School scientists have been awarded grants from the school’s BRIDGE Fund to advance discoveries into potentially viable commercial therapies for childhood asthma and eye diseases.

In a new Voices of UMassMed podcast, Mara M. Epstein, ScD, discusses a local effort to enroll participants in the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program that aims to boost precision medicine research and improve health.

UMass Medical School and GE Healthcare Life Sciences will establish a new, large-scale viral vector manufacturing facility, able to provide large quantities of high-quality recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors for preclinical research on the UMMS campus in Worcester.

A study by UMass Medical School integrative medicine expert Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH, finds that patients with chronic pain and depression benefited from participating in medical group visits in which they learned mindfulness techniques.

Jake and Sparky Kennedy, long known for their generosity as founders of the annual Boston Christmas in the City celebration for thousands of homeless children, are launching a new drive to raise $1 million to support research at UMass Medical School to cure ALS.

In an essay originally published by The Conversation, mindfulness expert James Carmody, PhD, writes about the human tendency to worry and what we can do to help quiet our minds.

UMass Medical School will participate in World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day on Jan. 30, which is an initiative dedicated to the eradication of neglected tropical diseases that threaten more 2 billion people worldwide. Raffi Van Aroian, PhD, and Gary Ostroff, PhD, will host guest speaker Patrick Skelly, PhD.

In a new episode of the podcast Voices of UMassMedNow, Edwin Boudreaux, PhD, discusses the rise in suicide rates in the United States and efforts to implement routine suicide screenings in the emergency room.

The new student life suite opened at UMass Medical School with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house on Monday, Jan. 27 showcasing the central location for the offices of Student Life, Student Affairs, the Registrar and Financial Aid.

The UMass Medical School chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society  is participating in the national observance of Solidarity Week for Compassionate Care with a full slate of activities and events.

The Center for Advancing Point of Care Technologies is expanding its reach to the next generation of biotech and medical-device entrepreneurs.

The 2020 Gerald F. Berlin Prizes for Creative Writing call for submissions is now open to medical students, nursing students, graduate students, residents, and fellows at UMass Medical School, Berkshire Medical Center, Worcester Medical Center/St. Vincent's and Baystate Medical Center.

According to new research from the lab of Jeanne Lawrence, PhD, differentiated human cells retain the ability to undergo chromosome silencing in response to XIST, a naturally occurring “off switch” for the female X-chromosome.

At Commencement on May 31, UMass Medical School will recognize the accomplishments of Cori Bargmann, PhD, head of science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; Diane Casey Riccio, PhD, and Dan Riccio, committed supporters of UMass Medical School; and Michael P. Angelini, Esq., chairman of the Worcester-based law firm Bowditch.

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.

The Angel Fund for ALS Research donated $1 million last year to support the research of Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD. The sole mission of the nonprofit organization is to find a treatment and cure for ALS.

In a new Voices of UMassMed podcast, Kara Smith, MD, talks about early warning signs of Parkinson’s disease and new developments in research.

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.

Research by Jeremy Luban, MD, suggests that loss of innate lymphoid cells (ILC) is the likely source of chronic inflammation in people living with HIV-1.

The ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter awarded John Landers, PhD, professor of neurology, a $25,000 grant to further his ongoing research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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.

Chancellor Michael F. Collins addresses the UMass Medical School community in a new video filmed on Monday, March 16, as the campus begins “a new paradigm to the way we work, interact and advance our mission areas” in response to the COVID-19 epidemic.

UMass Medical School-Baystate faculty leader Amy S. Gottlieb, MD, has been named the recipient of the 2020 Elnora Rhodes Service Award by the Society of General Internal Medicine. The award is given annually for outstanding service in clinical care, research, education and community service in primary care internal medicine.

UMass Medical School has moved its annual Match Day celebration for the School of Medicine online. On Friday, March 20, at noon, 132 graduating medical students in the Class of 2020 will receive emails notifying them of their residency placements. Students are encouraged to share their news on UMass Medical School’s Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Match Day unfolded virtually on Friday, March 20, for Fatoumata “Nogoy” Bah and fellow students in the School of Medicine Class of 2020, who were notified by email of their residency placements. Massachusetts is in a state of emergency, grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chancellor Collins announced that Massachusetts has approved an unprecedented initiative to accelerate the graduation of fourth-year School of Medicine students, thereby providing them with the opportunity to begin their careers as physicians early and at a most critical time when they will be able to promptly shore up hospital medical staff.

The 47th annual commencement of the School of Medicine at UMass Medical School is taking place weeks ahead of schedule, enabling 135 new physicians to enter medical practice immediately to help take on the health care system’s unprecedented COVID-19 challenge.

A group of third- and fourth-year School of Medicine students learned the nuts and bolts of telehealth at UMass Memorial Medical Center last week so they can step in and help patients and providers with routine patient visits remotely.

Members of the School of Medicine Class of 2020 graduated early and say they are well prepared to help on the frontlines of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Third-year medical students at UMass Medical School are getting real-time lessons in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic—a topic not covered in medical textbooks—through an innovative online pandemic curriculum.

The School of Medicine used social media as a tool to give students the sense of community they would have had in person. Many faculty members and a few students sent warm wishes and congratulations via video messages.

Grant Lewandrowski, MD, SOM '20, and Blake Foster, SOM '21, are helping the region prepare for a potential surge of COVID-19 patients by readying the city’s DCU Center to function as a field hospital.

A new study by Paula Gardiner, MD, finds that an interactive website can bring effective nondrug treatments like mindfulness, meditation and yoga to chronic pain patients who may not otherwise have access to them.

Seven Massachusetts Department of Mental Health hospitals have been equipped with personal protective equipment for staff, thanks to a decade-long partnership between UMass Medical School and West China Hospital.

UMass Medical School has been awarded a 5-year, $1.4 million renewal of the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development training grant from the National Institutes of Health, continuing financial and academic support for biomedical sciences graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Thoru Pederson, PhD, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Class of 2020. The academy recognizes excellence and expertise among its membership, representing innovative thinkers in every field and profession.

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 group of first and second-year students in the School of Medicine held a live 24-hour online community-building and fundraising event, May 1 to May 2, raising more than $15,000 to support the DCU field hospital.

With physical distancing guidelines and restrictions precluding a traditional event, virtual commencement ceremonies will be held for the Graduate School of Nursing and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences on Sunday, May 31. The GSN ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. The GSBS ceremony starts at noon.