News

Artists share what “Advancing Belonging Together” means to them through original artwork at a new exhibit coordinated by the Advocacy Subcommittee of UMass Chan’s Committee on Equal Opportunity and Diversity in partnership with the Lamar Soutter Library.  

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. 

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

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.

Athena Callender will speak at UMass Chan for Native American Heritage Month. Her talk will focus on building trust and relationships that allow for a free flow of information on best practices in addressing health issues in the native community. 

Some of the achievements at UMass Chan led by Marlina Duncan, EdD, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, are listed in celebration of her being named as one of Color Magazine’s Power 50 chief diversity officers. 

Students, faculty and friends of UMass Chan gathered to celebrate African Diaspora Night on campus to share the beauty, breadth and depth of African culture through fun, food and art.

The Diversity and Inclusion office welcomed author, trainer and life coach Kevin Neal as speaker for the Centering the Margins discussion series on Thursday, Oct. 26.

Representatives from UMass Chan presented on several topics and career paths, including RNA Therapeutics Institute, ScienceLive, community and government relations, diversity and inclusion and media and arts in sciences.

Marlina Duncan, EdD, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, has been named an Outstanding Woman in Business 2023 by the Worcester Business Journal.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office at UMass Chan Medical School hosted a two-day Diversity Summit on Oct. 11 and 12, detailing progress toward meeting the institution’s strategic goal to foster diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging across campus. The event included a poster fair, plenary session, and a series of online breakout discussions.

UMass Chan Medical School celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a presentation from Aldo Garcia-Guevara, PhD, professor of history and chair of interdisciplinary studies at Worcester State University.

A new RNA therapeutic for preeclampsia is based on work by UMass Chan researchers and collaborating scientists. Researchers explain the importance of a multipronged approach to addressing factors underlying health disparities in this Science for Living article.

The Dynamic Futures program at UMass Chan Medical School is aimed at attracting students underrepresented in medicine to careers in the behavioral health and mental health fields.

The Centering the Margins series speakers discussed the history of racism in health care and its impact on Indigenous health.

Data from the 2023 Diversity Engagement Survey, administered last spring by the Diversity and Inclusion Office, shows an increase in participation and in an overall favorable response to UMass Chan Medical School’s diversity and inclusion efforts.

Joshua Croke, the guest speaker for the 11th annual LGBT Convocation Welcome Celebration, says labels can be hateful or empowering.

The festivities begin on Friday, Sept. 8 with the annual White Coat Ceremony, welcoming the new T.H. Chan School of Medicine students into the medical community.

Returning UMass Chan students from the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, Morningside School of Biomedical Sciences and the T.H. Chan School of Medicine welcomed incoming students on Aug. 17 during the Diversity and Inclusion Office’s Inclusive Excellence Orientation.

The annual 10-week program hosted by the Diversity and Inclusion Office supports students from groups historically marginalized in STEM, health sciences and medicine through mentorship and hands-on experiences. Ten students participated in the 2023 program.

Forty future health and science professionals spent the summer immersed in UMass Chan’s cutting-edge laboratories.

Nineteen rising high school juniors and seniors spent July in Worcester participating in the immersive 2023 High School Health Careers Program at UMass Chan Medical School.

According to research by Katarina A. Ferrucci, PhD’23, transgender and gender-diverse people face more challenges than cisgender people in accessing treatment for eating disorders, and care providers aren’t always aware of the barriers.

More than 200 women of all backgrounds and ages came together at UMass Chan Medical School to get information about their health and have a day of self-care.

The Department of Family Medicine & Community Health is hosting the first annual event on World Refugee Day on June 20. Crista Johnson-Agbawku, MD, is the inaugural recipient of the Thomas Zand Refugee Health Lectureship award and will present Grand Rounds.

Students from Morehouse School of Medicine and the CUNY School of Medicine will perform clinical rotations in dermatology, orthopedic surgery, OB-GYN, internal medicine, pediatrics and radiology this summer.

During a ceremony named after a former vice provost, graduating UMass Chan Medical School students received stoles made of Kente fabric from Ghana, West Africa, to wear at Commencement.

The annual stole ceremony is part of UMass Chan’s ongoing efforts to illuminate the stories and experiences of underrepresented students.

Nine UMass Chan Medical School departments participated in the Diversity and Equity Action Plan (DEAP) pilot, organized by the Diversity and Inclusion Office.

UMass Chan Medical School and Central Mass Links are inviting the local community to participate in the Multicultural Women’s Health Summit, a free family wellness event, on Saturday, June 17, on the UMass Chan campus in Worcester.

Seven women were honored for career achievements in science and health care during the 23rd annual Women’s Faculty Awards at UMass Chan Medical School.

UMass Chan’s Diversity and Inclusion Office invited Maura Minsky, director of The Empathy Project at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, to discuss the importance of storytelling and empathy in the hospital and in diversity, equity and inclusion work.

Carolyn Brownawell, MBA, deputy executive vice chancellor for human resources at UMass Chan Medical School, believes that diversity, equity and inclusion are essential to institutional growth.

Author Geoffrey L. Cohen, PhD, described how “situation-crafting” can combat racism, enhance health and improve work performance.

The Lamar Soutter Library is hosting a National Library of Medicine traveling exhibit highlighting immigrants’ and migrants’ experiences with health care in the United States over 130 years. Now through April 21, the exhibit, Outside/Inside: Immigration, Migration and Health Care in the United States, is on display in the library.

The T.H. Chan School of Medicine admissions team partnered with the Diversity and Inclusion Office to host the inaugural Second Look Inclusive Connections and Belonging event on March 27.

UMass Chan Medical School celebrates Women’s History Month with a lecture by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, PhD, the Paul Murray Kendall Chair in Biography and professor of English at UMass Amherst, called “Forgotten Lives: Who They Were and Why They’re Important.”

UMass Chan Medical School students describe how their diverse backgrounds have prepared them to become doctors.

Research coordinators and their mentors share their takeaways from the Pipeline for Underrepresented Students in Medicine program. The deadline to apply for the next cycle is March 31.

UMass Chan Medical School celebrated Black History Month with a focus on the research of four of its Black scientists: Brain Lewis, PhD; Ayorkor Gaba, PsyD; MD/PhD student Zach Dyer; and Natalie Anumba, PhD.

The UMass Chan Medical School Diversity Engagement Survey will be emailed to all faculty, staff and students on March 6 and remain open through the end of March.

The Worcester Youth Behavioral Health Pathway Program seeks to create, maintain and sustain a pipeline of students of color to consider being clinicians, therapists, board-certified behavioral analysts and behavior technicians.

Crista Johnson-Agbakwu, MD, an accomplished physician who has focused her career on reducing the disparities between social determinants of health and health care, has been appointed the inaugural executive director of the new UMass Chan Medical School Collaborative in Health Equity.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office will present the series Black History Month: A Celebration of Black Excellence at UMass Chan Medical School.

Thirty faculty, staff and residents at UMass Chan Medical School were training in restorative justice, which is a method of conflict resolution and community building.

Robert E. Layne, MEd, received the 2023 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion at the annual tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. in recognition of his long term commitment to bringing students underrepresented in health care careers into the STEM pipeline.

Marlina Duncan, EdD, received the Diamond Award for Excellence in Education, Leadership, Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, Humanitarian, Philanthropic and Community Engagement at a gala in Atlanta on Jan. 21.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office is preparing for the March 6 launch of the Diversity Engagement Survey, and held the last in a three-part informational series, the “Diversity Engagement Survey and You,” on Tuesday, Jan. 17. Marlina Duncan, EdD, and Sharina Person, PhD, also discuss the DES in a Voices of UMass Chan podcast.

In recognition of its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, UMass Chan Medical School was named one of “America's Greatest Workplaces 2023 For Diversity," by Newsweek and market data research firm Plant-A Insights. 

The Diversity and Inclusion Office is presenting a virtual event, the “Diversity Engagement Survey and You,” on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at noon. The 2023 survey will be sent via email to all faculty, staff and students on March 6.

The UMass Chan Medical School community will gather virtually for its 35th annual tribute in honor of the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at noon.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office at UMass Chan Medical School is hosting its 2023 Diversity Campus Read featuring Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides by Geoffrey L. Cohen.

With a grant from the Dermatology Foundation, Morehouse School of Medicine student Sachi Desse is researching cutaneous T cell lymphoma, with Jillian Richmond, PhD, as her mentor.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2023 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion and the MLK Semester of Service Awards. Recipients will be announced at the UMass Chan Martin Luther King Jr. celebration on Jan. 25.

Linda M. Long-Bellil, PhD, JD, of UMass Chan Medical School; Monika Mitra, PhD, of Brandeis University; and Charity Hueckstedt, of the National Center of Disability and Pregnancy Advisory Board led a forum on the intersectionality of disability, race and pregnancy.

More than 60 college students from across Massachusetts attended “A Day in the Life of a Surgeon” event last month, organized by two UMass Chan Medical School surgery residents to give students underrepresented in medicine the opportunity to learn about the surgical field.

With support from the Diversity and Inclusion Office, 15 departments and offices volunteered to participate in a pilot program in which they are developing plans to align their work with the five priority areas outlined in the diversity pillar of IMPACT 2025, the UMass Chan strategic plan.

UMass Chan Medical School hosted an inaugural observation of Native American Heritage Month with a virtual presentation by David Shane Lowry, PhD, anthropologist and citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

Cailin Duram, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, led the monthly Diversity and Inclusion series, Centering the Margins, on reproductive rights and justice for queer and gender nonconforming people of color on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

The Diversity and Inclusion Office featured the second of a three-part speaker series on Tuesday, Oct. 25, on the Diversity Engagement Survey developed by UMass Chan Medical School in collaboration with the Association of American Medical College.

MD/PhD student Bethany Berry plans to champion diversity and advocacy as UMass Chan Medical School’s student representative on the UMass Board of Trustees. Her research focuses on epigenetic mechanisms of meningioma, a type of intracranial tumor.

In her new role, Mary Munson, PhD, will serve as a leader in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in science at UMass Chan Medical School.

Ashley Gomez, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Pittsburgh, served as UMass Chan Medical School’s keynote speaker to conclude the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

The annual Steven L. Putterman Memorial Lecture was presented by Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, chief health equity officer and senior vice president for the American Medical Association, on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

Third-year medical student Colin Burnett was invited to present his research on LGBTQI+ cancer survivors at a national conference. Burnett and his co-authors discovered that most LGBTQI+ cancer survivors did not have access to health education resources tailored to their gender and sexual identities.

Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Marlina Duncan, EdD, called the 10th Annual LGBT Convocation Welcome, “a celebration that fosters a sense of belonging in the city of Worcester.”

The pride flag was raised on Sept. 1 at UMass Chan Medical School and will be flown every September, when Worcester celebrates LGBT pride.

This 10-week program, focused on students from groups historically marginalized in STEM, health sciences and medicine, provides students with hands-on experience and insight into a range of fields of fields, such as diversity and inclusion, public safety, communications, and community and government relations.

Thirty-two college undergraduates interested in careers in medicine and science spent 10 weeks immersed in the cutting-edge laboratories of UMass Chan investigators.

One hundred seventy-two new students attended the learners of color orientation at UMass Chan Medical School on Aug. 18. The day-long program included workshops and speakers on topics ranging from mental health to finding mentors, from financial literacy to “power mapping” students’ first year.

The Office of Student Life led its first combined orientation for new medical, biomedical sciences and nursing students on Wednesday, Aug. 17, responding to requests by students for increased interaction among schools.

Shalom Njau and Yutian “Tina” Li are grateful and proud to be among the 16 members of the High School Health Careers Program Class of 2022 at UMass Chan Medical School, and confident that their experiences in the summer outreach program will help them achieve their goals.

The Diversity for Health Care, Innovation and Medicine Summer Learning Opportunity at UMass Chan Medical School welcomed 11 students from Morehouse School of Medicine and the CUNY School of Medicine in New York.

UMass Chan Medical School is posting data on the diversity composition of its campus community in support of its strategic goal to increase diversity, equity and inclusion. The Diversity Data Dashboards include self-reported data from UMass Chan’s faculty, staff and students by race, ethnicity and gender.

Thirty-nine students completed the 2022 Summer Enrichment/BaccMD Program, an intensive immersion program aimed to help college undergraduates from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds who want to become physicians improve their qualifications and competitive standing for admission.

Kodiak Soled, PhD, vice president of the Lesbian Health Fund at GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, presented, “Fighting for our families: A community-placed study of LGBTQ+ childbearing hardships, harms and hope for a brighter future.”

The Diversity and Inclusion Office led the UMass Chan Medical School community through a virtual art and poetry celebration of Juneteenth on June 15.

UMass Chan Medical School will recognize Pride Month with events on June 28 and 29 that focus on the experiences of LGBTQ families as they navigate the health care system and work as members of it.

Graduating UMass Chan Medical School students from paths historically underrepresented in medicine and science were ceremonially presented Kente and multicultural stoles on Friday, June 3, to wear at the 49th Commencement.

Two alums of UMass Chan Medical School pathway program are among those graduating on Sunday, June 5.

A new tradition will be celebrated at UMass Chan Medical School on Friday, June 3, when graduating students of color from all three schools at UMass Chan will be given colorful Kente and multicultural stoles to be worn as regalia during Commencement.

Leverett Wing, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Seminar, shared personal and historical narratives of anti-Asian racism in the United States during a UMass Chan Medical School forum recognizing Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Created by students in 2021, UMass LIGHT aims to increase diversity, equity and inclusion; promote career growth; and create professional development opportunities through mentorship and community events.

UMass Chan students Micaela Tobin and Laël Ngangmeni and two undergraduate students will conduct qualitative research focused on pregnancy and maternity care through a VA training program designed to diversify the research workforce. Kristin Mattocks, PhD, MPH, is the program director at UMass Chan.

Community organizer Chien-Chi Huang, founder of the Asian Breast Cancer Project, spoke at the April 20 Diversity and Inclusion Office Centering the Margins series and shared how her experience as a breast cancer survivor led her to advocate for Asian women’s health.

UMass Chan Medical School is accepting applications for the Emerging Professionals Summer Internship Program, which will be held in person on campus this year.

The Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Diversity Interest Group celebrated Women’s History Month by hosting a Women in STEM panel on Thursday, March 24, at which four women discussed their experiences, challenges and successes as scientists.

Khiara M. Bridges, JD, PhD, professor of law at University of California Berkeley School of Law, presented the talk “Explaining Racial Disparities in Health: The Limitations of Implicit Bias,” on March 16, as the guest speaker for the Centering the Margins series.

Learn about UMass Chan Medical School’s diversity and inclusion efforts in a Voices of UMass Chan podcast with Marlina Duncan, EdD, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion.

A new Voices of UMass Chan podcast takes a look at the UMass Chan Medical School’s new scribe fellowship.

The first graduate of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing's  Graduate Entry Pathway to PhD in Nursing program, Rita Konadu Amoah, RN, PhD’21, is now teaching UMass Chan nursing students how to safely care for patients.

Mentorship is central to a new paid, clinical research opportunity for diverse students and alumni of schools that are a part of the Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts.

The Worcester Black History Project recognizes and celebrates the experiences of Black people in Worcester and the surrounding areas.

Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Marlina Duncan said her office will coordinate the implementation of the DEI pillar and will support the development of goals and appropriate measures for departments and programs as they make new and creative commitments to diversity.

Yasmin Carter, PhD, has played a lead role in designing a new three-dimensional full female model on research publishing firm Elsevier’s Complete Anatomy app, the first ever on the platform.

In her talk, Harriet Washington took listeners on a journey through 400 years of American history, strategically beginning with the Nuremberg trials, which she called “the beginning of global dialogue about medical ethics and the history of medicine.”

Medical writer and editor Harriet Washington and Worcester Black History Project founder Deborah Hall will lead events at UMass Chan during February, Black History Month.

UMass Chan Medical School held the 34th annual Martin Luther King Jr. tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 24. Mary Munson, PhD, was named the 2022 recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion.

Five teams of UMass Chan Medical School students have been awarded 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Semester of Service Student Awards to implement community service programs that will cast a wide net over underserved communities.

The 34th annual UMass Chan Medical School tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. will take place online on Zoom, on Monday, Jan. 24, from noon to 1 p.m.