Stories of giving

Year after year, the UMass ALS Cellucci Fund team has delivered, driven by a profound shared purpose to accelerate breakthroughs in the treatment of ALS and bring hope to patients and families across the world.

Exploring a transformed campus, recognizing institutional excellence, and engaging directly with students preparing to lead the future of medicine left alumni energized and inspired at UMass Chan Medical School’s Reunion 2026.

The annual Phyllis M. Howe Lecture brought the UMass Chan Medical School community together in May to reflect on one of medicine’s most enduring questions: how to care for the whole person when clinical decisions grow most complex.

Since 2007, nine students at the T.H. Chan School of Medicine have benefited from the Charles Gomes Memorial Scholarship Fund, receiving financial support as they prepare for careers in medicine. Graduates supported by the fund have gone on to pursue a range of specialties, including internal medicine, emergency medicine, radiology and pediatrics. 

After creating an endowed scholarship for students at the T.H. Chan School of Medicine in 2022, George Wilding, MD'80, and his wife, Helen Wilding, recently deepened their commitment—and the scholarship’s impact—with an additional generous gift. Their continued investment is making a medical education more accessible for aspiring physicians today and for generations to come.

Mark A. Goldberg, MD’86, and his wife, Nancy E. Goldberg, MSN, RN, APRN, PPCNP-BC​, of Lexington, recently endowed a scholarship at UMass Chan Medical School to help offset the cost of tuition for students pursuing medicine. Mark credits UMass Chan with paving the way for his own distinguished career as a leader in helping to advance transformative treatments and health care technologies, and is committed to expanding opportunities for aspiring physicians.

Patrick Halvorsen was a typical teen—with an uncommon spirit of compassion—when he was diagnosed in 2018 with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer that would take his life three years later at age 17. After his passing, the Halvorsen family initiated a fundraiser to support pediatric brain cancer research at UMass Chan Medical School, perpetuating Patrick’s legacy of kindness and hope. 

After their son, Michael, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) at age 4, Theresa and Rob Capolongo channeled grief into action. Determined to push toward better treatments—and ultimately a cure—they founded Michael’s Cause, a grassroots, all-volunteer nonprofit based in Staten Island, New York, where they live with Michael and his two siblings. Since 2011, Michael’s Cause has directly funded more than $3 million in DMD research and support, including $250,000 directed to the Duchenne Program at UMass Chan Medical School. 

As a Worcester County native, Justin Maykel, MD, often meets familiar faces through his medical practice—a unique privilege he never takes for granted. Among his patients, the late George (Geof) F. Booth II stands out as a remarkable, enduring presence in his life and career. Before he passed away in 2023, Geof and his wife, Penny Booth, bequeathed generous funding that was used to establish the Geof and Penny Booth Colorectal Surgery Research Fellowship. 

Remembered for her generous spirit and her capacity to connect deeply with others, Kerri Appleton’s life was tragically cut short in January 2025 by cholangiocarcinoma, a rare, incurable cancer. In a fitting tribute, the inaugural Kerri Appleton Legacy Golf Tournament, held last summer, raised critical funds for cholangiocarcinoma research at UMass Chan Medical School—with the hope of changing the course of this intractable disease.