Photo: Colleen Locke
The Diabetes Center of Excellence at UMass Chan Medical School announced Tammy T. Nguyen, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, has been named the new George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation Term Chair in Diabetes.
Dr. Nguyen succeeds Sally C. Kent, PhD, associate professor of medicine, who held the term chair since 2020. Nguyen will officially take over as chair on July 1.
“I hope to continue all the progress Dr. Kent has made and bring my own flair and individuality to the role. My lab will be looking at the complications of diabetes, particularly how diabetes affects immune function, responds to diabetic foot infection and how we can improve strategies to prevent amputations,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen’s lab also focuses on community outreach programs and bridging the gap between research and the public’s access to care.
“We are hopeful this award will help accelerate our research in both translational science and with our community prevention program with a goal of helping as many people with diabetes as possible,” Nguyen said.
Photo: Colleen Locke
The Diabetes Center of Excellence recognized the transition in a ceremony on Thursday, May 22. Among those in attendance were George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation chairman and treasurer Mark Fuller, vice chairman and assistant treasurer Janice Fuller and trustee David Hallock; and David M. Harlan, MD, the William and Doris Krupp Professor in Medicine and co-director of the Diabetes Center of Excellence.
The chair was established in 2015. Chair holders receive $375,000 over five years from the foundation to support their scientific work. Nguyen, who is the medical director of the Vascular Surgery Lower Extremity Wound Clinic at UMass Memorial Medical Center, is the third junior faculty member to hold the Fuller Foundation Term Chair.
Kent was the second faculty member to hold the five-year term, succeeding Laura Alonso, MD, the inaugural holder.
“The generosity of the award gives you time to solidify where your research is heading and gather data, and find ways to get additional funding,” Kent said. “We’re all very grateful for the Fuller Foundation’s support of our lab and their continued support for Tammy’s research program.”
Nguyen joined UMass Chan in 2020 after completing her residency here. The Southern California native is an MD/PhD graduate of the University of Utah School of Medicine. Her PhD is in biochemistry.
