Welcome from the Chair
I am delighted to welcome you to the Department of Molecular, Cell & Cancer Biology (MCCB) at UMass Chan Medical School.
Chair, MCCB
This year we are proudly celebrating our 10th anniversary—and a decade of groundbreaking discoveries, innovation, collaboration, and dedication to training future scientific leaders.
MCCB was formed in 2015 from the merger of two strong research programs: the Department of Cancer Biology (created in 2002) and the Program in Gene Function and Expression (created in 1999). As a result, the department has a robust multi-disciplinary research program encompassing broad areas in cellular and molecular biology, with interests centering around critical aspects of eukaryotic genetics, including regulation of gene expression and understanding the roles of gene products in normal and disease settings, such as cancer. The merger unified researchers investigating diverse aspects of cancer biology under a single entity, and thus MCCB now serves as the hub of basic cancer research at our institution. The majority of our faculty serve as members of the UMass Cancer Center, with several serving as leaders of the basic cancer research programs.
MCCB's research program is led by an outstanding group of investigators who are making innovative, high-impact contributions in their fields. Our group is highly collegial and collaborative and has formed productive partnerships within the department, with other departments and programs at UMass Chan, and with other labs nationwide. Our research program is bolstered by state-of-the-art facilities and resources, including an in-house Bioinformatics Core—a unique asset that provides cutting-edge, high-level bioinformatics and biostatistics support to researchers in the department.
The diverse scientific environment, together with our commitment to fostering an inclusive and positive research culture, makes MCCB a robust training ground for students and postdoctoral researchers. Notably, MCCB faculty have key leadership roles in two of the institution’s graduate programs, the Cancer Biology Program (which is home-based in MCCB) and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. The strength of the department's educational activities is evidenced by the success and accomplishments of our trainees.
We are very fortunate to have an exceptional group of administrative and operational staff who enable our research program to function at its highest level. The team is literally award-winning: in 2017 the MCCB administrative team was recognized with the University’s Chancellor’s Award for advancing the medical school’s mission, in recognition of their daily contributions that are integral to the department’s success and their extraordinary fundraising efforts on behalf of the UMass Chan Cancer Research Team, MCCB’s fundraising team for the annual UMass Cancer Walk.
Over the past decade, MCCB has contributed meaningful insights and solutions to some of biomedical science’s most pressing challenges, translating our discoveries into innovative therapeutic strategies. As we look ahead, we aim to build upon this strong foundation to continue driving biomedical innovation through research and education. Here’s to the next 10 years!
I invite you to explore the MCCB website to learn more about our outstanding research and education activities, and how you can support our efforts to drive biomedical breakthroughs for cancer and other diseases.
Richard Gregory, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular, Cell & Cancer Biology