I have had the opportunity to work with Speaker DeLeo on many complex issues over the years, and have always found him to be sharply focused on how a new policy or law would affect Main Streets and neighborhoods in every region of the state. He recognized that Massachusetts was not just one economy but a collection of regional economies with different needs and opportunities. I think that is why he has been an especially good friend to UMass as he recognized how important the state’s only public research university is to the prosperity of every region of the Commonwealth.

Prompted by a health issue that his grandmother had, MD/PhD student Eric Ding is studying how smart watches monitor heart rhythms and detect atrial fibrillation in older adults. His work is supported by a three-year National Institutes of Health grant.

Esi A. Asare, MBA, will join UMass Medical School next week as the new director of admissions for the School of Medicine.

People with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are frequently prescribed medications such as sleeping pills, antipsychotic medication and drugs for bladder control. Sometimes it is too much.

According to Jerry Gurwitz, MD, potentially inappropriate or excessive prescribing is a “morbidity multiplier,” which can lead to adverse drug events, falls, worsening cognitive impairment and emergency hospitalizations.

Parth Chakrabarti, MPH, MBA, an experienced strategic leader in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, will serve as UMass Medical School’s new executive vice chancellor for innovation and business development, joining UMMS this week, according to Chancellor Michael F. Collins.

If you’ve been feeling depressed, worried or lonely; you have a hard time getting motivated; or you feel more tired during pandemic life, you’re not alone. COVID fatigue is real and is affecting mental health, said UMass Medical School behavioral health specialists.

In the new year, David D. McManus, MD, professor of medicine, will begin an appointment as the chair of the Department of Medicine, according to an announcement by Eric. W. Dickson, MD, president and CEO, UMass Memorial Health Care, and Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean, School of Medicine.

A new study by Alejandro Vasquez-Rifo, PhD, and Victor Ambros, PhD, shows that certain strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a rod-shaped bacterial pathogen that causes disease in plants and animals, including humans, have a unique mechanism for disabling and degrading the ribosome in its host cells.

BOSTON – Warning that the pandemic continues to create financial uncertainty, UMass President Marty Meehan told a Board of Trustees committee today that it will be critical for the university to remain disciplined in its financial management to ensure the university remains financially sound and positioned to drive the Massachusetts economic recovery.

AMHERST, Mass. – As part of Gov. Charlie Baker’s expansion of COVID-19 testing, the University of Massachusetts Amherst will launch a major community asymptomatic testing program starting Monday, Dec. 14. Free testing will be offered, by appointment only, at the Public Health Promotion Center (PHPC) at the Mullins Center.