An influential scientific journal’s list of top translational biotech researchers for 2019 includes Guangping Gao, PhD, the Penelope Booth Rockwell Professor in Biomedical Research, professor of microbiology & physiological systems, director of the Horae Gene Therapy Center and co-director of the Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases. Nature Biotechnology notes that its ranking of the top 20 biotech researchers is based on total patents (European and U.S.) granted for the y

Scientists know that individuals who accumulate fat around their belly are much more at risk of developing diabetes than those who have it in the lower body. A new four-year, $2 million grant will help Silvia Corvera, MD, learn more about about how the development and function of fat cells differ in people with and without type 2 diabetes. The findings may help explain what causes diabetes and related conditions including fatty liver and cardiovascular disease.

Brian Lewis, PhD, professor of molecular, cell & cancer biology, assistant vice provost of outreach and recruitment, and associate dean for diversity and prematriculation programs in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, was one of three scientists recognized in the Evening of Hope 2020 Honor Roll at the Biomedical Science Careers Program’s (BSCP) annual fundraising ceremony, held virtually this year.

A new, $2 million grant from the NCI Serological Sciences Network for COVID-19 (SeroNet) is aimed at enhancing representation of Black and Hispanic people in SARS-CoV-2 immunology research through the use of storytelling—an approach in which community members become “video stars” and provide honest messages about the importance of being represented in COVID-19 research studies.

BOSTON – With early voting set to start tomorrow across Massachusetts, student leaders from all five UMass campuses gathered virtually at a voter engagement summit hosted by UMass President Marty Meehan’s office to discuss ongoing engagement efforts and share best practices.

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Town of Amherst announced today that the University will provide asymptomatic COVID-19 testing for the Town’s first responders and inspectors as part of their joint efforts to deter spread of the novel coronavirus.

Approximately 100 firefighters, police and inspectors will be tested once per week in the University’s Public Health Promotion Center at the Mullins Center. The Town will reimburse the University for the costs associated with the testing.

Astronomers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are marking an especially meaningful event this month, as a team led by Professor Peter Schloerb recently received a three-year, $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to provide support for the Large Millimeter Telescope in Mexico and to offer – for the first time – access to it for astronomers from any U.S. institution.

AMHERST, Mass. – Professor Li-Jun Ma, biochemistry and molecular biology, has received support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI) Community Science Program (CSP) to conduct in-depth research on a group of soil fungi, Fusaria, that are economically important because they devastate crops – not only food but biofuel feedstocks.

Two research projects led by UMass Boston faculty were selected to receive awards totaling $1.1 million during the most recent funding cycle of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC).

MLSC’s Bits to Bytes program, which provides grants for projects that generate and analyze large datasets to answer pressing life science questions, awarded the Oregon-Massachusetts Mammography Database (OMAMA-DB) $750,000. The project is led by Assistant Professor of Computer Science Daniel Haehn.

In a report released today, the Sustainable Solutions Lab (SSL) at UMass Boston shared public opinion data that includes a large sampling of people of color in the Boston area. By capturing a full range of views on climate change across racial groups, that survey data establish a baseline set of inclusive perspectives from which climate stakeholders can measure change over time.