AMHERST, Mass. – To avoid crowds during the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no presentations at the UMass Amherst Sunwheel marking the start of summer. However, the public is invited to visit the site for sunrise and sunset to celebrate the longest days of the year. Visitors should wear masks, employ social distancing, and be prepared for the possibility of wet footing and mosquitoes.
Charlie Titus has been known to joke that “I came with the bricks” – a lighthearted way of noting that he arrived at UMass Boston in 1974, just as UMB was leaving its temporary home in Park Square and moving into the red-brick buildings of the Columbia Point campus.
After years of study, 17 Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences PhD candidates had the unusual experience of defending their theses virtually, via Zoom, this spring. For some, the socially distant alternative to a traditional dissertation became an opportunity to reach a larger audience that included relatives and friends from near and far.
“It was certainly weird at first, because you cannot see anyone’s facial expressions or gestures while you’re speaking,” said Mona Motwani, GSBS ’20 PhD candidate in immunology and microbiology.
Members of the UMass Medical School community came together online for the Graduate School of Nursing Graduation Celebration on the evening of Thursday, May 28. Warm congratulations and heartfelt appreciation for the GSN Class of 2020 resounded during the annual event, which features awards for graduates and scholarships for current students.
At the 35th Annual Meeting of the Hudson Hoagland Society, held virtually on May 20, members and guests heard about research with extraordinary topicality and currency, including an approach to a vaccine for COVID-19. Trudy Morrison, PhD, professor of microbiology & physiological systems, discussed the history and potential for her research into virus-like particles as a mechanism for creating a protective immune response to novel viruses such as SARS-CoV-2.
The Worcester Business Journal has named UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael F. Collins and Kola Akindele, JD, assistant vice chancellor for city and community relations, to its Power 50 Class of 2020. The annual list recognizes the region’s leaders in business sectors, including health and education, who wield the greatest positive influence on the Central Massachusetts economy.
Boston, MA – Today, the University of Massachusetts announced a strategic alliance between UMass Online and Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners HealthCare) to develop a certificate and degree completion pathway for healthcare professionals in support of the economic recovery in a critical area of need within the state.
The Child Trauma Training Center at UMass Medical School has received supplemental funding to help ensure the center’s LINK-KID referral service has the capacity to handle an expected surge in calls due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The $50,000 grant from the Lookout Foundation is part of the foundation’s effort to respond to the public health crisis with emergency grants for its established grantees.
Lyme disease has become an insidious epidemic in the United States. Caused by bacteria transmitted by an infected tick bite, symptoms can include arthritis and cardiac and neurological problems if left untreated. It is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that around 300,000 people likely contract the disease each year.
A team of UMass Medical School researchers has identified a promising new therapeutic target in hepatoblastoma, a rare, primarily pediatric liver cancer for which successful treatment strategies have been elusive.
The study, which looks at the role in tumor survival of a cancer gene, YAP1, was led by Jordan Smith, an MD/PhD candidate in the lab of Wen Xue, PhD, associate professor of RNA therapeutics. It was published online in the journal Hepatology.