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.
Who’s more popular, Tom Brady or Dunkin’ Donuts?
Commencement 2020 wasn’t what anyone pictured, least of all the thousands of graduating students, or the families that supported them.
This ceremony – like so many other things – was shaped by the cruel and sudden sweep of a global pandemic that left the campus locked down and online since mid-March. But students, faculty and administrators made the best of the situation, gathering online to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2020.
By now during the coronavirus pandemic, you’ve probably seen plenty of stories about face masks. Crafty people are sewing them at home for their neighbors. Retailers such as The Gap, Banana Republic and Nordstrom can’t keep them in stock. Even celebrities like Kim Kardashian have jumped on the bandwagon and launched their own designer lines.
But most of those stories are about the demand for masks since April, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that cloth face coverings be worn in public.