The Latest News
Announcing a new partnership with the City of Worcester
to transform public health using a data-sharing platform
developed at UMass Chan Medical School Research Informatics Core.
Adrian Zai, MD, PhD, MPH
This is a joint venture between the Research Informatics Core (RIC), operated by the Chief Research Informatics Officer and director of RIC, Dr. Adrian Zai through support by NCATS funding at the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science, the City of Worcester, the UMass Chan Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, and UMass Memorial Health Care. This project is titled "Worcester Integrated Health Data Exchange" (WIHDE). It is a pivotal initiative using the Platform for Learning Health System at UMass Chan Medical
School (PLUM) with the intended purpose of transforming public health in Worcester by providing a secure environment for sharing health data across the city's healthcare organizations. Full Story Here
Alys launches as promising new immuno-dermatology company
 |
This new venture is co-founded by John Harris, MD, PhD. Dr. Harris, chair and professor of dermatology, director of the Vitiligo Clinic and Research Center, and director of UMCCTS Integrated Biomarkers Core will serve as Chief Innovation Officer at Alys. Alys combines the assets and platforms of six biotechs, including Aldena Therapeutics, a partner of UMass Chan Medical School. See full article HERE. |
2022 Pilot Project Program (PPP) recipient, Joel Richter, PhD forges ahead with his research through a new partnership
Joel Richter, PhD, the Arthur F. Koskinas Chair in Neuroscience and professor of molecular medicine, received a PPP award for his project titled "Correction of Defective Splicing in Fragile X Syndrome withTherapeutic Potential". This new partnership between UMass Chan and QurAlis facilitates further study for Dr. Richter by exploring the biology of fragile X syndrome to determine and confirm relevant targets that could enable antisense oligonucleotide-mediated correction of the syndrome. (Read full story HERE.)
Recent Research Funding Awards
Nancy Byatt, DO, MS’15, MBA, current KL2 Program mentor, former KL2 and Pilot Project Program awardee continues to shine! A research team led by Dr. Byatt, pictured here with Christopher Sheldrick, PhD, has secured a $21 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to conduct a perinatal mental health equity study. Read full story HERE.
Pilot Project Program awardee, Melissa Anderson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry, pictured here with Alexander Wilkins, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, are co-directors of the DeafYes! Center for Deaf Empowerment and Recovery at UMass Chan. They have been awarded a $3.6 million award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to start a nationwide virtual clinic testing evidence-based therapy for Deaf people with trauma symptoms and alcohol use disorders. Read full story HERE.
Research supported by a K23 grant is under way by KL2 scholar Lara Kovell, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, on a project titled, “Development of a Mobile Health Intervention for Blood Pressure Management in Pregnancy”.
UMass Chan MD/PhD student Pryce Michener has received an award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to further his research on substance use and medications for opioid use disorder. Full story HERE.
UMass Chan Medical School awarded
AAHRPP Re-Accreditation
On December 15, 2023, the Council on Accreditation of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP) once again awarded UMass Chan Medical School Full Accreditation for a period of five years. This is a continuation of the Medical School’s AAHRPP Accreditation, first issued in 2015 and renewed in 2018.
AAHRPP is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body headquartered in Washington, DC which promotes high-quality research through accreditation. According to AAHRPP, “As the “gold seal,” AAHRPP accreditation offers assurances—to research participants, researchers, sponsors, government regulators, and the general public—that an HRPP is focused first and foremost on excellence.”
For questions and additional information about AAHRPP and UMass Chan, please contact Meg Johnson, JD, CIP at Meg.Johnson@umassmed.edu
