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UMass Chan Medical School
@umasschan.bsky.social
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UMass Chan Medical School: pioneering education, research and health care delivery in Worcester, Mass. See how we are advancing medicine together. https://direc.to/mZJw #AdvancingTogether
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umasschan.bsky.social
The Boston Globe surveyed researchers in Massachusetts who receive NIH funding and heard from 370, including Rachael Sirianni, PhD, a pediatric brain cancer researcher at UMass Chan: direc.to/oUwc

“I’m holding my breath,” Dr. Sirianni said.

#NIHFunding @docsirianni.bsky.social @bostonglobe.com
Boston built a global biotech empire. Now the talent is quietly drifting away. - The Boston Globe
In a first-of-its-kind survey, the Globe asked hundreds of scientists about the impact of federal funding cuts.
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February 11, 2026 at 9:40 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
Philanthropist Gerald Chan; Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, incoming president of the National Academy of Medicine; and Robert A. Harrington, MD, dean of Weill Cornell Medicine, will be honored during Commencement alongside 300+ grads: direc.to/oU5y #UMassChan2026 @uofmass.bsky.social @nam.edu
Philanthropist Gerald Chan to deliver UMass Chan Commencement address May 31
Gerald Chan, philanthropist and founder of The Morningside Foundation, will deliver the Commencement address on May 31.
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February 10, 2026 at 8:05 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
“To suggest that it’s simple to take the money and distribute it on geographic balance doesn’t recognize the importance of the investment that has been made over six or seven decades.”

#ICYMI: Chancellor Michael F. Collins was featured on @politico.com & @bostonglobe.com: direc.to/oUU6 #NIHfunding
Chancellor Collins speaks out on threat to biomedical research
Chancellor Michael F. Collins says changes to NIH funding mechanisms threaten the nation’s biomedical research infrastructure and undermine clinical advances.
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February 9, 2026 at 6:33 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
Suhas Suddala and Colin Stoll have matched into their top choice military residency programs at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center: direc.to/oTCG

Stoll has matched in internal medicine, while Suddala, an MD/MBA student, will do his residency training in anesthesia.

#MilitaryMatch
Two UMass Chan medical students match into their top choice program at Walter Reed
Two UMass Chan medical students in the Class of 2026 have successfully matched into their top choice military residency programs at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
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February 6, 2026 at 1:46 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
A UMass Chan-led study found that ultrasound-guided nerve blocks provide significantly better pain relief for children with severe leg fractures while reducing opioid use by nearly 75 percent, without added risk. direc.to/oTCa

#pediatrics #opiod #POCUS #EM #PEM @aem-journal.bsky.social
Targeted nerve blocks sharply reduce pain, opioid use for children with severe leg fractures, UMass Chan study finds
A UMass Chan-led study found that ultrasound-guided nerve blocks provide significantly better pain relief for children with severe leg fractures while reducing opioid use by nearly 75 percent, without...
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February 5, 2026 at 8:51 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
If the PhD admissions cuts in 2025 "prove to be a harbinger of things to come," the Boston Globe Editorial Board wrote, "it would be a grave crisis": direc.to/oTFK

"Closing off opportunities for young researchers means many of them will take their ambitions elsewhere." - @globeopinion.bsky.social
Losing PhD students means losing the future - The Boston Globe
Trump’s budget cuts could harm the pipeline for research and industry jobs — and send talented students to other countries.
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February 5, 2026 at 4:22 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
This year’s flu season has been particularly severe for young children. Zachary Binder, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at UMass Chan Medical School, told The New York Times that many of the patients he saw during the December wave developed serious symptoms: direc.to/oTyk

#flu @nytimes.com
U.S. Flu Cases Are Rising Again
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:33 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
Chancellor Michael F. Collins spoke to POLITICO about NIH director Jay Bhattacharya’s plans for a more widespread distribution of research funds: direc.to/oT1y

“Cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, does not have a red or blue component,” Collins said.

#NIHfunding #ResearchFunding @politico.com
Democrats just handed RFK Jr. billions more than he asked for. It was a big risk.
Lawmakers rejected huge health cuts President Donald Trump requested. Kennedy’s diverting the funds to pet projects and red states.
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February 4, 2026 at 7:39 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
UMass Chan Medical School is leading a multi-site study using mindfulness and AI-driven insights to improve movement, sleep and daily functioning for people with chronic low back pain: direc.to/oT7K

#BackPain #mindfulness #AI @uofmass.bsky.social
UMass Chan study examines mindfulness as nonpharmacological approach to chronic low back pain
UMass Chan Medical School is leading a multisite study using mindfulness and AI-driven insights to improve movement, sleep, and daily functioning for people with chronic low back pain.
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February 4, 2026 at 2:46 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
Focus on epidemiology, biostatistics and health services research while earning a PhD in biomedical sciences through the Population Health Sciences Pathway at UMass Chan. Register for the virtual info session on Feb. 11: direc.to/oTeK

#PhD #PhDSky #epidemiology #biostatistics #PopulationHealth
Two students in the Population Health Sciences Pathway chatting over a laptop
February 2, 2026 at 4:26 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
Melissa Fischer, MD, MEd, one of the recipients of the 2025 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Awards, spoke to AAMC about what makes someone a good teacher and educational innovator and how we learn from medical errors: direc.to/oSVc

#MedEd #MedSchool #MedicalSchool @aamc.org
What makes a good medical school teacher?
Award-winning instructors and their students reflect on building relationships and trust, maintaining standards, and making adjustments.
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January 30, 2026 at 1:19 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
From patient portals to text messages and wearables, digital health can improve outcomes, but only when it’s built around patient needs. Daniel Amante, PhD, MPH, shows how patient-centered design keeps technology human and care effective: direc.to/oS3V

#AI #DigitalHealth #ScienceForLiving
Science for Living: How digital health tools strengthen care when patients are the core focus
Daniel Amante, PhD, MPH, discusses how digital health tools are most effective when they’re designed with patients at the center.
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January 29, 2026 at 2:58 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
The early admission deadline for most UMass Chan nursing programs is Sunday, Feb. 1. Reserve your spot in our Doctor of Nursing Practice, PhD, MS in Nursing and Interprofessional Leadership and Post Graduate Certificate programs: direc.to/oRRH

#nursing #nurse #NursingPhD #leadership
UMass Chan nursing faculty working with UMass Chan nursing students in the Nursing Skills Lab
January 28, 2026 at 4:53 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
Jennifer Bradford, MD, was the keynote speaker for UMass Chan Medical School’s tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Read about the recipients of the inaugural Chancellor’s Award for Mission-Aligned Community Impact and the Student Service Recognition Awards: direc.to/oRpx

#MLK #MLKawards
UMass Chan’s 38th MLK tribute emphasizes acts of service to community
The event featured the presentation of the inaugural Chancellor’s Award for Mission-Aligned Community Impact.
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January 27, 2026 at 7:13 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
The Worcester Business Journal profiled UMass Chan’s AI Assurance Lab, an initiative established in April to test the ethical use of AI in health care. Read about how the lab’s focus has shifted in its first nine months of operation: direc.to/oRem

@umassmedicine.bsky.social @wbjournal.bsky.social
Making sure AI works: UMass Chan’s new AI Assurance Lab tests developing healthcare tech, so it functions properly in the real world
By deploying and studying the impacts of AI tools across different healthcare providers and patient subgroups, the AI Assurance lab is working to add the human back into artificial intelligence.
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January 26, 2026 at 6:33 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
UMass Chan medical students are leading a monthly culinary workshop at the Barre-Hardwick Senior Center to teach hands-on cooking skills tailored to common senior dietary needs. Watch the video: direc.to/oRbL

#community #MedSchool @chronicle5.bsky.social @wbur.org @nbcboston.com
UMass Chan rural health scholars lead culinary workshops at local senior center
The students are leading “Cultivating Connections,” a monthly, hands-on culinary workshop for area residents at the Barre/Hardwick senior center.
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January 26, 2026 at 1:59 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
Christopher Teng, MD, MBA, was part of a team that delivered free, complex eye care and hands-on surgical training in Nepal last month, advancing health equity and empowering local physicians to restore sight even though the mission has ended: direc.to/oQLJ

#GlobalHealth #HealthEquity #RestoreSight
UMass Chan ophthalmology chair participates in surgical training project in Nepal
UMass Chan ophthalmology chair Christopher Teng, MD, MBA, led a free surgical outreach and hands-on training mission in Nepal in December.
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January 23, 2026 at 7:06 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
“I have recognized that by improving a system or patient care process, I can impact and improve the care for many more.” - Sarah Pierce, RN, BSN

Apply by Feb. 1 to save your spot in the master's program in nursing and interprofessional leadership at UMass Chan: direc.to/oQL_

#nurse #leadership
Graphic says Learn to lead—at your own pace. Master of Science: Nursing & Interprofessional Leadership. Now accepting applications for fall 2026
January 23, 2026 at 2:46 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
UMass Chan Executive Deputy Chancellor and Provost Terence R. Flotte is being recognized as a champion and supporter of women in medicine by the American Medical Women's Association: direc.to/oQqZ

#WomenInMedicine #PhysicianAward #MedicalExcellence @amwadoctors.bsky.social
Graphic says AMWA presents the 2026 Larry Zaroff Man of Good Conscience Award to Terence R. Flotte, MR, dean, provost, executive deputy chancellor and professor of genetics & cellular medicine and pediatrics at UMass Chan Medical School
January 22, 2026 at 6:47 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
Technology developed by chemists Anastasia Khvorova, PhD, and Hassan Fakih, PhD, of UMass Chan has been licensed by nonprofit biotech company PLaN Therapeutics to develop a therapeutic for a rare, inherited heart disease, PLN-R14del cardiomyopathy: direc.to/oQwA

#RNA @rti-umasschan.bsky.social
UMass Chan licenses siRNA therapy to PLaN Therapeutics
Technology developed at UMass Chan Medical School has been licensed by PLaN Therapeutics, a nonprofit biotechnology company owned by the PLN Foundation.
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January 22, 2026 at 4:01 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
Zachary Binder, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at UMass Chan Medical School, wrote about the “superflu" for @theconversation.com. Read why Dr. Binder says this season is different from others and why he believes in most cases, home testing for flu is not especially useful: direc.to/oQk8 #flu
New variant of the flu virus is driving surge of cases across the U.S. and Canada
Zachary Binder, MD, wrote an article for The Conversation about the new flu variant driving a rise in flu cases and leading to high hospitalization rates.
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January 21, 2026 at 9:10 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
At a roundtable with Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Beth McCormick, PhD, said that instability in federal funding leads to low morale and smaller cohorts of researchers and more challenges for early-career investigators looking to pursue science research.

#ResearchFunding
gbhnews.bsky.social gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 21d
Mass. AG Andrea Campbell has sued the Trump administration 47 times in the last year, over funding cuts, changes to birthright citizenship, research funding from the National Institutes of Health and more: https://bit.ly/4qwHPSy
AG Campbell highlights lawsuits against President Trump on the anniversary of his inauguration
Campbell says her legal challenges have protected nearly $3 billion in funding for Massachusetts.
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January 21, 2026 at 7:39 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
A UMass Chan study found that the decline in the brain’s subcortical regions was more rapid in FTD patients than Alzheimer’s patients: direc.to/opbM

The study is led by Manojkumar Saranathan, PhD, and Arit Banerjee, a PhD candidate at @umassamherst.bsky.social.

#FTD #alzheimers #dementia
UMass Chan study highlights effect of Alzheimer’s, frontotemporal dementia on subcortical brain structures
The study found that Alzheimer’s disease and FTD MRI scans both showed degeneration very early in subcortical regions of the brain.
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January 16, 2026 at 3:30 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
“The patient populations for which it’s privileged for us to care and to find better treatments is again threatened.”- Chancellor Michael F. Collins, commenting to @bostonglobe.com about uncertainty around mental health grants: direc.to/oosD

#MentalHealth #ResearchFunding
After outcry, Trump administration reverses course on $1.9 billion in cuts to mental health and addiction grants - The Boston Globe
Massachusetts providers on Thursday said they remained confused about the status of their funding.
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January 15, 2026 at 4:35 PM
umasschan.bsky.social
A UMass Chan-led research team has nearly tripled the known number of potential regulatory elements in the genome to 2.37 million. Read about the paper, published in @nature.com, on the new registry: direc.to/oouM

#genome #epigenetics #CRE @moorejille.bsky.social @zhipingweng.bsky.social
UMass Chan scientists annotate largest map yet of human genome’s regulatory switches
A UMass Chan-led research team has nearly tripled the known number of potential regulatory elements in the genome to 2.37 million.
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January 15, 2026 at 1:27 PM