News & Announcements

Shelly Peyton featured on UMass home page for her interdisciplinary research fighting cancer

photo of Shelly Peyton

In her quest to stop cancer-related deaths, Shelly has brought together a team of UMass Amherst chemical engineers and biologists to learn how breast cancer spreads to other tissues. Watch video

Ira Male Awarded a Distinguished Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship

photo of Ira Male

Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Student, Ira Male, who works in the Karlstrom lab, has been awarded a Distinguished Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship.  Ira and three other graduate students (Xiang Li, Caicedo lab, PB; Alison Fowler, Adler lab, OEB; Mariamar Gutierrez Ramirez, Gerson lab, OEB) were selected by the UMass Biology Graduate Fellowship Committee to receive Distinguished Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowships to support their research over the summer.  Biology Graduate Research Grants were awarded to Emma Dauster, Vazey lab, NSB and Josh Moyer, Irschick lab, OEB. Read more 

Researchers Advance Understanding of Disease-Causing Bacteria 

photo of Alejandro Heuck and Yuzhou Tang

A study published recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry by Alejandro Heuck, biochemistry and molecular biology, with Yuzhou Tang and colleagues, offers new insights on the interaction and assembly mechanisms of channel-forming proteins PopB and PopD in the disease-causing bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Read more

Chemists Develop Molecular Switch for On-demand Release of Molecular Cargo 

photo of S. Thai Thayumanavan

In an unexpected finding, chemist Sankaran “Thai” Thayumanavan and colleagues show for the first time how movement of a single chemical bond can compromise a membrane made up of more than 500 chemical bonds. Their system uses light as a switch to create a reversible, on-demand molecular control mechanism. Read more

Upcoming OPD Workshop: Strategies and Tools to Secure External Funding 

Goodell Building

Wednesday, May 16th - 2:30-3:30pm
LSL N610

Searching for Funding: Interdisciplinary Graduate Programsd in Life Sciences (IDGP)

Would you like to have external funding to support your research, and bolster your CV? Get started by learning about basic tools available to UMass graduate students and postdocs to help find grants and fellowships. Dr. Heidi Bauer Clapp, Assistant Director for Grants & Fellowships in the Graduate School Office of Professional Development, will present an external funding workshop to IDGP Students, Post-Docs, and Faculty We’ll discuss common funding sources for students in the life sciences, how to search for funding as an international student, and strategize how to align funding applications with your graduate career. 

UPCOMING OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS

Hardy Wins Inaugural Mahoney Life Sciences Prize for High-Impact, Applied Research 

photo of Jeanne Hardy

Jeanne Hardy, associate professor of chemistry, whose research focuses on a key protein linked to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, is being recognized with the inaugural Mahoney Life Sciences Prize. Read more

Kathleen Arcaro's research featured in ‘Research that Matters’ video

This week the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE) released two new videos that highlight the work of an environmental toxicologist and an air quality scientist. CAFE director Jody Jellison says, “Meaningful research being conducted at UMass that impacts our lives in positive ways is of great interest to the public. These short videos, with links to more information, are intended to get the word out.” Read more

Science in Our Community:  Antibiotic Resistance Edition

Science in our Community flyer

Dr. Sloan Siegrist and Dr. Peter Chien talk about antibiotic resistance at the inaugural Science in Our Community Event on April 17th at 7pm in Room 101 at the Bangs Community Center. The event was organized by graduate students at UMass Amherst who are looking to engage the greater local and student community on research taking place at the university.

Wang Awarded Support as Visiting Scholar at Arnold Arboretum 

photo of Dong Wang

Dong Wang, biochemistry and molecular biology, has been honored with one of Harvard University’s two 2018 Sargent Award for Visiting Scholars at the Arnold Arboretum. The award will support his further research on bacteria known as rhizobia. They live in nodules on the roots of legumes to fix nitrogen from the soil, which nurtures the host plant. Read more

Six Faculty Awarded Technology Development Grants by President’s Office 

Six Amherst campus faculty are among the recipients of $200,000 in seed funding from the UMass system’s Technology Development Fund. Announced April 18 by President Marty Meehan, the $25,000 awards will support the development of new technologies aimed at protecting premature infants from heart problems, producing hydrogen for use in electric vehicles, treating Alzheimer’s disease and helping to diagnose chronic medical conditions. Read more

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