UMass Chan Medical School

“This near-real-time intervention is incredible.” - Nisha Fahey, DO, MSc’21, speaking to Fierce Healthcare about the pilot study she led on a virtual lactation support product: https://direc.to/pcjo

The evaluation of SimpliFed found it boosted maternal health and breastfeeding success outcomes.

Study: Virtual lactation support encouraged breastfeeding, improved mental health A new study evaluating the impact of virtual lactation support found it boosted maternal health and breastfeeding success outcomes. | Participants who completed three or more telelactation visits breastfed for nearly 16 weeks longer than those who did not engage with any visits.

Funding from Gov. Maura Healey and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center will help clinicians identify pregnant patients at risk for hypertension: https://direc.to/pcjk

UMass Chan Medical School has also received funding to establish a colorectal cancer biobank sourced from diverse patient populations, providing researchers and life sciences companies with the resources needed to accelerate biomedical discovery.

Read about the high school and undergraduate students who spent part of their summer at UMass Chan Medical School in highly sought-after programs: https://direc.to/pb7j

Our outreach programs expose students to careers in medicine and biomedical science. Learn about the number of program alumni who have gone on to earn graduate degrees from UMass Chan and elsewhere: https://direc.to/pb7j

A UMass Chan Medical School initiative brought a hundred high school students to UMass Memorial Medical Center Memorial Campus to learn what it’s like to be a caregiver in obstetrics and gynecology: https://direc.to/paAW

Interactive stations and hands-on activities included learning about postpartum care, labor and delivery, ultrasound and amniocentesis, refugee health, ambulatory care and more.

The UMass Chan Medical School Collaborative in Health Equity and the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology organized the Day in the Life: OB-GYN event in partnership with UMass Memorial Health.

Program support and donations came from the Schwartz Charitable Foundation and the H.O.P.E. MA Coalition (Holistic Organized Partnerships to End Female Ge***al Mutilation & Cutting in Massachusetts). Several departments joined in the effort, including the Department of Anesthesiology, Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, Department of Neurology and the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing.

UMass Chan scientists have developed a microRNA-based gene therapy that delays the onset of ALS and halts disease progression in mice: https://direc.to/paFe

Superheroes come in all forms. Register for the UMass Cancer Walk and help power the next cancer breakthrough: https://direc.to/pa1g

All funds raised support adult and pediatric cancer research at UMass Chan Medical School. The walk is two months from today, on Sunday, Sept. 27, at Polar Park.

The farmers market returns to UMass Chan on Tuesday. Enjoy produce, baked goods and food trucks Tuesdays through Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. View the vendor schedule: https://direc.to/payE

The 10-week Summer Undergraduate Research Program at UMass Chan Medical School wraps up next week. Get a glimpse of life in the lab. ⤵️

Employees and students can sign up for UMass Chan’s 2nd Annual Day of Service and support Worcester organizations dedicated to youth, sustainability, food insecurity and more: https://direc.to/pajr

Paid time off is available for morning and afternoon shifts on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Uruj Kamal Haider, MD, outlines three steps to connect patients at-risk for developing a psychotic disorder to care well before delivery in this opinion piece published in TIME: https://direc.to/papf

Dr. Haider, assistant professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences at UMass Chan Medical School, is the medical director for the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP) for Moms. She reports that during a recent eight-week stretch, six percent of her postpartum patients met criteria for a psychotic disorder.

“Postpartum psychosis can happen to any mother, regardless of race, ethnicity, or income,” Haider writes. “We know what it looks like. We increasingly know who is at risk. We have the clinical infrastructure to act. What we lack is urgency—and these mothers cannot wait for us to find it.”

Postpartum Psychosis Is Rising. We Are Not Ready. Early screening can serve as prevention, but only if we connect at-risk patients to care, writes Dr. Uruj Kamal Haider.