The DifferenceMaker program has provided training, mentoring and other resources to UMass Lowell student entrepreneurs who wish to address social, environmental and economic problems in the community and world. DifferenceMaker works with students to solve their problems and make their ideas into realities. Even if students don't have ideas, they can still get involved!

Associate Professor of Law Jeremiah Ho, whose research focuses on issues of law and inequality, especially in the context of race and sexuality, has authored a chapter on teaching contract law that incorporates critical legal and race theory.

Riaan Research Initiative, a non-profit organization, and UMass Chan Medical School are entering into an agreement to fund, research and develop a gene replacement therapy to combat Cockayne syndrome, a fatal autosomal recessive disorder. Cockayne syndrome, first identified in 1936, impacts a few hundred children around the world and is primarily caused by mutations in genes CSA and CSB, which are responsible for the body’s DNA repair and transcription process.

In its efforts to create intentional spaces to support faculty and staff of color at UMass Chan Medical School, the Diversity and Inclusion Office (DIO) has formed two affinity groups. The Colorful Voices Network is a DIO- and employee-led community established to provide a forum for employees to develop skills, network, and support key diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. AALANA, which represents African American, Latinx, Asian and Native American people, seeks to support and advance faculty of color through collaboration, celebration and knowledge.

John Romano, a fourth-year medical student in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School, has been named a 2021 Pisacano Scholar. This award recognizes outstanding medical students who have made a commitment to enter the field of family medicine.

The Remillard Family Community Service Fund has awarded nine grants for UMass Chan Medical School collaborations that have the potential to improve the health of Central Massachusetts residents, particularly those who are economically or educationally disadvantaged or underrepresented.

Established in 2015 with a $3 million donation by the Remillard Family Foundation, the Remillard Family Community Service Fund is dedicated to providing ongoing support for community outreach programs led by UMass Chan faculty, students, staff and community partners.

The Broadway production of “Moulin Rouge” won an impressive ten Tony Awards at Sunday’s ceremony, but for the UMass Amherst theater department, one win was particularly exciting. Lighting designer Justin Townsend ’97 became the first UMass theater design alum ever to win a Tony.

Natasha M. de la Rosa-Rivera, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the neuroscience and behavior program and 2019 CRF Graduate Student Grant Writers Program member, was recently named as a recipient of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) dissertation award (R36) to complete and further her research.

Celia A. Schiffer, PhD, has accepted the position of chair of the newly renamed Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology, effective Oct. 1. Formerly the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology, the new name reflects the expanded role of cutting-edge technologies such as cryo-electron microscopy and computational biology, as well as the science of pharmacology in bringing a molecular perspective to problems in biology and medicine.