Health Informatics And Implementation Science
Clinical research opportunities are available for medical and PhD students, residents and junior faculty upon request. We are currently not hiring paid research staff. We cannot accept basic scientists. Please read up on our research first before applying.
Dr. Muehlschlegel is a neurointensivist devoted to improving the care of patients with catastrophic neurological injuries. Her research interests concentrate on outcome prognostication in neurocritical care, particularly in moderate-severe traumatic brain injury. She is the principal investigator for several research studies at the UMASS Neuro-Intensive care unit (NeuroICU).
Critical Care Anesthesiology Fellow, UMass Memorial Medical Center
A postdoctoral position is available to study in this laboratory. Contact Dr. Corvera for additional details.
Rotation Projects Our rotation projects are in the area of diabetes and obesity, and we are interested in basic mechanisms of cell proliferation, differentiation and communication. Diabetes is highly correlated with obesity, but why obesity causes disease in some humans and not others is not understood. Amazingly, we still don’t understand how adipose tissue grows in human adults. A better understanding of this fascinating process can give us insight into basic mechanisms of cell growth, differentiation and communication, as well as mechanisms of disease, not only diabetes but also cancer and developmental defects. During your rotation, you will work on an important piece of a larger project, that has a well-defined outcome. Thus, your successful completion of the rotation project will allow you to be included at the time of publication of the work. Project 1: Adipose tissue is not only formed by adipocytes, but by other cells such as endothelial, mural and immune cells. Also, there are multiple kinds of adipocytes with different functions. We have recently developed conditions to develop adipose tissue from humans in-vitro (adipose tissue “organoids”). From this tissue we have been able to separated single cells, and find that they grow into different kinds of clones. We are now conducting RNAseq on >300 of those clones, to determine how many cell types exist in human adipose tissue, and what their roles are. In this rotation, you will be able to analyze RNAseq data to define what genes characterize these cells, and you will use virus transduction to create immortalized cells for further study. Project 2: Adipose tissue has many functions besides storing and releasing lipids. It also has to coordinate metabolism in the whole body. We have found that human “beige” adipose tissue, which is found in people who are metabolically healthy, expresses genes for secreted factors that communicate with the immune system and the brain. These include IL-33 and enkephalins. In this project you will knockout these genes, and investigate whether this changes the function of adipose tissue when we implant it into immune compromised mice.
Isadore and Fannie Foxman Chair in Medical Research
A postdoctoral position is available to study in this laboratory. Contact Dr. Czech for additional details.
Mentoring……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Czech laboratory is active in mentoring graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Many former student and postdoctoral trainees of the Czech laboratory are now internationally recognized professors at major universities and medical schools. These former lab members include: Paul Pilch, Professor of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine Jeffrey Pessin, Professor and Director of the Diabetes Center, Einstein College of Medicine Joan Massague, Director, Sloan Kettering Institute Roger Davis, HHMI investigator and Professor of Molecular Medicine, UMASS Medical School Silvia Corvera, Professor of Molecular Medicine, Co-Director of the MD/PhD Program, UMASS Medical School Carla Greenbaum, Vice Chair and Director of Clinical Research, Benaroya Research Institute Jes Klarlund, Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Rob Lewis, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Eppley Cancer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center Richard MacDonald, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Eppley Cancer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center Assia Shisheva, Professor of Physiology, Wayne State School of Medicine. Mark Sleeman, Professor of Physiology, Monash University, Australia John Harris, Associate Professor of Medicine, UMASS Medical School Zhen Jiang, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine, Boston University Vishu Puri, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University Olga Gupta, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Tim Fitzgibbons, Assistant Professor of Medicine, UMASS Medical School Myriam Aouadi, Assistant Professor, Integrated Cardio Metabolic Centre, Karolinska Institute Adilson Guilherme, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School Our laboratory currently offers graduate student Rotation Projects (examples below and others available) and Thesis Research Projects for students following a rotation: Developing CRISPR technology for gene editing in adipocytes: Adipocytes function as master regulators of whole body metabolism and deletions of specific adipocyte genes in knockout mice promote dramatic improvements in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in diabetic models. Thus the ability to direct gene editing in adipocytes in vivo has great potential in developing therapeutic strategies for obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular complications. Alternatively, an ex vivo approach is also feasible since adipose cells can be genetically altered in vitro prior to implantation into mice with beneficial effects. Such projects are designed to be performed in collaboration with other Czech lab members with the goal of specifically deleting or editing genes in adipose depots that drive increases in fatty acid oxidation, energy expenditure and systemic metabolic activity. Exciting preliminary data at the “proof of principle” stage has been achieved and this project is designed to focus on specific genes of high interest for therapeutics. Signaling by the lipogenesis pathway through Acetyl CoA: A major function of adipocytes is to store calories as triglyceride, in part through the process of fatty acid synthesis (lipogenesis). This metabolic pathway involves a number of metabolites including Acetyl CoA, which is also a substrate for acetylation reactions that modify proteins such as histones. Thus metabolic flux through adipocyte lipogenesis may also function as a signaling pathway to the nucleus to modulate transcription via levels of Acetyl CoA that accumulate during this process. This rotation project is designed to test this idea at the molecular level by monitoring histone acetylations and resultant transcriptional events during changes in Acetyl CoA levels caused by altering physiological conditions such as exercise, obesity and diabetes. If this concept is correct, the project could lead to developing therapeutic strategies for metabolic disease based on targeting lipogenic enzymes.
Immediate opening! Two postdoctoral positions are available immediately to study cellular andmolecular mechanisms resulting in immunosuppression after alcohol use. Thefocus of this research is the role of monocytes and dendritic cells indecreased antigen-specific T cell activation after alcohol use.Intracellular signalling mechanisms resulting in decreased NF-kBactivation and inflammatory cytokine induction after acute alcoholconsumption are being investigated. Please contact Dr. Szabo for details.
UMass Memorial Kaur Chair in Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine
Rotation Projects <p >We have identified a number of bacterial pathways that are required for bacterial viability or virulence. We are particularly interested in: Phosphosignaling systems that regulate cell wall synthesis Metabolic regulatory mechanisms that trigger the “dormancy” response observed during infection. <p >A variety of genetic, biochemical, and informatic methods will be used to define the functions of these genes and the role played by each during infection. <p >
Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
Dr. Scott is an anesthesiologist/intensivist with a clinical focus on the perioperative care of cardiovascular and liver transplant patients and OR management. He is an active participant in undergraduate and graduate medical education as PD of the Anesthesiology Residency. His research focus is on clinical/translational research with new medical devices and perioperative outcomes.
Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
Emergency Medicine at UMass Chan - Baystate
Healthcare Delivery and Population Sciences at UMass Chan - Baystate
Obstetrics and Gynecology at UMass Chan - Baystate
Emergency Medicine at UMass Chan - Lahey
Joseph D. Early Chair in Biomedical Research
Dr. Wilcox trained in EM at the Harvard Affiliated EM Residency, then completed an Anesthesia Critical Care fellowship. In addition to the ED, she has attended in Surgical, Medical, and Cardiac ICUs. She joined Lahey Hospital in 2022 as the Medical Director of the 5C Medical ICU. She is Vice Chair for Academic Affairs and a Professor of Medicine. She is the Associate CMO for Boston MedFlight.
EMCrit 181 – Pulmonary Hypertension and Right Ventricular Failure with Susan Wilcox
HarvardX: Mechanical Ventilation for COVID-19
CritCases 7 Pulmonary Hypertension – A Fine Balance
Academic Life in Emergency Medicine: The Myth of Vasopressors and Ischemia
ACEP COVID-19 Field Guide: ICU Care in the Emergency Department
Podcast summary of articles from the June 2021 edition of the Journal of Emergency Medicine