Past News & Announcements
Cost of Tick Testing Slashed for Massachusetts Residents
May 2018: The cost of testing a tick usually costs $50 - $200 at the UMass Laboratory of Medical Zoology (LMZ) but due to a $100,000 CDC grant, the cost has been slashed to just $15 for Massachusetts residents. Ticks can be mailed to the LMZ for testing where Dr. Stephen Rich and his team of researchers extract the tick's DNA and test if for pathogens. Results are usually received within 24 - 72 hours. Read more...
Microbiology Department Climate Committee Drafts Statement of Values
May 2018: The new departmental advisory committee in Microbiology consists of Kristen DeAngelis (also member on the College Climate Committee), Ian Sparks, Srishti Kashap, Joy Ward and Nsan Melkonjan. A strategic goal of our institution is to advance a climate of inclusivity on our campus, predicated on our belief that an environment in which all members of our community can thrive and reach their full potential will strengthen the pursuit of our collective aspirations. Our departmental committee has been working to create a network of opportunities for all members of our community to be engaged in the process of charting a path forward on an on-going basis. Towards this end, the committee will be approaching all members of the department to review our draft Statement of Values. We are also looking for other ideas and thoughts on improving and maintaining an inclusive and equitable climate in our department, and encourage all who wish to reach out. The Department Climate Committee can be contacted by email: [email protected]
Caroline Qin Named UMass 21st Century Leader
May 2018: Caroline Qin, Microbiology Class of 2018, will be one of ten UMass seniors honored as a 21st Century Leader during Undergraduate Commencement on Friday, May 11. The award honors the exemplary achievement, initiative and leadership of talented and accomplished graduating seniors. Read more...
Lovley Named Einstein Professor
May 2018: Derek Lovley was recently honored as one of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Einstein Professors for 2018. Twenty of the professorships are awarded each year across the sciences. As part of the professorship Derek Lovley will be touring China this month to give lectures on topics related to electro-microbiology and protein nanowires at five different institutions, as part of the academy’s year-long celebration of the research honor. Read more...
William Eagen Selected as Rising Researcher
April 2018: William Eagen, Microbiology class of 2018, was selected as a UMass Rising Researcher. In a ceremony held on Wednesday, April 25, the award was presented by UMass Chancellor Kumble Subaswamy. The Rising Researcher student acknowledgement program is designed to raise the profile of UMass' most promising undergraduate students and to publicly acknowledge their excellent work. This program is jointly supported by University Relations and Research & Engagement.
Under the guidance of Assistant Microbiology Professor Yasu Morita, Eagen and fellow students discovered that a defect in the production of glycolipid, a protein unique to Mycobacterium, made the cell highly vulnerable to antibiotics and to attack by the human immune system. Eagen designed and executed a series of labor-intensive experiments, and uncovered copper as one specific agent, to which the glycolipid-defective mutant had become hypersensitive. His discovery indicates that a glycolipid-targeted chemotherapy might create synergy with existing antibiotics, a possible step towards treatment. The study was just published in Microbiology Letters, a prestigious journal of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies.
Patrick Pearson Awarded Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative Research Grant
March 2018: Patrick Pearson, Microbiology Ph.D. student, has been awarded a research grant through the Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative to study Borrellia burgdorferi on Cape Cod and the islands. The title of the research project is "Borrelia burgdorferi Prevalance and ospC Diversity on Cape Cod Islands and Mainland."
Stephanie Delzell Selected as CRF Graduate Grant Writing Scholar
March 2018: Stephanie Delzell, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, has been selected as a 2018 scholar by the Center for Research on Families (CRF). Ms. Delzell will participate in the inaugural 2018 CRF Graduate Grant Writing Program. CRF aims to create a strong community of colleagues from multiple disciplines who study issues of high relevance to families, and to increase funding for this research at the University.
Bryan Salas-Santiago Recipient of Graduate Student Award
February 2018: Bryan Salas-Santiago, Microbiology Ph.D. candidate, was awarded the Curtis B. Thorne "Carry On" Award on February 24, 2018. The award was established in 2008 to honor former Microbiology Faculty member Curt Thorne. The graduate student is chosen based on contributions to the Department and their discipline and for serving as a role model to other students. Locally, Mr. Salas-Santiago writes a science column in El Sol Latino, a newspaper geared towards the latino community and over the past months was instrumental in raising funds which provided hurricane relief to Puerto Rico.
Yasu Morita Receives Award from Pittsfield Anti-Tuberculosis Association
January 2018: Yasu Morita, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, received a one year award from the Pittsfield Anti-Tuberculosis Association. The one-year grant was awarded to support Dr. Morita's research project, "Genetic validation of a mycobacterial cell envelope protein LmeA as a target for tuberculosis chemotherapy."
Hayashi and Morita Publish Paper
January 2018: Mycobacteria include medically important species, such as the human tuberculosis pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The highly impermeable cell envelope is a hallmark of these microbes, and its biosynthesis is a proven chemotherapeutic target. Despite the accumulating knowledge regarding the biosynthesis of individual envelope components, the regulatory mechanisms behind the coordinated synthesis of the complex cell envelope remain elusive. A team of microbiologists led by Yasu Morita previously reported the presence of a metabolically active membrane domain enriched in the elongating poles of actively growing mycobacteria, but its spatiotemporal dynamics was unknown. In a recent paper published in mBio, the team showed that the membrane domain is spatially rearranged when growth is inhibited under stress conditions. These data suggest that mycobacteria have a mechanism to spatiotemporally coordinate the membrane domain in response to metabolic needs under different growth conditions. Read more...
Microbiologists Discover More Bacteria with Electrically Conducting Microfilaments
December 2017: Derek Lovley first discovered nanowires in the bacterium Geobacter. Dr. Lovley and a group of researchers at UMass recently discovered unexpected structures of electrically conducting microfilaments or "nanowires" in many other species of bacteria. The discovery was recently reported onling in the International Society of Microbial Ecology Journal. Read more...
Research Groups Host New England Parasitologists Meeting
November 2017: The research team of Michele Klingbeil, Microbiology, in conjunction with Sam Black and his research team, Veterinary & Animal Sciences, hosted the annual New England Association of Parasitologists Meeting on November 18, 2017, at UMass Amherst.
Department of Microbiology