UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - April 28, 2026/RESEARCH

Table of Contents

Upcoming Events

Focus of the Week - Research

Announcements

Department Member Recognition

Frankly Speaking Podcast

Resources

Upcoming Events

FMCH Grand Rounds

Tuesday, April 28th, 12:00 - 1:00pm, Kanav Gupta, MD, and Monica Wiant, MS, RN, DNP, present "HIV Update for Primary Care Providers".

Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/191986273?pwd=NEtlZmNkdWlSUGwyeTJQU3dCeUs1QT09

Department of Medicine Grand Rounds

Thursday, April 30th, 12:00 - 1:00pm, Alok Kapoor, MD, MSc, Aida S. Taku, MD, Sandhya D. Tagaram, MD, FRCP, MS and Jay Patel, BS, present "Diagnostic Error Identification and Reduction: A Patient Safety Imperative".

Hiatt Auditorium (S1-608) or via zoom.

https://umassmed.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qsBdErX1SjSiyUobQFnGQA 

Special Film Screening Grand Rounds-The Chaplain & the Doctor

Wednesday, May 6th, 5:30pm, Film Screening, Albert Sherman Auditorium.

About the film: A powerful exploration of the intersection of medicine, spirituality, and end-of-life care, highlighting the human side of clinical decision-making.

Howe Lecture Grand Rounds

Thursday, May 7th, 12:00-1:00pm, featuring film director Dr. Jessica Zitter, Chaplain Betty Clark, Albert Sherman Auditorium.

Focus of the Week - Research

Jennifer Carroll, MD, MPH, Vice Chair, Research

Suzanne Mitchell, MD, MS, Director, Research

Research Forum Recap:

JPS High-Risk Patient Intensive Primary Care Program 

Thank you to our forum speakers: Philip Day and colleagues Richard Young and Zachary Simone, who joined us this month to discuss “A Qualitative Study of the JPS High-Risk Patient Intensive Primary Care Program.” We appreciate your time and insights! 

Forum Highlights: 

• The JPS IPC program offers 24/7, relationship-based primary care for the most medically and socially complex patients in a Texas county health system. 
• Quantitative findings: Patients enrolled in IPC experienced a nearly 50% reduction in ER visits; no change was observed in hospitalizations. 
• Qualitative themes: Addressing social barriers (housing, transportation, health literacy), providing a trusted point of contact, and delivering care in diverse settings were keys to success. 
• Whole-person and non-judgmental approaches fostered trust and engagement, with patients describing the difference these supports made in both health and healthcare usage. 
• Reducing ER visits among high-need populations requires relational, flexible, and holistic care strategies—not just resource referrals. 

Thank you again to all presenters for advancing our understanding of high-risk patient care! You can watch the recording of this month’s Research Forum here:  

FMCH Annual Faculty Development Day—Registration Reminder 

Thursday, May 14, 2026 | 1:00–4:45 p.m. | Albert Sherman Center 

Agenda highlights: 

• Optional CV review drop-in (12–1 p.m.), supporting faculty career development. 
• Opening remarks by Diane McKee. 
• Large-group “Interrupting Bias” workshop with Crystall Roberts-Gilbert. 
• Breakout sessions: 
• Precepting POCUS – with Erin Cathcart & Rebecca Gwaltney 
• Management of Obstetrical Emergencies – with Kristina Gracey & Claudeleedy Pierre 
• Scaffolding Scholarship – with Sonal Singh, Daniel Mullin, Kate Pivovarova, and Suzanne Mitchell 

Registration deadline: Thursday, April 30th. Register here. 

Save the Date: Next FMCH Research Meeting 

Our next FMCH Research Meeting will be held Friday, June 12th, 9:00am–Noon. 

A calendar invite will be sent out soon—we look forward to sharing more updates.  

Share Your Research News for Upcoming Newsletters! 

Do you have a new publication, grant, presentation, event, or recruitment opportunity to share? Send your research-focused updates to Briana.linney@umassmed.edu each month for inclusion in the Tuesday Talks Research Newsletter! Your contributions help showcase our collective achievements and support engagement across our department. 

Announcements

Our future chancellor, Dr. David McManus was interviewed on Spectrum News (4/22; 7:06 minutes): https://spectrumnews1.com/ma/worcester/news/2026/04/22/umass-chan-medical-school-david-mcmanus-chancellor

Announcing the 2nd Annual UMass Chan Global Health Symposium on Tuesday,

May 5th from 5-8pm in the Faculty Conference Room. Keynote will be given by Dr. Jennifer Adair, Associate Director of the Horae Gene Therapy Center, on global access to gene therapy. Event will also highlight the UMass Global Ghana Initiative that our nursing colleagues have developed. More information and registration can be found here.

MassAFP’s next major event will be Advocacy Day at the State House in Boston,

May 13th. As there is strength in numbers, all Massachusetts Family Physicians are encouraged to join MassAFP (and AAFP). Details available here:  https://www.massafp.org/membership

Tuesday, May 19th, 12:00–1:00PM. We have visiting guest speaker Anisa M. Ibrahim, MD, Dr. Ibrahim is a University of Washington Clinic Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and pediatric primary care provider at Harborview Medical Center's Pediatrics Clinic. Her specific clinical interests include caring for and outreach to immigrant and refugee populations with focus on those from East Africa. She is committed to caring for low income, socially vulnerable populations with low English proficiency to connect them to the resources and services they need for their health and well-being. To be held in the Paul J. DiMare Center theater room N1-1500 and virtually via Zoom. 

From Judy Steinberg, a board member of Primary Care for All Americans (PC4AA):

Primary Care for All Americans inaugural Health Care Renaissance Summit on 

May 20th, 2026 at the Le Méridien Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. PC4AA believes that every person, in every community, deserves access to a primary care clinician. PC4AA is building a national, grassroots movement to disrupt the status quo in health care and build a lasting alternative: primary care for all, built from the bottom up, community by community. Please see the Summit Flyer and Brochure, attached. PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:  Dr. Jonathan Fitzsimon delivering the keynote; Dr. Michael Fine on the structural failures driving primary care's decline and what it will take to rebuild; Senator Cindy Friedman, Chair of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, receiving the Primary Care Champion Award; Interactive table talks to learn from leaders redesigning how primary care is financed and delivered, and leave with concrete approaches and playbooks for building primary care power in your own community. Register and learn more about the summit here. *Financial assistance is available for those who need support to attend. For questions, contact 

pc4aa.summit@gmail.com.

The WDMS and Medical Humanities Lab at the Lamar Souter Library's 2026 Annual Meet the Author on May 20, 2026 will feature Carolyn Roy-Bornstein, MD speaking at the Lazare Auditorium. Her talk is: This Examined Life: An Evening of Poetry, Reflection and Narrative Medicine. Please register per this flyer. Her book, A Prescription for Burnout, Restorative Writing for Healthcare Professionals, is a gold level winner in Medical and Mental Health from the Nonfiction Authors Association and will be available for purchase.

Intro to Pocus Hands On Course (Introduction of Point of Care Ultrasound)

Friday, June 12th, 8:00am-5:00pm, iCELS Simulation Lab, Albert Sherman Center

Please see flyer for additional information. https://www.umassmed.edu/icels



As of February 23, 2026, the FDA mandated a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for Nexplanon to ensure proper insertion/removal and reduce complication. All healthcare providers must complete new, specific certification training by August 23rd, 2026 to continue inserting/removing the implant (which is now approved for up to 5 years of use). If you have inserted/removed Nexplanon devices in the prior 3 years, and plan to continue on doing so, you are required to register with REMS and complete the registration/knowledge assessment/REMS enrollment by using the link below. 

https://www.nexplanonrems.com/healthcareproviders/register. If you have not

inserted/removed in the prior 3 years (and plan on doing so in the future), the FDA requires you complete an in-person training to be able to insert/remove them; please contact Kristina Gracey (Kristina.Gracey@umassmemorial.org) as we work to organize in-person trainings for all relevant providers needing this.

Department Member Recognition

The following family medicine faculty participated in the Population and Community Health Clerkships for 2025-26, 2026-27 which finished and occurred in April respectively.

Hugh Silk - PCHC Faculty Lead for Course

Linda Cragin, Phillip Day, Rosa Fernande, Susan Hogan, Amber Cahill, Trish Seymour - PCHC Committee

Lisa MacVane - Care for Transgender and Nonbinary Patients

Phil Bolduc, Vanessa Carson-Sasso, Hathy Simpson -HIV in Massachusetts: A state’s action plan and community responses (Worcester and Lawrence)

Linda Long-Belil - Living w/ a Disability

Lee Manini and Sports Medicine Team - Moving Worcester: Physical Activity

Deb Dreyfus, Emily Lauer - People w/ Developmental & Intellectual Disability: Community Living & Healthcare Experiences

Olga Valdman - Refugee Health (RISE)

Amber Cahill, Hugh Silk and Road to Care Team - Providing Substance Use Care for Homeless People

Liz Erban, Suzanne Cashman - Whole Health Martha's Vineyard

Sara Shields - Worcester Healthy Baby Collaborative: Planning and Hosting a Pregnancy Pop Up Village

David Runyan, Jillian Joseph - Worcester Free Care Collaborative

Jeanna Lee - Tribal and Urban Indian Health

Roger Luckman - The Worcester Community Responds to Climate Change and its Health Risks

Jeanna Lee - Weight Inclusive Care and Clinical Practice

Melanie Gnazzo - Food Insecurity in Worcester

Thanks to all!

Frankly Speaking Podcast

Please join us for a weekly Podcast series. In this episode, we discuss how stress-specifically cumulative stress-exposure throughout a lifetime can contribute to negative health concerns and outcomes. While stress impacts everyone, its effects highlight racial disparities in mortality between Black and White adults. Listen in as we discuss evidence on how structural factors shape health outcomes and how we can address stress-related disease burdens in clinical practice. Guest: Mariyan L. Montaque, DNP, FNP-BC, presents, "Under the Skin: Stress, Inflammation, and the Mortality Gap". Frankly Speaking Episode #482. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frankly-speaking-about-family-medicine/id1194659367

Resources

Past editions of the Tuesday Talk are available at 

https://www.umassmed.edu/fmch/ under Resources.

The UMass Memorial Caring for Caregivers Program is available at 508-334-HELP,

EAP at 866-263-3525, and the UMass Chan EAP at 800-322-5327.

www.LiveandWorkWell.com 

Yoga Classes with Dr. Liz Erban. New members always welcome. 

There will be NO CLASS on April 29th or May 6th. Class will resume May 13th.

https://umassmed.zoom.us/j/91343267992?pwd=ZHF3NHVrVlR1MVdMV09HSE5lTzdsQT09

FMCH Department Calendar a centralized resource designed to highlight departmental dates, deadlines, and events. If you experience any issues, please reach out to (natalia.tobon@umassmed.edu) or (sandra.girouardtodd@umassmed.edu).