Massachusetts’s Only Public Academic Health Sciences Center
Welcome to UMass Chan Medical School — the commonwealth’s first and only public academic health sciences center. Rooted in a commitment to accessibility, innovation, and community service, this Worcester-based institution has grown from a modest founding class of 16 students into one of America’s most respected medical schools, producing generations of physicians, nurses, and biomedical scientists who serve patients and communities across the globe.
A Vision Born from Public Service
The University of Massachusetts Medical School was established by the 162nd Massachusetts General Court in 1962 to provide residents of the commonwealth an opportunity to study medicine at an affordable cost and to increase the number of primary-care physicians practicing in the commonwealth’s underserved areas. The legislation was signed into law by Massachusetts Governor John Volpe.
Although the location in Worcester wasn’t selected until 1965, preliminary accreditation and the recruitment of core faculty during the construction process meant that the first class of 16 students entered in the fall of 1970, beginning their studies in a former warehouse at the corner of Lake Avenue and Belmont Street — a building still used today. By the time the first class graduated in 1974, the new medical science building was in use, followed by the teaching hospital, which opened in 1976.
The school was built on a clear and enduring philosophy: train doctors who are not just scientifically excellent, but deeply committed to caring for human beings.
Three Schools, One Unified Mission
Today, UMass Chan Medical School encompasses three distinct graduate schools working under a single, unified mission:
UMass Chan offers rigorous health sciences programs in three graduate schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing.
The Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is a PhD-granting program that trains scientists in a specialty area with a broad background in the basic medical sciences in preparation for conducting research with direct relevance to human disease. Since the first class of seven students enrolled in 1979, more than 1,000 students have earned PhDs from the program. Since the opening of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing in 1986, more than 600 students have obtained nursing master’s, post-master’s, or doctoral degrees.
The mission of UMass Chan Medical School is to advance the health and wellness of diverse communities throughout Massachusetts and across the world by leading and innovating in education, research, health care delivery, and public service.
Nationally Recognized for Primary Care
One of the school’s proudest distinctions is its unwavering commitment to primary care medicine — the specialty most needed in underserved communities.
The School of Medicine has gained a national reputation for its primary-care program and consistently ranks in the top 10 percent of schools in the annual U.S. News & World Report guide, “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” Over half of each graduating class enters primary-care residencies, a trend underscoring the school’s founding mission.
Its School of Medicine is also ranked in the top one percent nationally for student satisfaction — a testament to the quality of education and the culture that faculty and staff have built over decades.
Groundbreaking Research and Nobel-Level Discovery
Beyond education, UMass Chan Medical School is a powerhouse of biomedical research.
UMass Chan Medical School’s relentless commitment to discovery is supported by nearly $400 million each year in external research funding, and the school ranks 14th nationally among public medical schools for funding from the National Institutes of Health. Its faculty includes a Nobel Laureate, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators, and a Breakthrough Prize winner.
Programs and centers include the RNA Therapeutics Institute, the Gene Therapy Center, Program in Gene Function and Expression, and Systems Biology and Neurotherapeutics.
The research mission was further expanded in 1997 with the acquisition of the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research — the Shrewsbury, Massachusetts institution where researchers developed the combined oral contraceptive pill during the early 1960s.
A Historic $175 Million Gift and a New Name
In 2021, the school entered a transformative new chapter. In September 2021, Chancellor Collins announced a history-making gift of $175 million from The Morningside Foundation. The transformative and unrestricted gift would allow the Medical School to recruit renowned and innovative faculty, conduct more breakthrough biomedical research, offer financial support to highly qualified and diverse students, and be ever more expansive in fulfilling its public service mission.
In recognition of the historic gift and of the deep commitment to education, research, and healthcare by the Chan family of investors, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists, UMass Medical School was renamed UMass Chan Medical School.
The Morningside Foundation expressed that the Chan family was proud to honor their patriarch and matriarch’s legacy and their deep commitment to the advancement of health and education, calling the institution’s culture one where “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Serving the Commonwealth and the World
Beyond training doctors and conducting research, UMass Chan Medical School serves the public in practical, concrete ways.
MassBiologics of UMass Chan Medical School, with locations in Boston and Fall River, is the only nonprofit, FDA-licensed manufacturer of vaccines and biologics in the United States. ForHealth Consulting is the public service consulting and operations division of UMass Chan Medical School.
In 1998, the UMMS system of hospitals and clinics merged with Memorial Health Care to form UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest healthcare provider in Central Massachusetts and clinical partner of UMMS.
Looking Ahead
From its humble beginnings in a converted warehouse in Worcester to becoming one of America’s premier public health sciences institutions, UMass Chan Medical School’s story is one of purpose, perseverance, and public service. With world-class faculty, cutting-edge research, and an unbreakable commitment to making medicine accessible, it continues to advance health and wellness — not just for the people of Massachusetts, but for communities around the world.
