2025 News 2025: Inside UMassD September 11, 2025

Campus Community Accomplishments

UMass Law recently signed a 3+3 accelerated degree program with UMass Amherst. The landmark 20th joint degree partnership expands access to affordable legal education across Massachusetts.  

CCB Dean Madan Annavarjula and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Civic Engagement Matt Roy were interviewed about UMassD’s outreach mission, including opportunities for community-based organizations to collaborate with faculty and students on consulting and scholarship projects. 

SMAST Dean Kevin Stokesbury and students Nicholas Calabrese, Stephanie Merhoff, and Helena Norton published “In situ observations of juvenile Sea Lampreys in the Gulf of Maine from a noninvasive trawl survey” in Marine and Coastal Fisheries. Their work highlights a novel method to study juvenile lampreys and address knowledge gaps in their marine distribution and habitat use. 

Professor Bharatendra Rai (Decision and Information Sciences) delivered a workshop on “Artificial Intelligence in Supply Chain Management & Operations Optimization” during the AICTE-sponsored Faculty Development Programme “Master AI Application: From Classrooms to Boardrooms” with 100+ faculty from 20 states in India. 

Professor Mike Goodman (Public Policy) was featured in an article about how job seekers in the region are feeling in the current economy. 

Professor Mary McCurry (Nursing), Associate Professor Jennifer Dunbar Viveiros (Nursing), Assistant Professor Joyce Cadorette (Nursing), and Rayna Letourneau, ‘17 co-authored “Attributes of Employment Important to Prelicensure and Newly Licensed Nurses for Recruitment and Retention” in the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development. The article discusses workforce development and retention of new nurses. 

Assistant Professor Kristopher Jackson (Nursing) published “HIV preexposure prophylaxis education in adult-gerontology primary care and family nurse practitioner programs: A cross-sectional study” in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. The study suggests that while most NP programs address HIV prevention and PrEP, key knowledge gaps remain. 

Assistant Teaching Professor Basil H. Aboul-Enein (Health & Society) co-published “Digital-Based Nutrition Interventions Employing the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet: A Systematic Scoping Review” in the International Journal of Hypertension. The article evaluates digital interventions using the DASH dietary pattern and their impact on nutrition and health behavior outcomes. 

Engineering students were featured in an article ahead of the university’s first micromouse robot race, hosted on campus. 

The Police Department received a $105,000 Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program Grant to launch an immersive Virtual Reality training system. The tool will help officers strengthen crisis response and de-escalation skills, particularly in situations involving mental health and addiction, and will be shared with neighboring police departments, students, and the future Citizen’s Police Academy. 

Professor Robert Fisher (Physics) received $232,034 from the National Science Foundation to study thermonuclear supernovae originating from merging white dwarf stars. The grant will support a PhD student and fund a series of public astronomy talks at the Hirshfeld-Dowd Observatory, which will also be recorded and shared on social media. 

Professor Dan McDonald (Estuarine & Ocean Sciences) received $42,000 from Triton Systems, Inc. to develop a new lateral shear and strain sensor for uncrewed underwater vehicles. The device will measure horizontal ocean velocity changes and improve understanding of ocean turbulence, carbon fluxes, and UUV navigation. 

Assistant Professor Ana Doblas (Electrical & Computer Engineering) received $405,995 from the National Science Foundation for her project, “Improved Lensless Microscope Using a Multicolor Multiplexed Approach to Provide High-throughput Images with Enhanced Resolution.” The work will advance digital lensless holographic microscopy (DLHM) systems to capture high-resolution images of transparent organisms, with applications in healthcare, ecosystem monitoring, and marine science. 

Assistant Professor Melissa Desroches (Nursing), Assistant Teaching Professor Michelle Pinto (Nursing), and Clinical Assistant Professor Gerri-Lyn Boyden (Nursing), received $39,819 from Rush University Medical Center to adapt the Advanced Service-Learning Experience for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AISLE) program for UMassD students. The program helps prepare health professionals to better communicate and collaborate with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through service learning at Lifestream, a local nonprofit.