School of Medicine Top Stories of 2021

As 2021 draws to a close, it's an opportunity to look back at all that we done and accomplished over the last twelve months. This year, of course, was unlike any other year, and the resulting stories highlight some of the challenges that faculty, students, and alumni faced and overcame.

School of Medicine Launches Faculty Mentorship Program

A new early-career mentoring program starting at Tufts University School of Medicine this summer will aim to enhance workforce diversity, faculty retention, and advancement in academia, healthcare, and biomedical research.

Doctors-To-Be Meet Their Matches

While Match Day this year meant balloons and champagne at home and friends and family joining the celebration via Zoom rather than an on-campus party, the happy tears and elation of this year’s graduating MDs from the Tufts University School of Medicine remained the same. Four students from the class of 2021 shared where they’ve matched for their residencies and how their journeys at Tufts have prepared them for their next steps.

Campus Heroes Keep Tufts Running Through the Pandemic

Showing up during a pandemic wasn’t in anyone’s job description. But for more than a year, hundreds of Tufts employees reported to work on the four campuses, keeping the university running along with their colleagues working from home. Meet some of the members of the Tufts community who have helped Tufts confront and overcome challenges most never could have imagined.

Plotting the End of Lyme Disease

Lyme disease affects people across the country, but hopefully it’s met its match. The Tufts Lyme Disease Initiative seeks to eradicate the bacterial disease spread by ticks by 2030. Linden Hu, the Paul and Elaine Chervinsky Professor of Immunology at the School of Medicine, and Sam Telford, an epidemiology professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, detail the work that remains to be done to deal a knockout punch to the infectious disease.

A Special Blend of Humanism and Science

Being a physician takes a special blend of humanism and science, something the Class of 2021 has in abundance, Interim Dean Peter Bates told the MD recipients at the 129th commencement of Tufts University School of Medicine.

How Viruses Mutate and Create New Variants

Coronavirus variants were one of the hottest topics in the second half of 2021, which made this conversation with Marta Gaglia, an associate professor of molecular biology and microbiology at the School of Medicine, particularly relevant. Apparently it’s going to be relevant for quite some time to come. How viruses mutate largely has to do with how they make copies of themselves and their genetic material, Gaglia said in this wide-ranging discussion.

My Story: Celebrating LGBTQ Pride

To help celebrate Pride Month, Tufts students, faculty, and staff talk about their LGBTQ journeys, what they have learned, and what they want others to know about their experiences.

Pandemic Wedding Pivots Keep Celebrations Special

As the pandemic upended wedding plans over the past year, couples scrambled to find ways to celebrate their “Big Day” while still taking the necessary public health precautions. Here, some resourceful members of the Tufts community—both those embarking on marriage and those who help couples on their special day—share some of their creative responses to the challenge. Lessons for all: Never underestimate s’mores or a waterfall.

Helen Boucher Named Interim Dean at Tufts University School of Medicine

Physician Helen Boucher, chief of the Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center, professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, and a director of the Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance (Levy CIMAR), was named to a new, joint position as interim dean for Tufts University School of Medicine and chief academic officer for Tufts Medicine. Boucher is the first woman to lead the School of Medicine in its 128-year history.

Public Health professor spearheads effort to reduce racial disparities in maternal health

Learn about Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, the Julia A. Okoro Professor of Black Maternal Health and assistant dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Tufts Doctor of Physical Therapy program to be offered in Phoenix, AZ

Tufts University School of Medicine will launch a new hybrid, accelerated Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program in Phoenix, AZ enrolling an inaugural class in Summer 2022. The School of Medicine initially launched Tufts DPT in May 2020 with its first program, based in Boston, MA.

Toward an Inclusive Next Generation of Physicians and Scientists

A School of Medicine pipeline program supports underrepresented high school students on the road to health sciences careers.

Teaching Future Doctors to See Patients as People, Not Conditions

The new medical school curriculum highlights social factors and other historically overlooked aspects of health care