Hudson Hoagland Society
The Hudson Hoagland Society (HHS) is the leadership giving group of individuals who support biomedical research at UMass Chan Medical School with cumulative gifts of $1,000 or more to our Annual Research Fund within a fiscal year (July to June).
Philanthropy is as important to medical discovery as are the countless hours researchers spend in their labs. You can play a role in advancing toward a world free of disease.
Join HHS
Hudson Hoagland Society membership levels
Founder - $10,000 or more
Partner - $5,000 to $9,999
Patron - $2,500 to $4,999
Benefactor - $1,000 to $2,499
Friend - $500 to $999
HHS was originally founded in 1985 to recognize major annual contributors to the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research. Named in honor of the Worcester Foundation's co-founder, the Society brings together individuals who share a commitment to advancing biomedical research. Founded in 1985 as an independent research institute by Drs. Hudson Hoagland and Gregory Pincus, the Worcester Foundation merged with UMass Chan Medical School in 1997.
Funds raised through the Hudson Hoagland Society are now used to support the most promising and innovative research at UMass Chan Medical School. These "seed" grants are awarded based on a competitive review process and allow a researcher to pursue new, innovative research for which he or she may not yet have funding.
Hudson Hoagland Society annual meeting
2024 meeting
The 39th annual meeting was held on May 14, 2024, and focused on the microbiome and the gut. The event was held in person at the Albert Sherman Center on the UMass Chan Medical School campus.
An informative talk, titled “Navigating the Gut Highway: Insights Into Microbiome-Driven Health and Disease,” was delivered by Beth A. McCormick, PhD, Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair II, professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology & Physiological Systems, and founding director of the UMass Center for Microbiome Research.
Beth A. McCormick, PhD
Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair II
Professor and chair, Department of Microbiology & Physiological Systems
Founding director, UMass Center for Microbiome Research
Dr. McCormick is one of the original pioneers in the field now known as cellular microbiology. She is passionate about studying how the gut works, particularly when it comes to diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and bacterial infections in the intestines. Her breakthroughs laid the groundwork for identifying novel ways in which the bacteria in our gut interact with the lining of the intestines. By studying these interactions, she has already begun to find new ways to treat conditions like intestinal inflammatory disorders and is now exploring the implications of these interactions in cancer. Her recent work looks at how the gut bacteria affect certain signaling pathways in the intestines and how this affects our overall health.
About the UMass Center for Microbiome Research
Researchers in the UMass Center for Microbiome Research are working to accelerate the understanding of how the microbes that live in and on us influence our lives, our health and our environment.
For more information, please contact:
2023 Worcester Foundation grant recipients
Supported by gifts to the Hudson Hoagland Society
Raquel Binder, PhD, MPH
Department of Medicine
“Zoonotic Coronavirus Transmission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo”
Elliot Edmiston, PhD
The Bassick Family Foundation Award
Department of Psychiatry
“Neural Correlates of Interoceptive Accuracy and Developmental Risk for Depressive and Anxiety Disorders During Puberty”
Michael Francis, PhD
Department of Neurobiology
“Defining the impacts of aging and disease on the postsynaptic proteome”
Paul Kaufman, PhD
Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology
“Nuclear body formation during pro-inflammatory macrophage differentiation”