MAYOR WALSH AND STEERING COMMITTEE ANNOUNCE FUNDING FOR 16 ORGANIZATIONS IN LATEST ROUNDS OF BOSTON RESILIENCY FUND GRANTS

MAYOR WALSH AND STEERING COMMITTEE ANNOUNCE FUNDING FOR 16 ORGANIZATIONS IN LATEST ROUNDS OF BOSTON RESILIENCY FUND GRANTS In total, the Resiliency Fund has granted over $25M to support Boston's residents  BOSTON - Saturday, August 22, 2020 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Boston Resiliency Fund Steering Committee today announced nearly $500,000 in new Boston Resiliency Fund grants to 17 organizations and nonprofits. Since launching in March to help Boston residents most affected by COVID-19, the Boston Resiliency Fund has distributed over $25.7 million to 340 nonprofit and local organizations and there is $7.6 million in funds remaining.  "The Boston Resiliency Fund has been indispensable in allowing us to meet the needs of our residents negatively impacted by COVID-19, and contain this virus," said Mayor Walsh. "Many of the organizations that have received support have pivoted during COVID to be a lifeline for the families and seniors they know and serve. We remain dedicated to supporting families, seniors, and anyone who continues to be vulnerable due to COVID-19, its economic impact, and the longstanding impact of racial inequality." Since Mayor Walsh's launch of the Boston Resiliency Fund in March, 54 percent of grantee organizations are led by a person of color and 57 percent of grantee organizations are led by a woman. 27 percent of grantees are immigrant-serving organizations. A map and a list of every organization that has received funding from the Boston Resiliency Fund can be found here.  "The Boston Home, a residence and community resource for adults with multiple sclerosis and other advanced neurological disorders, has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the dedication of our staff and the support of our tremendous partners, The Boston Home has been COVID-19 free for 15 consecutive weeks," said Christine Reilly, Chief Executive Officer of The Boston Home. "The Boston Resiliency Fund's generous award will enable The Boston Home to enhance its services to meet the needs of our 235 frontline healthcare staff, 93 residents, and community program members. We are so grateful to Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the City of Boston for this impactful grant." "With this support from the Boston Resiliency Fund, we'll be able to enhance our critical medical advocacy services to more effectively support survivors of sexual assault in local hospital emergency rooms, even in the face of the restrictions that the pandemic has brought," said Gina Scaramella, executive director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. The latest round of funding will help organizations that are working to increase food access, support direct services for families, youth and older adults, and fund local organizations directly providing supports to the community. These organizations include: African Bridge Network (Renewal): The African Bridge Network plan to continue to support food security in the African and the immigrant community in Boston by distribution on grocery gift cards.The organization have identified additional partners, the Nigerian American Multi-Service Association and Church of Pentecost Boston, to assist reach new sections of the African community. They propose to serve additional 300 families with an average household size of four people. They are also proposing to work with Project Bread and other food assistance agencies to get qualified African grocery gift recipients to apply for SNAP and other food resources for the next six weeks. Lastly, they are proposing to work with the Metro Housing Boston to get qualified grocery gift recipients to apply for rental assistance through the Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance (ERMA) program for the next six weeks.  Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation (ABCDC): The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the digital divide for low-income people as more activities shift to a virtual format while not everyone has access to proper technology. ABCDC will provide laptops and technology education to 15 families in their affordable rental portfolio.  Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC): BARCC is pivoting its Medical Advocacy Program during COVID to better meet the needs of its clients. Many Boston hospitals and others call BARCC to provide critical support to rape victims in their emergency rooms. BARCC will transition this pivotal service to a sustainable and secure telemedicine model using secure software and tablets for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners to connect victims with Medical Advocates. BARCC responds to over 548 survivors in Boston emergency rooms annually. Codman Academy: Codman Academy will support families that have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. They will optimally leverage their network of local food businesses, like Fresh Food Generations, Commonwealth Table, local farms like Urban Farming Institute, Daily Table to plan, prepare and deliver healthy fresh produce, delicious, culturally diverse prepared meals and assortment of groceries to feed our community families in need.  Elizabeth Stone House (Renewal): This grant will support the needs of some of the most vulnerable infants and children the Elizabeth Stone House serves in residence and in the  community. Of critical need are diapers/pull-ups, wipes and infant and toddler formula and toddler foods.   Fenway Community Development Corporation: The Fenway Community Development Corporation (FCDC) will support the most vulnerable residents through weekly food distribution to approximately 150 food insecure Boston residents, in partnership with Fair Foods. Each resident will receive fresh fruits and vegetables to help feed their household, as well as resource flyers on how to access free assistance when applying for unemployment, SNAP, MassHealth, or receive job skills, career training, and job placement assistance from the FCDC.  Fresh Food Generation: In partnership with The Food Project, FFG will support 125 additional East Boston residents who are in need of support with food packages that include fresh vegetables, fruits, dry goods and prepared meals.  Fundación de Milagros Marte (Renewal): Fundacion de Milagros Marte will continue to help provide baby formula and diapers to families in need. In addition, they will provide boxes of culturally competent meals and groceries for the Latino community.  Garrett Pressley Autism Resource Center: The grant will be used to purchase fourteen tablets for use by families who have children on the autism spectrum. This technology will be used to engage in virtual social skills classes, exercise, cooking classes, family support groups, and one-on-one consultation to address physical and emotional well being. The grant will also provide food gift cards to purchase essential food items for family meals. Greater Love Community Cares (Renewal): Greater Love Community Cares will provide support for residents who are unemployed or under-employed with rent, utilities, and other economic hardships. They will also hire drivers to deliver medicine and other essential supplies to seniors and immunocompromised residents. Love Your Menses: Love Your Menses will continue purchasing menstrual hygiene and postpartum care products for people in need. Since the beginning of the pandemic, they have personally packaged and delivered over 300 menstrual and postpartum care kits to girls and women in the Boston area. They will work with partners in the community, such as The Guild, to help distribute the products.  Neighborhood Development Corp (NDC) of Grove Hall: Grove Hall NDC will work with 20 non-profit organizations and churches in the greater Grove Hall area who need support to clean their spaces. They will contract with a local MBE, who is OSHA- and CDC-certified, to thoroughly clean these community spaces and train existing staff to do follow up cleaning on a regular basis.  Newmarket Community Partners (Renewal): Newmarket Community Partners will continue to provide the food deliveries, a continuation of their efforts to support last mile delivery of food to Boston neighborhoods in partnership with the YMCA, the Food Bank and others through trucking services. South Boston Association of Non-Profits (Renewal): Working collaboratively, the South Boston Association of Non-profits will bring together nine local non-profit member organizations to provide fresh food, perishable and non-perishable food items, grocery store gift cards, and prepared meals to the diverse and vulnerable populations of children, families and seniors in South Boston. The organizations are collectively providing weekly access to food pantries, grocery deliveries, cleaning products, and prepared meals,  as well as responding to immediate needs as they arise.  Talented And Gifted Association, Inc (TAG): TAG Latino Program will use this grant to purchase gift cards for 75 families who are low income and have an identified need for food support. The gift cards will support local, small and culturally-sustaining businesses, based on families expressed preferences and needs.     The Boston Home, Inc: The Boston Home will update its technology so that front line staff can provide uninterrupted care to the 93 residents and 27 community members who have disabilities and require wheelchairs due to advanced neurological disorders. Due to COVID-19, their residents are relying on technology devices  for telehealth appointments, virtual program engagement, and maintaining connection to family.

White House Hosted AAPI Stakeholders Conference Call with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao & Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, Eric Dreiband

Friday, August 21, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On August 20th, the White House Office of Public Liaison and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) hosted a conference call for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders community and business stakeholders. Both Co-Chairs of WHIAAPI, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao, provided remarks. Also joining the call was Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division along with Chair Paul Hsu and Commissioner Prem Parameswaran of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (PAC-AAPI). Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director for the White House Office of Public Liaison, Ms. Jennifer Korn, provided the welcoming remarks along with Associate Director Alex Flemister. Executive Director of WHIAAPI, Tina Wei Smith, cohosted this important call.

“The resilience of this country’s AAPI community gives me great confidence as we make progress through the recovery effort”, said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “And rest assured, the Commerce Department will continue to deploy its resources on your behalf.” Secretary Ross went on to announce Phase Two of the Household Pulse Survey and the Small Business Pulse Survey. Both surveys by the U.S. Census are critical to informing federal and state response and recovery planning by collecting real-time data on the impact of COVID-19. Phase Two expands on the initial surveys’ federal assistance questions and asks businesses and households to communicate their future needs. Secretary Ross also reminded the AAPI community the importance of completing the 2020 Census.

“The Department of Transportation has kept our country’s transportation systems open, operational, and safe during the Covid-19 public health emergency,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao. “The transportation systems of this country had to remain open to keep our supply chains strong. Truckers kept our stores’ shelves stocked with food and other essential items and delivered much needed medical supplies. Air Traffic Controllers had to stay on the job to keep our national airspace open. Other airline workers helped keep our planes flying. Buses and paratransit operators kept communities moving. Freight had to move by rail. There are stories upon stories of American heroes during this crisis, and many of them are in the transportation sector.”

Secretary Chao encouraged the community by sharing, “the Asian Pacific American community has so much to offer to mainstream America. And our contributions to the economic vitality of our country are needed more than ever. So, thank you for all that you do to increase opportunities for our community.”
“The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting hate crimes and violations of anti-discrimination laws against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the fullest extent of the law,” said Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Assistant Attorney General Dreiband provided updates on college application discrimination of AAPIs, and he expressed that both him and Attorney General William Barr have instructed department prosecutors that they will not tolerate hate-motivated acts of violence of the AAPI community, particularly as it relates to the pandemic.
The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders has been tasked by President Trump’s Executive Order to provide advice to the President, through the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, on how to broaden access by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) employers and communities to economic resources and opportunities. Joining from the Commission was Chair of the Commission, Dr. Paul Hsu and Commissioner Prem Parameswaran.

“Because of President Trump’s unprecedented action and leadership, we have realized there’s nothing wrong with our economy today. All our fundamentals are still strong. Just three months, May, June, and July we have added 9 million jobs. And we are just getting started,” said Dr. Paul Hsu of Florida, Chair of PAC-AAPI, “Working together, we will overcome this. We are Americans. We have conquered tough challenges before, our economic outlook is healthy, our better days are coming!”

Commissioner Prem Parameswaran of New York shared that, “as a proud son of Indian immigrant parents who came to the United States over 60 years ago and achieved the true American dream I am honored to be a Commissioner on the President’s Commission…we as Commissioners will work very hard in this Administration for the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders community.”

For more information on opportunities and resources, please visit www.commerce.gov/whiaapi

MAYOR WALSH, BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

MAYOR WALSH, BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR All students will begin the school year in remote learning, families encouraged to submit learning model, transportation preferences BOSTON - Friday, August 21, 2020 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Boston Public Schools (BPS) Superintendent Brenda Cassellius, and Boston Chief of Health and Human Services Marty Martinez today announced that after months of community engagement and review of crucial public health data, all students will begin the school year learning remotely five days a week. All families will have the opportunity to select to stay in remote learning for the school year or opt into a hybrid plan that will include a combination of in-person and online learning.  Add caption The announcement today outlined a phased-in approach to in-school learning, starting with students who need additional time, attention, and support to be successful. BPS will then phase-in grade levels on a staggered basis to allow for students and staff to adapt to new routines, for the City of Boston to track important public health metrics, and to provide families time to plan for the new year. "Students, families and schools have faced incredible challenges this year, and I want to thank them for their work and patience. I know starting school is a complex decision, and our priority has always been to ensure the safety of everyone, while keeping equity for students at the forefront of every decision," said Mayor Walsh. "This plan was developed with the input of families, educators and public health experts, and every step will follow science and public health data. For many of our students, school is not just a place to learn, but also a place for nutritious meals, care and mentoring, and social development. Throughout the school year and beyond, we will continue the work that began long before COVID-19: to close opportunity and achievement gaps, and give every single child the quality education that they deserve."  The City is closely tracking all public health data and has partnered with BPS to establish protocols and processes to make informed decisions on a daily basis about the return to school and continued, safe, in-person learning in school buildings.  The BPS reopening plan outlines two options for families: all remote learning with five days a week of online instruction and hybrid learning with two days a week of learning in schools and three days of remote learning.  Students in the hybrid model will be assigned into Group A or Group B. Students in Group A will attend schools on Mondays and Tuesdays and students in Group B will attend school on Thursdays and Fridays. All will learn online on Wednesdays to allow for cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing of buildings. There are specific plans to work with students with disabilities, students who are working towards English language proficiency, and others who require additional time and care to support their learning.  If the public health data shows that it is safe for in-school learning the district will follow the schedule below (double dates reference the Group A and Group B starts). Each step will begin no sooner than the listed date: September 21: All students begin remote learning Thursday, October 1: Students with the highest needs start in hybrid Thursday, October 15 (B) & Monday, October 19 (A): Grades K0, K1, K2 return Thursday, October 22 (B) & Monday, October 26 (A): Grades 1 - 3 return Thursday, November 5 (B) & Monday, November 9 (A): Grades 4 - 8 (secondary schools start grades 6 - 8) return Monday, November 16 (A) & Thursday, November 19 (B): Grades 9 - 12 return "Science and data is at the forefront of every single plan as we work to gradually and safely reopen the City of Boston," said Chief of Health and Human Services Marty Martinez. "By phasing grades in every two weeks, teachers and school staff will have the time they need to get comfortable with the safety of their buildings and classrooms before students arrive, and allow us to monitor for any COVID activity between phases. As we have said from the beginning, these dates are dependent on public health data, and we will be closely monitoring the public health situation while creating a safe space for Boston's students to learn." To inform planning, this summer BPS has engaged in more than 33 community meetings with more than 4,000 stakeholders, held in 10 different languages, including meetings with unions, nurses and public health officials, two School Committee meetings and one City Council meeting. The district has released two drafts of the reopening plan. The feedback gathered shaped the planning process, especially between the first and second drafts. "Equity remains at the center of Boston Public Schools' planning for a safe and successful start to the school year. This plan prioritizes meeting the needs of our most vulnerable learners, respects family choice, and is thorough, thoughtful and responsive to the feedback we have received from families and teachers," said BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius. "We are excited for the new school year and will continue to support the social, emotional, and physical wellness of our students, staff and community as we lift up equity, promote health and safety, and ensure educators, staff, and families are prepared to support our students in their learning." The City and BPS have been hard at work preparing school buildings for the return of students and staff, through cleaning, ordering of supplies and personal protective equipment, fixing windows, updating options for air flow, and developing health and safety protocols. All students and staff in schools will wash and sanitize their hands frequently, wear masks, and practice safe distancing. Classrooms have been reconfigured and new daily procedures have been developed for routine cleaning of classrooms, hallways and bathrooms. Students who use yellow bus transportation will follow the same process, and BPS is in contact with the MBTA to plan for student transportation. The district has also spent the summer reviewing data and feedback on spring remote learning and is strengthening this option with additional clarity on learning expectations; support for teachers, students, and families; and accountability for students making progress. This includes adopting districtwide technology platforms, a renewed focus on social and emotional learning, and additional outreach to families.  This week, BPS sent a selection form to families, available in 10 languages, asking them to indicate a learning model preference for each BPS student in their household. Next week, BPS will begin making calls to families who have not completed or may not have received the form to assist them with completing it. BPS will also email all families to confirm their selections, and will later provide a school schedule and yellow bus transportation information, as applicable. Families may also request a change in their initial preferences selected in the form before the start of the school year. For more information about learning models, as well as the most recent draft of our reopening plan, please visit bostonpublicschools.org/reopening. Families with questions can contact reopening@bostonpublicschools.org.

Massachusetts Life Sciences Center announces $15 million in capital funding to support innovation infrastructure, data repositories, and scientific training

Funding awarded through Life Sciences Center’s Open Capital and Bits to Bytes programming to support life sciences ecosystem

Waltham—Today, the Baker-Polito Administration and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) announced more than $15 million in capital funding to support life sciences innovation infrastructure, the development of key data repositories, and training for scientists across the Commonwealth. In total, 17 projects are receiving funding to support the life sciences ecosystem. The MLSC awarded funding through its Open Capital program and Bits to Bytes program. Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy made the announcement during remarks at MALSI+ 2020, a virtual gathering of scientific innovators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors whose groundbreaking work across the globe is addressing life science innovation.

“In the life sciences, we are at a watershed moment, where new ideas and innovative strategies are needed to accelerate the creation, growth, and success at all levels of our ecosystem,” said Secretary Kennealy, who also serves as Co-Chair of the MLSC’s Board of Directors. “The Baker-Polito Administration remains committed to providing key investments to ensure the upward trajectory of the life sciences sector in Massachusetts as a mechanism for workforce and economic development, and scientific advancement.”

“These investments highlight the Baker-Polito Administration’s continued commitment to funding essential science infrastructure and workforce training in order to help propel important discoveries and further strengthen the life sciences industry as we navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Executive Office of Administration and Finance Secretary Michael J. Heffernan, who also serves as Co-Chair of the MLSC’s Board of Directors. “The MLSC continues to work diligently with its partners in industry and academia to prioritize capital investments that promise a strong return for the Commonwealth while maximizing impact to better serve human health and improve patient outcomes.”

“There is no doubt that we live and work in a different world in which data and other revolutionary technology have unlocked new tools and new potential in the life sciences and basic research, that can and will lead our society to a better understanding of human health,” said MLSC Interim President & CEO Damon Cox. “The MLSC continues to serve in a unique position to work collaboratively and embrace its role as a steward of investment and strategy in order for Massachusetts to sustain its leader post in life sciences innovation.”

The MLSC believes that investment in various kinds of infrastructure—from core facilities, to incubator space, to repositories of scientific data—is required to create and sustain the attributes that make Massachusetts attractive to innovation clusters. The Open Capital program provides grants for state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure that support the life sciences ecosystem in Massachusetts. To date, the MLSC has awarded or committed more than $480 million to support capital projects across the state. Funding through this year’s Open Capital round supported equipment and expansion projects at academic organizations, research institutions, research hospitals, startup incubators and other non-profit organizations.

In this round, the MLSC awarded approximately $10.4 million in funding to 11 projects. This includes Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), which is receiving $877,314 to support the campus’ Cell Engineering Research Equipment Suite (CERES). MLSC funds will support the purchase of key equipment to create a modular core facility focused on high throughput cell analytics. These assets will allow academic researchers and industry scientists to investigate ways to improve public health by accelerating development of innovative treatments, and creating jobs and preparing the workforce needed to grow a thriving biotechnology industry in the Commonwealth. The CERES core facility will provide startups access to resources needed to bring cell-based products to market. A major indicator of success will be the growth and maturation of the biotech discovery ecosystem in central Massachusetts, especially in the number of startup companies supported by CERES at WPI.

“I am grateful to the MLSC for supporting WPI in the important work of developing a cutting-edge facility where researchers can pursue innovative medical treatments for human disease,” said Bogdan Vernescu, vice provost for research at WPI. “CERES will be co-located at the WPI Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center, expanding WPI’s research and training contributions to the biomedical community in the greater Worcester region.”

The MLSC launched Bits to Bytes in 2019 to provide grants for projects that generate and analyze large datasets to answer pressing life science questions, and to attract and train data scientists in the Commonwealth. The goal of Bits to Bytes is to employ data analytics and/or machine learning techniques to develop a greater understanding of various medical conditions to develop optimal treatments to improve patient health. Additionally, the MLSC and its partners are committed to a collective goal of attracting, training, and retaining data scientists to the life sciences. Exposing data scientists to projects with a focus on human health can encourage the application of their much needed skill sets to the industry and mission-driven work of the life sciences. Awardees comprise of not-for-profit organizations collaborating with at least one for-profit Massachusetts life science company. In total, six projects are receiving funding totaling $4.6 million with 14 industry partners.

Massachusetts General Hospital is receiving $666,500 to support its collaborative efforts to facilitate drug development for neurodegenerative diseases by generating a large-scale, longitudinal dataset of digital behavior across age, disease severity, and diagnosis. Neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) affect a range of human behaviors including arm function, speech, vision, and facial expression. Abnormalities in these functions are subtle prior to diagnosis and progress relatively slowly over time. This makes it challenging to both accurately diagnose the disease early, in order to intervene and prevent neurodegeneration, or to determine if a disease modifying drug candidate or therapy could be effective in slowing progression. The project team will build a “neurology vital signs phone booth” equipped with a suite of high definition instruments to collect and process targeted eye movement, facial expression, limb and body movement, speech, and cognition data known to have shared importance across neurodegenerative diseases. This data set will aid health analytic and pharmaceutical companies across the Commonwealth to use computational approaches to solve a key problem in neurodegenerative disease research and drug development.

“The Mass General Department of Neurology is grateful to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center for supporting this large-scale and multidisciplinary project,” said Anoopum Gupta, MD, PhD, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital. “We are excited to form a team of neurologists, drug developers, computer scientists, and digital health companies to generate the datasets and create the analytics needed to address a key challenge in neurodegenerative disease: how to detect early signs of neurodegenerative diseases and how to sensitively measure disease progression.”

In recent months, the Center has been proud to be part of the Commonwealth’s ongoing effort to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, including contributing funding and resources to the Manufacturing Emergency Response Team (M-ERT) and the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness. These recent contributions are in addition to its continued administration of various programs and other initiatives to support the life sciences sector. The MLSC’s portfolio of programs has strategically deployed more than $700 million in Massachusetts, through a combination of grants, loans, capital infrastructure investments, tax incentives, and workforce programs. These investments have created thousands of jobs, and propelled the development of new therapies, devices, and scientific advancements that are improving patient health and well-being in Massachusetts and beyond. The Center launched a new round of Bits to Bytes this past Monday, with applications due December 10, 2020. Other funding programs will launch over the next few weeks.

Open Capital Program Awardees:

Awardee: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Project Title: Organ-on-Chip Facility in a Hospital Setting

Awardee: Mansfield Bio-Incubator     
Project Title: Mansfield Bio-Incubator Laboratory Infrastructure Expansion Project

Awardee: UMass Amherst
Project Title: Acquisition of Synapt G2-32k Mass Spectrometer for Biopharmaceutical Research

Awardee: UMass Amherst   
Project Title: Enhancement of the UMass, Amherst Light Microscopy Facility for Cutting Edge Workforce Training

Awardee:  UMass Amherst
Project Title: MLSC Open Capital Flow Cytometry at UMass Amherst

Awardee: UMass Amherst   
Project Title: SampleJet, High-Throughput Sample Changing Robot for NMR

Awardee:  UMass Boston          
Project Title: NextGen Sequencing at the Next Level: The University of Massachusetts Boston CPCT Genomics Core

Awardee: UMass Lowell            
Project Title: Expanding Core Research Facilities Capabilities for Partners in Northeast Massachusetts

Awardee: UMass Medical School          
Project Title: UMass Medical School Positron Emission Tomography Center

Awardee:  UMass Medical School         
Project Title: Enhancing Innovation in Drug Discovery at UMass Medical School

Awardee: Worcester Polytechnic Institute        
Project Title: Cell Engineering Research Equipment Suite

Bits to Bytes Program Awardees:

Awardee (PI(s), Institution): Christina Baer; Dorothy Schafer, UMass Medical School
Industry Partner(s): Tiaki
Project Title: Spatial Transcriptomic Approaches to Map Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Disease

Awardee (PI(s), Institution): Raul Mostoslavsky; Nabeel Bardeesy; Gad Getz; Leif Ellisen; Keith Flaherty, Massachusetts General Hospital
Industry Partner(s): Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Agios Pharmaceuticals
Project Title: An Integrative Platform to Understand and Exploit Cancer Metabolism

Awardee (PI(s), Institution): Steven Horng, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Roger Mark, MIT
Industry Partner(s): Philips Healthcare, Philips Research North America
Project Title: Creating and Integrating an Echocardiogram and Electrocardiogram Extension to the MIMIC Database

Awardee (PI(s), Institution): Daniel Haehn, UMass Boston
Industry Partner(s): DeepHealth, Inc.
Project Title: The Oregon-Massachusetts Mammography Database (OMAMA-DB)

Awardee (PI(s), Institution): Howard Sesso, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Industry Partner(s): Biogen, Life Epigenetics, Nightingale Health, Olaris
Project Title: Natural History of Neurofilament Concentrations and Mechanisms of Healthy Aging Using Data Science

Awardee (PI(s), Institution): Anoopum Gupta, Massachusetts General Hospital
Industry Partner(s): Biogen, WKD.SMRT
Project Title: Facilitating Drug Development for Neurodegenerative Diseases by Generating a Large-Scale, Longitudinal Dataset of Digital Behavior Across Age, Disease Severity, and Diagnosis

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES CITY'S FIRST CARGO ELECTRIC-ASSIST TRICYCLE ADDED TO CITY FLEET, NAMED AFTER KITTIE KNOX

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES CITY'S FIRST CARGO ELECTRIC-ASSIST TRICYCLE ADDED TO CITY FLEET, NAMED AFTER KITTIE KNOX BOSTON - Thursday, August 20, 2020 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh, the Environment Department, the Office of Women's Advancement, the Streets Cabinet, and the Office of New Urban Mechanics today announced the dedication of the City's first electric-assist cargo tricycle. In a virtual naming ceremony, the tricycle was named after Katherine "Kittie" Knox, a Black West End resident in the 1880s who confronted racial and gender stereotypes in Boston's bicycling community. The new tricycle also supports Boston's work to reduce emissions from municipal sources, a critical goal of the 2019 Climate Action Plan Update. "This new tricycle is an innovative new program as Boston continues its work towards achieving carbon neutrality in our city," said Mayor Walsh. "I'm proud this tricycle is named after Ms. Knox, an early leader who championed equity in the bicycle community. In Boston, we have also proclaimed August 20 as Kittie Knox Day."   In October 2019, Mayor Walsh released an updated Climate Action Plan to further strengthen the City's ongoing initiatives to mitigate and adapt to climate change, including immediate steps to significantly reduce Boston's carbon emissions and strengthen the strategies needed to achieve the City's long-term goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. This new tricycle also builds on Boston's reputation for being one of the most energy-efficient cities in the United States, and complements existing programs such as Renew Boston Trust, Community Choice Energy, the Electric Vehicle Parking program, and Boston's long-standing building energy benchmarking program. The trike is intended to support City staff performing their daily tasks. The trike also supports Go Boston 2030, the City of Boston's long-range, equitable transportation plan, aims to encourage mode shift away from single-occupancy vehicle trips toward low-emission modes of walking, biking, and public transit. To do this, the plan calls for better bike lanes, bus priority corridors, walk-friendly street design, and easy access to transit, bike share, and carshare.  The City of Boston is receiving support on zero-emissions vehicle deployment as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies' American Cities Climate Challenge, which Boston was named a winner of in October 2019. The cargo tricycle is part of that effort. It is meant to be an option to replace a trip that would otherwise be taken by an employee using a city vehicle.  Research shows that reducing car dependency for short trips can contribute to overall mode-shift toward active modes, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. "This innovative electric cargo tricycle pilot, aptly named for the pioneering Kittie Knox, reflects Boston's leadership in creating more sustainable ways for people to get around. It is always heartening to witness an American Cities Climate Challenge city turn a vision into reality - and even more so when it honors the life of a woman who fought valiantly for racial and gender equity. The 'Knox' marks an important milestone in Boston's commitment to fully decarbonize its transportation system and will serve as a reminder of the enduring legacy of Boston's trailblazing women," said Amanda Eaken, Director of the American Cities Climate Challenge.  In partnership with the Office of Women's Advancement, the City is naming the cargo tricycle in memory of Katherine "Kittie'' Knox as part of its centennial commemoration of the 19th Amendment's ratification, which expanded voting rights to women. "As we honor and reflect on the one hundred years of women at the ballot, we must recognize the trailblazers who wanted an equitable part in America's growth," said Tania Del Rio, Executive Director of the Office of Women's Advancement. "While Kittie Knox was breaking racial and gender barriers in the white male-dominated sport of cycling, suffragist leader Lucy Stone was inspiring women in Boston to organize for the right to vote. This dedication pays homage to the bravery and innovation of Boston's women from Knox's time to now." Ms. Knox was a member of Riverside Cycle Club in Cambridge, the prominent Black bicycling club in the greater Boston area in the 1890s, and joined the League of American Wheelmen in 1893, before the national association adopted a "white only" membership policy in 1894. When Ms. Knox went to a competition hosted by the League in New Jersey in 1895, some members tried to bar her entry, though she showed proof of membership in the League.  "Kittie's life deserves recognition and it is gratifying that the bicycling community is making space to learn from Kittie and its past treatment of her and people who looked like her," said Larry Finison, author of Boston's Cycling Craze, 1880-1900. "Kittie Knox is indeed an exemplar of equity, diversity, and inclusion."

MAYOR WALSH CELEBRATES 29TH SUMMER OF THE MAYOR'S MURAL CREW

MAYOR WALSH CELEBRATES 29TH SUMMER OF THE MAYOR'S MURAL CREW Danny Le of Dorchester; Leah Prodigalidad of West Roxbury; and Zariyah Wilkerson of Roxbury pose with the progress of their masked self-portraits, on August, 12, 2020.  Photo courtesy of the Mayor's Mural Crew. BOSTON - Thursday, August 20, 2020 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh, together with the Boston Parks Department and the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture, today announced The Mayor's Mural Crew has completed its 29th summer of employing Boston high school students to create large-scale public art projects across Boston neighborhoods and City parks. In an effort to provide more Boston teenagers with a safe, in-person experience of working on meaningful projects amidst a global pandemic, the Mural Crew employed nearly triple the amount of youth for their ordinary summer program, with 27 youth participating in this year's program. This year's crew brought together teenagers representing 12 different local high schools, 10 neighborhoods, including teens who have dreamt of being a part of the program since coming across their first neighborhood mural as a kid.   "It has been a very challenging year for Boston, including our young people who are seeking support systems and community events," said Mayor Walsh. "I'm proud of every member of our Mural Crew who have worked incredibly hard this summer to bring their unique experience and vision to neighborhoods throughout our communities. To all the young people who rose to the challenge this summer and created positive engagement in our city: thank you." Currently a program under the Boston Parks Department, The Mayor's Mural Crew started in 1991 as a summer initiative to cover graffiti with original murals painted and designed by local high school students. Over the course of the program, the Crew has employed and engaged hundreds of youth artists. Youth between the ages of 15 and 18 can apply to be a part of the Mural Crew through the City's  SuccessLink Employment Program. Earlier in the spring, there was a tremendous surge in the use of Franklin Park, the City's largest open space. The Mural Crew, based out of the City's Parks Department farm in Franklin Park, took inspiration from the amount of socially-distanced space within Franklin Park. The Mural Crew let the "forest school" outdoor education learning style serve as a guide for the summer's work. Instead of the traditional summer experience of painting murals in neighborhood parks or small business walls, this year the Mayor's Mural Crew focused on a selection of street activism, painting, and placemaking projects. All projects took place outdoors and followed proper COVID-19 public health guidelines.  "As a team, we had to think outside of the literal box and create a summer work program of alternative learning, art-making, and skill-building-inspired by the times, and our city's parks," said Heidi Schork and Liz O'Brien, who co-lead The Mayor's Mural Crew program. "This summer, a consortium of City employees from the City's Parks Department, the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture, and the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics came together to create a curriculum that allowed teenagers to work in person."  Youth artist Lucy Edelstein-Rosenberg of the North End adds finishing touches to chalk paint quote installation on Blue Hill Ave on July 25, 2020. Photo courtesy of the Mayor's Mural Crew. This summer's project portfolio includes:  A labyrinth of land art installations and whimsical pathways in Franklin Park. The crew built a dozen sculptural structures including a beech tree treehouse, using only native material (live plants, stones, fallen limbs, and branches) in the south end of the park, by Scarboro Pond.  A series of landscape watercolors and illustrated map designs of public parks in Boston.  A series of social justice sidewalk quote designs, with a temporary installation of youth artist Leah Prodigalidad's design, painted on a Franklin Park sidewalk along Blue Hill Ave.Using Irwin marking chalk and Montana chalk spray, the crew captured Maya Angelou's quote: "We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color."  A series of socially distant leaves on Boston Common, painted with turf paint on the grass surrounding Boston Common's Parkman Bandstand. This was a collaboration with the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics, to encourage staying safely apart while enjoying the beauty of the park. A series of pop-art style mask self-portraits, painted 6 feet apart from each other on plywood against barn doors in Franklin Park. The portraits will be installed in public spaces across the city this fall.  A deer head sculptural structure in the woods of Franklin Park built on July 21, 2020, led by youth artist Madalyn Spitz, of Roslindale.  Photo courtesy of the City of Boston. "Before joining The Mayor's Mural Crew, I was afraid creativity was a thing I would lose stuck in quarantine, but the crew taught me that art lies within everything- even a global pandemic," said Roslindale's Isabel Oalican, a rising sophomore Posse Scholar at Bryn Mawr College, who was new to the Mayor's Mural Crew this year. "Channeling how we felt about the reality of the pandemic into our work was fulfilling, in that it transformed mundane things into art, like our masks or a very spacious park that has room for keeping social distance. I hope that our work during the summer of 2020 serves as an example of how to remain positive and productive in tough times!" "I had no idea what this summer was going to bring. I prayed that this job would work out because the people I meet are so down to earth and funny and human," said Jamaica Plain's Nina Porter, a rising senior at Meridian Academy, who just completed their second summer as a Mural Crew artist. "The diversity is incredible, and it seems like we are just bursting at the seams with suppressed creativity that quarantine has brought upon us. While this was unexpected, it was not unpleasant. I still get to be creative and make friends safely." "This summer we got to make new forms of art in the woods that pushed our thoughts and conceptions of art, and allowed us to experience something new," said Jamaica Plain's Jon Lopez-Wilen, a junior studying illustration at Lesley University, who has worked with the Mural Crew since 2015. "We helped the Mayor's Office install socially-distant leaves, which got us out to explore a new territory and medium. Our masked self-portraits emphasize the importance of wearing a mask, while giving us each the chance to be self expressive." "I felt so happy to be able to create artwork outside, on behalf of the City, during such an abnormal time," said Roslindale's Sayde Cheever, a rising sophomore at Boston Latin Academy. "It was a really great chance to be creative with low stakes and lots of help from my supervisors and coworkers. We had to think outside the box to make art happen in the midst of COVID-19," said West Roxbury's Christy Jestin (this year's reigning champ of WGBH's High School Quiz Show), who begins his first year at Harvard College next week. To learn more about The Mayor's Mural Crew, visit here and follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Lead Artists Heidi Schork, Director and Founding Artist of The Mayor's Mural Crew  Liz O'Brien, Teaching Artist and Manager of The Mayor's Mural Crew  John Crowley, Teaching Artist and Exhibition Coordinator for Boston City Hall Galleries  College Student Artists Jonathan Lopez-Wilen Taylor Billy Kaylee Chang Angel Zayas Youth Artists  Brenda Cartagena Brian Santizo Romero Cait Duncan Christy Jestin Cindy Nguyen  Danny Le David Liu Erika Rivas Grace Sullivan Isabel Oalican Jaden Malagodi James Sullivan Jeff Charles John Gallagher Julia Spitz Leah Prodigalidad Lucy Edelstein-Rosenberg Madalyn Spitz Max Lyman Mila Fields-Zayas Nathaniel McKay Niamh Mulligan Nina Porter Sage Stuart Sayde Cheever Valencia Louis Zariyah WIlkerson ###