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College of Human Medicine

April College News Headlines

April 30, 2026

Matthew Foley - current MSUCHM 3rd year medical student and Kyle Burton, 2024 college graduate.
Matthew Foley (left), a current 3rd year medical student and Kyle Burton, a 2024 college graduate.

College News

  • Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the unification of the College of Human Medicine and the College of Osteopathic Medicine. WILX, WKAR, WLNS, AOL, MSN, State News, Lansing State Journal and Detroit News reported on the meeting.
  • U.S. News & World Report ranked College of Human Medicine a tier two school in primary care and tier three for research. MSN and National Today reported on the rankings. 

Student Success

  • Matthew Foley (M3) was awarded the Maureen K. Burrill Memorial Fund for Breast Cancer Research Scholarship and presented a poster at the Rural Oncology Conference in Minneapolis on April 18. Foley is pictured with Kyle Burton, MD, (’24) above.
  • Uninsured and Pregnant in Michigan. Dean's Scholar Priya Vijayakumar (M1) reported on the resources available and the challenge of navigating a health care system that can feel out of reach. Her story ran on Michigan Public.
  • Violinist Sydney Penrose (M3) and the program she started called Music for Dementia (MFD) were featured in the State News.

Staff and Faculty Success

  • Daniel Isaac, DO, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, has been appointed President-Elect of the Michigan Society of Hematology and Oncology.
  • Thomas O’Halloran, PhD, MSU Research Foundation Professor of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Chemistry, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the field of Chemistry.
  • Sparty Goes to Med School wins Silver ADDY from American Advertising Federation. Art direction provided by Nadija Kadunic, social media and digital marketing manager.
  • Anna Moore, PhD, associate dean for research and development, has been appointed chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of TransCode Therapeutics, Inc. Related: citybiz.
  • Laura Freidhoff, MD, senior specialist in the Office of Medical Education Research and Development, received the Inclusive Excellence Award from Michigan State University, recognizing her work advancing inclusivity in medical education.

Healthy Communities

  • “Programs like these should be expanded to other states. If we want to strengthen families, this is where we start, by helping parents stay afloat when a child arrives.” Former U.S. Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton mentioned Mona Hanna, MD, associate dean for public health, and Charles Stewart Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health, and Rx Kids in an op-ed in the New York Times.
  • Rx Kids expanded to Montmorency County and the southeast Michigan cities of Mount Clemens and Center Line. Alpena News, 9&10 News, News From The States, Michigan Advance reported on the launches.
  • “Detroit’s infant mortality problem is driven heavily by prematurity and low birth weight, which are both tightly linked to poverty and material hardship,” said Mona Hanna, MD, associate dean for public health, and Charles Stewart Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health, in this Hour Detroit story.
  • The Genesee County Board of Commissioners voted to expand Rx Kids to more communities in the county. MLive reported on the meeting.
  • Aron Sousa, MD, former dean, College of Human Medicine, wrote about the success of Rx Kids and it’s similarity to NEST (Newborn Equity Support Transfer) which is proposed in some bills in the Illinois legislature in his From Aron’s Desk newsletter.
  • Rx Kids announced its largest expansion yet, coming to 20 new communities this summer. Coverage from Michigan Advance, MLive, WZZM, WJRT, WILX, WMUK, WGVU, Spectrum News, WXMI, WOOD, WNEM, WLHT, WLNS, and State Affairs.

Research and Scholarship

  • Using AI to accelerate drug discovery for complex diseases. Bin Chen, PhD, associate professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Human Development and Pharmacology and Toxicology, told FOX 2 Detroit. how the technology helps narrow vast chemical possibilities and improve research efficiency. Related: Hoodline Detroit.
  • New treatment opportunity for HPV-positive cancers. WOOD TV, Health Medicine Network, and WOOD Radio reported on research led by Dohun Pyeon, PhD, professor in the Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology. Pyeon and his team found a protein called MARCHF8 destroys immune warning signals on tumor cells and effectively hides them from immune attack. Related: AOL, Yahoo, OncoDaily.
  • Another study examined if silicone bakeware is leaching toxins into food. Jamie Alan, PhD, associate professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, cautioned readers to consider how the study was conducted in this Prevention article.
  • The CDC paused testing on dozens of infectious diseases. Rebecca Schein, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, put concerns to rest in this report from WILX.
  • Women's Health reported a probiotic strain derived from kimchi has been shown to bound to nanoplastics in animal models, helping remove them through digestion. Jamie Alan, PhD, associate professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, explained how lactic acid bacteria may trap microplastics in the gut while cautioning that human studies are still needed.
  • Women’s Health dove into the rising number of strokes in young women. Jayne Ward, DO, chair of the Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology, offered her expertise.
  • “Occupational diseases are all preventable, and so something went wrong.” Kenneth Rosenman, MD, chief of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and his team spotted elevated blood lead levels in some DTE Energy workers which sparked a state investigation. MLive reported on the fallout and the fines.
  • This article in Scientific American focused on the role of inflammation in heart health and included research by George Abela, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiology.This article in Scientific American fcused on the role of inflammation in heart health and included research by George Abela, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiology.

Alumni News

  • Claire Wendland, MD, (’90), PhD, professor in the Division of Reproductive and Population Health and the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Anthropology, has been selected as a Class of 2026 Guggenheim Fellow.

In Memoriam

  • Tom Carlson, MD, (’87) was memorialized a year after his death in this piece in Berkleyside.
  • Larry Rawsthorne, MD, long-time College of Human Medicine faculty member who was instrumental in nurturing the partnership with University of Michigan Health-Sparrow, was posthumously recognized by UM Health-Sparrow with the 2026 Founders’ Award, the highest honor the health system presents. WLNS reported on the award.