Friday, August 15, 2008

Search committee chooses Collins as chancellor of UMass Medical School

By Mass High Tech Staff

The committee leading the search for a new chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School has chosen Michael Collins as its candidate.

Collins, 53, is the school’s interim chancellor and senior vice president for health sciences. Collins previously served as the Chancellor of UMass Boston and as the CEO of Caritas Christi Health Care System. Collins replaces former chancellor Aaron Lazare, who continues to teach at the school. Collins, a medical doctor, has also taught at Texas Tech University and Tufts University. Collins received his bachelor’s degree in 1977 from the College of the Holy Cross and his doctorate from Tufts University in 1981.

The 23-member committee, which included Nobel laureate Craig Mello, recommended Collins unanimously, according to the school. The committee formed in February. The group met five times, held 10 meetings to field input from constituents, and considered more than 100 candidates, the school said.

Collins must now be recommended by UMass president Jack Wilson and confirmed by the school’s board of trustees.

In March 2007, Lazare stepped down as chancellor after 16 years due to a heart condition.

During Lazare’s tenure, Mello was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine, along with co-researcher Andrew Fire, for their discovery of RNAi, also known as ribonucleic acid interference. Lazare also oversaw the construction of a $100 million, 360,000-square-foot research laboratory, which opened in 2001. The building, known as the Aaron Lazare Medical Research Building, was built using a $21 million gift — the largest in UMass history — from Jack and Shelley Blais.