Asst. Prof. Serena Rajabiun and two other Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences professors are leading a $3.9 million federal grant to help HIV treatment centers improve care for Black women, who have higher infection rates and worse health outcomes because of poverty, stigma and structural racism.

Even before COVID-19 testing overwhelmed hospital and public health laboratories, medical lab scientists, including those who graduate from UMass Lowell, were in great demand. Now their skills – analyzing lab samples and helping doctors to diagnose patients – are more sought after than ever.

When two alumni now working at Lowell Community Health Center wanted volunteers for their “Stop the Spread” COVID-19 testing campaign this summer, they knew whom to call: their former professors in the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences.

Thanks to a state grant, the university’s Fabric Discovery Center acquired equipment to test PPE that could be used to prevent transmission of COVID-19. Now, staff are conducting PPE testing for the state emergency management agency, hospitals, and regional companies that are ramping up to manufacture high-quality masks and gowns. And that’s just the beginning.