MaineHealth Institute for Research

12/11/2025

Congratulations to James Watson, MD! Dr. Watson, clinical faculty at the research institute and medical toxicology and emergency medicine physician at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, has been awarded a prestigious K12 research training grant from University, funded by the NIH through the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

His research will focus on improving care for patients discharged from the emergency department with alcohol withdrawal syndrome, aiming to develop patient-informed insights for future clinical trials.

We’re proud to see this important work advancing patient-centered care and collaborative research across MaineHealth and Tufts CTSI partners. 👏

12/10/2025

Just Published in the journal Nature!

An international team from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Cross-Disorder working group has mapped the genetic landscape across 14 psychiatric disorders, offering the most comprehensive analysis to date of shared genetic risk factors.

We’re proud that Dr. Susan Santangelo, Director of the Center for Clinical & Translational Science, contributed to this landmark study. These findings reveal five major genomic factors that cut across diagnostic boundaries and highlight pathways that
could guide future research and treatment.

Read the full article:

Genomic analyses applied to 14 childhood- and adult-onset psychiatric disorders identifies five underlying genomic factors that explain the majority of the genetic variance of the individual disorders.

12/09/2025

From co-op student to research associate—hear what drew Emmanuella Waife to our institute and why they chose to build their career here.

12/08/2025

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting is in full swing in Orlando, Florida!

We’re proud to share that Michaela Reagan, PhD, faculty scientist, presented at the Scientific Workshop on Mitochondria and Metabolism in Blood Cancer – From Discovery to Patients on Friday and YaWei Qiang, MD, PhD, staff scientist in the Reagan Lab, also presented at the annual meeting on Sunday.

We celebrate their contributions to advancing blood cancer research! 👏

12/04/2025

Curious about clinical trials? MaineHealth is leading studies that could improve diagnosis and treatment across a range of conditions.

See what we're working on – check out the clinical trials listing: https://mhir.org/clinical-trials-office-2/current-clinical-trials-at-mainehealth/

12/03/2025

Congratulations to Victoria DeMambro, MS, PhD, who has been awarded the 2025 Maher Family Research Grant from Soft Bones, Inc. This grant will support her important work studying muscle weakness and chronic fatigue in adults with hypophosphatasia (HPP)—a rare metabolic bone disease.

We’re excited to see the impact of your research!🙌

12/02/2025

Science Blitz today featuring faculty scientist, Igor Prudovsky, PhD, in our Center for Molecular Medicine! Tune in as Dr. Prudovsky shares insights on tranexamic acid and its potential role in improving burn care.

12/02/2025

🎥 Hear from postdoc Devesh Kesharwani as he reflects on the supportive, collaborative community that helps drive discovery at MHIR.

12/01/2025

Applications for our Summer Undergraduate Research Program are now open! Explore exciting opportunities in biomedical research and collaborate with leading experts in the field. This program is a great way to grow your skills, expand your knowledge, and gain valuable hands-on experience in a supportive, dynamic environment.

Application deadline: January 30, 2026

🔗 Learn more and apply: https://mhir.org/education-training/undergraduate-summer-student-research-program/summer-student-program/

11/27/2025

Grateful for our colleagues, partners, and community whose collaboration continues to advance and inspire our work.

11/24/2025

The Journal of Maine Medical Center (JMMC) has been accepted into the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)—a global community committed to quality, open-access research.

This recognition reflects JMMC’s dedication to accessibility, research quality, and transparency. Congratulations to the editorial team for achieving this important milestone! https://doaj.org/toc/2641-2225

11/20/2025

MaineHealth has joined the ECHO IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network (ISPCTN) through the project Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes in Maine (ECHO-ME).

Led by Drs. Alexa Craig and Laura Faherty, this initiative will:

✅ Expand pediatric clinical trial capacity across Maine

✅ Ensure representation of children in rural and underserved communities

✅ Engage stakeholders to strengthen the impact and feasibility of clinical research statewide

Congratulations to Dr. Craig and Dr. Faherty on advancing opportunities for children’s health research in Maine and eastern New Hampshire.

Learn more in this recent WMTW Channel 8 News coverage:

The five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health will loop the hospital system into a pediatric clinical trials network that spans 17 other states.