UMass to host MSCAs research

The University of Massachusetts (UMass) Medical School will serve as one of two Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCAs) hosting sites in the United States that focus on developing new technologies to help individuals with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability.

The medical school is benefitting from funds secured under the MSCAs’ COFUND scheme and will receive money from the Assistive Technologies for People with Autism and Intellectual Disability (ASSISTID) programme. ASSISTID is part-funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 and the DOCTRID (Daughters of Charity-Technology, Research into Disability) Research Institute in Ireland; it has a budget of $12m (~€8.9m).

In comments carried on the UMass Med Now website, Dr William McIlvane, Commonwealth medicine director of academic development, said: “There is value in international collaboration for a variety of reasons. First, it aligns with the medical school’s mission to advance research through partnership. Second, it allows us to develop relationships with scholars across the globe whose work may influence our own research.”

The research programme will centre its efforts on researching and developing future assistive technology. A total of 40 postdoctoral fellows will be funded, with the first cohort to be selected in the autumn and beginning work in February next year. Researchers may undertake their work at either UMass or Michigan State University in the United States under the ASSISTID programme.