MaineHealth Institute for Research

12/25/2025

Celebrating the season with appreciation for collaboration and discovery—happy holidays from MaineHealth Institute for Research.

12/23/2025

We recently had the opportunity to thank Anne Breggia, PhD, as she retires after 34 years with the Research Institute.

As Director of the Center for Applied Science and Technology and a leader in our precision medicine efforts, Anne has played an important role in shaping our research mission from its early days.

We’re grateful for her many contributions and wish her well in her next chapter. 🙌

12/18/2025

Residents and fellows at MaineHealth have access to robust research infrastructure, dedicated support services, and funding opportunities to advance scholarly work.

Learn more about how MaineHealth supports residents and fellows in research: https://vimeo.com/1123689021/b80345dcc7

12/17/2025

We are proud to share a publication from a collaborative effort between the MaineHealth Maine Medical Center NeuroCritical Care Research Group, the University of New England, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the University of New Hampshire, and our Myocardial Biology and Heart Failure Research Lab.

This study investigated whether prophylactic use of the antibiotic ceftriaxone could reduce pneumonia incidence after cardiac arrest without inducing antibiotic resistance. Important findings include: prophylactic ceftriaxone led to fewer exposures to open-label antibiotics that are frequently used in the ICU and those who received ceftriaxone acquired fewer resistance genes.

Read the full article here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012369225051347

Thank you to all collaborators for advancing this important work!

12/16/2025

Last week, bioengineering students from Northeastern University showcased their innovative med tech prototypes at MHMMC Portland. In collaboration with providers from MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital, students developed these prototypes to address current clinical challenges in health care. The event was a collaborative forum hosted by our Acute Care Center for Biomedical Research Excellence program and MH Innovation team.

MaineHealth care team members gave valuable feedback to the students. A big thank you to everyone who made this partnership possible! 👏

12/15/2025

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵? Applications for our Summer Undergraduate Research Program are open! Gain hands-on experience in biomedical research and work alongside leading experts.

📅 Deadline: January 30, 2026

Apply Now: https://mhir.org/education-training/undergraduate-summer-student-research-program/summer-student-program/

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!🙌