This year’s 25th-anniversary UMass Cancer Walk will come on a sad note, with the passing of Michael Green, MD, PhD, director of the UMass Cancer Center.

This year’s walk is scheduled for September 24th.

Dr. Green’s scientific career was devoted to deepening understanding of the mechanisms that regulate gene expression in mammalian cells and how alterations in gene regulation cause and impact cancer and a wide range of other human diseases.

In a joint statement, Dr. Michael F. Collins, chancellor and senior vice present for the health sciences at UMass, and Terence R. Flotte, MD, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, said that Dr. Green was among the most distinguished biomedical research leaders “in our academic community and, indeed, across the nation. He has been an integral leader of and contributor to the growth and preeminence of UMass Chan’s research enterprise, serving also as director of the UMass Cancer Center, co-director of the UMass Cancer Center, co-director of the Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research and as the Lambi and Sarah Adams Chair in Genetic Research.”

Dr. Green was an avid fisherman, often launching into the waters off Woods Hole, and made the most of his catches through his culinary creativity.

“Undoubtedly, the loss of Dr. Green is deep and painful for those of us who have worked with him, learned from him and come to respect his diverse skills, sense of humor and countless contributions to the UMass Chan and broader scientific communities over the last four decades,” Dr. Collins and Dr. Flotte said.

“We know that all members of the UMass Chan community join us in extending our deepest sympathies and condolences to Maria Zapp, PhD, his wife and a longstanding member of the UMass Chan faculty; Dr. Green’s brother, Eric Green, MD, PhD, director of NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute; his sister, Wendy Lee, MD, a retired pediatrician; his extended family; colleagues; and friends.”