UMass Chan professor elected president of American Society for Cell Biology

PHOTO | Courtesy of UMass Chan Medical School Mary Munson, professor and assistant vice provost for health equity at UMass Chan Medical School

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By Isabel Tehan

A UMass Chan Medical School professor and assistant vice provost for health equity has been elected as president of the American Society for Cell Biology.

Mary Munson, vice chair of diversity for the biochemistry & molecular biotechnology department, will officially take the role in 2025 after she serves a year as president-elect on the ASCB executive committee.

Munson has been based at UMass Chan since 2001 and leads a National Institutes of Health-funded lab, the Munson Lab, according to a Wednesday announcement from the medical school.

The ASCB is a professional association based in Rockville, Maryland. Its membership includes more 7,000 scientists conducting research in more than 50 countries, according to its website.

Munson joined ASCB two decades ago. She is the co-chair of the society’s Women in Cell Biology committee. She holds several additional positions at UMass Chan seeking to promote advancement and development for early-career and diverse researchers.

Munson holds bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and biology from Washington University in St. Louis in Missouri and received her PhD in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in New Haven.