Worcester County is a county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 862,111, making it the second-most populous county in Massachusetts. It is also the largest county in Massachusetts by geographic area. The largest city and traditional shire town is Worcester. Worcester County is part of the Worcester, MA-CT metropolitan statistical area and as the Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT combined statistical area.
Worcester is the second largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the 114th most-populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, also making it the second-most populous city in New England after Boston. Worcester is approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston, 50 miles (80 km) east of Springfield and 40 miles (64 km) north-northwest of Providence. Due to its location near the geographic center of Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth"; a heart is the official symbol of the city. Worcester is the historical seat of Worcester County in central Massachusetts.
Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production. It is composed of hematopoietic cells, marrow adipose tissue, and supportive stromal cells. In adult humans, bone marrow is primarily located in the ribs, vertebrae, sternum, and bones of the pelvis. Bone marrow comprises approximately 5% of total body mass in healthy adult humans, such that a man weighing 73 kg (161 lbs) will have around 3.7 kg (8 lbs) of bone marrow.
The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses, a satellite campus in Springfield and also 25 campuses throughout California and Washington with the University of Massachusetts Global.
Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produce additional normal blood cells. It may be autologous, allogeneic or syngeneic.
UMass Chan Medical School is a public medical school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is part of the University of Massachusetts system. It is home to three schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, as well as a biomedical research enterprise and a range of public-service initiatives throughout the state.
The 2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006. The incumbent Republican governor, Mitt Romney, chose not to seek a second term. Polls had been mixed prior to Romney's announcement, with one poll showing Romney slightly leading Democrat Attorney General Tom Reilly and other polls showing Reilly, who was then the Democratic frontrunner, in the lead.
Anthony Nolan is a UK charity that works in the areas of leukaemia and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It manages and recruits donors to the Anthony Nolan Register, which is part of an aligned registry that also includes the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry, NHS Blood and Transplant's British Bone Marrow Registry and Deutsche KnochenMarkSpenderdatei (DKMS) UK. This aligned register is known as the Anthony Nolan & NHS Stem Cell Registry. It also carries out research to help make bone marrow transplants more effective.
Aaron Lazare was the Chancellor and Dean of University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, from May 15, 1991, to March 15, 2007. He died on July 14, 2015 from complications of kidney cancer.
Jay Feinberg is a long-term leukemia survivor, community organizer and founder and current CEO of the Gift of Life Marrow Registry.
The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1986 and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that operates the Be The Match Registry of volunteer hematopoietic cell donors and umbilical cord blood units in the United States.
The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) of 1984 is an Act of the United States Congress that created the framework for the organ transplant system in the country. The act provided clarity on the property rights of human organs obtained from deceased individuals and established a public-private partnership known as Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). The OPTN was given the authority to oversee the national distribution of organs.
Worcester Memorial Auditorium is a multi-purpose arena located at Lincoln Square in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was built in 1933 to honor the sacrifices of Worcester citizens during times of war. The building includes a multi-purpose auditorium originally designed to seat 3,500-4,500 people, a smaller entertainment space known as the Little Theater designed to seat 675, and the Shrine of the Immortal, a war memorial with murals by renowned artist Leon Kroll commemorating the 355 soldiers and nurses from Worcester who fell during World War I. The Aud was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as part of the Institutional District. In 2009, Preservation Massachusetts included Lincoln Square on its "Most Endangered Historic Resources" list, because the square's three historic buildings - the Aud, the old Worcester County Courthouse, and the Lincoln Square Boys Club - were all empty or underutilized.
Vaillancourt Folk Art (VFA) is a business specializing in hand-painted chalkware trinkets, based in Sutton, Massachusetts. Co-founder Judi Vaillancourt is credited with having developed the process used to create the first contemporary use of chalkware—incorporating a plaster-like substance with confectionery moulds—since the 20th century version.
UMass Memorial Health (UMM Health) is the clinical partner of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the largest healthcare system in Central Massachusetts. It is a not-for-profit/nonprofit healthcare network providing all levels of primary to quartenary healthcare.
DKMS is an international nonprofit bone marrow donor center based in Tübingen, Germany, with entities in the US, UK, Chile, Poland, India and South Africa. DKMS works in the areas of blood cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and raises awareness of the need for donors for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation which people with blood cancers need for treatment as well as helping people sign up to their national bone marrow registries. Over the years, DKMS has expanded beyond Germany.
Amal Bishara is an Israeli Arab doctor, and the director of Bone Marrow Registry Outreach, Hadassah Medical Center, which is associated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. There she runs the only bone marrow transplant registry in the world for unrelated Arab donors. Dr. Amal has published and presented internationally on her research into immunogenetics. She serves on the Accreditation Committee of the European Federation for Immunogenetics.
The equestrian statue of Charles Devens is a public monument in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Located in front of the old Worcester County Courthouse in the Institutional District, the equestrian statue honors Charles Devens, who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and later served as United States Attorney General. The statue was designed by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter and was dedicated on July 4, 1906.
Elections are held every two years to elect the mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts.
