On January 8, 2026, UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes and Dean of the College of Natural Sciences Michael Fox visited Professor Kathleen Arcaro’s lab in the Life Sciences Laboratory to learn more about the lab’s groundbreaking research using human milk as a non-invasive window into individualized breast health
During the visit, Professor Arcaro and her team shared how identifying biomarkers in human milk before a clinical diagnosis allows women to make more informed decisions about preventative breast cancer care. This prevention-focused research aims to improve individual breast cancer risk assessment by detecting early biological changes that may precede disease by decades.
Professor Arcaro and graduate students highlighted ongoing women's health related projects spanning epigenetics and molecular biology, demonstrating how human milk can reveal breast-specific differences and early immune and epigenetic alterations likely contributing to future cancer risk.
This visit underscored the importance of innovative, translational research happening at UMass Amherst.
Pictured here from left to right: Michael Fox (CNS Dean), Kathleen Arcaro (Principal Investigator), Eva Browne (Research Fellow). Lauren McCrystal (ABBS Masters student), Aliyah Dalier (MCB Doctorate candidate), Ashley Banas (ABBS Doctorate candidate), Javier Reyes (Chancellor), Grace Liu (ABBS PhD student).
Like the Chancellor's LinkedIn post
Visit our breast milk research web page