People news: MMRI names new marketing and communications director

UTICA, N.Y. — Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) recently appointed Millie Occhionero as its director of marketing and communications.

In this role, she will design and oversee the organization’s community outreach and marketing initiatives.

Occhionero holds a bachelor’s degree in creative arts, French, and journalism from Siena College and a master’s degree in communications from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Founded in 1958, the Masonic Medical Research Institute’s research focuses on multiple areas of cardiac research including congenital heart disease, hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, inflammation, stem cells, genetics, electrophysiology, diabetes and obesity, metabolism, autoimmunity, neurodegeneration, and cancer.

“I’m thrilled to join MMRI at such an exciting time for the organization,” Occhionero said in a press release. “Our world-class researchers are doing innovative work, and I’m eager to promote it.”