Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program

(SEPTEMBER 5, 2023) Professor of Medicine Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of public health and health policy, was featured on Dr. Bill Dorfman’s Meet the Mentor podcast series in an episode titled “Dr. Jan K. Carney’s Fight for Expanded Healthcare Access for Children.”

(SEPTEMBER 5, 2023) Raj Chawla, M.P.H., faculty technology liaison at Larner College of Medicine, commented to VTDigger for an article on a virtual code cart, a/k/a crash cart, created by a Rutland startup to train medical personnel in emergency response. “I’m thrilled to see a Vermont company developing in the extended reality field,” Chawla said.

(SEPTEMBER 1, 2023) Gail Rose, Ph.D., of the UVM Center on Rural Addiction, and Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., were quoted in an NBC5 story about the state’s latest step in ending overdose deaths.

(SEPTEMBER 1, 2023) A poster presentation by Daniel Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine, was awarded third place at the 2023 Military Health System Research Symposium in Florida on August 17, the Defense Health Agency reported.

(SEPTEMBER 1, 2023) Alexandra Potter, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, spoke to WCAX about UVM neuroscientists’ efforts to recruit expecting families who want to help with a major childhood development research project called the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study.

(AUGUST 31, 2023) Peter Jackson, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and medical director of the UVM Medical Center’s new Addiction Treatment Center (ATC), spoke with the Williston Observer about the ATC’s newly integrated and expanded addiction services.

(AUGUST 30, 2023) Lewis First, M.D., M.S., professor and chair of pediatrics, spoke to NBC5 about gearing up for a potential rise in COVID-19 cases as the school year begins.

(AUGUST 30, 2023) With a small uptick in new cases recently, epidemiologist Timothy Plante, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, spoke with Vermont Public about COVID-19 in Vermont this fall: its current state, a new vaccine expected in about six weeks, prevention tips, and information about testing.

(AUGUST 28, 2023) Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., professor of medicine and associate dean of public health and health policy, was interviewed by The Hill for a story about “heat days” that, similar to their winter counterpart—snow days—cause school closings due to excessive weather conditions.

(AUGUST 26, 2023) In an article in Cannabis.net about the therapeutic advantages of low-THC high-CBD cannabis strains, Monique McHenry, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and director of the Medical Cannabis Center for Research and Education, says the perception that THC is predominantly linked with the induction of psychoactive effects is a “significant misconception.”

(AUGUST 26, 2023) A promising single-dose dengue fever vaccine created by the University of Vermont Vaccine Testing Center, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and Johns Hopkins University is undergoing a clinical trial in Bangladesh, VOA News reports.

(AUGUST 25, 2023) Findings from a new study conducted by the University of Vermont’s Conversation Lab and therapeutics cancer firm Sunstone Therapies show the feasibility of trained human coders to identify observable markers of therapeutic connection during psilocybin administration within Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (PAT), Benzinga reports.

(AUGUST 18, 2023) In a study on medicinal cannabis use and reporting, Larner researchers Nicole Wershoven, Amanda Kennedy, Pharm.D., and Charles MacLean, M.D., found that just 18 percent of patients thought their provider was a “good source of information regarding cannabis” and cannabis-related health issues, according to Labroots.

(AUGUST 17, 2023) Brady Heward, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, spoke to WCAX-TV about an integrated approach by the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) to make addiction treatment more accessible.

(AUGUST 17, 2023) Epidemiologist Timothy Plante ’06, M.D.’10, M.H.S., assistant professor of medicine, spoke with Vermont Public for a story focusing on the recent uptick in the number of COVID cases and a new, updated vaccine booster that is expected to be available in the fall.

(AUGUST 16, 2023) UVM Medical Center has again earned a 5-star quality rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which announced its annual hospital ratings in late July, according to the Barre–Montpelier Times Argus.

(AUGUST 16, 2023) Hematologist Chris Holmes, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine, helped write a recent study that found an anticoagulant pill was just as effective as self-administered blood thinner injections at preventing deadly blood clots in cancer patients, according to WCAX-TV.

On August 7, 2023, the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont welcomed 124 new medical students in the Class of 2027 to campus. Students in the Class of 2027 were selected from a pool of more than 8,500 applicants. Just over a quarter of the new med students are Vermonters and 24 percent identify as LGBTQ+. In addition, 24 percent of UVM’s newest medical students are people underrepresented in medicine—referred to in higher education as “URiM”—a category that includes African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino/a, and Native American/Alaskan Native. The student body draws from 26 states, excluding Vermont, and two Canadian provinces.

(AUGUST 11, 2023) Sherrie Khadanga, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and director of cardiac rehabilitation at the University of Vermont Medical Center, commented to In Profile Daily on an article about the health benefits of walking.

(AUGUST 10, 2023) A study led by principal investigator Elias Klemperer, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and psychiatry, found that Vermont’s medication program for incarcerated people with opioid use disorder has helped reduce overdoses after release, according to VTDigger.