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

(SEPTEMBER 8, 2022) Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, M.H.C.D.S., FACEP, professor of emergency medicine and president and chief operating officer of the University of Vermont Medical Center, wrote a commentary in VT Digger about the value of academic medicine.

(SEPTEMBER 8, 2022) Following an extensive nationwide search, the University of Vermont Health Network has named Sunil “Sunny” Eappen, M.D., M.B.A., as its next president and CEO effective November 28, 2022, according to NBC Channel 5. He will also serve as a clinical professor of anesthesiology at the Larner College of Medicine.

(SEPTEMBER 7, 2022) Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, explained in an Associated Press story that the same dopamine reward system that’s the basis for addictions can be used to promote healthy behavior change.

(AUGUST 29, 2022) Tim Lahey, M.D., M.M.Sc., professor of infectious disease, spoke with Alexandra Montgomery of WCAX-TV Channel 3 about the new bivalent vaccines designed to target more than one strain of COVID-19.

(AUGUST 26, 2022) NBC5 covered a roundtable discussion hosted by Vt. Sen. Bernie Sanders focusing on the lack of nurses in the state. Among the participants was Noma Anderson, Ph.D., professor of communication sciences and disorders and dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

(AUGUST 24, 2022) Center for Health & Wellbeing medical director Michelle Paavola, M.D., clinical assistant professor of family medicine, and infectious disease specialist Keith Collins, M.D., clinical assistant professor of family medicine, told WPTZ-TV NBC5 that while it’s not a threat to the public right now, UVM does have a plan in place should monkeypox come to campus.

(AUGUST 19, 2022) State Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., professor of medicine, was quoted in a True North Reports article covering Gov. Phil Scott’s press conference, which focused on drug abuse and addiction.

(AUGUST 18, 2022) “Cigarette smoking — that’s the largest killer in terms of tobacco products,” Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and psychological science and director of UVM’s Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH), told WCAX-TV Channel 3.

(AUGUST 17, 2022) Ob-Gyn professor Elizabeth McGee, M.D., told Forbes that while tracking basal body temperature can be a helpful tool for charting ovulation phases, this shouldn’t be the only method used to prevent pregnancy or to get pregnant.

(AUGUST 12, 2022) In response to the news that polio virus has been detected in New York City wastewater, infectious disease specialist Tim Lahey, M.D., M.M.Sc., professor of medicine, told WVNY-TV ABC22 that vaccination is the best protection.

(AUGUST 12, 2022) Infectious disease specialist Tim Lahey, M.D., M.M.Sc., professor of medicine, spoke to WCAX-TV about what actions people — and public health officials — can take to help keep COVID case rates down in Vermont and Northern New York despite the increased transmissibility of the BA-5 variant.

(AUGUST 11, 2022) A $20 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to the New England Clinical and Translational Research Network (NNE-CTR) will allow NNE-CTR members from UVM, MaineHealth Institute for Research, and the University of Southern Maine to address chronic and life-threatening diseases in northern New England, VermontBiz reports.

(AUGUST 9, 2022) Five high school students from Bennington County recently completed a MedQuest 2.0 program designed and delivered by first-year medical students from the Robert Larner College of Medicine to gain a richer understanding of health careers available to them in Vermont.

(AUGUST 5, 2022) A new survey by UVM’s Center on Rural Addiction — which is headed by Stacey Sigmon, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry — working with the University of Southern Maine’s Cutler Institute highlights challenges in access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders in Maine’s rural areas.

(AUGUST 1, 2022) After the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global health emergency and the first case of the virus was recently confirmed in Vermont, Tim Lahey, M.D., M.M.Sc., professor of medicine, spoke with Vermont Public about what we need to know about the virus, and who’s at highest risk.

(AUGUST 1, 2022) Karen Lounsbury, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and director of foundations and preclinical assessment, is quoted in an article in “Social Work Today” on integrating service delivery by medical or physical health providers, behavioral health providers, and social service providers.

(JULY 31, 2022) In response to statistics showing that lung cancer kills more Vermonters than breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers combined, family medicine professor John King, M.D., and colleagues at the UVM and Dartmouth Cancer Centers are spearheading a new community education program called Vermonters Taking Action Against Cancer, the (Nashua, N.H.) Telegraph reported.

(JULY 29, 2022) Retired oncology professor Jerome Yates, M.D., spoke with Alexandria Carolan, a reporter with The Cancer Letter and associate editor of the Cancer History Project, about building a cancer center at the University of Vermont.

(JULY 28, 2022) Sean Diehl, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, spoke with CT Insider about an Omicron-specific mRNA vaccine developed by Yale scientists that creates a strong antibody response against subvariants BA.1 and BA.2.12.1.

(JULY 28, 2022) Rheumatologist Jeanne Gosselin, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, spoke with CreakyJoints about what monkeypox is and what people who are immunocompromised because of an autoimmune or inflammatory health condition or taking immunosuppressant medication need to know.