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

(NOVEMBER 8, 2022) Medical oncologist Kim Dittus, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and director of the UVM Cancer Center’s Steps to Wellness exercise program for cancer survivors, was interviewed for a story about the Cancer Center being named Health.com’s Innovative Hospital Award Winner for 2022. Also interviewed was cancer survivor Evelyn Sikorski, manager of UVMMC’s employee health and wellness and employee assistance programs.

(NOVEMBER 8, 2022) Research on autism spectrum disorder conducted by Neuroscience Graduate Program doctoral student Erin Cullen and Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences Matthew Weston, Ph.D., in collaboration with researchers at Dartmouth’s medical school, was featured in Chip Chick. (Click on headline for more.)

(NOVEMBER 7, 2022) Stacey Sigmon, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the Center on Rural Addiction, was quoted in VTDigger discussing the increasing use of the animal sedative xylazine as a sought-after dilutant for opioids due to its effect of prolonging the “high” from using opioids.

(NOVEMBER 7, 2022) Associate Professor of Pediatrics Rebecca Bell, M.D., answered RSV-related questions during a Facebook Live event on November 3, the (Plattsburg) Press-Republican reported.

(NOVEMBER 4, 2022) Professor of Surgery and UVMMC vascular surgeon Daniel J. Bertges, M.D., presented a clinical trial on paclitaxel drug-coated balloons (DCBs) at the VIVA Foundation’s VIVA22 conference in Las Vegas, according to CardiovascularBusiness.com.

(NOVEMBER 3, 2022) David Kaminsky, M.D., professor of medicine, spoke to The Other Paper’s Corey McDonald about so-called long COVID, following the death in May of a childhood friend of his own son who, after four months of increasingly debilitating symptoms that forced him to obtain a medical leave from his job, took his own life.

(NOVEMBER 3, 2022) Professor of Medicine Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of public health and health policy, was quoted in US Today News commenting on a recent study by a medical informatics expert at the University of Illinois and colleagues on the possibility that Smartphones could one day collect data from a person’s daily cardio activity and predict risk of death, thus potentially providing an incentive to improve fitness.

(NOVEMBER 3, 2022) Health Commissioner and Professor of Medicine Mark Levine, M.D., was quoted in the Herald Chronicle speaking about a new partnership between the Vermont Department of Health and health care informatics company VisualDx -- whose CEO is Larner College of Medicine alumnus Art Papier, M.D.’88 -- to create a new “Clinician Support Initiative.”

(NOVEMBER 2, 2022) Clinical Professor of Pediatrics Joseph Hagan Jr., M.D., was quoted in an article in the Courier-Tribune and its sister publication Gladstone Dispatch (both based in Liberty, Mo.) about the proper age for young children to begin volunteering.

(NOVEMBER 2022) Researchers led by pulmonologist and critical care physician Renee Stapleton, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine, concluded that “informed assent” for CPR is a “feasible and reasonable” approach for some hospitalized patients, according to Medical Ethics Advisor.

(NOVEMBER 1, 2022) Pediatric critical care physician Rebecca Bell, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, commented in the Burlington Free Press on the surge in local hospitalizations due to rhinovirus or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

(OCTOBER 27, 2022) UVMMC pediatrician and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Michelle Shepard, M.D., Ph.D., spoke to WCAX-TV’s Hailey Morgan about ongoing baby formula supply chain woes affecting Vermont parents.

(OCTOBER 27, 2022) NBC5, WCAX, and other media covered the annual Cancer Convergence Conference, which brought experts from around the country and the world to UVM and featured a Careers in Cancer event for local high school students.

(OCTOBER 26, 2022) Professor of Neurological Sciences Gary Mawe, Ph.D., director of Larner’s Anatomical Gift Program, spoke to Seven Days about the pedagogical value of having medical students dissect real human cadavers in the College’s anatomy lab. Larner receives some 30 to 50 body donations a year.

(OCTOBER 25, 2022) Research Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., has been awarded the Lung Cancer Discovery Award by the American Lung Association in Vermont, according to Vermont Business Magazine.

(OCTOBER 24, 2022) A study co-authored by Benjamin Lee, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics; Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., professor and chair of microbiology and molecular genetics and professor of medicine; and Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine, along with researchers from Columbia University and Boston University, concluded that post-vaccination symptoms are a good sign, CNN reported.

(OCTOBER 20, 2022) Abby Beerman, M.P.H., education instructor in medicine and UVMMC injury prevention coordinator, commented in an article by The Other Paper on a national firearm access and safety movement.

(OCTOBER 19, 2022) Stephen Leffler, M.D., professor of emergency medicine and president and chief operating officer of the University of Vermont Medical Center, was interviewed by VT Digger about overcrowding in the hospital’s Emergency Department.

(OCTOBER 19, 2022) A Seven Days article about CoreMap, co-founded by cardiologist and Professor of Medicine Peter Spector, M.D., discusses the medical technology startup’s search for a breakthrough in detecting the source of atrial fibrillation, and solving the long-standing challenge of providing individualized treatment.

(OCTOBER 18, 2022) Julie Dumas, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, joined Gayle Guyardo, the host of the nationally syndicated health and wellness show "Bloom," to discuss the impact menopause has on the brain and its connection to Alzheimer’s disease.