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

(MAY 20, 2020) An article on TheHill.com, titled "Thousands have volunteered to be infected with coronavirus. But will that fast-track a vaccine?" featured comments from Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., chair of microbiology and molecular genetics and director of the Vaccine Testing Center, about the steps that must be taken in order to develop a new vaccine.

(MAY 19, 2020) Tim Lahey, M.D., M.MSc., professor of medicine, was featured in an NPR Morning Edition segment on Moderna's experimental COVID-19 Vaccine. His comments were also referenced in a May 22 Morning Edition interview with White House Coronavirus Task Force member Anthony Fauci, M.D.

(MAY 18, 2020) Alissa Thomas, M.D., assistant professor of neurological sciences and residency director for neurology, was featured in a Neurology Today article, titled "Neuropalliative Care During COVID-19—How Clinicians Help Patients and Families Cope with Isolation, Fear, and Life-Limiting Illness."

(MAY 18, 2020) Bonita Libman, M.D., professor of medicine and director of rheumatology, was quoted in and online article in The Rheumatologist, titled "Fellowship Training Goes Virtual: COVID-19 Pandemic Creates Training Challenges."

(MAY 18, 2020) Jeffrey Klein, M.D., professor of radiology and A. Bradley Soule and John P. Tampas Green and Gold Professor, is featured in a Radiology Business article, titled "COVID’s positive side: Collegiality and public awareness up in radiology, expert says."

(MAY 17, 2020) Andrea Green, M.D., professor of pediatrics, was featured in a VTDigger article, titled "The doctor is online: Telehealth may become big part of new normal." Green discussed how patients and families in the New American clinic she directs are adjusting to telehealth, as well as newfound advantages to the use of this technology.

(MAY 13, 2020) University of Vermont Assistant Professor of Medicine Diego Adrianzen-Herrera was interviewed for an ASCO Daily News special series on treating patients with cancer in the wake of COVID-19.

(MAY 12, 2020) Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine, and Sherrie Khadanga, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, were featured in an ABC22/Fox44 news story, titled "'Each time there's a commercial break, take a lap around the house': Experts encourage health stay-at-home habits."

(MAY 12, 2020) Larner College of Medicine Class of 2022 students Claudia Russell and Ashleigh Peterson were featured in an NBC5 news story about their volunteer work with seniors who are isolated to help them combat loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch a video of the story here.

(MAY 11, 2020) Jason Bates Ph.D., D.Sc.,professor of medicine, and C. Matthew Kinsey, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of medicine, are featured in a New Yorker article, titled "The Engineers Taking on the Ventilator Shortage," about a ventilator they invented with College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences faculty colleagues designed for COVID-19 patients.

(MAY 10, 2020) University of Vermont Chair and Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Vaccine Testing Center Director Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., was featured in a national NBC News article regarding the controversial human challenge model used in vaccine development and testing.

(MAY 5, 2020) Eline van den Broek-Altenburg, Ph.D., assistant professor of radiology and a member of the Center for Health Services Research, discusses ongoing research to track behavioral adjustments in response to social distancing and stay-at-home orders and their impact on the spread of COVID-19 infection in this WCAX-TV news story.

(MAY 2, 2020) Comments from Eline van den Broek-Altenburg, Ph.D., assistant professor of radiology, are featured in a Wall Street Journal article, titled "Coronavirus Kills People an Average of a Decade Before Their Time, Studies Find."

(MAY 1, 2020) Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., chair and professor in the department of microbiology and molecular genetics and director of the Vaccine Testing Center at the University of Vermont, was quoted in a STAT article, titled "Infect volunteers with Covid-19 in the name of research? A proposal lays bare a minefield of issues". Kirkpatrick discusses the challenges that come with testing a new vaccine and the steps it takes to even get to the testing stage.

(APRIL 26, 2020) An article in VTDigger featured the Larner College of Medicine's Match Day for Class of 2020 medical students on March 20, which was swiftly adjusted to be a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(APRIL 24, 2019) Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health at UVM, is quoted in a U.S. News & World Report article, titled "A Barren Landscape for Meth Treatment."

(APRIL 20, 2020) Daniel Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine, commented on the potential for cell therapies to be effective in treating COVID-19 in an article on ClinicalTrialsArena.com, a drug development and research industry news site.

(APRIL 17, 2020) Professor of Neurological Sciences Robert Shapiro, M.D., Ph.D., was featured in a video interview for Neurology Live on gaining access to migraine treatment in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shapiro is an advocate for a new class of medications that are administered less frequently, which may help improve management of migraine during the pandemic.

(APRIL 16, 2020) An Opinion piece authored by UVM Larner College of Medicine Professor Tim Lahey, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and director of clinical ethics at the UVM Medical Center, was featured in the New York Times.

(APRIL 12, 2020) Jason Bates, Ph.D., Sc.D., professor of medicine, discussed a low-cost ventilator option for treating COVID-19 patients called the Vermontilator during "You Can Quote Me" on local CBS affiliate WCAX-TV Channel 3. Bates described the potential uses, how the Vermontilator works, and why it is different from other ventilators.