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

Commentary authored by Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., UVM professor of medicine and associate dean for public health, discussing the myths and facts about e-cigarettes is featured in on VT Digger.

During its 2016 annual meeting, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons announced that David Halsey, M.D., UVM associate professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation and director of the UVM Medical Center’s adult reconstruction service, who currently holds the title of second vice president, will assume the role of president in 2018. Read the full announcement in Orthopedic Design & Technology.

The University of Vermont Board of Trustees recently appointed three new members including UVM College of Medicine student Soraiya Thura ‘18, who succeeded UVM class of 2016 undergrad student Samantha Lucas, and will be serving a two-year term. The announcement was mentioned in Noodls, VT Digger, US News Hub and Vermont Business Magazine.

UVM College of Medicine faculty members Thomas Simpatico, M.D., professor of psychiatry and chief medical officer for the Department of Vermont Health Access; Sandra Steingard, M.D., clinical associate professor of psychiatry and chief medical officer at the Howard Center; and Jaskanwar Batra, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and medical director at the Department of Mental Health, are featured in an article about the disputes over force-medicating psychiatry patients for Seven Days.

UVM College of Medicine faculty members James Hudziak, M.D., professor of psychiatry, pediatrics and medicine and director of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth & Families, and Jon Porter, M.D., clinical assistant professor of family medicine and director of the UVM Center for Health & Wellbeing, are featured in an article about UVM’s Wellness Environment (WE) program on NBCNews.com.

The ALS Center at UVM Medical Center, led by Rup Tandan, M.D., F.R.C.P., professor of neurological sciences, recently received a $37,500 grant from the ALS Association of Northern New England to support patients and families struggling with Lou Gehrig’s disease, which was mentioned in Vermont Business Magazine.

UVM Professor of Pediatrics Barbara Frankowski, M.D., comments on the long-term use of over-the-counter lice treatment products creating a resistance to lice for a story on the hype surrounding a new “mutant” strain of lice resistant to usual, inexpensive treatments for a story on CNN and NBC affiliate KFOR Newschannel 4.

The Big Change Roundup, an annual change collection campaign that raises funds for the University of Vermont Children's Hospital programs and services in Burlington, made a stop at the local Wal-Mart in Malone on February 27, 2016, where UVM Professor and Chair of Pediatrics Lewis First, M.D., M.S., helped to count change collected for the campaign.

Beth Robbins, Psy.D., UVM clinical associate professor of psychiatry and clinical director of the Seneca Mood and Anxiety Disorders Clinic at The UVM Medical Center, was interviewed live on WCAX-TV Channel 3’s morning news, discussing the topic of her March 1 Community Medical School presentation, “All Stressed Out: Symptoms, Physiology and Approaches for Relief.”

Patricia Fisher, M.D., UVM assistant professor of family medicine, was featured in a story on local CBS affiliate WCAX-TV about the struggles recovering opiate addicts in Vermont face in finding aftercare treatment.

University of Vermont pediatric cardiologist Niels Giddins, M.D., is featured in a news story about the American Heart Association's February 2016 "Little Hats, Big Hearts" campaign to increase awareness about congenital heart defects in newborns. Giddins, an associate professor of pediatrics, commented that structural problems in the heart can often appear following a seemingly healthy and normal birth. The story's video footage, taken at the UVM Medical Center's Mother-Baby Unit, also featured Molly Rideout, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics.

James Hebert, M.D., UVM professor of surgery, authored an editorial discussing the gross underfunding of Medicaid in the state of Vermont and a newly-proposed 2.35 percent tax on independent physicians, which threatens to put non-hospital employed doctors “out of business and leave some Vermonters without care.”

An editorial in the Salt Lake City, Utah Deseret News about sentences for juveniles features comments from David Fassler, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry and Burlington, Vt. child and adolescent psychiatrist.

A front-page story in the Boston Globe highlights the brainchild of University of Vermont College of Medicine Professor James Hudziak, M.D. - UVM's Wellness Environment program, known as WE.

Joseph McSherry, M.D., Ph.D., UVM associate professor of neurological sciences, authored an editorial on the effects of cannabis-derived tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

A study showing that drug users are strongly motivated by seeking out rewards but also exhibit the inability to adjust their behavior, co-authored by Hugh Garavan, Ph.D., UVM associate professor of psychiatry, is mentioned. Read more from Health Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center Newsroom, Health Canal.

Research by Robert Johnson, M.D., University of Vermont professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation emeritus, and colleagues is featured prominently in a Washington Post Health & Science article, titled "How you can prevent ski injuries."

Ahead of the coldest weekend yet, Stephen Leffler, M.D., UVM professor of surgery and chief medical officer at the University of Vermont Medical Center, offers tips to avoid frostbite and serious injuries. Watch the interview on WPTZ-TV.

New research based on a discovery by David Warshaw, Ph.D., UVM professor and chair of molecular physiology and biophysics, and colleagues of a malfunction of a specific protein in the heart linked to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common culprit in cases of sudden death in athletes, was the focus of this article featured in multiple media outlets. Read more from Medical Xpress, ANI News, Odisha Sun Times,Vietnam Tribune, MedIndia Health News, Big News Network, News Reporter, Health Medicine Network, Archy Newsy, Physical Therapy Products, Medical News Today

A recent announcement that the UVM Vaccine Testing Center will be involved in the clinical trials and research on a vaccine for Zika virus, which was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization on February 1, 2016, attracted wide local and regional media coverage. Read more from ABC 22/Fox 44 News, WCAX-TV CBS 3,WPTZ-TV NBC 5, Vermont Business Magazine, St. Albans Messenger, Times-Argus, WCAX-TV CBS 3 HealthWatch, U.S. News Hub, VT Digger, Killington Mountain Times, Burlington Sun Times, Vermont NEA, Vermont Public Radio Here and Now, Rome Sentinel, Rutland Herald, The Waltonian, Press Telegraph (no longer available), University Echo