VCCBH News

  • Caporizzo Interviewed by WVNY about Research Findings on Promising New Heart Disease Treatment
    August 12, 2024
    (AUGUST 12, 2024) Researchers including Matthew Caporizzo, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, have discovered a promising new treatment for heart disease, WVNY-TV reports.
    Read full story from WVNY-TV
  • Experts in Cardiovascular and Neurological Health Convene at UVM
    June 18, 2024
    Scientists at Larner College of Medicine exploring the intricate heart-brain connection showcased their findings at the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health (VCCBH) symposium at UVM’s Davis Center.
  • UVMCC Cancer Population Science Announces Pilot Award Grantees
    May 28, 2024
  • Larner faculty and students present at AHA EPI/Lifestyle Scientific Sessions 2024
    March 28, 2024
  • Larner Scientists Offer Insight into COVID-19 Vaccine Response
    March 26, 2024
    Larner study underscores the critical importance of COVID-19 vaccination in preventing illness from the virus.
  • Kamin Mukaz Honored for Work Supporting Black In Cardio
    December 7, 2023
    Debora Kamin Mukaz, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, was recognized by the United Negro College Fund Ernest E. Just Life Sciences Society at at an event held September 17 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., for her work with Black in Cardio.
  • 2023 VCCBH Pilot Grant Award Recipients
    October 24, 2023
    These awards, supported wholly by funds from UVM entities, provide $200,000 over 2 years to fund meritorious research from early career faculty. We are very grateful to Deans from the Colleges of Medicine, Agriculture and Life Sciences, Nursing & Health Sciences, Arts & Sciences, Engineering & Mathematical Sciences, LCOM Deans Office, and the Graduate College, as well as the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont, for their support of this program. In addition, we would like to acknowledge matching fund support from the Departments of Pharmacology and Neurological Sciences.
  • Kat Cheung: Interim Leader of Center on Aging
    September 27, 2023
    Katharine Cheung, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine, assumed the role of Interim Director of the Center on Aging, effective September 1. A geriatric and palliative nephrologist, Cheung served on the center’s advisory board from 2017-2023. As interim director, Cheung's top priorities include relaunching pilot grants for faculty who are interested in pursuing research focused on gerontology or geriatric issues.
  • Summer Scholars: Medical Students Dive Into Research
    September 12, 2023
    Each summer, many rising second-year medical students engage in clinical, basic science or health policy-related research projects under the guidance of expert faculty. The students choose their topics based on personal passions and immerse themselves in projects tackling medical puzzles and unmet health needs. Engaging in research can be among the most valuable experiences during a medical education.
  • Whitaker Awarded $1.95M Grant to Unravel Anesthesia-Induced Hypotension
    August 31, 2023
    Emmett Whitaker, M.D., FAAP, associate professor of anesthesiology, neurological sciences, and pediatrics, received a substantial R35 MIRA grant from NIGMS for his study “Vascular Determinants of Anesthesia-Induced Hypotension at the Extremes of Age.” This five-year project—the department’s first NIH grant—addresses intraoperative hypotension in neonates, infants, and older adults under anesthesia.
  • Hearts and Minds: Symposium Spotlights Cardiovascular-Brain Research
    June 20, 2023
    The Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health supports research by early-career scientists who are investigating the mysteries of the heart-brain connection. The researchers are sharing their findings at a symposium on June 15-16 at UVM’s Davis Center.
  • Cushman, Higgins, Stein, and Heil Recognized with UVM Faculty Awards
    May 17, 2023
    The University of Vermont (UVM) recently recognized Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., and Gary Stein, Ph.D., as University Distinguished Professors, and Sarah Heil, Ph.D., was named a 2023-24 University Scholar.
  • Looking at the Future of Cardiovascular Health through the Lens of Early-Career Investigators
    February 22, 2023
    The University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine features some of the world’s foremost cardiovascular researchers, experts in cardiovascular disease risk factors, thrombosis, atherosclerosis, stroke, and heart failure. the science shared by early-career investigators at the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont’s fourth annual Viridis Montis Challenge, it was apparent that the institution’s reputation and legacy in the field of cardiovascular research will continue to have a global impact.
  • Cushman and Colleagues Find Social Disparities in Treatments and Outcomes for Pulmonary Embolism
    December 20, 2022
    Racial minorities and people with lower incomes or who are insured by Medicare or Medicaid are significantly less likely to receive the most advanced therapies and more likely to die after suffering a pulmonary embolism, according to a new analysis conducted by University of Vermont Professor of Medicine Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., and colleagues.
  • 2022 Pilot Grant Award Recipients
    December 6, 2022
    These awards, supported wholly by funds from UVM entities, provide $200,000 over 2 years to fund meritorious research from early career faculty. We are very grateful to Deans from the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences, Arts & Sciences, Engineering & Mathematical Sciences, and the Graduate College, as well as the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont, for their support of this program. In addition, we would like to acknowledge matching fund support from the Departments of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Medicine.

Recent Stories and Publications Featuring VCCBH Members

Larner College of Medicine Dean's Newsletter, Accolades and Accomplishments

Posted December 4, 2024

On November 16, Larner Assistant Professor of Medicine Debora Kamin Mukaz, Ph.D., M.S., moderated a panel on science policy advocacy titled “How can we engage scientists from historically underrepresented backgrounds in policymaking and advocacy?” at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2024 conference in Chicago. The panelists were AHA President Keith Churchwell, M.D.; past AHA President Michelle Albert, M.D., M.P.H.; Emelia Benjamin, M.D., Sc.M., associate provost and professor of medicine and epidemiology at Boston University; and Carl Streed, Jr., M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine at Boston University.

Research on spider brain leads to groundbreaking Alzheimer’s discovery

Posted December 3, 2024

Neurodegeneration in spider brain leads Vermont neuroscientists to groundbreaking discovery in Alzheimer’s-affected human brains 
Vermont Business Magazine Researchers from Saint Michael’s College and the University of Vermont have made a groundbreaking new discovery that provides a better understanding of how Alzheimer’s disease develops in the human brain.

Larner College of Medicine Dean's Newsletter, Accolades and Accomplishments

Posted October 23, 2024

In a recent paper published in Nature Communications titled “Endothelial Piezo1 Channel Mediates Mechano-Feedback Control of Brain Blood Flow,” Osama Harraz, Ph.D., Bloomfield Early Career Professor in Cardiovascular Research and assistant professor of pharmacology at the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, and his team of researchers from American and European institutions reveal that Piezo1, a lesser-understood protein, acts as a “brake” system, helping blood flow return to normal after neural activity.

The association of leptin and incident hypertension in the reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke (REGARDS) cohort

Posted October 23, 2024

Leptin is an adipokine associated with obesity and with hypertension in animal models. Whether leptin is associated with hypertension independent of obesity is unclear. Relative to White adults, Black adults have higher circulating leptin concentration.

Assessing prenatal and early childhood social and environmental determinants of health in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD)

Posted October 23, 2024

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood.

Health Watch: UVM researchers unlock secrets of brain blood flow in cognitive health

Posted October 16, 2024

Osama Harraz, Ph.D and his team of researchers at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine have made a breakthrough that could help in the effort to better understand the causes of dementia and how to stop it.

UVM at the Forefront of Stroke and Brain Health Research

Posted October 14, 2024

REGARDS Study Grant Renewed: UVM’s Continued Contributions to Research on Stroke Disparities by Race and Geography. Investigators at the Larner College of Medicine are receiving a $10.1 million multi-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue their 23-year program studying stroke and cognitive disorders in the United States.

Larner College of Medicine Dean's Newsletter, Accolades and Accomplishments

Posted October 2, 2024

Investigators at the Larner College of Medicine have received a $10.1 million multi-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue their work on the REGARDS project. The purpose of the project is to understand why those in some U.S. regions develop more strokes and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia than others, and why Black people develop more strokes than white people.

Larner College of Medicine Dean's Newsletter, Accolades and Accomplishments

Posted August 21, 2024

Mark Nelson, Ph.D., chair and University Distinguished Professor of pharmacology, gave the Björn Folkow Lecture at the 15th Mechanisms of Vasodilation/Endothelium-Dependent Hyperpolarization (MOVD/EDH) 2024 conference July 2–5 at Magdalen College in Oxford, United Kingdom.