Office of Medical Communications

(MARCH 31, 2023) Elizabeth Cote, director of the Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program at the Larner College of Medicine, spoke to NBC5 during National AHEC Workforce Development Week.

(MARCH 30, 2023) Researchers at the UVM Cancer Center released the findings of a study showing fewer women being screened for breast cancer, NBC5 reported. The study reports that Vermont had the second-largest drop in the entire country in screenings for women over the age of 40 between 2009 and 2018.

(MARCH 29, 2023) Palliative medicine specialist Diana Barnard, M.D., associate professor of family medicine, commented in a New York Times article about a terminally ill Connecticut woman’s desire to take advantage of a Vermont law that allows certain in-state residents to seek and self-administer a lethal dose of medication to hasten their death.

UVM Cancer Center researchers Sarah Nowak, Ph.D., and Brian Sprague, Ph.D., found that a 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force change in guidelines led to an unintended consequence: a decline in mammography screening rates for all age groups, including the 50-74 group, which is most at risk of developing breast cancer and most in need of screenings. Their results were recently published in The American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

Alan Howe, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, has been appointed to serve as associate director of cancer research, training and education coordination for the University of Vermont Cancer Center (UVMCC) .

(MARCH 24, 2023) Commenting to Vermont Public on the social benefits of a new free-form game designed for people with dementia, John Steele Taylor, M.D., assistant professor of neurological sciences, said being socially isolated is “one of the worst things possible for the brain.” (Click on headline for more.)

(MARCH 24, 2023) A “But Why” kids podcast segment titled “Why Do We Have Blood and What Does It Do?” features a discussion between host Jane Lindholm and Sarah Harm, M.D., associate professor, division chief for laboratory medicine, and medical director for laboratory medicine in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

(MARCH 23, 2023) The Partners Aligned in Transformative Healing (PATH) program at UVM Medical Center’s Comprehensive Pain Program has been awarded the 2023 Blue Cross Provider Innovation Award, according to the Rutland Herald.

(MARCH 23, 2023) Christopher Grace, M.D., FIDSA, professor emeritus of medicine, is busier than ever, according to a Burlington Free Press article on the Open Door Clinic in Middlebury, where Grace has been volunteering for nearly 10 years.

(MARCH 22, 2023) Jesse Ritvo, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, will join other allopathic medical experts as well as American Meditation Institute faculty at the 12th Annual Heart and Science of Yoga Conference, October 17–21, 2023, in Manchester, Vermont, LatestFinance News reports.

Christa Zehle, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education, has announced the appointment of Katie Wells, M.D., M.P.H., as the inaugural director of social medicine in the Office of Medical Education at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, effective April 3, 2023.

In fall 2022, public health warnings of a possible ”tripledemic” blared across news headlines due to an early-season surge in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), reported to be the leading cause of infant hospitalizations in the U.S. Sean Diehl, Ph.D., UVM associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, is a co-inventor on the patented technology that led to an RSV preventative treatment.

(MARCH 21, 2023) Pediatric pulmonologist L. E. Faricy, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, supports banning the retail sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, according to VTDigger.

(MARCH 20, 2023) There are many possible reasons for why knowing your blood type could give clues to your risk of stroke and heart attack, hematologist Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine and pathology and laboratory medicine, told the St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune.

(MARCH 18, 2023) Psychiatrist Terry Rabinowitz, M.D., D.D.S., professor of psychiatry and family medicine, who has been providing mental health care by video to a rural nursing home in upstate New York since 2002, was quoted in a USA Today article on mental health telemedicine.

The University of Vermont’s graduating medical students were among a record-breaking nearly 43,000 future physicians participating in the National Resident Matching Program’s 2023 Main Residency Match® on Match Day on March 17.

(MARCH 17, 2023) Fourth-year medical students at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine learned about their immediate futures at this year’s Match Day on March 17, WCAX-TV reported. The ceremony — held in person for the first time since 2019 — is how many students find out where they’ll continue their medical education as resident physicians and marks a huge milestone as they begin their professional medical careers.

(MARCH 17, 2023) Rebecca Bell, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, supports legislation that would establish a waiting period for all gun purchases and a so-called safe storage provision that would require gun owners to keep their weapons securely locked if someone else who shouldn’t have a gun would otherwise be able to gain access, according to Vermont Public.

(MARCH 16, 2023) Peter Jackson, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, was interviewed by NBC5 for a story on Vermont’s 10-year high in the number of fatal car crashes in 2022 — about 60 percent of which involved impaired drivers, state records show.