Office of Medical Communications

UVM Cancer Center member David J. Seward, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, received a prestigious two-year National Cancer Institute R21 grant to investigate why lung cancers with a certain set of mutations demonstrate immunotherapy resistance.

As a soccer athlete, strength and conditioning coach, and neuroscience scholar, Alex Jenkins fully understands the value of regular physical activity for good health and mental wellbeing. As a rising fourth-year medical student, she’s also aware of how difficult it is to maintain an exercise routine amid a rigorous academic and work schedule, especially for those who don’t have a sports and fitness background. Jenkins is on track to change this dilemma with a new curriculum she created for first year medical students at the Larner College of Medicine.

(APRIL 17, 2023) A study by Professor of Medicine Anne Dixon, B.M.B.Ch., and colleagues found that using oscillometry testing may allow physicians to identify patients with asthma and obesity who have a phenotype that may be related to worse symptoms and more severe disease, Healio.com reported.

Nearly 300 medical college educators and learners from throughout the northeastern U.S. gathered at the University of Vermont April 13-15 for the Northeast Group on Educational Affairs annual conference.

“Many doctors haven’t received training in exercise, nutrition, and holistic ways of taking care of yourself,” says first-year medical student Briana Leger. A new course, developed by a fourth-year student/Catamount athlete Alex Jenkins, aims to change that paradigm.

(APRIL 3, 2023) Judith Shaw, Ed.D., M.P.H., RN, FAAP, professor emeritus of pediatrics and PAS program chair, spoke to Yahoo Finance about the upcoming Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2023 Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 27 – May 1, the largest and most prestigious pediatric research meeting in the world.

(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.

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.