Office of Medical Communications

(FEBRUARY 7, 2023) Results of a study by Margaret Infeld, M.D., clinical cardiac electrophysiology fellow and clinical instructor in the Department of Medicine; cardiologist Markus Meyer, M.D., Ph.D., adjunct associate professor of medicine; and colleagues support heart rate modulation as a therapeutic intervention in HFpEF, according to HealthDay News.

Funding Announcement: To encourage and support early-stage, independent investigators in developing high quality and competitive cardiovascular research programs. Investigation must be related to cardiovascular diseases and can be basic, clinical, translational, epidemiologic or public health-related, and includes stroke.

In this commentary, Larner College of Medicine Associate Dean for Public Health and Health Policy Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., discusses the impact and potential solutions to address the issue of medical misinformation.

Fanny Asmussen, an International visiting medical student from Aarhus University in Denmark, will also be visiting from March – May 2023 to conduct research with Thomas Ahern, PhD as her faculty mentor. The project title is “Infection and risk of breast cancer recurrence: A Danish nationwide case-control study.”

Elisabeth Solmunde, an International visiting medical student from Aarhus University in Denmark, Departments of Epidemiology and Clinical Medicine, conducted research with Thomas Ahern, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgical Research as her faculty mentor.

Many congratulations to Somen Mistri, PhD of the Boyson Lab who successfully defended his PhD in Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences in December 2022!

(FEBRUARY 2, 2023) WCAX-TV joined Sarah Schlein, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine and director of wilderness medicine education, and students for a backcountry rescue drill with Stowe Mountain Rescue.

(FEBRUARY 1, 2023) Jeremiah Dickerson, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, spoke with WCAX-TV about an annual state child welfare report showing an increase in the number of Vermont children who are experiencing anxiety and depression.

The Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont held its 4th Annual Viridis Montis Early Career Investigator Challenge on February 1, 2023, and Toishi Sharma, MBBS, cardiovascular disease fellow in the Department of Medicine, was selected as the winner.

An analysis by UVM medical student Benjamin Weaver and UVM Cancer Center member and Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology Nataniel Lester-Coll, M.D., illustrated both health disparities and parities across a cohort of 100,000+ patients with the most common form of liver cancer. Their results were published in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

(JANUARY 27, 2023) Benjamin Smith, M.D., clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, was interviewed by VT Digger for an article about COVID-19’s impact on inpatient mental health care and emergency departments.

Faculty, staff, and students gathered January 26, 2023, to honor a milestone in the Class of 2025’s medical education journey at the Foundations Awards Celebration. The annual event marks the medical students’ completion of the Foundations – the first level of the Vermont Integrated Curriculum – and recognizes the students’ accomplishments and the teachers and staff who helped them along the way.

(JANUARY 27, 2023) Martin Keller, M.D., associate professor of pediatric surgery, is a co-author of a recent study that found that low-income children are most at risk of gun violence during times when COVID-19 cases spike.

(JANUARY 27, 2023) Pediatric psychiatrist Sarah Guth, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry, commented to NBC5 for a story on postpartum mental health resources for new and expecting parents.

(JANUARY 25, 2023) Lauren MacAfee, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences, was interviewed by WCAX-TV for a story on medication abortion and the FDA’s recent decision allowing patients to pick up an abortion pill from certified retail pharmacies with a prescription. (Click on headline for more.)

(JANUARY 25, 2023) In an article published by the Annie Lab newsroom, Gilman Allen, M.D., professor of medicine, disputed a claim in a January 2023 Twitter video highlighting findings from a “brand-new” Japanese study demonstrating that “masking breeds dangerous bacteria and fungi” and therefore justifies ending mandatory mask wearing.

Ensuring medical students' academic success and wellbeing relies on having access to numerous resources. At the Larner College of Medicine, those assets include the students themselves, who create and host peer-based learning opportunities for their junior colleagues. Read about interactive teaching sessions led by medical students for their peers.

(JANUARY 24, 2023) Addiction specialist Peter Jackson, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, provided suggestions for alcohol-free activities for individuals aiming to refrain from alcohol consumption in a Washington Post Well+Being article on “Dry January.”