Office of Medical Communications

Psychiatrist Greta Spottswood, M.D., M.P.H., a Class of 2011 alum of the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, directs and helped launch the Vermont Child Psychiatry Access Program to connect Vermont pediatric primary care providers with much-needed child psychiatry services.

(JANUARY 9, 2023) Daniel Barkhuff, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and a physician in the UVM Medical Center Emergency Department, shares some of the grueling challenges of his work environment in a candid opinion piece in VT Digger.

(JANUARY 6, 2023) A recent study led by Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine and of pathology and laboratory medicine, found that people with blood type AB are 82 percent more likely to experience thinking and memory impairments that can lead to dementia, World Today News reported.

(JANUARY 4, 2023) Susan Whitman, PA-C, NBC-HWC, a faculty member in the integrative health and wellness program at the University of Vermont, commented about mindfulness in an article in HealthyWomen about healthy habits.

(JANUARY 4, 2023) Psychiatrist Robert Emmons, M.D., a volunteer clinical faculty member at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine, penned an opinion piece about New Year’s resolutions and conscience in the (Killington, Vt.) Mountain Times.

(JANUARY 4, 2023) Jill Rinehart, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, commented to NBC5 on an increase in marijuana exposure in kids age 5 and under—an increase of 1,500 percent.

(JANUARY 1, 2023) According to Pediatrics Residency Program Director Jill Rinehart, M.D., FAAP, associate professor of pediatrics, in September 2023 UVM will host the annual summit of the Northern New England Advocacy Collaborative, a group made up of pediatric residency program leaders in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, AAP News reports.

(DECEMBER 30, 2022) Larner College of Medicine alum Art Papier, M.D.’88, a dermatologist and medical informatics expert, was featured on Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare’s PSQH: The Podcast in an episode focused on lessons learned for dealing with infectious disease outbreaks.

(JANUARY 3, 2023) Infectious disease specialist Tim Lahey, M.D., M.M.Sc., professor of medicine, was quoted in a story on WVNY-TV ABC22 about the latest COVID variant spreading in Vermont and New Hampshire.

(December 29, 2022) As New Year’s Eve approaches, Peter Jackson, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, spoke with WCAX-TV about alcohol abuse, alcohol poisoning, and more.

(DECEMBER 28, 2022) Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Christian Pulcini, M.D., M.Ed., M.P.H., an attending physician in pediatric emergency medicine at the UVM Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, published a commentary titled “We Can Prevent Firearm Tragedies — a Call to Action” in VTDigger.

(DECEMBER 27, 2022) UVM’s Clinical Simulation Laboratory was profiled in a story broadcast on WCAX-TV about how the Larner College of Medicine ensures that students filling emergency departments or doctors’ offices are trained to the highest potential before being put into the real world. UVM medical residents Berna Buyukozturk, M.D., and Carolina Jirka, M.D., as well as Sim Lab specialist Jim Court, were quoted in the piece. (Click on headline for more.)

(December 26, 2022) THINKMD, founded in 2014 by Professor of Pediatrics Barry Finette, M.D., Ph.D., and Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus Barry Heath, M.D., has received a $1.5 million federal grant to further study the effectiveness of its mobile app–based digital “clinical intelligence” tool, WCAX reports.

(DECEMBER 25, 2022) Research by Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine, and colleagues found inequities in treatments and outcomes for pulmonary embolism, The ASCO Post reports.

(DECEMBER 24, 2022) The Green Mountain Mahler Festival, founded in 2002 by pulmonologist Daniel Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine, continued what has become an annual New Year’s tradition with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on January 1 at the Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester, the Barre–Montpelier Times Argus reported.

Albert van der Vliet, Ph.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, participated in a six-week Invited Fellowship at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, engaging in research on environmental medicine and molecular toxicology. The fellowship coincided with a medley of scientific meetings and symposia that brought together leading scientists from around the world in the specific research fields of nitric oxide biology. Dr. van der Vliet, Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., and Brian Cunniff, Ph.D. participated as invited speakers. Additional Japanese federal funding supports the exchange of invited researchers, graduate students and post-doctoral scholars to collaborate on research.

(DECEMBER 22, 2022) Critical care physician Rebecca Bell, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, spoke to the Burlington Free Press for an article on Vermont truancy policies in the face of COVID and other sick-day absences.

University of Vermont Professor of Pediatrics Barry Finette, M.D., Ph.D., and Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus Barry Heath, M.D., spent three years developing and testing a mobile app-based digital tool designed to bring physician-based knowledge to the hands of minimally skilled health workers. In 2014, they founded THINKMD™.

Kelly McQueen, M.D., a medical alumna from the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine Class of 1991, recently established the Kelly McQueen, M.D.’91, Endowment for Global Health Education to support international clinical rotations for Larner medical students and the Global Health Program curriculum.

The November 2022 Special Issue of Preventive Medicine is now available. The ninth in a series that focuses on behavior change, health, and health disparities, this issue includes select research in the field of tobacco control and regulatory science. VCBH Director Stephen Higgins, PhD organized the selection of papers and acted as guest editor.