Office of Medical Communications

(NOVEMBER 16, 2022) Professor of Medicine David Kaminsky, M.D., was interviewed by WCAX-TV for a story about a Vermont family’s search for answers following the death of 27-year-old Charles Vallee, who suffered from so-called Long Covid. (Click on headline for more.)

J. Kathleen (Kate) Tracy, Ph.D., has been appointed as senior associate dean for research and professor of medicine at the Larner College of Medicine and director of research at the UVM Health Network. She will begin her new role in February 2023.

(NOVEMBER 15, 2022) In a USA Today article on a new study suggesting that smoking marijuana may do more damage to lungs than cigarettes, pulmonary and critical care physician David Kaminsky, M.D., professor of medicine (who is unaffiliated with the study), commented, “It’s no surprise to me. A burning leaf is a burning leaf ... the lung doesn’t know the difference if it’s tobacco or marijuana.”

(NOVEMBER 15, 2022) J. Kathleen (Kate) Tracy, Ph.D., has been appointed as senior associate dean for research at the Larner College of Medicine, effective in February 2023, Dean Richard L. Page, M.D., announced. Tracy will also serve as professor of medicine and director of research at the UVM Health Network, according to VermontBiz.

(NOVEMBER 14, 2022) UVMMC pediatric critical care physician Rebecca Bell, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, urges new parents to limit visitors’ contact with their babies in light of surging RSV infections in children, NECN and NBC10 Boston reported.

(NOVEMBER 10, 2022) Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Margaret Doyle, Ph.D., was featured in a Vanderbilt University Medical Center VUMC Reporter article about a study she authored that showed an association between three types of CD4+ T helper cells and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) among people with HIV infection.

(NOVEMBER 10, 2022) Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Daniel Barkhuff, M.D., a Navy SEAL veteran and the founder and board president of Veterans for Responsible Leadership, was among veterans featured in a segment on Vermont Public's Vermont Edition program about deployment, return, and the transition to civilian life. (Click on headline for more.)

(NOVEMBER 10, 2022) Nataniel Lester-Coll, M.D., assistant professor of radiation oncology, spoke about the effects of cyberattacks on radiation oncology at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 2022 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, Medscape reported.

Assistant Professor of Surgery Mirabelle Sajisevi, M.D., and colleagues published a study in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery regarding geographical variation in modes of detection for thyroid cancer, a disease that has risen dramatically in incidence since the 1990s.

(NOVEMBER 9, 2022) Vitamin D levels in patients with a deficiency and cystic fibrosis increased with a single high dose, according to a poster presented by Professor of Pediatrics Jillian S. Sullivan, M.D., and colleagues at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference held November 3-5 in Philadelphia, Healio News reported.

(NOVEMBER 8, 2022) Medical oncologist Kim Dittus, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and director of the UVM Cancer Center’s Steps to Wellness exercise program for cancer survivors, was interviewed for a story about the Cancer Center being named Health.com’s Innovative Hospital Award Winner for 2022. Also interviewed was cancer survivor Evelyn Sikorski, manager of UVMMC’s employee health and wellness and employee assistance programs.

(NOVEMBER 8, 2022) Research on autism spectrum disorder conducted by Neuroscience Graduate Program doctoral student Erin Cullen and Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences Matthew Weston, Ph.D., in collaboration with researchers at Dartmouth’s medical school, was featured in Chip Chick. (Click on headline for more.)

(NOVEMBER 7, 2022) Stacey Sigmon, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the Center on Rural Addiction, was quoted in VTDigger discussing the increasing use of the animal sedative xylazine as a sought-after dilutant for opioids due to its effect of prolonging the “high” from using opioids.

(NOVEMBER 7, 2022) Associate Professor of Pediatrics Rebecca Bell, M.D., answered RSV-related questions during a Facebook Live event on November 3, the (Plattsburg) Press-Republican reported.

(NOVEMBER 4, 2022) Professor of Surgery and UVMMC vascular surgeon Daniel J. Bertges, M.D., presented a clinical trial on paclitaxel drug-coated balloons (DCBs) at the VIVA Foundation’s VIVA22 conference in Las Vegas, according to CardiovascularBusiness.com.

(NOVEMBER 3, 2022) David Kaminsky, M.D., professor of medicine, spoke to The Other Paper’s Corey McDonald about so-called long COVID, following the death in May of a childhood friend of his own son who, after four months of increasingly debilitating symptoms that forced him to obtain a medical leave from his job, took his own life.

(NOVEMBER 3, 2022) Health Commissioner and Professor of Medicine Mark Levine, M.D., was quoted in the Herald Chronicle speaking about a new partnership between the Vermont Department of Health and health care informatics company VisualDx -- whose CEO is Larner College of Medicine alumnus Art Papier, M.D.’88 -- to create a new “Clinician Support Initiative.”

(NOVEMBER 3, 2022) Professor of Medicine Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of public health and health policy, was quoted in US Today News commenting on a recent study by a medical informatics expert at the University of Illinois and colleagues on the possibility that Smartphones could one day collect data from a person’s daily cardio activity and predict risk of death, thus potentially providing an incentive to improve fitness.

(NOVEMBER 2, 2022) Clinical Professor of Pediatrics Joseph Hagan Jr., M.D., was quoted in an article in the Courier-Tribune and its sister publication Gladstone Dispatch (both based in Liberty, Mo.) about the proper age for young children to begin volunteering.

(NOVEMBER 2022) Researchers led by pulmonologist and critical care physician Renee Stapleton, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine, concluded that “informed assent” for CPR is a “feasible and reasonable” approach for some hospitalized patients, according to Medical Ethics Advisor.