Office of Medical Communications

The presentation introduced UVM’s Center for Biomedical Innovation and highlighted several ongoing projects that aim to develop new technologies for remote assessment and intervention. A new approach for rapid and objective fall risk characterization and a mobile application for providing physiological biofeedback to help manage panic attacks was discussed.

A Joint Catalyst Award on rural health and the environment, presented in partnership with UVM’s Larner College of Medicine, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, and the Northern New England Clinical & Translational Research Network, has been awarded to Gund Fellow Meredith Niles (CALS).

UVM’s Center for Biomedical Innovation (CBi) is looking for project ideas for devices and software to improve rural delivery of medicine in Vermont and across the country.

An interdisciplinary team of Vermont researchers and a partner at Yale's Smilow Cancer Center, conducted an economic evaluation to establish an overall cost-effectiveness comparison of two approaches to the treatment of low-volume metastatic prostate cancer. Their findings, published in JAMA Network Open, strongly support the addition of prostate radiation therapy to standard androgen deprivation therapy.

Congratulations to Oliver Dienz, PhD in the Boyson Lab on being first author in the publication: “Critical Role for SLAM/SAP Signaling in the Thymic Developmental Programming of IL-17– and IFN-γ–Producing γδ T Cells” in the Journal of Immunology.

Dr. Majumdar was a co-corresponding author in the publication “SARS-CoV-2 Disrupts Splicing, Translation, and Protein Trafficking to Suppress Host Defenses” in the journal Cell.

While public health and infectious disease experts have discussed strategies to enhance adherence, including the potential use of financial incentives, an examination of the scientific evidence on incentivizing vaccine adherence has not been discussed. A new Commentary in Preventive Medicine by Vermont Center on Behavior and Health Director Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., and colleagues addresses that gap.

A new study conducted by a team of health economists and public health faculty at the University of Vermont suggests that the behavior public officials are now mandating or recommending to slow the spread of COVID-19--wearing a face covering--should come with a caveat. If not accompanied by proper public education, the practice could lead to more infections.

While public health and infectious disease experts have discussed strategies to enhance adherence, including the potential use of financial incentives, an examination of the scientific evidence on incentivizing vaccine adherence has not been discussed. A new Commentary in Preventive Medicine by a team led by Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., director of the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health and professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, addresses that gap.

Medical education leaders and scholars gathered virtually on January 13 and 14, 2021 for the Larner College of Medicine Teaching Academy’s 2021 Induction and Award Ceremony and Snow Season Education Retreat. Co-presented with the University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group, the ceremony recognized medical educators and kicked off the annual education program, which this year featured several sessions on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Congratulations to Dev Majumdar, PhD on his receipt of a SPARK-VT award! The Majumdar Lab will work to develop a method to map and measure the repertoire of B cells that are binding to antigens from SARS-COV2.

Congratulations to Jonathan Boyson, PhD on his receipt of an NIH R03 award! Dr. Boyson is the PI for a project entitled “Defining the SAP-dependent and SAP-independent gamma delta TCR repertoire.”

Congratulations to Gary An, MD and Chase Cockrell, PhD of the An-Cockrell Lab at UVM Larner College of Medicine on being a participant of a multi-institution research team led by the University of Pittsburgh that recently secured a $22 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Bioelectronics for Tissue Regeneration (BETR) program.

Congratulations to Thomas Ahern, PhD as first author in the paper entitled "Improving the Transparency of meta-analysis by using interactive web applications".

The UVM Medical Center and Vaccine Testing Center have successfully reached and surpassed the targeted number of enrollees for an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Despite the many challenges presented by the pandemic, the resilience of UVM Cancer Center patients and continued commitment of providers have led to a silver lining: a way to ensure patients in locations throughout Vermont and upstate New York are receiving the physical and mental health support they need right from the comfort of their own homes.

Brian Sprague, PhD along with his collaborators has been awarded an R03 grant from NCI to study a new technology in breast cancer screening (tomosynthesis with synthetic 2D views).

Vermonters have a reputation for showing up for their community – whether there’s a pandemic or not. That’s also true for the faculty and staff of the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP), who have underscored over the past nine months just how important their role is to ensuring providers get access to critical resources and tools that allow them to deliver quality care.

Medical and graduate school is already an incredible challenge and the wellness of students relies heavily on the financial support of generous donors from within and outside of the community who give to the Larner College of Medicine Fund. This fund not only supports the creation and continuation of scholarships, but also helps to support research grants, ever-evolving technology needs, and student wellness initiatives.

A study by UVM faculty members published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports that in a group of first-year university students, COVID-19 mitigation protocols had a modest, but persistent, impact on mood and wellness behaviors. Students enrolled in the university's wellness program, however, had improved mood levels and fewer attention problems.