Office of Medical Communications

The University of Vermont Medical Center and Vaccine Testing Center at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine have been selected to take part in a Phase 3 trial for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca.

A JAMA Network Open study, led by Stephen T. Higgins, Ph.D., director of the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, provides evidence that, even in smokers from vulnerable populations, reducing nicotine content to low levels decreases addictiveness – a timely finding as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers a policy to lower nicotine content in all cigarettes sold in the U.S.

A JAMA Network Open study, led by Stephen T. Higgins, Ph.D., director of the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, provides evidence that, even in smokers from vulnerable populations, reducing nicotine content to low levels decreases addictiveness – a timely finding as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers a policy to lower nicotine content in all cigarettes sold in the U.S.

Organized by Black physicians and scientists in the United States and abroad, the #BlackInCardio movement celebrates Black researchers, clinicians, and professionals in cardiovascular fields and raises awareness of cardiovascular diseases that disproportionately effect the Black community. From October 19 - October 25, the new organization will host its first annual #BlackInCardio week.

Last week, we held the 8th Annual VCBH Conference virtually due to COVID19. This year’s theme, Rural Addiction and Health, “could not be timelier with the emergence of COVID-19 and the ripple effects we have seen, from health disparities to increased opioid overdoses and the use of telemedicine,“ noted VCBH Director Stephen T. Higgins in his welcome letter to attendees.

New research, published in Clinical and Translational Immunology by UVM Associate Professor Sean Diehl, Ph.D., and colleagues provides a clearer picture of the protective antibodies induced by the SARS-C0V-2 virus and their role in serious illness and what’s needed for full protection.

(OCTOBER 15, 2020) A MedPageToday article on the impact of pipette shortages on COVID-19 testing quotes Christina Wojewoda, M.D., associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.

“Ensuring children are empowered and raised to become healthy, happy, productive members of our communities is one of the most important things we can do,” says assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine James Metz, M.D. “Child abuse needs to be brought out from the underbelly of society. It’s easy for people to say ‘the problem is too big; it’s too difficult; it’s too sad.’ But that’s when you need to step into a problem, not away from it.”

New research, published by scientists at the University of Vermont and Caltech in the journal Cell, has pinpointed three specific mechanisms that allow SARS-CoV-2 to incapacitate human cells by disabling the cell’s alarm system to call for help or warn nearby cells of infection.

Internationally recognized cerebral blood flow expert and University of Vermont Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pharmacology Mark Nelson, Ph.D., delivered a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture, titled “Translating Thought into Blood Flow in the Brain: Capillaries as Sensors of Neural Activity,” on October 14.

A team of scientists at the University of Vermont, working in partnership with a group at the University of Washington, has developed a method of testing for the COVID-19 virus that doesn’t make use of these chemicals but still delivers an accurate result, paving the way for inexpensive, widely available testing in both developing countries and industrialized nations like the United States, where reagent supplies are again in short supply.

The Jim Ray Memorial Heart Ride embarks on its 20th annual ride while continuing to support the CVRI research and education and honoring family members impacted by heart disease and stroke.

(OCTOBER 2, 2020) Senior Associate Dean for Research Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., discussed the $5.4 million National Institutes of Health grant he received to support the creation of the UVM Center for Biomedical Shared Resources on WCAX-TV.

For the last quarter-century, the White Coat Ceremony has officially welcomed students into the medical profession and emphasized the responsibility they carry as they don the traditional white coat. This year, during the most serious worldwide health crisis in a century, UVM's Larner College of Medicine revised the ceremony, which took place October 2, with medical students gathering in person in small, physically-distanced groups to receive their white coats as family and friends joined in remotely via a livestream on YouTube.

The University of Vermont's Medical Reunion has been transformed into a 10-day online celebration for 2020 that runs from October 1 through 10 and allows Larner College of Medicine alumni from across the country and globe to gather safely in a virtual setting.

Vermont United Ways and the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont are providing Vermonters with a say in prioritizing community health needs via a survey that is the largest and most comprehensive public health project ever conducted by UVM medical students.

Meet CVRI's 2020 - 2021 ECAC Leadership Team!

Margaret A. Tandoh, M.D., F.A.C.S, an expert in trauma, burn, and wound care and acute care surgery, has been invested as the inaugural Richard L. Gamelli, M.D.’74 Green and Gold Professor in Surgery at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. The ceremony was held remotely on September 22, 2020.

The webinar covered overview of how the CODEX imaging works, how to analyze images obtained using CODEX system, various applications for CODEX platform.