Office of Medical Communications

Renier Brentjens, M.D., Ph.D., director of cellular therapeutics in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, presented the 5th Annual Stetson Lecture in Technological Advances in Medicine via Zoom on September 8. He discussed “CARs and Armored CARs: Improving CAR T Cell Therapy for Cancer.”

Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., professor of medicine, associate dean for public health and health policy, and senior advisor to the dean of the Larner College of Medicine, has been named the 2019–2020 recipient of the President’s Distinguished University Citizenship and Service Award in recognition of her innovative teaching, creative leadership and service to the University of Vermont community.

Lee Rosen, Ph.D., has been appointed interim associate dean for students at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, effective August 3, 2020. He replaces Christa Zehle, M.D., who served as associate dean for students since 2012 and accepted the position of senior associate dean for medical education on March 9, 2020.

Thomas Peterson, M.D., chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, was invested as the inaugural Morris Goldman ’29 MD’32 Professor of Family Medicine. The ceremony was the first of its kind to be held remotely, via Zoom, on August 13, 2020.

As our academic year began this week, it has been deeply satisfying to be on campus and able to greet our new members of the Class of 2024 as they begin their journey toward becoming physicians, and to see many other colleagues who have been just faces on Zoom calls for so many months.

(AUGUST 10 & 12, 2020) Professor of Pediatrics William Raszka, M.D., was quoted in an August 10 Wall Street Journal article, titled “Latest Research Points to Children Carrying, Transmitting Coronavirus” CBS6 Albany story, titled "Spike in COVID-19 cases in children nationally, a pediatrics professor explains why."

The eyes of the Larner College of Medicine’s newest group of future physicians were bright with excitement as they walked through the halls of Given on their first day as medical students on August 10. While Orientation had a different look and feel this year, the poignancy of this moment was no less significant for the Class of 2024.

New findings from a collaborative Vermont study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research highlight how having a uniquely flexible survey instrument and using incentives can help capture the most relevant data and keep young Vermonters engaged.

University of Vermont Associate Professor of Psychiatry Stacey Sigmon, Ph.D., has been selected by Fast Company for its 11th annual list of the Most Creative People in Business, which honors an influential and diverse group of leaders from a vast range of global industries including tech, design, entertainment, healthcare, media, government, nonprofit, sports, food, and more.

It has now been four months since many of us made the rapid change from working on campus to working remotely. That we were able to do so, all the while maintaining our commitment to our core missions, is a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of our faculty, staff and students.

(AUGUST 8, 2020) An essay by Class of 2021 medical student Christopher Veal, titled “At the Intersection of Fear, Grief and Love,” and published July 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, led to Veal doing a live interview August 6 on Indiana’s WTLC AM 1310 on “The Legal Word with Kiki Gaither” radio program and a mention in MedPage Today on August 8.

(AUGUST 7, 2020) Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine, was quoted in an MSN article, titled "Even if You Exercise Regularly, this One Habit Could Undo All Your Hard Work," about the importance of not only exercise, but also how active you are on a daily basis, to prevent blood clots and other clotting disorders.

(AUGUST 7, 2020) Timothy Lahey, M.D., M.M.Sc., professor of medicine, was quoted in an NBC5 story about a local woman who has been donating plasma, post a COVID-19 diagnosis.

The University of Vermont received $181.7 million in research funding during the 2020 fiscal year - the largest in UVM history by a wide margin. The Larner College of Medicine had the largest number of grants.

(AUGUST 4, 2020) Associate Professor of Psychiatry Stacey Sigmon, Ph.D., is featured in the September 2020 issue of Fast Company as one of the 74 “Most Creative People in Business for 2020.” Sigmon is featured under the category of "For Designing A Superior Solution" for her work developing new models of opioid treatment delivery.

Medical students at the Larner College of Medicine led a national movement in June to appeal to key national medical education organizations to advocate for a change in assessing a record of arrest stemming from social justice-related protesting. Larner students built a coalition of eight national student organizations, and crafted a letter signed by thousands of student supporters that was sent to the members of the Association of American Medical Colleges, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.

(JULY 29, 2020) Comments from Chair and Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., were featured in a July 29 article, titled "One Man's Quest to Infect People With Covid-19 for Science," in Elemental, a new Medium publication for science-backed health and wellness coverage.

Ensuring the effectiveness of policies and media campaigns targeting young people is critical to achieving substance use prevention, but state surveillance systems are often not nimble enough to capture quickly changing substance use trends. New findings from UVM researchers and colleagues highlight how a uniquely flexible survey instrument and use of incentives help capture relevant data and keep young Vermonters engaged.

(JULY 24, 2020) Andrea Villanti, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of psychiatry, is featured in a July 24 WCAX-TV Channel 3 news story, titled "Collaborative effort gives insight on Vt. youth drug use, vaping."