Office of Medical Communications

Interim Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and Associate Dean for Students Christa Zehle, M.D., recently announced the appointments of Shaden Eldakar-Hein, M.D., M.S., associate professor of medicine, and Prema Menon, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine, as interim assistant deans for students in the Office of Medical Student Education.

(JULY 31, 2019) Robert Shapiro, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurological sciences, commented on findings he presented at the national American Headache Society meeting in an MDEdge/Neurology article.

(JULY 2019) The Cunniff Lab research was recently the focus of a commentary in mSphere, a journal published by The American Society for Microbiology. This commentary highlighted the impact of our past and present research in field of sub cellular mitochondrial dynamics. Thank you Lena Pernas for highlighting our work!

(JUNE 2019) Meara is starting her Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship investigating redox factors that influence mitochondrial dynamics.

(MAY 2019) Haya successfully defended her Honors College Thesis! Haya will be starting as a Research Technician in the Cunniff Lab in July 2019.

(MAY 2019)

(APRIL 2019) Read the review, entitled "Peroxiredoxins and Beyond; Redox Systems Regulating Lung Physiology and Disease”.

(JULY 15, 2019) Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Russell Tracy, Ph.D., was interviewed on WCAX-TV's "You Can Quote Me" program about the scope of the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont’s involvement in the National Institutes of Health’s Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Study.

(JULY 11, 2019) Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Erica Gibson, M.D., commented on expanding healthcare access for transgender youth under Medicaid in VT Digger. Gibson, who is also the medical director of the UVM Medical Center’s Transgender Youth Program, addressed potential changes to transgender healthcare covered by Medicaid, including eliminating the minimum age for gender affirming surgeries.

(JUNE 18, 2019) Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Lori Racha, M.D., was interviewed on Vermont Public Radio's “But Why: a Podcast for Curious Kids.”

​Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and senior associate dean for research at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, has been appointed to a parallel role as University of Vermont Health Network Director of Research by John Brumsted, M.D., CEO of the UVM Health Network.

(JULY 3, 2019) Before she became a neonatal fellow at The University of Vermont Medical Center, Adrienne Pahl, M.D., practiced as a primary care pediatrician in Vermont for three and a half years. Through this work, she got to know parents of babies who were exposed to opioids during development, witnessing how these families faced not only the usual pressures of caring for a newborn but also the challenges of a child with serious medical problems.

When Jose Calderon was six years old, his mother began exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia. As he watched her cycle in and out of psychiatric units – sometimes enduring run-ins with law enforcement and negative encounters with neighbors and members of their church - he came to understand how the stigma associated with mental illness can devastate a family already struggling to cope with a brutal disease.

(JUNE 18, 2019) Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Jeremiah Dickerson, M.D. was interviewed by the Beaumont Enterprise about the benefits of swim lessons for children on the autism spectrum.

Associate Dean for Public Health Jan K. Carney, M.D., M.P.H., has been named associate dean for public health and health policy and senior advisor to the dean. In addition, she will serve as Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) faculty accreditation lead for the College’s 2021 site visit for reaccreditation.

Robert K. Williams, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, was invested as the inaugural Chris Abajian, M.D.’69 and Margaret Abajian Green & Gold Professor in Pediatric Anesthesiology in a ceremony held in the College of Medicine’s Hoehl Gallery on June 24, 2019.

Teaching Academy Director Kathryn Huggett, Ph.D., and the Frymoyer Scholars Program Review Committee have announced that five faculty projects were selected to receive 2019 Frymoyer Scholarship funding.

For more than 20 years, Larner College of Medicine Chair of Pediatrics and University of Vermont Children’s Hospital Chief Lewis First, M.D., has dedicated his time, knowledge, and passion to volunteering with the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). At the March 2019 NBME Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, he was elected as an honorary member for life and chair emeritus.