Office of Medical Communications

(AUGUST 1, 2024) Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, president and COO of the UVM Medical Center and professor of emergency medicine at the Larner College of Medicine, told NBC5 that UVMMC and its partners are proud to offer a new mental health urgent care center that is coming soon to the medical center’s campus in Burlington.

The Center on Aging is pleased to announce that a collaborative research team has been awarded the 2024 Armin Grams Memorial Research Award. The project, Usability and Validity of In-Home Assessment of Mobility and Speech Production in Aging Rural Vermonters with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment, is co-led by investigators David Jangraw, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Denise Peters, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Rehabilitation and Movement Science. Other faculty team members include Victoria Priganc, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Rehabilitation and Movement Science, Occupational Therapy Program; Co-Directors of the Center for Biomedical Innovation Lecturer Samantha Fox, B.S., and Professor of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering Michael J. Rosen, Ph.D.

(JULY 31, 2024) Anne Dougherty, M.D.’09, M.A., director of gender equity at the Larner College of Medicine, and Rachel Wetchi, M.P.H., spoke with WVNY-TV about UVM’s New American Youth on the Rise (NAYR) program.

Like subspecialists across the nation, providers at UVM Children’s Hospital Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics division and the Vermont Center for Children, Youth, and Families (VCCYF) saw a significant increase in referrals for autism assessment during the past decade, resulting in extremely long wait times. To address this need, the pediatric and psychiatry departments collaborated to restructure the autism assessment program, and the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP) launched a statewide-level initiative to improve rates of developmental screening and remove barriers to autism assessment and diagnosis.

Professor of Surgery Gary An, M.D., has been invested as the inaugural holder of the Department of Surgery’s Green and Gold Professorship of Trauma and Critical Care.

(JULY 30, 2024) The Green Mountain Care Board approved the University of Vermont Medical Center’s application for a Certificate of Need to develop a multi-specialty outpatient surgery center in South Burlington, VT Digger reports.

(JULY 23, 2024) The Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont was ranked number 4 in U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of the top 10 most diverse medical and osteopathic schools, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. The annual medical school rankings and ratings were released July 23, 2024.

The Division of Geriatric Medicine celebrated the graduation of its first geriatrics fellow, Owen Maguire, M.D., and the culmination of the division’s academic goal to train geriatricians. The geriatrics fellowship at UVM is a new fellowship and a big step in the building of a pipeline to care for older adults in Vermont, which has the fourth-oldest population in the country.

A Public Health Project conducted by a group of Larner College of Medicine Class of 2025 medical students was selected by the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Physician Professional Advisory Committee to receive a 2023 Excellence in Public Health Award.

The University of Vermont Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine was recently recognized for excellence in both primary care and research in the 2024 U.S. News and World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings.

(JULY 24, 2024) Nataniel Lester-Coll, M.D., associate professor of radiation oncology, has been selected as the next chair of radiation oncology at UVM Health Network, and division chief at Larner College of Medicine, the Rutland Herald reports.

(JULY 24, 2024) Catherine Naden, M.D.’11, clinical assistant professor of family medicine, and Justin Stinnett-Donnelly, M.D.’10, M.S., clinical assistant professor of medicine, were quoted in a Vermont Public story on the use of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to reduce burnout.

Chris Holmes, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed Medical Director for Cancer Clinical Programs. Dr. Holmes, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, is currently Deputy Division Chief for Hematology/Oncology at the University of Vermont Cancer Center.

(JULY 18, 2024) Alicia Jacobs, M.D., associate professor of family medicine, spoke with WCAX-TV about an AI platform that records doctor-patient conversations and converts them into highly accurate notes in real-time.

This past summer, 20 students were awarded a $4,000 stipend to deepen their engagement, hone their skills, and drive towards new discoveries under the guidance of a UVM Cancer Center member. Among the group, two scholars—Greta Joos and Maggie Trout—were selected to receive the prestigious Juckett Summer Fellowship, which is awarded to the highest scoring applicants in part for their impactful cancer research and apparent student outcomes.

(JULY 17, 2024) Medical students from UVM’s Larner College of Medicine are assisting with presenting a program that introduces young people to careers in health care fields, the Rutland Herald reports.

Nataniel H. Lester-Coll, M.D., was appointed Division Chief of Radiation Oncology at University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at UVM Health Network, effective July 15.