Office of Medical Communications

A team of Vermont investigators has been issued a patent for their discovery of a molecule that rescues damaged blood vessels, yet preserves healthy vessels and could serve as a springboard for a new pharmaceutical therapy with fewer side effects for hypertension – a major risk factor for cardiovascular and kidney disease that effects roughly one in three people in the U.S.

Limited treatment options and no vaccines exist to treat or prevent a leading cause of severe diarrhea in infants and young children in the developing world: Cryptosporidium, a single-celled intestinal parasite found in soil, food and water that also causes significant illness and death in immunocompromised individuals.

To neuroscientist Anthony Morielli, Ph.D., the study of the brain opens a window to better understand the way the world works. “The brain is the one thing in the universe that can reflect back on itself,” says Morielli, a University of Vermont associate professor of pharmacology, who was recently named director of UVM’s Neuroscience Graduate Program.

An international consortium of institutions and investigators, including Mark Nelson, Ph.D., University of Vermont professor and chair of pharmacology, recently launched a major collaborative research program to uncover mechanisms and pathways in different forms of small vessel disease.

Now entering its 18th year, the Community Medical Series presented by the University of Vermont College of Medicine and University of Vermont Medical Center launched its Spring 2016 series on Tuesday, March 1, with a lecture by Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry Beth Robbins, Psy.D., titled "All Stressed Out: Symptoms, Physiology and Approaches for Relief."

The 7th Annual Vermont Brain Bee, a neuroscience competition and day of exploration for Vermont high school students, took place Saturday, February 20, 2016 at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

Second-year University of Vermont medical student Soraiya Thura ’18 has been appointed by the Associated Directors for the Appointment of Student Trustees to the UVM Board of Trustees. Her two-year term of service will become effective March 1, 2016.

(JULY 22, 2016) The Academic Health Sciences group at the University of Vermont Medical Center Foundation and the University of Vermont Foundation have announced the appointment of Frank Ittleman, M.D., professor of medicine, as faculty associate in development.

A front-page story in the Boston Globe highlights the brainchild of University of Vermont College of Medicine Professor James Hudziak, M.D. - UVM's Wellness Environment program, known as WE.

Results of the Insulin Resistance Intervention after Stroke (IRIS) trial presented February 17, 2016 at the International Stroke Conference 2016 in Los Angeles, Calif., and published in an Online First article in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest a potential new method to prevent stroke and heart attack in high-risk patients who have already had one stroke or transient ischemic attack.

Matthew Poynter, Ph.D., knows that a scientist’s work can influence public policy. In his lab at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, he focuses on the environmental factors that trigger the immune system’s development of asthma.

A wide range of junior and senior University of Vermont (UVM) College of Medicine faculty were recognized at the annual UVM Medical Group Research & Education Awards Reception held in December 2015.

Stroke – it’s the leading cause of serious long-term disability and a leading cause of death in the U.S., so figuring out how it affects the entire body is critical to identifying treatments to reduce its negative impact.

New University of Vermont College of Medicine Senior Associate Dean for Research Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., was officially welcomed to the College at a special reception held February 4, 2016.

The University of Vermont Vaccine Testing Center has announced that it will be involved in the clinical trials and research on a vaccine for Zika virus, which was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization on February 1, 2016.

More than 15 years ago, David Warshaw, Ph.D., and coworkers discovered the precise malfunction of a specific protein in the heart that leads to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common culprit in cases of sudden death in young athletes.

The Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont hosted Lawrence Appel, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins University, at Medicine Grand Rounds on February 5, 2016. He delivered a lecture on “Translating Effective Lifestyle Interventions into Practice: Lessons from the Hopkins-Healthways Collaboration.”

University of Vermont College of Medicine faculty member Maria Mercedes Avila, M.Ed., Ph.D., was recognized as one of four 2015 UVM Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award recipients.

In August 2014, the University of Vermont College of Medicine’s Class of 2018 began both their medical school careers and the 17-month-long Foundations Level of the Vermont Integrated Curriculum (VIC).

The Clinical Simulation Laboratory at the University of Vermont has been accredited by two prestigious simulation societies: a three-year accreditation as a Comprehensive Accredited Education Institute (AEI) from the American College of Surgeons (ACS), and a five-year accreditation from the Society of Simulation in Health Care (SSH).