Division of General Internal Medicine

Department of Medicine

Vaccinations have begun in a first-in-human trial of an experimental live, attenuated Zika virus vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The trial will enroll a total of 28 healthy, non-pregnant adults ages 18 to 50 at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Immunization Research in Baltimore, Md., and at the Vaccine Testing Center at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont in Burlington.

The University of Vermont Center on Aging and UVM Geriatric Medicine program will host a presentation, titled “Caring for Caregivers and Transitions from Hospital to Home,” by international experts Horst Vollmar, M.D., M.P.H., and Mary Austrom, Ph.D., on August 3, 2018.

At the American Thoracic Society 2018 International Congress, held in May 2018, UVM E.L. Amidon Chair of Medicine Polly Parsons, M.D., was installed as president, and she and Larner College of Medicine colleagues Jason Bates, Ph.D., Sc.D., Anne Dixon, M.A., B.M., B.Ch., and Renee Stapleton, M.D., Ph.D., were inducted as the inaugural class of ATS Fellows.

Patricia King, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, was elected chair of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) at the organization’s 106th annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C., on April 28, 2018.

On July 18, 2018, UVM Larner College of Medicine clinical department chairs issued a letter to the community.

The University of Vermont and Polly Parsons, M.D., professor and chair of medicine at the UVM Larner College of Medicine, were recognized with the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Patriot Award, the Above and Beyond Award, and the Pro Patria Award, respectively, at an annual ESGR awards ceremony held May 23, 2018.

Marie Wood, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Familial Cancer Program in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, was named a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) at the organization’s annual meeting, held June 1 to 5, 2018 in Chicago, Ill.

University of Vermont Assistant Professor of Medicine Timothy Plante, M.D., M.H.S., and colleagues say that a high “star rating” doesn’t necessarily reflect medical accuracy or value in a blood pressure app. Based on their latest study results, the researchers are concerned that unregulated mobile health app use could give people a false sense of security, which could lead to dire health consequences.

Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., senior associate dean for research at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, has announced that Eric Gagnon, M.Ed., M.S.S., has been appointed director of facilities administration and projects in the Dean’s Office at the College of Medicine, effective June 1, 2018.

Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., has been appointed as chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Vermont, effective March 1, 2018.

University of Vermont Provost David Rosowsky and Larner College of Medicine Dean Frederick Morin, M.D., have announced the appointment of Michael LaMantia, M.D., M.P.H., as director of the UVM Center on Aging. LaMantia, who is currently associate professor of medicine and neurological sciences, as well as section head of geriatric medicine, will succeed William Pendlebury, M.D., professor emeritus of pathology and laboratory medicine, who will step down from the position in January 2018.

In early 2017, University of Vermont researchers Michael Toth, Ph.D., and Christian Skalka, Ph.D. were awarded one of two inaugural UVM Biomedical Engineering (BME) Pilot Research Program grants for their project, “Cyber-physical system innovations to monitor and improve compliance with at-home neuromuscular rehabilitation.” Through the project, Toth and Skalka have worked to create a cyber-physical electrical stimulation system that acts as a bridge therapy for patients immediately post-injury and in the time between surgery and the start of physical therapy.

The Madison-Deane Education Fund presented the inaugural Madison-Deane Award for Excellence in End-of-Life Care to Zail Berry, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, at the program’s “Evening of Gratitude” event held October 24, 2017 at Burlington Country Club.

Risk of blood clots increases with the amount of time spent watching television, even if people get the recommended amount of physical activity, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2017 in Anaheim, Calif. November 11 to 15, 2017.

The Vermont Medical Society’s Education and Research Foundation (VMSERF) has awarded $5,000 scholarships to Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont students Margaret Johnston and Andrew Corse. The recipients were honored at the Vermont Medical Society’s 204th annual meeting held November 4, 2017 in Woodstock, Vt.

Vermont is among the top ten states in per capita research funding in the U.S., according to a State of Research at the College presentation delivered by Larner College of Medicine Senior Associate Dean for Research Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., at the Dean’s Excellence in Research Awards event held November 13, 2017. The last of three 2017 Celebrating Excellence in Research events held at the College on November 10 and 13, 2017, the awards ceremony recognized the accomplishments of faculty, residents, medical students, graduate students and postdoctoral trainees.

Since 1998, this program, jointly organized by the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the UVM Medical Center, has been providing members of the UVM and local community with accessible and important education on a wide variety of timely, fascinating, and engaging health care topics.

The Vermont Genetics Network (VGN) and Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (VCIID) at the University of Vermont hosted more than 300 National Institutes of Health-funded biomedical researchers from across Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Delaware for the North East Regional IDeA Conference (NERIC) August 16 to 18, 2017 at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy delivered remarks at the conference on August 17.

University of Vermont researchers Sean Diehl, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and a Vaccine Testing Center immunologist, Sam Scarpino, Ph.D., former assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, Donna Rizzo, Ph.D., professor of engineering, and John Hanley, Ph.D., a postdoctoral associate in engineering, have been awarded the inaugural UVM Biomedical Engineering Program Pilot Research Program grant for their project, titled “Integrating omics and clinical data to study dengue infection.”