Division of General Internal Medicine Research

Department of Medicine

Celdara Medical and UVM Professor of Medicine Jason Botten, Ph.D., have received a Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that will support the ongoing development of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome – a severe respiratory disease caused by rodent-borne hantaviruses.

(JUNE 14, 2023) Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine Daniel Wolfson, M.D., FACEP, and Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Heidi Melbostad, Ph.D., MFT, spoke to Seven Days about the state’s efforts to address opioid addiction.

A new study at the University of Vermont is exploring whether inviting Black people to help design digital recruitment approaches will better engage Black adults and increase participation in trials.

(JUNE 13, 2023) Like many clinicians, Timothy Plante, M.D., M.H.S., assistant professor of medicine, is excited about the potential of cuffless blood pressure monitors. However, “We’ve been burned by it before,” he told Medscape Cardiology.

On May 17, 2023, the University of Vermont’s Vermont Lung Center and the American Lung Association announced Vermont’s participation as one of 35 sites across the country conducting a first-of-its-kind large-scale study of millennial lung health - the Lung Health Cohort Study.

The Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health supports research by early-career scientists who are investigating the mysteries of the heart-brain connection. The researchers are sharing their findings at a symposium on June 15-16 at UVM’s Davis Center.

The Larner College of Medicine was one of eight medical schools selected to participate in the 2023 Millennium Conference from May 2-4, hosted by the Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Five Larner representatives attended the event, which focused on professionalism for physicians.

Promising young scientists from colleges across the UVM campus gathered recently to celebrate the broad training experience, varied investigations, and collaborative community of UVM’s postdoctoral scholars. Organized by the UVM Postdoctoral Association, the event provided a chance for the scholars to present their research and network with peers.

The Larner College of Medicine medical Class of 2023 Honors Night on May 15 featured recognition and awards for graduating medical students, faculty, and staff.

(MAY 17, 2023) NBC5 featured pulmonologist Anne Dixon, M.A., B.M.B.Ch., professor of medicine, in a story about recruiting millennials for a long-term nationwide Lung Health Cohort Study. The pioneering study will follow 4,000 young, healthy adults to paint a clearer picture of lung health and the factors involved in predicting and preventing lung disease.

The Larner College of Medicine has been at the vanguard of technology transfer over the past decade, supporting patents and commercialization of faculty research, which has led to several successful startups. Recent examples of commercially successful innovations by Larner faculty include Prolocor, a startup company focused on developing a more precise method and diagnostic tool for assessing and managing risk in cardiovascular disease.

(MAY 10, 2023) With the COVID-19 public health emergency expiring on the national level, WCAX-TV interviewed Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education and professor of medicine, and Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of public health and health policy and professor of medicine, about what changes Vermonters can expect.

(MAY 2, 2023) Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for public health and health policy, professor of medicine, and director of the graduate public health program at Larner, was interviewed by WalletHub about the future of the nursing profession and how recent graduates can find success.

(APRIL 30, 2023) According to Medical Dialogues, a new study by pulmonologist Anne Dixon, B.M.B.Ch., professor and interim chair of medicine, and colleagues has found that people with asthma and obesity have significant dysfunction in the distal airways at baseline that worsens with methacholine.

(APRIL 26, 2023) CBS3 reported that Vermont legislators are contemplating a proposal to ban menthol and flavored tobacco products, including vapes, something medical experts say is crucial to preventing problems later in life. “It’s not a clear risk or outcome when you start smoking or vaping when you’re 16-17 years old. These are things that start to cause problems when you’re 40, 50, 60 years old,” said cardiologist Prospero Gogo, M.D., professor of medicine.

(APRIL 25, 2023) Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine and of pathology & laboratory medicine, is a co-author of a study on COVID-19 vaccines and their alleged risk of causing blood clots that was highlighted in World Today News.

(APRIL 21, 2023) An internal memo obtained by VTDigger, dated April 20 and signed by Health Commissioner and Larner Professor of Medicine Mark Levine, M.D., laid out a plan to stockpile a two-year supply of mifepristone, one of two pills taken in tandem to induce an abortion.

A new study in the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology by Albert van der Vliet, Ph.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and colleagues is honing in on why people with asthma often have worse symptoms if they are obese.

(APRIL 17, 2023) A study by Professor of Medicine Anne Dixon, B.M.B.Ch., and colleagues found that using oscillometry testing may allow physicians to identify patients with asthma and obesity who have a phenotype that may be related to worse symptoms and more severe disease, Healio.com reported.

(MARCH 23, 2023) Christopher Grace, M.D., FIDSA, professor emeritus of medicine, is busier than ever, according to a Burlington Free Press article on the Open Door Clinic in Middlebury, where Grace has been volunteering for nearly 10 years.