Division of Infectious Disease

Department of Medicine

Larner Researcher’s Collaborative Efforts Propel RSV Vaccine Development and Offer Hope for Infant Health.

In fall 2022, public health warnings of a possible ”tripledemic” blared across news headlines due to an early-season surge in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), reported to be the leading cause of infant hospitalizations in the U.S. Sean Diehl, Ph.D., UVM associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, is a co-inventor on the patented technology that led to an RSV preventative treatment.

(OCTOBER 24, 2022) A study co-authored by Benjamin Lee, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics; Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., professor and chair of microbiology and molecular genetics and professor of medicine; and Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine, along with researchers from Columbia University and Boston University, concluded that post-vaccination symptoms are a good sign, CNN reported.

In the past several months, cases of polio have been reported in New York, the United Kingdom, and Israel, underscoring the need for safer and more effective vaccines. Over the past nearly two years, University of Vermont Vaccine Testing Center researchers have been conducting trials on two experimental polio vaccines poised to help accomplish global eradication.

University of Vermont Chair of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., will present her 2021-22 University Scholar lecture on "Combatting Global Infectious Diseases: Vaccines and Human Models," on Monday, April 4, 2022.

(DECEMBER 15, 2021) A WCAX-TV Channel 3 (CBS) news story, titled "Team of UVM researchers on cusp of vaccine trials to eliminate polio," features interviews with Larner College of Medicine faculty members Jessica Crothers, M.D., assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and E. Ross Colgate, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics.

Mitchell Wolfe, M.D., M.P.H., chief medical officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a Class of 1995 Larner alum, returned to campus for a personal visit on December 13 for the first time since receiving his medical degree here 26 years ago.

Despite a record number of over 400 million cases in 2019, vaccine development for the mosquito-borne dengue virus has been challenging due to the need to protect equally against all four dengue strains. The discovery of new possible biomarkers to predict clinical and immune responses to dengue virus infection could be critical to informing future vaccines.

The University of Vermont Graduate College has announced that Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., professor and chair of microbiology and molecular genetics, has been named one or three 2021-2022 University Scholars. The University Scholars program recognizes distinguished UVM faculty members for sustained excellence in research, scholarship, and creative arts.

On March 18, 2021, researchers from across UVM came together via Zoom for the second edition of the Translational Global Infectious Diseases Research Center's COVID-19 research slam, titled “UVM Tackles COVID-19: Research Progress and Perspectives One Year into the Pandemic.”

One of the most alarming realizations of the past year has been the clear link between structural racism in the U.S. and the racial and ethnic health disparities that have led to a disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color. Thanks to the collaboration of numerous partners in Vermont, members of the New American community are getting the education they need to make informed decisions about their health and the COVID-19 vaccine.

A new study conducted by a team of health economists and public health faculty at the University of Vermont suggests that the behavior public officials are now mandating or recommending to slow the spread of COVID-19--wearing a face covering--should come with a caveat. If not accompanied by proper public education, the practice could lead to more infections.

The UVM Medical Center and Vaccine Testing Center have successfully reached and surpassed the targeted number of enrollees for an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

An internationally recognized physician-scientist, Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., has a decades-long history of leadership in the field of vaccine testing and development. In 2001, she launched the UVM Vaccine Testing Center (VTC), and since then, the VTC has grown to assume a prominent role in the development and evaluation of vaccines for globally important infectious diseases. The VTC has garnered support from the National Institutes of Health, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Defense, among others. Kirkpatrick is also principal investigator and director of UVM’s Translational Global Infectious Disease Research Center of Biomedical Research Excellence and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

The University of Vermont Medical Center and Vaccine Testing Center at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine have been selected to take part in a Phase 3 trial for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca.

New research, published in Clinical and Translational Immunology by UVM Associate Professor Sean Diehl, Ph.D., and colleagues provides a clearer picture of the protective antibodies induced by the SARS-C0V-2 virus and their role in serious illness and what’s needed for full protection.

New research, published by scientists at the University of Vermont and Caltech in the journal Cell, has pinpointed three specific mechanisms that allow SARS-CoV-2 to incapacitate human cells by disabling the cell’s alarm system to call for help or warn nearby cells of infection.

A team of scientists at the University of Vermont, working in partnership with a group at the University of Washington, has developed a method of testing for the COVID-19 virus that doesn’t make use of these chemicals but still delivers an accurate result, paving the way for inexpensive, widely available testing in both developing countries and industrialized nations like the United States, where reagent supplies are again in short supply.

The University of Vermont received $181.7 million in research funding during the 2020 fiscal year - the largest in UVM history by a wide margin. The Larner College of Medicine had the largest number of grants.

(JULY 29, 2020) Comments from Chair and Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., were featured in a July 29 article, titled "One Man's Quest to Infect People With Covid-19 for Science," in Elemental, a new Medium publication for science-backed health and wellness coverage.