Department of Medicine

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.

A new $5.47 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine will support the creation of the UVM Center for Biomedical Shared Resources. The grant will fund completion of the Center's home on the first floor of the new Firestone Medical Research Building, which will be located on the south end of the Larner College of Medicine complex.

Timothy Plante ’06 M.D.’10, M.H.S., assistant professor of medicine, has been appointed the Martin E. Bloomfield ’56 M.D.’60 and Judith S. Bloomfield ’59 Early Career Professor in Cardiovascular Research at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine.

The University of Vermont (UVM) is participating in a major national research effort to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of varying types of blood thinners to treat adults diagnosed and hospitalized with COVID-19—the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.