Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology

Department of Medicine

(SEPTEMBER 9, 2024) Infectious disease specialist Timothy Lahey, M.D., M.M.Sc., spoke to the Vermont Cynic about Vermont Department of Health warnings about the presence of eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, in the local area.

Art Papier, M.D.’88, was a first-year medical student when he attended a lecture by the late Lawrence Weed, M.D., which focused on the advantages of keeping detailed, shareable medical records to improve patient care. Papier was fascinated by Weed’s work. That fascination eventually led Papier to create a clinical decision tool that visually shows, describes, and categorizes thousands of diseases. The tool, VisualDx, today is used in clinics and medical schools throughout the nation and across the globe. It delivers time-sensitive, clinically relevant information for diagnosing and treating common and rare diseases and brings public health to the point of care.

(AUGUST 16, 2024) Jessica Badlam, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and director of the pulmonary hypertension program at the UVM Medical Center, spoke with the Burlington Free Press about the hospital’s Pulmonary Hypertension Care Center receiving national accreditation from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association.

Shalina Nair, M.D., M.B.A., executive vice chair of clinical services and innovation at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and medical director for Population Health Outreach at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, has been appointed as the new chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at University of Vermont (UVM) and UVM Health Network.

The Division of Geriatric Medicine celebrated the graduation of its first geriatrics fellow, Owen Maguire, M.D., and the culmination of the division’s academic goal to train geriatricians. The geriatrics fellowship at UVM is a new fellowship and a big step in the building of a pipeline to care for older adults in Vermont, which has the fourth-oldest population in the country.

(JULY 24, 2024) Catherine Naden, M.D.’11, clinical assistant professor of family medicine, and Justin Stinnett-Donnelly, M.D.’10, M.S., clinical assistant professor of medicine, were quoted in a Vermont Public story on the use of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to reduce burnout.

(JULY 10, 2024) Endocrinologist Matthew Gilbert, D.O., M.P.H., professor of medicine, commented for a story in Yahoo Finance News on whether or not weight-loss drugs can be used as a temporary “metabolic reset.”

(JULY 9, 2024) Alicia Jacobs, M.D., associate professor of family medicine, and Jason Sanders, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the UVM Medical Group, commented to Healthcare Finance News for a story about a new partnership between the University of Vermont Health Network and Abridge to use AI for clinical documentation.

(JUNE 25, 2024) Rebecca Aslakson, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of anesthesiology, and Kristen Pierce, M.D., professor of medicine, have been selected as fellows in the 2024–25 Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program, according to the Rutland Herald.

(JUNE 18, 2024) James Gerson, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, spoke with WCAX-TV about a new treatment for blood cancer launched last year that appears to be saving lives.

(JUNE 18, 2024) With this week’s—and this summer’s—hot weather, David Rand, D.O., assistant professor of medicine, shares tips for cooling off without AC.

(May 31, 2024) Stephen Leffler, M.D., president and COO of the UVM Medical Center, Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., and other top state health leaders joined U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders for a roundtable discussion on why health care is becoming increasingly unaffordable, VTDigger reports.

Although Vermont is a small state, Larner doctors and scientists have continued to gain national recognition. Heidi Schumacher, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, and Debora Kamin Mukaz, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine, were each recently invited to two separate events at the White House in Washington, D.C.

(MAY 20, 2024) Randall Holcombe, M.D., M.B.A., director of the UVM Cancer Center, spoke with WCAX-TV about the more than 100 clinical trials the Cancer Center is currently running.

(MAY 19, 2024) David Kaminsky, M.D., professor of medicine, commented in a Reuters article on a new guideline for U.S. doctors to ignore race in assessing lung health.

(MAY 15, 2024) Larner College of Medicine dean Richard L. Page, M.D., and Vermont State Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., or their designees, have been named to an advisory working group tasked with studying psychedelic therapy to improve mental health, GreenMountain Cannabis News Reports.

(MAY 8, 2024) Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., Larner professor of medicine, commented to Seven Days on the statistic that overdose deaths have topped 200 in Vermont for the third straight year.

(MAY 6, 2024) Charles MacLean, M.D., professor of medicine, testified before the House Human Services Committee in support of a bill that would create a psychedelic-assisted therapy working group, Marijuana Moment reports.

Meet Tina Thornton, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine, co-director of I-Trep, a UVM-based biomedical entrepreneurship training initiative, and UVM faculty lead of the National Science Foundation Interior Northeast I-Corps Hub, which offers entrepreneurship training for student, postdoc, faculty, and other scientists and engineers.

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, UVM and the Larner College of Medicine have shown that improving metabolic health in obese mice before vaccination, but not after, protects against influenza virus.