Like many inventions, the LOST-Wheel was born out of necessity and, jokes Bivona, out of spite. In his final years as a Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences graduate student, Bivona worked on a grant-funded project in the laboratory of UVM Larner College of Medicine Professor of Medicine Matthew Poynter, Ph.D. The project, says Poynter, aims to determine the contribution of skeletal muscle contractile muscle cells (myocytes) to local and systemic inflammation and the potential benefits of exercise to diminish overexuberant or protracted inflammation. The work relies heavily on the study of mouse models after they exercise either on rodent treadmills (yes, they make treadmills for rodents) or on small circular machines commonly called mouse wheels.

University of Vermont graduate students Dorcas Lohese, Sean Lenahan, Joseph Owuor, and Matt Mullen are the newest representatives for the UVM Larner College of Medicine Graduate Student Council. Hannah Despres, who served on the council for the 2020-2021 term, has been re-elected for another year.

The Larner College of Medicine Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hosted the third annual Celebration of Gender Equity in Medicine and Science on March 3, 2022.

In recent years, total neoadjuvant treatment—a potent new therapy for advanced colorectal cancer—has emerged as the standard of care. But the treatment can be harsh, impacting quality of life for many patients. A new study published in Clinical Colorectal Cancer by a team of researchers affiliated with the University of Vermont Cancer Center highlights a variety of new colorectal cancer treatments that take into account both a patient’s likely health outcome and quality of life factors.

A heart attack struck 44-year-old Sara Rutledge during her daily run. Thanks to the competence and care of a team of clinicians at Central Vermont Medical Center and UVM Medical Center, she received a diagnosis for spontaneous coronary artery dissection - or SCAD - has had a successful recovery, and is back to doing her favorite activities.

Frances Carr, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and UVM Cancer Center member, has been elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows Class of 2021.

University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine faculty, leaders, and colleagues gathered virtually for the Teaching Academy’s 2022 Snow Season Education Retreat January 20-21. Highlights of the two-day event included a plenary session by representatives of the Kern National Network for Caring and Character in Medicine, the Induction and Award Ceremony, and an in-person poster session.

In a ceremony held February 7, 2022, Melissa Davidson, M.D., a faculty physician leader at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, was invested as the inaugural holder of the Howard Schapiro, M.D.’80 and Janet Carroll, M.S.N., M.P.H., Green & Gold Professorship in Anesthesiology.

UVM Cancer Center researchers contributed to the establishment of a breast pre-cancer atlas, which establishes the molecular and cellular properties of early-stage breast cancer and is the result of a six-year, National Cancer Institute-funded, collaborative initiative.

Cardiac remodeling, chronic kidney disease, brain cell energy generation, hypertension and stroke risk, and socioeconomic status and cardiac rehabilitation outcomes, were the topics presented at the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont’s annual Viridis Montis Early Career Investigator Challenge on February 2, 2022.