Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program

(FEBRUARY 27, 2024) Newsweek recently reported on a 2020 study building on previous research conducted at the Larner College of Medicine that found that even small amounts of music education could lead to major benefits to children’s development.

(FEBRUARY 23, 2024) Tim Lahey, M.D., M.M.Sc., the medical ethics director at the UVM Medical Center, commented to Vermont Public about a new law in Alabama that states frozen embryos are now considered children.

(FEBRUARY 22, 2024) In a VT Digger opinion piece, Christine Werneke, M.S., and Stephen Leffler, M.D., discussed the effects of Vermont’s severe lack of capacity for patients who need long-term care outside of the hospital.

(FEBRUARY 21, 2024) Brian Cunniff, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, spoke with WCAX-TV about a promising new treatment for mesothelioma that is being tested at the UVM Cancer Center.

(FEBRUARY 21, 2024) UVMMC President and COO Stephen Leffler, M.D., commented to Vermont Public for a story about health care officials’ statement to lawmakers that a shortage of nursing home beds has forced hospitals to become residential care providers for patients who have nowhere else to go.

(FEBRUARY 20, 2024) Endocrinologist Matthew Gilbert, D.O., M.P.H., joined Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., and OBGYN Kimberly Sampson, M.D., for a conversation on Vermont Public that included a discussion of how weight-loss drugs work, their health benefits, and their potential shortcomings.

(FEBRUARY 16, 2024) Heidi Schumacher, M.D.’10, assistant professor of pediatrics, commented to The Hill about finding a balance between having sick students stay home from school and the learning-loss consequences of absenteeism.

(FEBRUARY 15, 2024) Heidi Schumacher, M.D.’10, assistant professor of pediatrics, spoke to the Rutland Herald about a bill aimed at protecting children from the harmful effects of social media.

(FEBRUARY 14, 2024) Child and adolescent psychiatrist Jeremiah Dickerson, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, speaks to Vermont Public about what happens in your brain when you fall in love—and how it reacts when you’re falling out of love.

(FEBRUARY 14, 2024) Cardiologist Jesse Kane, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, served on a panel of fellow experts who discussed no reflow and thrombus in the January/February 2024 issue of Cardiac Interventions Today.

(February 14, 2024) An intriguing study at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, funded by a $2M National Institutes of Health grant, is set to explore the impacts of screen time on adolescent mental health and brain development, Medriva reports.

(FEBRUARY 8, 2024) In an impassioned opinion piece in VT Digger, four Vermont emergency medicine physicians explain a crisis in our emergency departments known as “boarding” and plead for an increase in skilled nursing and long-term care beds, home health supports, and robust, reliable funding mechanisms to support both.

(FEBRUARY 7, 2024) Catherine Naden, M.D.’11, clinical assistant professor of family medicine, spoke with Vermont Public about mammogram guidance.

(FEBRUARY 6, 2024) UVM Health Network President and CEO Sunny Eappen, M.D., M.B.A., and UVMHN Radiation Oncology Chair H. James Wallace, M.D., associate professor of radiology at the Larner College of Medicine, commented to the Press-Republican about a new initiative to upgrade cancer care services at network hospitals.

(FEBRUARY 2, 2024) Bader Chaarani, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, spoke with WCAX-TV about a new five-year federal grant supporting research to investigate the impact of screen time on adolescent mental health and brain development.

(FEBRUARY 1, 2024) UVM Medical Center President and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, M.H.C.D.S., professor of emergency medicine, commented about a new UVMMC program announced on the first day of Black History Month that’s aimed at closing the patient inequity gap when it comes to patient hair care, NBC5 reported.

(JANUARY 31, 2024) Rebecca Bell, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, a pediatric critical care physician at UVM Children’s Hospital, spoke to Vermont Public about the Vermont Department of Health’s goal to provide every K–12 school in the state with free naloxone, as well as virtual trainings.

(JANUARY 30, 2024) Laura McCray, M.D., M.S.C.E., professor and chair of family medicine, is among four new appointees to the University of Vermont Home Health and Hospice Board of Trustees, according to the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.

(JANUARY 29, 2024) Shana Adise, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in psychiatry, led a study that is the first to show that children who have greater brain responses to food compared to money rewards are more likely to overeat when appealing foods are available, Modern Nurse reported.

(JANUARY 29, 2024) Endocrinologist Matthew Gilbert, D.O., M.P.H., professor of medicine, was quoted in a News Net Daily story on the prevalence of prescriptions for Ozempic across the United States.