August 26, 2020 | Volume II, Issue 16

Tom Peterson wearing his medal with green and gold ribbon

Peterson Invested as Inaugural Goldman Professor of Family Medicine

On August 13, 2020, President Suresh V. Garimella and Dean Richard L. Page, M.D., presided over the investiture of Chair and Professor of Family Medicine Thomas C. Peterson, M.D., as the inaugural Morris Goldman'29, M.D.'32 Professor of Family Medicine. The ceremony was the first of its kind to be held remotely, via Zoom.

Established by Harriet Goldman, D.D.S., and her husband, Michael Kaplan, the professorship honors her late father, Class of 1932 College of Medicine alum Morris Goldman, M.D., who dedicated his medical career to caring for multiple generations of families. As a Jewish man, the senior Dr. Goldman was deeply grateful to the University of Vermont for helping him achieve his dream of becoming a physician at a time when few medical schools accepted students without regard to race, creed, or religion.

“He loved medicine and his patients and voraciously read all the medical journals to keep ahead of the latest advances and treatments,” said his daughter. “He cared for his patients from birth to death while managing the health needs of the entire family.”

Like his professorship's namesake, Dr. Peterson has dedicated his medical career to caring for multiple generations of families, providing maternity and newborn care; pediatric, adult, and geriatric care; hospice care; sports medicine; and addiction and hospital care. A board-certified family medicine physician practicing at Colchester Family Practice, he is also actively involved in the clinical education of UVM medical students, is a faculty development scholar at the University of California, San Diego, in the area of addressing the health of the underserved, and is a fellow of the National Institute of Family Medicine Residency Program Directors.

“I’m very proud to represent Dr. Morris Goldman and his contributions to healthcare,” said Dr. Peterson. “His example is both an inspiration and in alignment with modern family medicine. Dr. Goldman provides a vision and a North Star for us all.”

Pictured above: Dr. Peterson wearing his endowed professor medallion.

Carney Receives President's Distinguished University Citizenship and Service Award

Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., professor of medicine, associate dean for public health and health policy, and senior advisor to the dean, has been named the 2019-2020 recipient of the President’s Distinguished University Citizenship and Service Award by University of Vermont President Suresh V. Garimella. The award recognizes her “innovative teaching, creative leadership, and service to the UVM community.”

Dr. Carney, who served as Vermont Commissioner of Health from 1989 to 2003, has been a passionate advocate for preventive medicine and public health throughout her career at UVM, in Vermont, and nationally. Over the past 15 years, the public health projects course–run in collaboration with the United Way of Northwest Vermont–has resulted in the completion of well over 200 public health projects that have addressed critical health issues in the local community.

In recent months, Dr. Carney has stepped up once again, helping educate Vermonters about COVID-19 safety protocols and information through webinars and media interviews, as well as assisting UVM leaders to develop the Return to Campus plan.

Pictured above: Dr. Carney

Two young women wearing green masks looking at the camera

Larner Leadership Pens Op Ed Touting Safety of UVM Return to Campus Plan

A Commentary, titled "Larner College of Medicine Leaders: UVM's on-campus plan maximizes safety," authored by Dean Richard L. Page, M.D., Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for public health and health policy, Claude Deschamps, M.D., senior associate dean for clinical affairs and president of the UVM Medical Group, Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., senior associate dean for research, and Christa Zehle, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education, was published in VTDigger.

Read the piece here.

Photo Credit: Sally McCay

Graduate Students smiling in a screenshot of a zoom meeting with 20 people

College Welcomes 96 Master's & Doctoral Degree Students

Although some programs began earlier this summer and others in recent weeks, the University of Vermont Graduate College and UVM Larner College of Medicine will officially welcome new graduate students on Monday, August 31.

Between the four doctoral programs and six master's degree programs at the College, 96 students are starting their graduate education this fall. Two programs in particular have seen large enrollments this year: The Master of Public Health program is welcoming 38 new students, and 30 students–the largest cohort to date–are entering the Master of Medical Science program.

Please join the College in welcoming our new graduate students by participating in the call for welcome messages on Facebook and Twitter at @uvmlarnermed, on LinkedIn, or on Instagram at @uvmmedicine on Monday, August 31. You can also email michelle.bookless@med.uvm.edu with video or text-based welcome messages, which she will post on social media for incoming graduate students to view.

Stay tuned for highlights of incoming graduate students and learn about this talented and diverse group of burgeoning researchers and scientists.

Pictured above: Twenty of the 30 new Master of Medical Science graduate students pose on a Zoom call during their virtual Orientation on August 25.

TEXT-ONLY VERSION: #UVMFUTUREDOCS. UVM Larner College of Medicine Class of 2024: 6905 applicants; 630 interviewed; 124 enrolled.

Accolades & Appointments

Raiel Barlow and Laura Greene smiling in professional headshots

Raiel Barlow, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, and Laura Greene, M.D., associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, were appointed Interim Assistant Deans for Admissions, effective August 15, 2020. Dr. Barlow has been involved in medical admissions at the College since 2012, first as a member of the Admissions Committee and then serving as co-vice chair of that committee since 2015. Dr. Greene started serving the Office of Admissions in 2013 as a faculty interviewer. She joined the Admissions Committee in 2014 and since 2015 has served as co-vice chair of the committee. Drs. Barlow and Greene played a role in developing the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI), a modality that provides a more complete and less biased view of Larner College of Medicine applicants and aids recruitment of a more diverse student body. This work has been presented nationally and has become a model for other medical schools.

Timothy Plante, M.D., 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. Established in 2017, this two- to three-year professorship was established by dual-degree UVM undergraduate and medical alum Martin Bloomfield, M.D., and his wife, Judith, a fellow UVM undergraduate alum, to help young investigators combine practice and research early in their careers. Benedek Erdos, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology, was invested as the inaugural Bloomfield Early Career Professor in 2017.

Brian Sprague, Ph.D., associate professor of surgery, received a $3.5 million, five-year RO1 grant from the National Cancer Institute for his project, titled “Identifying effective risk-based supplemental ultrasound screening strategies for women with dense breasts.” Dr. Sprague is the principle investigator (PI) and the co-PI is Natasha Stout, Ph.D., associate professor at Harvard University. The project is a collaboration of co-investigators at 10 institutions across the U.S. In addition, as part of the Breast Cancer Research Consortium (BCSC), Dr. Sprague received enhancement funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to rapidly leverage BCSC registry data to look at the effects of the pandemic on breast cancer screening and diagnosis and develop a prioritization toolkit for breast imaging facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 14, Neuroscience Graduate Program student Mahafuza Aktar, M.S., successfully defended her masters thesis, titled “Effects of Chronic Stress on the Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase Activating Polypeptide (PACAP) in the Bed Nucleus of Stria Terminals (BNST).” Ms. Aktar is mentored by Jom Hammock, Ph.D., professor of psychological science and director of the undergraduate neuroscience program. “She passed with flying colors–no revisions needed,” said NGP Director and Associate Professor of Pharmacology Anthony Morielli, Ph.D.

Neuroscience Graduate Program student Lauren Lepeak, M.S., successfully defended her master’s degree thesis, titled “Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase Activating Peptide Projections to Central Nervous System Regions,” on July 16. Leapeak’s co-mentors are Jom Hammack, Ph.D., professor of psychological sciences, and Victor May, Ph.D., professor of neurological sciences. According to Dr. Morielli, who also directs the Master of Science in Pharmacology program, “Lauren’s work advances our understanding of pathways in the brain that can be targeted with new pharmaceuticals for treating anxiety disorders.”

Pharmacology graduate student Eliana Moskovitz, M.S., successfully defended her master’s degree thesis, titled “The RUNX1-CBFβ Transcription Factor Complex Maintains the Normal Mammary Epithelial Phenotype by Mitotic Gene Bookmarking,” on July 14. Her mentor is Jonathan Gordon, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry. According to Anthony Morielli, Ph.D., director of the pharmacology master’s degree program and associate professor of pharmacology, “Eliana's work advances our understanding of key drug targets for developing pharmaceuticals for treating cancer.”

CITATION HIGHLIGHTS

Kazmi S, Chatterjee D, Raju D, Hauser R, Kaufman PA. Overall survival analysis in patients with metastatic breast cancer and liver or lung metastases treated with eribulin, gemcitabine, or capecitabine. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2020 Aug 17. doi: 10.1007/s10549-020-05867-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID:32808239.

Kostrubiak M, Vatovec CM, Dupigny-Giroux LA, Rizzo DM, Paganelli WC, Tsai MH. Water Pollution and Environmental Concerns in Anesthesiology. J Med Syst. 2020 Aug 13;44(9):169. doi: 10.1007/s10916-020-01634-2. PMID: 32794038.

Galton VA Dr, Martinez ME, Dragon JA, St Germain DL, Hernandez A. The Intrinsic Activity of Thyroxine is Critical for Survival and Growth and Regulates Gene expression in Neonatal Liver. Thyroid. 2020 Aug 13. doi: 10.1089/thy.2020.0508. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32791885.

Shapiro RE. What Will it Take to Move the Needle for Headache Disorders? An Advocacy Perspective. Headache. 2020 Aug 19. doi: 10.1111/head.13913. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32813900.

Dixon AE, Peters U, Walsh R, Daphtary N, MacLean ES, Hodgdon K, Kaminsky DA, Bates JHT. Physiological signature of late-onset nonallergic asthma of obesity. ERJ Open Res. 2020 Aug 17;6(3):00049-2020. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00049-2020. PMID: 32832525; PMCID: PMC7430141.

Zelop CM, Bonney EA. COVID-19 in pregnancy: possible mechanisms not to be discounted. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2020 Aug 18:1-4. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2020.1807508. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32811230.

Wallace-Brodeur R, Li R, Davis W, Humiston S, Albertin C, Szilagyi PG, Rand CM. A quality improvement collaborative to increase human papillomavirus vaccination rates in local health department clinics. Prev Med. 2020 Aug 12;139:106235. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106235. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32800972.

Mossman BT. Letter to the Editor: Fletcher NM, Harper AK, Memaj I, Fan R, Morris RT, Saed GM. Molecular Basis Supporting the Association of Talcum Powder Use with Increased Risk of Ovarian Cancer. Reprod Sci. 2020 Aug 19. doi: 10.1007/s43032-020-00265-9. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32813197.

Coates KE, Calle-Schuler SA, Helmick LM, Knotts VL, Martik BN, Salman F, Warner LT, Valla SV, Bock DD, Dacks AM. The Wiring Logic of an Identified Serotonergic Neuron That Spans Sensory Networks. J Neurosci. 2020 Aug 12;40(33):6309-6327. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0552-20.2020. Epub 2020 Jul 8. PMID: 32641403; PMCID: PMC7424878.

Sargent JA, Yamamoto T, Yamakawa T, De Waal D, Gennari FJ. Hemodialysis using a low bicarbonate dialysis bath: Implications for acid-base homeostasis. Semin Dial. 2020 Aug 15. doi: 10.1111/sdi.12902. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32798324.

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