Graduate and Postdoctoral Training

After a comprehensive internal search and interview process, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Nicholas Koch, M.D., has been named clinical director of the UVM Clinical Simulation Laboratory. Koch will be the laboratory’s fourth director, replacing former Associate Professor of Anesthesiology Vincent Miller, M.D., who served in the position for five years, from 2016-2021.

On March 26, 2022, UVM medical students Caitlin Marassi and Ellen Mats, along with other Larner first-year medical students, launched a three-week "Vermont for Ukraine Medical Supply Drive" in collaboration with Vermont Flannel retail stores and working through Razom, a 501(c)(3) organization that ships medical supplies by sea and air directly to Ukraine.

Over the past two years, we’ve heard a lot about quarantines and vaccinations, but there’s a critical aspect of the pandemic response that doesn’t get its equal share of the spotlight: testing. To address this, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the RADx program to support research that expands testing accessibility, and Dr. Kathleen Fairfield of MaineHealth was awarded RADx-UP funding for her project on providing testing to immigrant, low-income, and unhoused populations around Portland, Maine.

Over the past two years, we’ve heard a lot about quarantines and vaccinations, but there’s a critical aspect of the pandemic response that doesn’t get its equal share of the spotlight: testing. To address this, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the RADx program to support research that expands testing accessibility, and Drs. Adam Atherly of the University of Vermont and Yvonne Jonk of the University of Southern Maine were recently awarded RADx-UP funding to pursue their collaborative project on expanding testing access in our rural areas.

In 2018, the timeline for a life-saving stroke treatment was extended from 6 hours to 24 hours after stroke. That changed the landscape of stroke care, and the story is how EMS responded. Read this highlight to learn how one pilot project turned into a tri-state partnership and policy change that revolutionized how emergency personnel respond to stroke in the field.

(MARCH 29, 2022) Monique McHenry, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and director of the Medical Cannabis Center for Research and Education, was a presenter at a cannabis symposium hosted by Tower Hill Botanic Garden, according to a Lifestyle article in Worcester Magazine.

University of Vermont Chair of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., will present her 2021-22 University Scholar lecture on "Combatting Global Infectious Diseases: Vaccines and Human Models," on Monday, April 4, 2022.

A new, non-profit medical clinic at Sugarbush Resort — Three Peaks Medical Clinic — is scheduled to open in December 2022 and be staffed by UVM Division of Emergency Medicine faculty member volunteers. The clinic's mission is to provide the resort area community access to on-mountain medical care and provide a venue for facilitating wilderness, emergency, and sports medicine research.

(MARCH 25, 2022) Malla Keefe, M.D.’22, and Luke Higgins, M.D.’22, were interviewed at Match Day by Vermont Edition co-host Connor Cyrus for a story that aired on Vermont Public.

I’m pleased to tell you that our own Dr. Tim Plante received the Sandra Daugherty Award for Excellence in Hypertension or Epidemiology at the AHA Epidemiology/Lifestyle conference in Chicago yesterday! His abstract was presented as an oral presentation today and was based on his research funded by the CVRI Bloomfield Professorship, “Inflammatory cytokines and incident hypertension in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.”

(MARCH 20, 2022) Thomas Ahern, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of surgical research and biochemistry, was lead author on a recent study on phthalates and cancer published in the "Journal of the National Cancer Institute," according to a Salon.com report.

(MARCH 18, 2022) Erick MacLean, M.D.’22, was quoted in a Match Day story broadcast on WCAX-TV, as senior medical students celebrated the watershed moment they learned what residency program they have been matched to.

The Class of 2022’s medical school journey turned upside-down in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a stay-at-home order, a pivot to remote learning, and put their clinical training on hold. After two years of virtual events, the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine celebrated these resilient senior medical students at an in-person Match Day event on March 18 in the UVM Davis Center.

In a first-of-its-kind study, research from the University of Vermont Cancer Center has linked phthalates, commonly called the “everywhere chemical,” to higher incidence of specific childhood cancers.

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.

(MARCH 3, 2022) David Kaminsky, M.D., professor of medicine, who is leading a study investigating so-called long-haul COVID, was quoted in a story broadcast on WOWT-TV and elsewhere.

Hear about the latest trends in translational research technologies from our very own Translational Research Technology Core leads and facility directors.

Learn about the many different RADx projects dedicated to discovering innovative solutions to COVID-19 testing happening in our region.