Graduate and Postdoctoral Training

The University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine features some of the world’s foremost cardiovascular researchers, experts in cardiovascular disease risk factors, thrombosis, atherosclerosis, stroke, and heart failure. the science shared by early-career investigators at the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont’s fourth annual Viridis Montis Challenge, it was apparent that the institution’s reputation and legacy in the field of cardiovascular research will continue to have a global impact.

The Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont held its 4th Annual Viridis Montis Early Career Investigator Challenge on February 1, 2023, and Toishi Sharma, MBBS, cardiovascular disease fellow in the Department of Medicine, was selected as the winner.

On October 27, 2022, the UVM Larner College of Medicine held a grand opening and dedication of the newest addition to the medical campus: the Firestone Medical Research Building.

“Going above and beyond” and consistently demonstrating kindness, compassion and respect were common accolades in the nomination letters for the 2022 Dean’s Awards for Professionalism recipients. On May 3, the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont marked the third anniversary of the formal introduction and celebration of the College’s Statement on Professionalism at a virtual awards presentation ceremony.

Anne Dixon, M.A., BM BCh, professor of medicine, has been named one of four 2022-2023 University Scholars.

In celebration of its standing as a top 100 public research university, the University of Vermont held its first “Research Week” April 18 to 22 to showcase the work of faculty, student and trainee investigators. A number of Larner College of Medicine faculty and trainees received recognition and delivered presentations during the week's events.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In a new study in the journal PNAS, a team of University of Vermont and University of Washington scientists discovered that – based on clinical samples from infected individuals – the Delta variant had a higher infectivity than the Alpha variant of COVID-19.

The UVM Cancer Center Summer Student Fellowships in Cancer Research provide $3,000 stipends to graduate and medical students for cancer-related research projects, overseen by senior faculty members affiliated with the center.

Tis the season for coats – white coats that is! On Friday, October 15, the University of Vermont Neuroscience Graduate Program (NGP) hosted its annual White Coat Ceremony in the Livak Ballroom of the UVM Davis Center. While often associated with medical education, the White Coat Ceremony for new graduate degree students has its own history, dating back to 1989, according to Haley Olszewski, NGP program administrator. The ceremony is a rite of passage for many graduate students, she says, both “marking the transition of graduate students, particularly in the sciences, from the early, largely course-based phase of their education to the more research intense phase of their training.” The event also serves to “emphasize the relationship between the student and their mentor,” she adds.