Jason Bates, Ph.D., D.Sc., Professor of Medicine, Larner College of Medicine at UVM (Photo: Larner COM Design & Photography)

Jason Bates, Ph.D., professor of medicine at The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, presented his University Scholar lecture on “How Does a Physicist Become a Biologist, and Vice Versa?” on November 2, 2016, in Memorial Lounge in UVM's Waterman Building.

Organized by the UVM Graduate College, the University Scholars Program recognizes “sustained excellence in research, creative and scholarly activities.” Scholars are selected by a faculty panel based upon nominations submitted by UVM colleagues. Bates was inducted as a 2016-17 University Scholar at a ceremony held at UVM on April 26, 2016.

Bates, who joined the UVM faculty in 1999 and also holds an appointment in the Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, served as the interim director of the UVM School of Engineering from 2010 to 2014. He received a Ph.D. in medicine at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and a doctor of science degree from the University of Canterbury for his contributions to the field of lung mechanics. Prior to joining UVM, Bates served as professor of medicine and biomedical engineering at McGill University. His research – performed both via laboratory experimentation and computational modeling – focuses mostly on the mechanical behavior of the lung in health and disease. He is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He is also the deputy editor of the Journal of Applied Physiology. A member of the Vermont Lung Center, Bates has published more than 260 peer-reviewed journal papers as well as 22 book chapters and a textbook, titled Lung Mechanics. An Inverse Modeling Approach (2009, Cambridge University Press). He is also the inventor of the Flexivent ventilator that is used worldwide in the study of mouse models of lung disease.