Office of Medical Communications

The "COVID-19: The Larner Community Responds" series highlights stories about Larner College of Medicine students, faculty and staff who are answering the call for help during the COVID-19 pandemic.

(APRIL 16, 2020) An Opinion piece authored by UVM Larner College of Medicine Professor Tim Lahey, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and director of clinical ethics at the UVM Medical Center, was featured in the New York Times.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought both changes and challenges for the UVM CMIE team. While the suspension of live, in-person learning has forced some of our conferences to be postponed and even cancelled, it has also spurred us into action on a project we have been wanting to address for some time – accrediting Grand Rounds for remote and recorded learning!

The 25th Annual Vermont Perspectives in Anesthesia conference featured poster presentations by selected student researchers, quality education, and superb skiing in Stowe last month.

”Diabetes 2019: Updates on Management and Treatment” was very well-received by a diverse audience of healthcare professionals. Evaluation comments indicate that the conference achieved its goal – to educate and transform collaborative care in the area of diabetes care.

(APRIL 12, 2020) Jason Bates, Ph.D., Sc.D., professor of medicine, discussed a low-cost ventilator option for treating COVID-19 patients called the Vermontilator during "You Can Quote Me" on local CBS affiliate WCAX-TV Channel 3. Bates described the potential uses, how the Vermontilator works, and why it is different from other ventilators.

At businesses and locations around Vermont that are currently closed or operating at a reduced level, personal protective equipment (PPE) is sitting unused. It’s in short supply around the country in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Vivek Chittineni, M.D., along with three University of Vermont (UVM) Larner College of Medicine students, are spearheading a drive to stockpile PPE, some of it for UVM Medical Center (UVMMC).

On March 13, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Vinh Le walked out of the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, uncertain about when he and his classmates would be returning. Two weeks later, Le’s Medical Student COVID-19 Action Network (MSCAN) emerged as a map of how medical students across the nation have met that challenge posed by the pandemic.

Over the last three weeks, a team of scientists, engineers and doctors at the University of Vermont, including Professor of Medicine Jason Bates, have developed a new design—and built a working model—for a simple, inexpensive ventilator.

Over the past few weeks, Larner College of Medicine students have sought out and initiated impactful volunteer projects to help address a growing variety of needs presented by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Seeing the need for a centralized model to coordinate these various efforts, Christa Zehle, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education, and Nathalie Feldman, M.D., director of the learning environment, convened the LCOMCares Service Corps – COVID-19 Task Force.

(APRIL 8, 2020) Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine, discussed reducing the risk of blood clots and thrombosis due to more sedentary behavior during quarantine in USA Today.

Medical student Adam Ross ’22 keeps a piece of paper tacked to the wall above his desk. It’s a brief note from Vito Imbasciani, Ph.D., M.D.’85, that Ross discovered tucked in the pocket of the white coat he received as a first-year Larner College of Medicine student in September of 2018.

​Do the cognitive changes that sometimes occur at menopause relate to an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease? That’s what a newly launched study, co-led by University of Vermont Associate Professor of Psychiatry Julie Dumas, Ph.D., aims to determine.

(APRIL 1, 2020) Larner College of Medicine Class of '21 medical student and Essex EMT Hilary Danis was featured in an NBC10 Boston/New England Cable News (NECN) story on Vermont Governor Phil Scott's call for help in supporting the state's health care workforce during the COVID-19 emergency. In the interview, Danis says "I think each and every one of us can serve our part."

A new app developed by UVM faculty called PanicMechanic, may be a resource for panic attack sufferers facing new anxieties in light of the COVID-19 crisis. The app, which adapts biofeedback-like monitoring so it can be used on a mobile phone, works at any time and in any location, and is the first technology to do so for panic.

As president and CEO of a Delaware organization that includes major health systems and research universities, UVM medical alum and family physician Omar Khan, M.D. ’03, is at the frontlines of the COVID-19 response. He and his team are working to ramp up testing and treatment, source PPE for healthcare workers, and keep the community informed.

When commercial flight cancellations jeopardized the transport of COVID-19 specimens - and same-day test results for patients - from Burlington to Mayo Clinic Laboratories, a group of fast-acting health care administrators and business leaders sprang into action to find a solution.