Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology

Department of Medicine

University of Vermont Provost David Rosowsky and Larner College of Medicine Dean Frederick Morin, M.D., have announced the appointment of Michael LaMantia, M.D., M.P.H., as director of the UVM Center on Aging. LaMantia, who is currently associate professor of medicine and neurological sciences, as well as section head of geriatric medicine, will succeed William Pendlebury, M.D., professor emeritus of pathology and laboratory medicine, who will step down from the position in January 2018.

In early 2017, University of Vermont researchers Michael Toth, Ph.D., and Christian Skalka, Ph.D. were awarded one of two inaugural UVM Biomedical Engineering (BME) Pilot Research Program grants for their project, “Cyber-physical system innovations to monitor and improve compliance with at-home neuromuscular rehabilitation.” Through the project, Toth and Skalka have worked to create a cyber-physical electrical stimulation system that acts as a bridge therapy for patients immediately post-injury and in the time between surgery and the start of physical therapy.

The Madison-Deane Education Fund presented the inaugural Madison-Deane Award for Excellence in End-of-Life Care to Zail Berry, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, at the program’s “Evening of Gratitude” event held October 24, 2017 at Burlington Country Club.

Risk of blood clots increases with the amount of time spent watching television, even if people get the recommended amount of physical activity, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2017 in Anaheim, Calif. November 11 to 15, 2017.

The Vermont Medical Society’s Education and Research Foundation (VMSERF) has awarded $5,000 scholarships to Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont students Margaret Johnston and Andrew Corse. The recipients were honored at the Vermont Medical Society’s 204th annual meeting held November 4, 2017 in Woodstock, Vt.

Vermont is among the top ten states in per capita research funding in the U.S., according to a State of Research at the College presentation delivered by Larner College of Medicine Senior Associate Dean for Research Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., at the Dean’s Excellence in Research Awards event held November 13, 2017. The last of three 2017 Celebrating Excellence in Research events held at the College on November 10 and 13, 2017, the awards ceremony recognized the accomplishments of faculty, residents, medical students, graduate students and postdoctoral trainees.

Since 1998, this program, jointly organized by the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the UVM Medical Center, has been providing members of the UVM and local community with accessible and important education on a wide variety of timely, fascinating, and engaging health care topics.

The Vermont Genetics Network (VGN) and Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (VCIID) at the University of Vermont hosted more than 300 National Institutes of Health-funded biomedical researchers from across Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Delaware for the North East Regional IDeA Conference (NERIC) August 16 to 18, 2017 at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy delivered remarks at the conference on August 17.

University of Vermont researchers Sean Diehl, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and a Vaccine Testing Center immunologist, Sam Scarpino, Ph.D., former assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, Donna Rizzo, Ph.D., professor of engineering, and John Hanley, Ph.D., a postdoctoral associate in engineering, have been awarded the inaugural UVM Biomedical Engineering Program Pilot Research Program grant for their project, titled “Integrating omics and clinical data to study dengue infection.”

Two University of Vermont research teams have been awarded SPARK-VT grants by the university to help commercialize their work and move it a step closer to the marketplace, following a faculty pitch competition held June 16, 2017.

Patients whose hearts have a faulty mitral valve and are considered high risk for open-heart surgery now have a treatment option offered by cardiologists at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Called Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair (TMVR), the procedure uses a catheter inserted through a vein in the leg to reach the heart and make the repair. The mitral valve performs a check-valve function and is located between the left atrium, where blood enters the heart from the lungs, and the left ventricle, which pumps the blood to your entire body.

Michael LaMantia, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine and section head of geriatric medicine at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, was among 18 leading healthcare professionals honored as elected AGS Fellows at the 2017 American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Annual Scientific Meeting held May 18-20 in San Antonio, Texas.

The “Stem Cells, Cell Therapies, and Bioengineering in Lung Biology and Diseases” conference at the University of Vermont now offers a new, competitive travel scholarship that honors the legacy of late Alpha-1 Foundation co-founder John W. Walsh, who passed away March 7, 2017.

Larner College of Medicine Research Laureate and University Distinguished Professor of Medicine Ralph Budd, M.D., will present the inaugural Research Laureate Lecture on May 9, 2017 at 4:30 p.m. in the Sullivan Classroom in the Medical Education Center. His talk is titled “The El Greco Lesson: 33 Years of Thinking Lupus.”

Like spicy food? If so, you might live longer, say researchers at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, who found that consumption of hot red chili peppers is associated with a 13 percent reduction in total mortality – primarily in deaths due to heart disease or stroke – in a large prospective study.

On January 10, 2017, the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), in partnership with John Wiley and Sons, Inc., announced the launch of the Society’s new open access journal, Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis (RPTH), with its inaugural issue to publish in conjunction with the meeting of the ISTH 2017 Congress in Berlin, Germany, which will take place July 8 to 13, 2017.

The newest members of the Teaching Academy at The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont were inducted during a ceremony and dinner held January 5, 2017 that kicked off the Snow Season Education Retreat at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center.

On Wednesday, January 4, 2017, Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced the appointment of Mark Levine, M.D., professor of medicine and associate dean for graduate medical education at the Larner College of Medicine at UVM, as Vermont's new Commissioner of Health.

Commentary authored by Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., UVM professor of medicine and associate dean for public health, discussing the myths and facts about e-cigarettes is featured in on VT Digger.

UVM College of Medicine faculty members James Hudziak, M.D., professor of psychiatry, pediatrics and medicine and director of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth & Families, and Jon Porter, M.D., clinical assistant professor of family medicine and director of the UVM Center for Health & Wellbeing, are featured in an article about UVM’s Wellness Environment (WE) program on NBCNews.com.