Department of Neurological Sciences

Dr. Marilyn Cipolla

SENIOR MENTOR

Marilyn Cipolla, Ph.D. is Professor of Neurological Sciences and Chair of the Departments of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Vermont. Her laboratory studies the cerebral circulation under physiological and pathological conditions. In particular, she is interested in how changes in cerebrovascular structure and function affect cerebral blood flow regulation and hemodynamics in ways that could promote brain injury. In addition, she is interested in blood-brain barrier properties and how changes in permeability to water or solutes can promote injury, including seizure and ischemic stroke. Specific areas she is interested in include:

• Acute ischemic stroke and reperfusion injury
• Cerebrovascular adaptation to pregnancy and preeclampsia/eclampsia
• Long-term cardiovascular consequences of preeclampsia

CIPOLLA LAB

Dr. Abbie Johnson

COLLABORATOR

Abbie Johnson, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences at the University of Vermont. Her research program blends the fields of cerebrovascular biology and neuroscience to understand novel vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia. Her lab is focused specifically on the unique and relatively unstudied vasculature supplying the ischemia-prone hippocampus. The overall goal of her research is to understand the function of the hippocampal vasculature to develop strategies to protect the hippocampus from hypoxic/ischemic injury during pathological conditions to maintain neurocognitive health. With combined expertise in cerebrovascular function, hippocampal neurophysiology, and cognition, her team is able to integrate the areas of hippocampal neuronal and vascular function that are necessary to understand neurovascular mechanisms of cognitive decline associated with aging, chronic hypertension and ischemic stroke. Dr. Johnson was recently awarded a  5-year R01 from the NIH National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke.

JOHNSON LAB

Sarah Tremble

RESEARCH ANALYST

Sam Aldous

UVM MEDICAL STUDENT

Project: Assessment of Regional Blockade in Children via Electromyography

Richard Quang Vuong

UVM MEDICAL STUDENT

Project: Safety and Efficacy of Spinal vs. General Anesthesia in Infants

Jharna Jahnavi

UVM MEDICAL STUDENT

Project: Safety and Efficacy of Spinal vs. General Anesthesia in Infants

Nicole Kosmider, DO

UVM ANESTHESIOLOGY RESIDENT

Project: Safety and Efficacy of Spinal vs. General Anesthesia in Infants

Gabriela Sarriera

UVM MEDICAL STUDENT

Daron Forohar

RESEARCH TECHNICIAN

Emily Sola

RESEARCH TECHNICIAN

Ryan Lutrzykowski

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT

Joe Liu

RESEARCH TECHNICIAN

Tanner Koppert

RESEARCH TECHNICIAN

Diana Mantilla

MEDICAL STUDENT/SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOW

Sam Aldous, MS4

University of Vermont Medical Student

Sam is currently in his 4th year of medical school at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. He is currently the lead investigator on a clinical study designed to develop a method to objectively measure regional blockade in infants undergoing surgery. Sam is applying into anesthesiology for the 2022-2023 match season. We can't wait to see what's to come for this rising star!

Lynnie Correll, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology

Ben Sanofsky, M.D., M.Ed.

Pediatric Anesthesia Faculty
Washington University St. Louis

Dr. Sanofsky was an anesthesiology resident at the University of Vermont from 2018 - 2021. He quickly realized that pediatric anesthesiology was the perfect fit for him, and lucky for us, her decided to stay in academics and become a clinician scientist! Following residency, Dr. Sanofsky matched at Stanford University for pediatric anesthesiology fellowship. He then joined the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, MO where he has significant non-clinical time to study the impact of personalized music on perioperative anxiety in children. Dr. Sanofsky is also a classically trained pianist and accomplished educator. Current project: Decreasing Emergence Agitation with Personalized Music (DEAP Music Trial)

Vanessa Olbrecht, M.D.

Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Principal Investigator
Vice Chair, Quality Improvement and Development
Nationwide Children's Hospital

Dr. Olbrecht is a rising star in the field of pediatric anesthesiology. She is a true "triple threat" - she exudes excellence in clinical quality, education, and research. She currently serves as Vice Chair for Quality Improvement and Development at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Dr. Olbrecht is NIH funded to study augmented and virtual reality and its role in perioperative pain management for children. You can read about her NIH-funded study here. Recently, Dr. Olbrecht was selected to be the Program Shadow for the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia Annual Meeting in Austin, TX (2023). 

K. Elliott Higgins, M.D.

Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
University of California Los Angeles

Dr. Higgins joined the anesthesiology faculty at the University of Vermont in 2020 after completing residency at UCSF and a regional anesthesia fellowship at Dartmouth.