Department of Pediatrics

A commentary published in the journal Pediatrics by Benjamin Lee, M.D. and William V. Raszka, Jr., M.D., concludes that children infrequently transmit COVID-19 to each other or to adults and that many schools, provided they follow appropriate social distancing guidelines and take into account rates of transmission in their community, can and should reopen in the fall.

(JUNE 9 & 11, 2020) Maria Mercedes Avila, Ph.D., M.S.W., program director of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program, associate professor of pediatrics, and health equity and inclusive excellence liaison, was featured in local news stories on COVID-19 and racial disparities in health on Vermont Public Radio and NBC5.

On May 11, awardees from the Larner College of Medicine Class of 2020, faculty and staff were recognized through an online Honors Celebration featuring remarks from Dean Page and videotaped presentations of each award.

Larner College of Medicine faculty members Gregory Holmes, M.D., professor and chair of neurological sciences, and Gary Stein, Ph.D., Perelman professor and chair of biochemistry, have been selected as University Scholars for the 2020-21 academic year.

The phrase “keep your distance” has taken on a whole new and deeply important meaning in the era of COVID-19 and even Match Day, the annual senior medical student rite of passage, was not “immune” to honoring this behavior. On March 20, 2020, members of the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont’s Class of 2020 went virtual to ensure social distancing while celebrating the news of where they will be spending the next three to seven years training as residents following graduation.

Richard L. Page, M.D., Dean of the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, has announced that, following a national search, Christa Zehle, M.D., has accepted the position of Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education at the College. Dr. Zehle, who has served as Interim Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education at Larner since January 2019, assumes the new role effective immediately.

The Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont held its first-ever event to celebrate and recognize achievements in gender equity on March 4, 2020. Governor Madeleine Kunin provided a keynote address, followed by an awards ceremony at which Ramsey Herrington, M.D., Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., Debra Leonard, M.D., Ph.D., and Lauren Elizabeth Faricy, M.D., were recognized.

University of Vermont scientists, physicians, and students gathered at the Larner College of Medicine February 6 for the first-ever on-campus “virus slam” hosted by the Translational Global Infectious Diseases Research Center. At the event, some twenty experts, from five UVM colleges and institutes, gave five-minute mini-talks that ranged from explaining the biochemistry of the virus’ interaction with the human immune system to interpreting the latest data from the World Health Organization.

​The Teaching Academy at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont held its annual Snow Season Education Retreat on January 15-16, 2020 in the College’s Medical Education Center and UVM Davis Center. Highlights included an Induction Ceremony for 2019 new members and advanced members, the presentation of the annual Teaching and Education Awards, and the first annual Snow Season Debate, moderated by Professor and Chair of Pediatrics Lewis First, M.D.

The Larner College of Medicine Global Health Program hosted three events during the week of September 23 that focused on the topic of migrant healthcare. Presenters included Jonathan Melk, M.D., CEO and chief medical officer for the Chiricauhua Community Health Centers in Douglas, Ariz., Darlene Melk, M.D., medical director of the Southern Arizona Children's Health Project and director of community pediatrics, and Naomi Wolcott-Maccausland, migrant health coordinator of Bridges to Health in UVM Extension.

(AUGUST 2, 2019) Richard Wasserman, M.D., professor of pediatrics, commented on motivational interviewing techniques used to encourage patients to adopt healthier behaviors in an Advisory.com article.

(JULY 11, 2019) Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Erica Gibson, M.D., commented on expanding healthcare access for transgender youth under Medicaid in VT Digger. Gibson, who is also the medical director of the UVM Medical Center’s Transgender Youth Program, addressed potential changes to transgender healthcare covered by Medicaid, including eliminating the minimum age for gender affirming surgeries.

(JUNE 18, 2019) Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Lori Racha, M.D., was interviewed on Vermont Public Radio's “But Why: a Podcast for Curious Kids.”

(JULY 3, 2019) Before she became a neonatal fellow at The University of Vermont Medical Center, Adrienne Pahl, M.D., practiced as a primary care pediatrician in Vermont for three and a half years. Through this work, she got to know parents of babies who were exposed to opioids during development, witnessing how these families faced not only the usual pressures of caring for a newborn but also the challenges of a child with serious medical problems.

Robert K. Williams, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, was invested as the inaugural Chris Abajian, M.D.’69 and Margaret Abajian Green & Gold Professor in Pediatric Anesthesiology in a ceremony held in the College of Medicine’s Hoehl Gallery on June 24, 2019.

Teaching Academy Director Kathryn Huggett, Ph.D., and the Frymoyer Scholars Program Review Committee have announced that five faculty projects were selected to receive 2019 Frymoyer Scholarship funding.

For more than 20 years, Larner College of Medicine Chair of Pediatrics and University of Vermont Children’s Hospital Chief Lewis First, M.D., has dedicated his time, knowledge, and passion to volunteering with the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). At the March 2019 NBME Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, he was elected as an honorary member for life and chair emeritus.

The Larner College of Medicine’s Class of 2019 Honors Night on May 13 was all about celebrating achievements. Medical students, leaders, faculty members, family and friends gathered for the event in UVM’s Davis Center to honor the recipients of individual student awards, faculty awards, a staff award, and a department award, as well as recognize the new student inductees for the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and Gold Humanism Honor Society.

The UVM Larner College of Medicine Class of 2021 participated in a Foundations Awards celebration January 24. The event, which marks the completion of the first level of the Vermont Integrated Curriculum, provides an opportunity for second-year medical students to join with faculty and staff and express their gratitude for the contributions of these Larner College of Medicine community members to their medical education journey.