Department of Psychiatry

(JUNE 17, 2022) A study published in JAMA Psychiatry and authored by Matthew Albaugh, Ph.D., University of Vermont assistant professor of psychiatry, and colleagues, was featured in a HealthDay article, titled "Pot Use May Change the Teenage Brain, MRIs Show."

A new study, led by University of Vermont Center on Behavior and Health researchers and colleagues and published in JAMA Network Open, found that using a smartphone app that monitored smoking and delivered incentives to participants’ debit cards showed promise in achieving similar results to traditional best practices with financial incentives.

On May 13, the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont held Honors Night for graduating medical students in the Class of 2022. Accolades presented included the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society faculty, housestaff, and community physician awards; the Arnold P. Gold Foundation's Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine faculty and student awards; Area Health Education Center Scholars; department awards to students; and awards from the Class of 2022.

UVM Pediatric Primary Care is removing barriers to mental health care with an evidence-based Primary Care Mental Health Integration program, piloted with support from the UVM Health Network.

(FEBRUARY 8, 2022) A contingency management program developed by psychologist Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, to treat patients with addictions was mentioned in The Guardian.

Researchers at the University of Vermont recently received a $5.5 million, five-year grant to participate in the Phase II portion of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, an initiative focused on gathering data on brain development from birth through early childhood.

Tis the season for coats – white coats that is! On Friday, October 15, the University of Vermont Neuroscience Graduate Program (NGP) hosted its annual White Coat Ceremony in the Livak Ballroom of the UVM Davis Center. While often associated with medical education, the White Coat Ceremony for new graduate degree students has its own history, dating back to 1989, according to Haley Olszewski, NGP program administrator. The ceremony is a rite of passage for many graduate students, she says, both “marking the transition of graduate students, particularly in the sciences, from the early, largely course-based phase of their education to the more research intense phase of their training.” The event also serves to “emphasize the relationship between the student and their mentor,” she adds.

More than 75% of women with Opioid Use Disorder report having had an unintended pregnancy, but they are less likely to use effective contraception compared to women who do not use drugs. Results from a multi-year trial led by UVM Professor Sarah Heil found that a two-part intervention featuring co-located contraceptive services in opioid treatment programs and financial incentives could offer an effective solution.

(AUGUST 4, 2021) A MedPageToday article focused on a JAMA Psychiatry article by Professor of Psychiatry Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., and colleagues that examined the effectiveness of using contingency management to address comorbid behaviors like cigarette smoking in patients receiving medication for opioid use disorder.

UVM scientists and colleagues published youth brain activation data from the largest longitudinal neuroimaging study to date in Nature Neuroscience. The findings provide valuable new information on the cognitive processes and brain systems that underlie adolescent development and might contribute to mental and physical health challenges in adulthood.

(APRIL 15, 2021) Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Jeremiah Dickerson, M.D., was interviewed by local Burlington, Vt. CBS affiliate WCAX-TV for a story, titled "Should parents worry about pandemic’s long-term effects on kids?"

Faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends, and family gathered virtually March 12 to celebrate Alan Rubin, M.D., associate professor of medicine and psychiatry, whose 46-year-long career at the University of Vermont has touched thousands of lives. Serving as a clinician, teacher, and mentor over the past nearly five decades, Rubin developed an extensive following through the deep connections he forged with his patients, students, and colleagues.

Members of the Larner College of Medicine’s medical Class of 2023, leaders, medical educators, and staff gathered virtually January 28 to celebrate the students’ achievements and recognize the faculty and staff who have supported them during an online Foundations Celebration event.

While public health and infectious disease experts have discussed strategies to enhance adherence, including the potential use of financial incentives, an examination of the scientific evidence on incentivizing vaccine adherence has not been discussed. A new Commentary in Preventive Medicine by Vermont Center on Behavior and Health Director Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., and colleagues addresses that gap.

A study by UVM faculty members published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports that in a group of first-year university students, COVID-19 mitigation protocols had a modest, but persistent, impact on mood and wellness behaviors. Students enrolled in the university's wellness program, however, had improved mood levels and fewer attention problems.

UVM faculty members Andrea Villanti, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of psychiatry, and William Copeland, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, have been named to a list of the world’s most influential researchers - the Highly Cited Researchers list is compiled and published annually by Clarivate Analytics.

(NOVEMBER 6, 2020) James Hudziak, M.D., Director of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families, creator and director of the UVM Wellness Environment (WE), and professor of psychiatry, was quoted in a National Geographic article, titled "Why Music Might be the Perfect Tool to Decrease Kids' Pandemic Stress."

(OCTOBER 27, 2020) Professor of Psychiatry Richard Rawson, Ph.D., was quoted in a New York Times article, titled "This Addiction Treatment Works. Why Is It So Underused?"

A JAMA Network Open study, led by Stephen T. Higgins, Ph.D., director of the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, provides evidence that, even in smokers from vulnerable populations, reducing nicotine content to low levels decreases addictiveness – a timely finding as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers a policy to lower nicotine content in all cigarettes sold in the U.S.

Lee Rosen, Ph.D., has been appointed interim associate dean for students at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, effective August 3, 2020. He replaces Christa Zehle, M.D., who served as associate dean for students since 2012 and accepted the position of senior associate dean for medical education on March 9, 2020.