Love is more than a matter of the heart, according to research on the neurobiology of relationships, the roles of hormones in pair-bonding, and the effects of sensory information in partner selection. Science aside, five couples—Karena and Tin, Audree and Tanner, Chellie and Tyler, Jonathan and Marissa, and Delia and Tobey—share their stories of Love at Larner.

What do we mean when we refer to the humanities, especially with regard to the practice of medicine? Put simply, medical humanities focus on what it means, literally, to be human. To this end, physicians benefit from skilled attention to literature, poetry, philosophy, history, ethics, art, artistic performance, and even the social sciences.

In this conversation, Dr. Carten—who presented the 2025 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Health Equity Lecture on January 22—explores diversity, equity, and inclusion in health care, reflects on her career, and reminisces about meeting with “Look at Larner” students.

Medical students joined researchers in the musculoskeletal research center to explore risk factors for knee trauma and investigate how ligament tears lead to arthritis. Their insights will improve injury prevention and rehabilitation methods for this largest joint in the body.

For Cervical Cancer Awareness Month in January, the University of Vermont’s Across the Fence program features Kate Tracy, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research at the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine and director of research for the UVM Health Network.

Brain health research projects led by early career investigators Kathryn Morelli, Ph.D., Masayo Koide, Ph.D., M.S., and James Stafford, Ph.D., were selected to receive grant funding from the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health. These pilot grants aim to advance the researchers’ skills in study design, epidemiology, translational research, and using pioneering technologies.

Vermont has earned an extraordinary distinction for its commitment to maternal and infant health, becoming the only state in the nation to receive an “A” grade on the 2024 March of Dimes Report Card. This achievement reflects the state’s ongoing efforts to improve outcomes for birthing parents and babies, setting a new standard for quality care across the country.

A team of UVM scientists led by University Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pharmacology Mark Nelson, Ph.D., from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, has uncovered a novel mechanism that reshapes our understanding of how blood flow is regulated in the brain. The study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a high-impact, peer-reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences.

A partnership between Larner medical students Jasmine Bazinet-Phillips ’25, M.S.Ed., and Ashwini Sarathy ’25 has led to several grant-funded initiatives to address literacy and nutrition disparities among underserved families in the Burlington area. The pair obtained a City Market Co-op Seedling Grant in 2022 based on their student outreach project, “Promoting Childhood Literacy in New Immigrant Burlington Families,” co-authored by Jennifer Covino, M.D.

Tuning in to the season’s themes of thankfulness and family, a children’s picture book titled "The Family Squeeze," written by Christian Pulcini, M.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., assistant professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics, shows how the power of physical touch—to both celebrate good times and endure tough times—brings a family together and builds resilience.

Researchers from UVM’s Larner College of Medicine and Saint Michael’s College, including Ruth Fabian-Fine, Ph.D., and John DeWitt, M.D., Ph.D., have made a groundbreaking new discovery—guided by previous research on spider brains. The findings provide a better understanding of how Alzheimer’s disease develops in the human brain and offer a new perspective on brain pathologies observed in Alzheimer’s disease.

A group of alumni from the medical class of 1967 gathers every three months or so to catch up, check in with each other, and reminisce about their days together at the University of Vermont. They have been meeting regularly for the past two years, typically at a coffee shop or one of their homes. The now-retired physicians collectively represent about 450 years of clinical practice.

Amber Goerner, M.S.’24, who earned her master’s degree in cellular, molecular, and biomedical sciences from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, expresses her fascination with science by crocheting some of the viruses she studies.

Anthony Williams, M.D., assistant professor of family medicine and assistant dean of admissions at the Larner College of Medicine, shares his reflections on becoming a doctor as part of the UVM Health Network’s Mosaic Project: Our People. Their Stories.

The Larner College of Medicine joined communities across the U.S. in celebration of National Rural Health Day on November 21, 2024. This annual event celebrates the “Power of Rural” and honors individuals and organizations dedicated to addressing the unique health care needs of nearly 61 million people currently living in rural America.

A pilot study by Larner medical students working in collaboration with a healthy aging advocacy group explored the key factors influencing recruitment of primary care professionals. Their findings challenge common assumptions about health care recruitment and identify a complex interplay of factors that go into a trainee’s decision-making process about where to practice medicine.

Class of 2025 medical students Liz Kelley and Jessie Lucas are recipients of the Ignat Scholars Incentive Scholarship/Loan Forgiveness Program, which will forgive their medical school loans if they return to Vermont within one year of completing their medical training.

Many people note that a silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it forced people to collaborate remotely, accelerating innovations in teamwork and problem-solving. This is evident within the UVM Children’s Hospital and the pediatrics department at the Larner College of Medicine.

During their first year of medical school, Class of 2025 medical students Lindsay Aldrich and Richard Vuong won a competitive fellowship from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to develop an idea: They envisioned bringing the doctor’s office to new mothers and infants in rural regions of Vermont via a mobile health clinic.

Since the Global Health Program’s inception, more than 120 medical students from the Larner College of Medicine have participated—most recently: Uganda (Sarah Chiavacci ’27, Annie Lindholm ’27, and Ben Sebuufu ’27); Vietnam (Martin Briche ’27, Max Pendleton ’27, Curtis Plante ’27, and Eunice Suberu ’27); and the Dominican Republic (Arya Kale ’27 and Estefania “Stefa” Obando ’27).