Research

Sprague's study, “Association Between False-Positive Results and Return to Screening Mammography in the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium Cohort,” published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that false-positive mammogram results are discouraging many women from returning for important follow-up screenings. Researchers say the additional imaging or biopsies performed after a suspicious finding often cause significant anxiety.

(SEPTEMBER 3, 2024) James Stafford, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurological sciences, along with Kirk Dombrowski, vice president for research and economic development at UVM, and pathology and laboratory medicine senior research technician Sandra May, were featured in a VT Digger article about the launch of a new startup incubator space in Colchester.

(SEPTEMBER 3, 2024) HealthDay featured a study by Brian Sprague, Ph.D., professor of surgery, et al. investigating the effect of false-positive mammogram results on women’s willingness to return for future screening.

(AUGUST 28, 2024) Kirk Dombrowski, Ph.D., vice president for research and economic development at the University of Vermont, spoke with Seven Days about the university’s efforts to secure its future by building up its research.

In a recent paper, titled “Vasohibin Inhibition Improves Myocardial Relaxation in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction,” Matthew Caporizzo, Ph.D., assistant professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, along with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, have created a powerful small molecule vasohibin inhibitor (VASHi) to block MTN detyrosination in live animals. Detyrosination is the enzymatic removal of the tyrosine (an amino acid that is used by cells to build proteins) residue from the C-terminal end of tubulin (a protein that forms microtubules), which makes the microtubules sticky, impeding the heart cells from relaxing properly.

Larner College of Medicine Assistant Professor of Medicine Sherrie Khadanga, M.D, has recently addressed ways to improve cardiac rehab (CR) methods in two different populations, addressing both age and socioeconomic status.

The Center on Aging is pleased to announce that a collaborative research team has been awarded the 2024 Armin Grams Memorial Research Award. The project, Usability and Validity of In-Home Assessment of Mobility and Speech Production in Aging Rural Vermonters with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment, is co-led by investigators David Jangraw, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Denise Peters, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Rehabilitation and Movement Science. Other faculty team members include Victoria Priganc, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Rehabilitation and Movement Science, Occupational Therapy Program; Co-Directors of the Center for Biomedical Innovation Lecturer Samantha Fox, B.S., and Professor of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering Michael J. Rosen, Ph.D.

5 teams of UVM Larner College of Medicine Class of 2027 medical students, along with 5 teams from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, and Vermont Law and Graduate School, have been selected to participate as 2024–25 Schweitzer Fellows through the New Hampshire/Vermont (NH/VT) Schweitzer Fellows Program.

Undernourished children are more vulnerable to pathogens and more likely to die from vaccine-preventable infectious disease, even when vaccinated. Research by Benjamin Lee, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, points to gut health as a contributing factor.

(MAY 9, 2024) Russell Tracy, Ph.D., professor of pathology & laboratory medicine and biochemistry, spoke with WCAX-TV about his team’s groundbreaking study about the molecular impact of exercise.