A highlight of the Larner College of Medicine’s fifth annual Professionalism Week, held May 6–10, was the Dean’s Professionalism Awards Presentation and Celebration on May 9. This program honored individuals who consistently exceed expectations and embody the principles outlined in the College’s Professionalism Statement. Professionalism Week is an opportunity for all members of the College community to reaffirm our dedication to these principles, which were developed in 2019 by a diverse Task Force comprising members of the faculty and staff, as well as students and residents/fellows.

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The Dudley H. Davis Center’s Grand Maple Ballroom was the setting for the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine Class of 2024 Honors Night on May 14. Hosted by Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education Christa Zehle, M.D., the event featured recognition and awards for faculty, staff, and graduating medical students.

Among the honors presented at the event were the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society faculty and housestaff awards, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine faculty and student awards, the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Scholars, department awards to students, and awards from the Class of 2024.

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Althea Tapales ’25, Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Fellow’23–’25, presented her annual fellowship sponsored research titled “High-throughput Assessment of TNNT2 Variant Function in a hiPSC Cardiomyopathy Model” at the Sarnoff 44th Annual Scientific Meeting. Dean Richard Page, a distinguished Sarnoff Alumni (1982–1983), attended the meeting and her presentation.

Last year, Tapales received the prestigious Sarnoff Fellowship, which provided a $50,000 annual stipend and allowed her to select any laboratory across the U.S. to pursue impactful cardiovascular-related research.

“My chosen destination was Stanford University, where I immersed myself in Dr. Euan Ashley’s Lab and close mentorship of Dr. Victoria Parikh. Here, my focus centered on investigating the function and pathogenicity of TNNT2 variants, utilizing human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) cardiomyopathy models,” Tapales said.

During her fellowship, she acquired invaluable laboratory skills, ranging from the manipulation of iPSCs and their differentiation into mature cardiomyocytes to proficient DNA extraction, sequencing, and coding for computational analysis of sequencing data. The continuation of her fellowship this coming year will enable Tapales to further advance her research endeavors, ensuring the continuation and completion of her ongoing project.

New work from UVM Cancer Center member Alan Howe, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and molecular physiology & biophysics, and Howe Lab postdoc Mingu Kang, Ph.D., highlights a newly identified pathway that connects the properties of the extracellular matrix to signals that control cell mobility/motility. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides a better understanding into how cells incorporate changes in physical cues into cellular communication.

Just like we respond to cues based on our environment, so do cells, and cancer cells are particularly good at adjusting to environmental changes. One of these environmental changes is the stiffness of the material that surrounds the cells. This material—the extracellular matrix—is a scaffold of fibrous proteins that is both sturdy enough to provide architectural support and dynamic enough to remodel itself. As tumors grow, the surrounding extracellular matrix remodels, thickens, and stiffens. Cancer cells respond to these environmental changes by growing more rapidly, becoming more mobile and invasive, and increasing defenses to avoid cell death. Howe and Kang’s work will increase understanding of how cancer cells connect environmental changes to cellular communication in order to thrive in changing environments.

Read full article about Howe and Kang’s work

The above was excerpted from the recent UVM Cancer Center article by Katelyn Queen, “New Study Establishes How Cells May Communicate Changes in Their Environment.”

On May 5, 2024, the Anatomical Gift Program quietly held a memorial tribute organized by faculty, staff, and students to honor “Our Greatest Teachers”—individuals who have chosen to make anatomical gifts to the University of Vermont. The tribute, to which family members and significant others of donors are invited, allows the College to acknowledge those donors who have contributed to our courses over the past academic year and to pay our final respects to these individuals.

Donations through the Anatomical Gift Program at the Larner College of Medicine are an integral part of educating our students and medical professionals. The study of the human body is the core of medical education, and gifts from private donors make advanced anatomy training possible. Our medical students, health professionals, and clinical specialists rely on this generosity to study the structure of the human body and acquire research and patient care expertise.

L. E. Faricy, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, was honored last week at Burlington City Hall during the annual Roots of Prevention Awards Celebration, led by the Burlington Partnership for a Healthy Community (BHPC), a substance misuse prevention coalition. Faricy earned an Outstanding Individual Award in recognition of their efforts to champion local policy change and improve community health.

A pediatric pulmonologist at the UVM Medical Center and the UVM Children’s Hospital, Faricy has seen firsthand the impacts of substance misuse on youth and works tirelessly to ensure access to empathetic care and vital resources. This commitment extends far beyond clinical health care. Faricy serves on the Board of the American Academy of Pediatrics Vermont Chapter and as an assistant professor at the UVM Larner College of Medicine. Championing efforts to ban flavored tobacco products in Vermont, Faricy has been an advocate of protecting youth and families through policy, prevention, and education. They partnered with Outright Vermont, leading a structural overhaul of the medical team at Camp Outright, Vermont’s only dedicated LGBTQ+ youth camp. They also provided invaluable medical expertise through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, assisting Outright with resources and connections to make programs safe for LGBTQ+ youth.

From giving their time to speak at schools, to meeting with parents and caregivers of youth, to mentoring the next generation of doctors, to volunteering their expertise to local programs on top of being an exceptional physician, Faricy is truly an outstanding individual.

(This information comes from the Burlington Partnership for a Healthy Community website.)