Accolades & Accomplishments
April 17, 2024
Effective April 1, 2024, pulmonologist Garth Garrison, M.D., associate professor of medicine, has been appointed assistant dean for advanced integration in the Office of Medical Education (OME) at the Larner College of Medicine. In this role, he will be a member of the medical education leadership team and the curriculum team within OME and will be responsible for leading and managing the Advanced Integration level of the Vermont Integrated Curriculum.
Garrison has worked for the UVM Medical Center since September 2011 in the Department of Medicine and is currently program director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program. He is an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine at the Larner College of Medicine and serves as a UVM Cancer Center member.
Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education Christa Zehle, M.D., welcomed Garrison to the Office of Medical Education. “I am delighted that Dr. Garrison will be joining the Office of Medical Education as assistant dean for advanced integration. Dr. Garrison has been a valuable partner in medical education for many years and currently serves as the advanced integration subcommittee chair. Our medical education program will benefit significantly from his continued engagement and leadership of the Advanced Integration level of our curriculum.”
Mark Nelson, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pharmacology at the University of Vermont, gave the James O. Davis keynote lecture at the 31st Annual Cardiovascular Day at the University of Missouri on March 5. Cardiovascular Day presents an opportunity to disseminate leading-edge findings in cardiovascular research. More than 200 people attended Nelson’s presentation, titled “Capillaries as multi-modal sensors of brain activity.”
A member of the UVM faculty since 1986, Nelson is internationally recognized for his research on the molecular mechanisms and cellular communication involved in blood flow, particularly in the brain’s blood vessels. His extensive research contributions have been recognized with more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and more than 380 invited lectureships in the U.S. and abroad. In 2023 he gave seven keynote lectures and was a visiting professor for the Danish Cardiovascular Academy at the University of Aarhus and University of Copenhagen. His 2024 speaking engagements will include a plenary lecture at the Ninth Biennial National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence in June in Washington, D.C.; the Bjorn Folkow Plenary Lecture at the Mechanisms of Vasodilation/Endothelium-Dependent Hyperpolarization Meeting in July at Magdalen College in Oxford, England; and a plenary lecture for and the keynote at the International Conference on Spreading Depolarizations in November in Antalya, Turkey.
Nelson has a part-time professorship at the University of Manchester, England, and a visiting professorship at the University of Oxford, England. He is a member of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Vermont Academy of Sciences and Engineering, and the National Academy of Sciences.
While he enjoys an international reputation as an accomplished scientist, Nelson is equally recognized as a mentor to the next generation of scientists, having mentored more than 60 postdoctoral fellows and research faculty members at the University of Vermont. He is co-director of the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health, an NIH-funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence that provides a platform to build sustainable research programs to nurture the exceptional potential of early career faculty investigating cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cognitive impairment.
Nathaniel “Than” Moore, M.B.A., PA-C, a member of the Class of 2024, has been honored with the 2024 ACEP/EMRA National Outstanding Medical Student Award by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). This award recognizes exceptional fourth-year medical students bound for careers in emergency medicine who demonstrate outstanding qualities in humanism/professionalism, leadership/service to medical organizations, community service, research, and academic achievement.
ACEP is a prominent professional organization representing emergency medicine physicians in the United States. Established in 1968, ACEP has grown to become the largest emergency medicine organization globally, boasting a membership exceeding 40,000.
Dedicated to advancing the specialty of emergency medicine, ACEP focuses on advocacy, education, research, and quality improvement endeavors. The organization advocates for policies that bolster emergency medicine physicians and their patients, promotes rigorous clinical standards, facilitates ongoing medical education, and supports research initiatives within the field.
To prepare for her fifth personal marathon, she followed the Jack Daniels training formula, which incorporated two long runs a week of about 14–15 miles, followed by 8–9 miles on recovery days. She ran approximately 70–80 miles a week during the height of her training cycle—all while maintaining the schedule of a full-time medical student.
Commenting on her humble introduction to running, Ravichandran recalls, "I started running in high school and wasn’t sporty at all. I was put in a race where I shouldn’t have been put in and did well, so it took off from there."
A Larner College of Medicine hockey team made up of Jeremy Altman ’24, Will Robinson ’24, Rachel Bombardier ’24, Nick Brunette ’24, Ryan Trus ’26, Ty Bever ’25, Georgia Babb ’26, Jake Bleau ’26, Jasmine Bazinet-Phillips ’25, Tucker Angier ʼ26, Woongki Kim ʼ25, Aiden Masters ʼ27, Matt Mullen ʼ27, Teddy Harrington ʼ27, and Curtis Plante ʼ27 met the Fighting Loraxes from Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine on April 7 at Dartmouth College’s Thompson Arena for an annual hockey clash known as The Specimen Cup. Larner won with a final score of 12-2.
The game was organized by Dartmouth medical students and their administration with help from Trus and Bleau, who also helped obtain a new set of jerseys for the Larner team.
The Specimen Cup is a friendly competition honoring the late Bruce Fonda, a beloved anatomy instructor at UVM for 25 years who started the first intramural hockey team at the school, and who died of brain cancer in 2005. The games alternate between UVM and Dartmouth.
“I’ve had the privilege of playing in the game the past three years after we revived it in the wake of COVID. It’s been special getting to play hockey with my classmates and I’m happy that I can end my medical school hockey career with a victory prior to starting residency this summer,” Brunette said.
Bombardier remarked on her experience sharing the rink with fellow medical students and members of the UVMMC community throughout the past four years. “I felt immensely grateful for the opportunity to step onto the ice one last time, representing the Larner College of Medicine before graduating. These memories on the ice provided a refreshing escape from the classroom and clinical environment throughout my medical education,” she said.
The following members of Larner’s Class of 2025, recognized by their peers for “demonstrated excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion, and dedication to service,” were selected for induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society: Anupama Balasubramanian, Ty Bever, Jack Braidt, Max Breidenstein, Charlotte Evans, Michelle Falcone, Callan Gravel-Pucillo, Justin Henningsen, Ana Homick, Elizabeth Kelley, Heather Kettlewell, Casey Krueger, Tyler McGuire, Karena Nguyen, Neeki Parsa, Javier Rincon, Faith Robinson, Ashwini Sarathy, Paige Song, and Jared Stone. A formal induction ceremony will take place in fall 2024.
High school students from five Burlington-area schools attended the second Careers in Cancer event at the UVM Cancer Center on April 12. Their immersive experience included learning about career pathways in research and treatment, observing faculty and students working in labs, and listening to remarks by Senator Peter Welch, Larner Dean Richard L. Page, M.D., Cancer Center Director Randall Holcombe, M.D., M.B.A., and guest speaker Luis Zea, Ph.D.
Pictured at left, Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., UVM Larner College of Medicine Distinguished Professor and UVM Cancer Center member, provides a tour of the Janssen-Heininger Pathology Lab to Champlain Valley Union High School students and their teacher.
Recent press coverage:
April 12, 2024 - Area students explore research careers during UVM Cancer Center visit
April 15, 2024 - Students Learn About Careers in Cancer
