Celebrating the UVM Larner College of Medicine Community

The celebratory mood outshined the cloudy skies during the University of Vermont’s Commencement Weekend May 17–18. Nearly 50 graduating students in eight Larner-affiliated master’s and doctoral programs were hooded at the Graduate College Ceremony on Saturday, and 100+ members of Larner’s Class of 2025 received their M.D. degrees at the Larner College of Medicine Commencement Ceremony on Sunday.

Read more about UVM's Commencement and the Larner Graduates

On May 1 at the Vermont State House in Montpelier, the UVM Cancer Center unveiled its new Outreach and Education Van, which will bring cancer screening, prevention, and education to rural areas. The van will set up at community events to raise awareness and will also visit high schools to spearhead STEM learning and mentoring opportunities for both students and educators.

Read more about UVMCC’s Outreach and Education Van

Leading-edge research by Masayo Koide, Ph.D., M.S., research assistant professor of pharmacology, explores a link between excessive levels of a hormone that regulates blood pressure and cognitive decline caused by interrupted blood flow to the brain. Koide received a $2.7 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health for this study.

Read more about Dr. Koide’s research

For Mental Health Awareness Month in May, learn how the Larner College of Medicine provides education and resources to increase well-being. Hundreds of Larner research and news articles delve into topics ranging from substance abuse, child psychopathology, seasonal affective disorder, and election stress, to eating disorders, telehealth, therapeutic psychedelics, mental health urgent care, and much more.

Read more about mental health research and news at Larner

VOICES OF THE COLLEGE

“If I had to define my version of the Olympian mindset, I’d say it’s about faith—faith that I’m doing meaningful work in service of something greater than myself, and that we all are. It’s not blind faith; it’s cultivated.”

—Ty Walker, M.D.'25, reflects on how her athletic training since competing as a 2014 Olympic snowboarder has translated to her medical career.  

ACCOLADES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Several Larner College of Medicine faculty members—including 2024–25 ELAM/ELH Fellows Rebecca Aslakson, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of anesthesiology; Danielle Ehret, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of pediatrics; and Kristen Pierce, M.D., professor of medicine—attended the 30th anniversary celebration of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) program May 1–2 in Philadelphia.

Matthew Poynter, Ph.D., professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Medicine and director of the cellular, molecular, and biomedical sciences doctoral program at the Larner College of Medicine, has been appointed as the new director of the Vermont Lung Center; he had previously served as associate director since 2011.

The Department of Pediatrics has announced the 2025 winners of the annual Jerold and Ingela Lucey Early Career Investigator Prize for Innovations in Infant or Child Health: second-year medical student Greta Joos, fourth-year medical student Kelly Knight, pediatric resident Brianna Leahy, M.D., and assistant professor of pediatric hematology/oncology Caroline Hesko, M.D., M.P.H.

Two outstanding Larner College of Medicine faculty have been honored with 2025 Faculty Awards for their contributions to innovative scholarship, exceptional teaching and advising, and outstanding community engagement. Kari Hodge, M.A., received the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award; and Brian Sprague, Ph.D., received a University Scholars Award in Basic and Applied Sciences.

Eric L. Gagnon, M.Ed., M.S.S., director of facilities administration and projects at the Larner College of Medicine, who is a member of the Vermont Army National Guard, was recently promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General. He is now Commander of the Guard’s Land Component. Larner Dean Richard L. Page, M.D., presented Gagnon with a Challenge Coin from Senator Patrick Leahy.

SAVE THE DATE

Hoehl Gallery | Investiture of Deborah L. Cook, M.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, as inaugural holder of the Allison and Matthew S. Dinehart Green and Gold Professorship in Dermatopathology, Friday, May 30, 2025, 1:00 p.m., Hoehl Gallery.

MedEd 100 | Larner’s Third Annual Blood Drive, Friday, June 13. Schedule your appointment between 10 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. Join Dean Page as we partner with the Red Cross to replenish Vermont’s critical blood supply. Your gift can save a life!

Hotel Champlain | UVM Cancer Center Rural Health and Cancer Conference, Thursday to Saturday, June 19–21, Hotel Champlain, Burlington. Convening a wide array of experts and building cross-disciplinary collaborations amongst rural cancer health experts.

LARNER IN THE NEWS

WCAX-TV
Holcombe, Queen Show Off New Cancer Center Outreach and Education Van

REAL SIMPLE
Dr. Wall Offers Tips for Good Sleep

JOIN LARNER ON BLUE SKY

Please join the Larner College of Medicine in our newest social media community, Bluesky @uvmlarnermed.bsky.social. With over 34 million registered users and growing, Bluesky is a free, open social network similar to X/Twitter where everyone can highlight our incredible research to #MedSky, share news celebrating our medical community, and stay in the know. You can also connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X. 

PUBLISHED RESEARCH

Abubakar M, Duggan MA, Fan S, Pfeiffer RM, Lawrence S, Mutreja K, Klein A, Koka H, Ahearn TU, Henry JE, Sprague BL, Vacek PM, Weaver DL, Richert-Boe K, Kimes TM, Titiloye N, Edusei L, Figueroa JD, Yang XR, Garcia-Closas M, Rohan TE, Gierach GL. Unraveling the role of stromal disruption in aggressive breast cancer etiology and outcomes. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 May 14:djaf070. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djaf070. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40366376.

Boghossian NS, Greenberg LT, Edwards EM, Horbar JD. Active Treatment and Survival Trends for Periviable Births by Race and Ethnicity. JAMA. 2025 Apr 26:e253033. doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.3033. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40287145; PMCID: PMC12034088.

Farhat K, Obradovic A, Siebert A, Tun HN, Noch EK, Kwan JM. Evaluating factors impacting early career physician-scientists' decisions to continue research careers in the United States of America. BMC Med Educ. 2025 Apr 17;25(1):564. doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-07144-4. Erratum in: BMC Med Educ. 2025 May 9;25(1):679. doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-07275-8. PMID: 40247298; PMCID: PMC12007356.

Huether KM, Pinheiro LC, Judd SE, Long DL, Safford MM, Lloyd-Jones DM, Plante TB. Association Between Life's Essential 8 and Cardiovascular, Cancer, and Other Cause Mortality: The REGARDS Study. JACC Adv. 2025 Apr 24:101731. doi: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.101731. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40338760.

Kaminsky DA, Rowell J, Menson K, Hodgdon K, Devine D, Garrow OJ, Raymond C, Prehoda E, Morrison T, Irvin CG. Longitudinal assessment of lung function in patients following COVID-19. Respir Med. 2025 Apr 29;243:108130. doi: 10.1016/j.rmed.2025.108130. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40311850.

Karb R, Burton T, Lin T, Baird J, Rana M, Madsen TE. Neighborhood-level variation in prehospital care of patients with suspected stroke in Rhode Island. Acad Emerg Med. 2025 May 2. doi: 10.1111/acem.70046. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40318175.

Little KM, Speck E, Pulcini CD, Paradise M, Rideout M, Raszka WV Jr. Altered Mental Status and First-Time Seizure in Teen With a Subacute Inguinal Mass. Pediatrics. 2025 May 1;155(5):e2024069855. doi: 10.1542/peds.2024-069855. PMID: 40240005.

Martin KA, Cushman M. Factor V Leiden. JAMA. 2025 Apr 30. doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.2420. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40305030.

Matheny ME, Carpenter-Song E, Ricket IM, Solomon RJ, Stabler ME, Davis SE, Zubkoff L, Westerman DM, Dorn C, Cox KC, Minter FF, Jneid H, Currier JW, Athar SA, Girotra S, Leung C, Helton TJ, Agarwal A, Vidovich MI, Plomondon ME, Waldo SW, Aschbrenner KA, McKay V, O'Malley AJ, Brown JR. Sustained Improvements After Intervention to Prevent Contrast-Associated Acute Kidney Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Am Heart Assoc. 2025 May 15:e038920. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.124.038920. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40371586.

Riss V, Hartman-Munick SM, Shubkin CD, Lahey T. A Bitter Pill: The Ethics of Involuntary Treatment of Adolescents With Severe Eating Disorders. Hosp Pediatr. 2025 Feb 1;15(2):e66-e72. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2024-007921. PMID: 39864453.

Rubin BE, Vizzard MA, Herrera GM. Impact of surgical bladder catheter implantation on voiding function in mice. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2025 Jun 1;328(6):R718-R726. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00300.2024. Epub 2025 May 7. PMID: 40331573.

Unruh MA, Carney JK, Moreno A, Snyder Sulmasy L; ACP Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee. Optimizing Ethical Care, Quality, and Safety in Long-Term Services and Supports: A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2025 May 6. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-24-03641. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40324198.

Wohlford L, Kittell M, Lyttleton J, Morris JG, Lukovits TG, Zimmerman KD, Sholl JM, Trimarco TW, Callas PW, Wolfson D. Implementation and Validation of Field Assessment Stroke Triage for Emergency Destination (FAST-ED) in a Rural EMS Region. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2025 May 7:1-8. doi: 10.1080/10903127.2025.2498012. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40298541.

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