Welcoming the Larner Class of 2029

On August 11, the Larner College of Medicine welcomed its Class of 2029 to the first official event of their medical school career: Orientation. Selected from a record-breaking pool of 10,377 applicants, these 124 new future doctors hail from 22 U.S. states, are fluent in 16 languages beyond English, hold 42 different majors from 72 universities, and have logged thousands of hours of undergraduate research and medical experience.

Meet members of the incoming class

Graphic of digital data clouds over a city skyline in black and blue

New Health Research Data Enclave

The University of Vermont, Larner College of Medicine, and UVM Health Network have jointly launched a secure, collaborative data enclave designed to remove barriers to large-scale, data-driven clinical and population health research while safeguarding patient privacy and integrity. This initiative lays the foundation for evidence-based policymaking and research-informed health care delivery.

A group of students at an awards ceremony

AHEC Scholars Inspire Vermont Youth

This summer, a select group of Larner student AHEC Scholars inspired the next generation of health care workers from local high schools during two, week-long sessions at the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont Summer Health & Medicine Institute. Class of 2028 mentors included Ayda Oktem, Alexander Nissenbaum, Julia Solowey, Michael Sabbaj, Jesus Mendoza, Jordan Hacker, Molly Burke, Finn Davis-Batt, Kyle Bergeron, and Aldi Chan, as well as Selena Henry ’29, M.M.S.’25.

LARNER VOICES

“Technology helps enable solutions to serve the mission ... and what I love about our department is that we’ve always been about finding the answers to how do we help students learn, help teachers teach, and help researchers find answers to big questions.”

— Steve Goldman, Chief Information Officer

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ACCOLADES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

For Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Awareness Month, the September 2 episode of UVM’s Across the Fence program features cardiologist Richard L. Page, M.D., professor of medicine and dean of the Larner College of Medicine. Dean Page explains AFib—an irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia—and the importance of early detection and management of this common but often underreported heart condition.

Larner Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine Richard Bounds, M.D., has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine for the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine and the University of Vermont Health Network, effective September 1, 2025. He succeeds Ramsey Herrington, M.D., who was appointed the department’s inaugural chair in 2022.

Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC) has selected a paper by first author Allison Langley, a cellular, molecular, and biomedical sciences graduate student working in the Salogiannis Lab, as the MBoC Paper of the Year. She has been invited to present at the MBoC Award Webinar in October. MBoC also elected John Salogiannis, Ph.D., to its Early Career Editorial Board.

Group photo of 3 people by an MRI machine

Niccolo Fiorentino, Ph.D., associate professor of mechanical engineering and orthopaedics & rehabilitation, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early-Career Development Program award. The grant will support Fiorentino’s research on the relationship between cartilage microstructure and the risk of a joint developing musculoskeletal diseases, such as osteoarthritis.

headshots of Sarah Wold, Ph.D. (left), and Heidi Malaby, Ph.D.

UVM’s Office of the Vice President for Research recently welcomed Sarah Wold, Ph.D., to its Complex Proposals and Strategic Positioning Team, led by Heidi Malaby, Ph.D. Working with Larner’s new Office of Research and Engagement, Wold and Malaby will provide comprehensive support to increase grant proposal competitiveness and bolster research activity across the college.