Carney Awarded Prestigious ACP Mastership

Professor of Medicine Jan K. Carney, M.D., M.P.H., MACP, has been awarded Mastership in the American College of Physicians (ACP). This ACP designation recognizes outstanding and extraordinary career accomplishments. Masters must have made a notable contribution to medicine; this may include teaching, outstanding work in clinical medicine, contributions to preventive medicine, improvements in the delivery of health care, or contributions to the medical literature.

Dr. Carney, who is also the College’s associate dean for public health and health policy, is a national public health leader and an innovator in education. She developed Vermont’s first Master of Public Health degree and other online graduate level public health programs, directs the Rural Health Research and Community Engagement Core for the Northern New England Clinical and Translational Research Network, and is currently Faculty Accreditation Lead for the College’s reaccreditation effort. From 1989 to 2003, she served as Vermont Commissioner of Health. She recently served as vice-chair of ACP’s Health and Public Policy Committee and was governor of the Vermont ACP Chapter from 2015 to 2019.

Dixon Named Director of Vermont Lung Center  

Anne Dixon, M.A., B.M., B.Ch., professor of medicine and division chief of pulmonary disease & critical care medicine, has been named the new director of the Vermont Lung Center.

A fellow of the American Thoracic Society, Dr. Dixon joined the UVM faculty in 2001 and has served as director of clinical research at the Vermont Lung Center for the past 18 years. A nationally and internationally recognized expert in the areas of asthma and lung disease related to obesity and metabolic dysfunction, she is a current and past member of several National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Veterans’ Affairs study sections, national guideline panels, and the American Lung Association’s national Board of Directors.

Dr. Dixon takes the reins from Charles Irvin, Ph.D., professor of medicine and associate dean for faculty affairs, who served as the Vermont Lung Center’s director since 1998. During his tenure, he led the center to become a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, securing 15 years of funding from the NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The center also served as one of only 15 American Lung Association Airways Clinical Research Centers in the country.

Read more about this Vermont Lung Center news.

Dean's Excellence in Research Celebration Recognizes Investigators

The College hosted the fourth annual “Dean's Excellence in Research Celebration” on October 28 and 29, showcasing the scholarship of graduate students, trainees, and faculty. Highlights included presentations by Medical Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Alumni recipient Richard Moss, Ph.D. ’75, a keynote address by Joshua Chodosh, M.D., M.S.H.S., of NYU School of Medicine, and an awards ceremony. For the first time this year, attendees could tour the College’s core facilities, including the Vermont Integrative Genomics Resource, Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility, and Microscopy Imaging Center.

College faculty award recipients included:

• Research Mentorship Award: Matthew Poynter, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine
• Rising Star New Investigator Award: Benjamin Lee, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
• Mid-Career Investigator Award: Neil Zakai, M.D., M.Sc., Associate Professor of Medicine
• Research Laureate Award: Mark Nelson, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor & Chair of Pharmacology

Read more about the Dean's Excellence in Research Celebration.

Pictured above: Benjamin Lee, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, at center, is recognized by (from far left) Dean Jensen, Dr. First, Dr. Kirkpatrick, and Dean Page.

A Lesson in Harm Reduction

Every Friday afternoon, second-year medical students Noorin Damji and Kristina Valentine set off from campus to pick up the well-stocked mobile outreach van owned by a local nonprofit. Together, they drive north to rural communities in Franklin County, Vt., to deliver free packs of sterile hypodermic syringes, fentanyl testing strips, and Narcan to people who inject drugs.

This effort is known in public health as harm reduction. The students, who are completing this project in collaboration with Vermont CARES (Committee for AIDS Resources, Education & Services) as 2019-20 Schweitzer Fellows, provide clients with access to tools and instruction aimed at reducing their risk of infection and fatal overdose. Information about recovery programs is also available, but only if clients show an interest in receiving it. 

“The idea that people who inject drugs don’t care about their health just isn’t true,” says Noorin. “I think participating in harm reduction is our social responsibility as physicians.” Read more about the project.

Pictured above: Class of '22 medical students Noorin Damji, left, and Kristine Valentine, with the VT CARES mobile syringe van. (Photo: David Seaver)

What's next? Clerkship Lottery for Class of 2023

The countdown is on for members of the Class of 2023, who in a few short months will begin the clerkship level of the Vermont Integrated Curriculum. On October 17, these medical students participated in the clerkship lottery— an event featuring prizes and special treats that brings second—year medical students together to determine their flight group and the order that they will be completing their clerkships.

Pictured above, center: Class of 2023 medical student Erick MacLean reaches into the bin for the slip of paper that contains his clerkship flight group assignment, as Interim Assistant Dean of Students Shaden Eldakar, M.D., looks on.

Associate Professor of Medicine and cardiologist Prospero Gogo, M.D., two-time stroke survivor Jamie Heath, and her mother, Joanne Leclerc, traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Vermont office of the American Heart Association’s “You're the Cure on the Hill” Lobby Day, October 16-18.

It was awesome to be in DC with Dr. Gogo and meet with congressional members to advocate for the support of legislation to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products, protect families from financially crippling surprise medical bills, and legislation that supports increased research funding. If it wasn't for research funded by the NIH, I probably wouldn't be here today!”

~Jamie Heath, Barre, Vermont

The most powerful message comes from patients. Jamie’s story was met with rapt attention by the members of Congress and their staff. The combination of medical professionals and patient advocates is necessary for our big asks from politicians.”

~Prospero Gogo, M.D.

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