Leffler Named President and Coo of UVM Medical Center

On December 30, 2019, Professor of Surgery and Larner College of Medicine alumnus Stephen Leffler, M.D., was appointed permanent president and chief operating officer of the University of Vermont Medical Center. Dr. Leffler is a 26-year veteran of the UVM Medical Center and has been serving as its interim president and chief operating officer since the retirement of Eileen Whalen, M.H.A., R.N., in June 2019.

Master's and Doctoral Degree Recipients Honored at December Ceremony 

A total of 41 August and October 2019 and January 2020 Larner College of Medicine master’s and doctoral degree recipients participated in the University of Vermont’s Graduate College Hooding Ceremony held in UVM’s Ira Allen Chapel on December 11, 2019. Degrees recognized included Master of Public Health, Master of Science in Medical Science, Master of Pharmacology, Master of Pathology, Master of Clinical and Translational Science, and Doctor of Philosophy in Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences. Participating faculty members included Associate Dean for Public Health and Health Policy and Director of Graduate Public Health Programs Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., and Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Associate Dean for Graduate Education Christopher Berger, Ph.D.

Among the graduates recognized at the event were Larner staff members Shelby Fertal, M.S., lab research technician in pediatrics, and Sahene Warrick, M.S., lab research technician in obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, who each received a Master of Science in Pharmacology degree, and Kelsey Phipps, M.S., lab research technician in pathology and laboratory medicine, who received a Master of Science in Medical Science degree.

Pictured above, from left to right: Jennifer A. Campbell, M.P.H., Caitlin Marie Beaudet, M.P.H.,Victoria Hart, Ph.D., assistant professor, Graduate Public Health Programs; Dr. Carney; Katherine Luella Copp, M.P.H.; Kelsey Gleason, Sc.D., assistant professor, Graduate Public Health Programs; Kerry Farrell, M.P.H. (Photo by David Seaver)

Huston Closes in on Potential Cryptosporidium Theory 

In 2009, Professor of Medicine Christopher Huston, M.D., treated an immunocompromised patient who had contracted Cryptosporidium—a parasite that causes acute diarrhea and dehydration—while tending to the cows on her dairy farm in Vermont. The encounter changed the course of Dr. Huston’s research career.

The parasite—which is the third most common cause of life-threatening diarrhea worldwide and is especially deadly for children in the developing world—receives scant attention from researchers. “It made me angry,” says Dr. Huston. “There’s [currently] nothing better than a sugar pill.”

That emotion fueled a change in his lab’s focus. Now one of the most preeminent crypto researchers in the world, Dr. Huston and his team are closing in on potential drugs. Dr. Huston has received several grants from the Gates Foundation, including a $1.86 million award in 2015, to fund research supporting other scientists within a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the development of crypto therapeutics. 

Medical Center Program Provides Alternatives to Opioids

“Pain is a medical term,” says Assistant Professor of Family Medicine John Porter, M.D. “It doesn’t begin to capture the experience of individuals who have chronic pain in terms of the impact is has on so many aspects of their lives. We think the word ‘suffering’ better describes the experience of our participants, and that’s a universal human experience.”

Dr. Porter is the medical director of the UVM Medical Center Comprehensive Pain Program (CPP), an integrative approach to addressing chronic pain that is one of the first of its kind in the nation. In a world where stories of opioid abuse cases beginning with legal prescribing seem all too common, the CPP offers alternatives to pharmaceuticals for managing not only pain, but also the many-faceted complications it causes for those suffering from it. 

Read more about the CPP and its work with patients with chronic pain in the current issue of Vermont Medicine.

Pictured above: Erin Bingham, APRN, leads a session for CPP participants. (Photo by David Seaver)

Tim Moynihan, M.A., Ph.D., Director of Academic Achievement and Medical Education Learning Specialist, Student Services

Listening, offering feedback, conceptualizing, strategizing, and supporting ongoing change. Every day, Tim Moynihan employs skills he learned during graduate training in psychology and has honed while working in higher education over the past decade. 

Dr. Moynihan joined UVM and the Office of Medical Student Education as a course coordinator in August 2016 and also served as a curriculum specialist before taking on his current role about a year ago. He likes to look at things through several prisms to create and problem-solve, which helps him continually grow and improve.

“I work with students, both in person and remotely, to develop effective learning strategies and lifelong learning skills, and collaborate with staff, faculty, and other teams to support students and refer them to additional learner support resources,” he says.

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