June 1, 2022 | Volume IV, Issue 11

A Message from Dean Page

Dear Larner community,

With our academic year winding down, I want to take a moment to thank and congratulate all of you – faculty, students and staff – for your efforts and accomplishments amid ongoing challenges. 

Commencement weekend brought this year into fine focus. I had the privilege of taking part in the Graduate College ceremony on Saturday, May 21st, where doctoral and master’s degree recipients from the Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience, Pharmacology, Medical Science, and Public Health graduate programs received their hoods. The next morning, at the University’s main commencement, I had the honor of witnessing the installation of the newest University Distinguished Professor, our own Dr. Yvonne Janssen-Heininger from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. And then that afternoon in the Ira Allen Chapel, 113 members of the Class of 2022 received their hoods, took the Oath, and emerged from that beautiful building as the newest generation of physicians. My thanks to all who participated, including Francis Mtuke, class of 2022, and our commencement speaker, Senator Bernie Sanders, who exhorted our graduates to lead the effort to build a better, more equitable health care system. 

I am confident that our M.D. Class of 2022 will work toward a more just healthcare system, just as so many members across our community already are doing. There is so much to do now, and a world that needs healing in so many ways, especially in the wake of the senseless murders in the last two weeks. Even with such events, I hope you can pause and acknowledge the progress you and your colleagues have achieved this year at our College: the students you’ve educated; the new knowledge you’ve created; the patients you have cared for; and the community you have touched. You have made a difference.

I hope you and your families get some time to relax, and have a safe and enjoyable summer. 

Stay well,

Pictured above: Dr. Janssen-Heininger at the UVM main commencement ceremony; a wide-angle shot of the main commencement ceremony; and Dean Page addressing the class of 2022 from Ira Allen Chapel stage at commencement on May 22, 2022.

M.D., Ph.D., M.S. Graduates Celebrated at 2022 Commencement Ceremonies

At the UVM Graduate College and Larner College of Medicine 2022 commencement ceremonies, master’s, doctoral, and medical degree recipients heard from speakers, including UVM Provost and Senior Vice President Patty Prelock, Ph.D., Senator Bernie Sanders, and medical student speaker Francis Mtuke, M.D.’22.

“Yes, this is truly a day of celebration, but it is also a day of commitment to the future and a commitment to the important role each of you will play in creating a safe, sustainable, just, equitable, inclusive and prosperous tomorrow, not just for some – but for all,” Provost Prelock told Graduate College M.S., M.P.H., and Ph.D. degree recipients on May 21. The next day, May 22, at the Larner medical commencement ceremony, Senator Sanders spoke to the soon-to-be doctors, saying, “The overall healthcare system in which you all will be practicing is a system which is dysfunctional, extraordinarily wasteful and expensive, and cruel. I am asking you, as physicians, to lead the effort to fundamentally change that system.”

Dr. Mtuke, the medical Class of 2022 student speaker, shared the story of his mother's courage, journeying nearly 10,000 miles from Zimbabwe to the U.S. to take a chance on a new life. He thanked her for her hard work and determination, which led to a career as a nurse, and which inspired him to attend medical school. When he decided to attend Larner, he said, both he and the College of Medicine took a chance on each other. Dr. Mtuke told his classmates, “Because of the chance we took, thousands of war veterans, mothers, fitness instructors, authors, chefs, musicians, athletes, and so many more will have a chance taken on them. A chance taken by doctors who … were also given the opportunity to hone in on the intangibles of being a physician: namely compassion, empathy, and dedication to service.”

• Read the full 2022 Larner Commencement article.
• Link to a video of the Graduate College and Larner College of Medicine Commencement ceremonies.
• Link to the UVM Larner College of Medicine Commencement program.

Pictured above: (Left to right, top to bottom) Robert O’Connor, M.P.H.’22 (Photo courtesy of O’Connor); Francis Mtuke, M.D.’22; Emily Whitaker, Ph.D.’22, Scott Vanson, Ph.D.’22, JJ Bivona, Ph.D.’22, Noelle Gillis, Ph.D.’22, and Cole Davidson, Ph.D.’22 (Photo courtesy of Dr. Bivona); Benjamin Kagan, M.D.’22, Jugerta Istrefi, M.D.’22, and Sunny Hutson, M.D.’22; Jose Calderon, M.D.’22 (Photo courtesy of Dr. Calderon); Abigail Belser, M.D.’22, and Elizabeth Baumgartner, M.D.’22; Provost Patricia Prelock, Ph.D., Dean Richard L. Page, M.D., Senator Bernie Sanders, and faculty marshal Mary Cushman, M.D.; Sheridan Finnie, M.D.’22; Lauren Struck, M.D.’22; Prasanna Kumar, M.D.’22; Kelly Chan, M.D.’22. (Unless otherwise noted, photos by Andy Duback.)

VCBH Study Tests Novel App-Delivery of Financial Incentives for Pregnant Smokers

Over several decades, numerous studies have linked cigarette smoking to adverse health outcomes during pregnancy, birth, and beyond for both babies and pregnant individuals. While evidence shows that smoking cessation strategies incorporating tobacco abstinence-contingent financial incentives are most successful, this strategy has been difficult to deliver for people unable to access clinic-based locations.

A new study published in JAMA Network Open and authored by Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH) researchers including VCBH Director Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., found that using a smartphone app (developed by DynamiCare Health Inc.) that monitored smoking and delivered incentives to participants’ debit cards showed promise in achieving similar or better results than traditional best practices with financial incentives.

The study included 90 pregnant individuals ages 18 years or older from across 33 states who were randomized to receive either “Best Practices” (BP) treatment featuring brief counseling and a tobacco quit line referral or BP with a financial incentives (FI) intervention delivered via a smartphone app. Results showed that individuals assigned to receive BP with FI had nearly four-fold greater odds of smoking abstinence across assessments conducted during pregnancy and following childbirth, compared to individuals receiving standard best practice care.

Read the full article about the study.

Pictured above: Graphic features three screen captures from a smartphone depicting different features of the app used in the study.

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