UVM President Tom Sullivan, Philip Ades, M.D., Deborah Rubin, M.D., and Larner College of Medicine Dean Rick Morin, M.D. (Photo: Andy Duback)

University of Vermont President Tom Sullivan and Larner College of Medicine Dean Frederick Morin, M.D., invested Philip Ades, M.D., professor of medicine and director of cardiac rehabilitation and preventive medicine, as the inaugural Philip Ades, M.D. Professor of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention December 16, 2016. The ceremony, hosted by the UVM Foundation, took place in the Hoehl Gallery in the Health Science Research Facility.

The Ades Professorship in Cardiovascular Disease – UVM’s 105^th endowed professorship – honors the significant impact of the cardiac rehabilitation and disease prevention work performed by Ades over his more than thirty-year-long career at UVM. Dedicated to improving the lives of thousands of patients with heart conditions, Ades has conducted world-class research on the important role exercise can play in rehabilitation after a heart attack and the benefits of weight loss in obese coronary heart disease patients.

This new position, designed to ensure that Ades’ legacy continues, is to be held by the director of cardiac rehabilitation in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the UVM Medical Center. The endowment will allow the Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention Program to continue to grow and evolve to meet the needs of patients, as well as continue to conduct leading-edge research. The Ades Endowed Professorship was made possible thanks to donations from Ades and his wife, Deborah Rubin, M.D., as well as grateful patients, family members and a gift from the estate of alumna Harriet Dustan, ’42, M.D.’44, a cardiologist and pioneer in the detection and treatment of hypertension.

Ades, who also serves as associate director of the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, Ades received his M.D. from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at University of Colorado Health Sciences.

At the December 16 event, Ades dedicated his endowed professorship to his late father, who passed away at a young age due to cardiovascular disease, and said “I have admiration for first, our patients, and second, my wife Deborah Rubin . . . I wouldn’t be standing here without her.” Of his career in his field, Ades added that “the best thing is that mean people don’t do cardiac rehab and only nice people work at cardiac rehab.”

In closing the ceremony, outgoing UVM Foundation President and CEO Rich Bundy called Ades “one of the most accomplished faculty members at UVM.”