Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Dean for Public Health, Larner College of Medicine at UVM. (Photo: LCOM Creative Services)

Jan K. Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for public health at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, was honored as the recipient of the 2017 Crystal Heart Award at the American Heart Association’s 10th annual Vermont Go Red For Women Luncheon on January 26, 2017.

Go Red for Women is the American Heart Association’s national movement to end heart disease and stroke in women. The Crystal Heart Award is presented annually by AHA affiliates across the country to a local resident who is an advocate, volunteer and role model for improving the health of the community and who works to further the AHA’s mission “to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.”

Carney, who was Vermont Commissioner of Health from 1989 to 2003, has served as a member of the AHA of Vermont Board of Directors since 2012. She has been a passionate advocate for preventive medicine and public health throughout her career. As the associate dean for public health and director of the Public Health Projects course at the Larner College of Medicine at UVM since 1999, she has facilitated completion of nearly 200 local public health projects. More recently, she has championed policy efforts to reduce the health consequences of tobacco use. In addition to co-chairing the UVM Tobacco-Free Steering Committee whose work led to UVM’s Tobacco-Free Campus Policy in 2015, she also played a critical role in providing testimony and writing editorials in conjunction with the Vermont Legislature’s consideration of H.171, An Act Relating to Restriction on the Use of Electronic Cigarettes.

Prior to joining the UVM faculty in 1985, Carney earned a medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed an internal medicine residency at the former Medical Center Hospital of Vermont (now UVM Medical Center). She has a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.

In addition to Carney, past Vermont Crystal Heart Award recipients from the Larner College of Medicine at UVM include Frank Ittleman, M.D., professor of surgery and UVM Foundation faculty associate in development; Paula Tracy, Ph.D., Foundations course director and professor of biochemistry; Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., professor of medicine; and Jennifer Nachbur, public relations director.