The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded Noah Kolb, M.D., associate professor of neurological sciences at the University of Vermont's Larner College Medicine, and a team of researchers a $7 million grant to a develop a new intervention for chemo-induced neuropathy, one that can be as easily implemented in rural areas as large urban centers.

On September 10 and 11, the Larner College of Medicine welcomed 27 individuals from across the country as participants in the first-ever “Look at Larner” program. Candidates in the program were aspiring medical students, from rising college juniors to postgraduates and career changers.

VT REACH, which stands for Virtual Teleconference: Reach Explore Aspire to Careers in Healthcare, is an outreach program designed for high school, college, technical school, undecided students who are interested in potentially pursuing careers in healthcare and provides an opportunity to learn from and interact with professionals and students from the Larner College of Medicine and UVM Medical Center.

Professor of Pediatrics William Raszka, M.D., has received the prestigious 2021 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award. The award is part of the Association of American Medical Colleges annual slate of honors and will be formally conferred at an October 27 virtual recognition event.

Described as “a traditional summer camp experience with a queer twist,” Camp Outright provides a supportive environment and a range of activities focused on community, social justice, and fun for youth aged 13 to 17. During the two 2021 summer sessions, the camp also served as a place for medical trainees and campers to see a different side of patient care and clinicians, respectively.

Patricia King, M.D., Ph.D., UVM professor of medicine and former chair of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), led and created the Workgroup on Physician Sexual Misconduct, which conducted a deep review of all available U.S. sexual misconduct disciplinary data, and state medical board physician sexual misconduct laws, policies and procedures might be contributing to this dire problem. Their findings were reported in 2020 and featured in an April 27, 2021 JAMA Viewpoint article.

More than 75% of women with Opioid Use Disorder report having had an unintended pregnancy, but they are less likely to use effective contraception compared to women who do not use drugs. Results from a multi-year trial led by UVM Professor Sarah Heil found that a two-part intervention featuring co-located contraceptive services in opioid treatment programs and financial incentives could offer an effective solution.

Not only is Vermont small and rural, but it’s also old. Currently, the state is ranked fourth in the nation for the relative number of residents over 65 years old – a whopping nearly 20 percent of Vermont’s population and rising. And with that status comes a disproportionately large share of heart disease, as well as blood vessel diseases and brain circulation problems that can lead to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

UVM and University of Maryland researchers have shown how the brain communicates to blood vessels when in need of energy, and how these blood vessels respond to direct blood flow to specific brain regions -- information that can help determine what goes wrong in conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, where faulty blood flow is a predictor for cognitive impairment.

New trial results from the University of Vermont and an international team of researchers show that administering a full dose of a standard blood thinner early to moderately ill hospitalized patients with COVID-19 could reduce the risk of severe disease and death.