Medical students at the Larner College of Medicine led a national movement in June to appeal to key national medical education organizations to advocate for a change in assessing a record of arrest stemming from social justice-related protesting. Larner students built a coalition of eight national student organizations, and crafted a letter signed by thousands of student supporters that was sent to the members of the Association of American Medical Colleges, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.

Ensuring the effectiveness of policies and media campaigns targeting young people is critical to achieving substance use prevention, but state surveillance systems are often not nimble enough to capture quickly changing substance use trends. New findings from UVM researchers and colleagues highlight how a uniquely flexible survey instrument and use of incentives help capture relevant data and keep young Vermonters engaged.

Professor of Medicine Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., has been named the recipient of the American Heart Association's 2020 Award of Meritorious Achievement. She will be honored with the award, which recognizes individuals who have rendered an important service to the AHA, during the association's live stream event in October.

A commentary published in the journal Pediatrics by Benjamin Lee, M.D. and William V. Raszka, Jr., M.D., concludes that children infrequently transmit COVID-19 to each other or to adults and that many schools, provided they follow appropriate social distancing guidelines and take into account rates of transmission in their community, can and should reopen in the fall.

John King, M.D., M.P.H., professor and vice chair for academics and regional development in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, has been appointed associate dean for continuing medical and interprofessional education (CMIE) at the institution.

Christa Zehle, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, has announced the appointment of Nathalie Feldman, M.D., as interim associate dean for admissions, effective July 1, 2020. Feldman replaces retiring Associate Dean for Admissions Janice Gallant, M.D., while a search is underway for a permanent replacement.

In late March, Professor of Surgery Gary An, M.D., and Assistant Professor of Surgery R. Chase Cockrell, Ph.D., joined an international coalition of virologists, pharmacologists, and mathematicians to help build a computer model of SARS-CoV-2 tissue that simulates the changing behavior of the virus once it enters the body.

Despite the many challenges academic institutions have faced in 2020, the Vermont Integrative Genetics Resource (VIGR) shared core facility at the University of Vermont Cancer Center and Larner College of Medicine has achieved strong funding support and achieved some significant milestones over the past six months.

A new, three-year $500,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will allow members of the UVM Center for Health Services Research (CHSR) at the Larner College of Medicine, led by center director and Professor of Medicine Adam Atherly, Ph.D., to explore the effectiveness of community health teams in improving the quality and efficiency of health care delivery.

Jill Jemison, assistant dean for technology/chief information officer at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, received the 2020 Service Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Institutional Resources at the group’s Annual Member/Business Meeting webinar on June 10.