News & Spotlights, NNE-CTR, Larner College of Medicine, UVM

News Bits ...

Northern New England Microbiome Symposium is June 3.

The University of Vermont’s Microbiome Interest Group is pleased to invite you to the 2024 Northern New England Microbiome Symposium on June 3rd, 2024. This one-day symposium will feature talks on cutting-edge research and applications by national and local speakers, and offer everyone an opportunity to share their work in a community poster session and get to know one another at a microbially-themed social event. The symposium will be held in person at the Davis Center on the UVM campus; virtual attendance will also be made available via a Microsoft Teams link. Please forward this invitation along to anyone who you think might be interested.

Attendance is free, but the organizer asks you to register for the event by May 10th and let them know if you will be presenting a poster.

Call for Proposals: 2024 Health Equity Summit

Discover and share exciting initiatives at the third annual Health Equity Summit, Building Solidarity: Sustainable Pathways Towards Health Equity. The Summit is a collaboration between community members, healthcare providers and educators to dismantle institutional barriers to health and enhance patient experiences.

Details

Dates: Monday, October 7, 4 - 6 pm: Poster presentations and kickoff reception

Tuesday, October 8, 8 am - 5 pm: Workshops and sessions

Location: Double Tree Hotel, 870 Williston Road, South Burlington, VT 05403 (Google Maps)

Sponsors: The 3rd Annual Health Equity Summit is a joint effort presented by the University of Vermont Health Network, the Larner College of Medicine, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and the University of Vermont.

More information: Health Equity Summit | The University of Vermont Health Network (uvmhealth.org)

Questions? Please email HESummit@uvmhealth.org

The Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award Program supports the next generation of world-class community-oriented professionals to advance diversity in clinical trials. Applications are now open for one of the signature programs, the Winn Career Development Award (Winn CDA).

This is a two-year program and $240,000 award that is designed to support the career development of early-stage investigator physicians underrepresented in medicine and physicians who have demonstrated commitment to increasing diversity in clinical research. Through the program, physicians become independent clinical trial investigators who are engaged in advancing health equity through their research.

Applications are being accepted through May 13, 2024. Learn more here: https://diversityinclinicaltrials.org/

Apply here: https://winnawards.smapply.io/

Anika Advant, Larner College of Medicine Class of 2026, won the best student research award at the Northern New England CO-OP Practice and Community Based Research Network (NNE CO-OP PCBRN) 44th Annual Meeting, for her poster entitled “Identifying Barriers and Facilitators to Awareness and Rural Vermont Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials.”

Mentored by Dr. Elizabeth Woods and Dr. Jan Carney and funded by the University of Vermont Cancer Center’s Summer Student Fellowships in Cancer Research Program, Anika’s study identified facilitators and barriers that affect rural Vermonter’s access to and enrollment in cancer clinical trials. Results demonstrated opportunities to increase enrollment through improved patient education, community health workers and dedicated personnel, transportation, and local availability of clinical trials.

Recent News

For University of Vermont-related news, see below. For MaineHealth news, click here.

StorySlam Rx: Humbling Moments in Medicine Shared Out Loud

January 23, 2024 by Janet Essman Franz

Medical students, faculty, physicians, and hospital staff stepped up to the microphone on January 18 to tell true stories about their most humbling moments at the sixth annual StorySlamRx: Voices in Medicine. Alpha Omega Alpha and Gold Humanism Honor Society members organized and hosted the event, held in the Hoehl Gallery. Inspired by The Moth live storytelling, story slam provides a safe space to share personal experiences and connect with others over shared emotions. For people in the medical community, telling and listening to each other’s stories facilitates wellness and quells burnout.
Honoring Excellence in Medical Education

January 19, 2024 by Angela Ferrante

Each January, the Larner community gathers for the Teaching Academy’s Snow Season Education Retreat, an annual event lifting up the work of our medical education community and honoring outstanding educators among our faculty and leaders. Highlights of the two-day event include the Teaching Academy Induction and Award Ceremony, a plenary session, an in-person poster session, workshops, and oral abstract presentations. This year’s retreat was held January 17–19.
Healing Smiles

December 1, 2023 by Angela Ferrante

Elizabeth Blasberg, M.D., a 2014 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine, and her colleague, former UVMMC general surgery resident Ryan Kunkel, M.D., both facial plastic surgeons, are gearing up for a medical mission to the Ruth Paz Foundation Hospital for Burned Children and Pediatric Surgery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in Fall 2024. The mission, sponsored by the Angeles Para Honduras (APH) foundation, aims to address cleft palates and other childhood disfiguring conditions.
Shapiro Comments to Safety+Health on Study of Stigma Around Migraine

January 22, 2024 by Lucy Gardner Carson

(JANUARY 22, 2024) Robert Shapiro, M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus of neurological sciences, commented about a study he co-authored focusing on stigma surrounding migraine, and related health outcomes, Safety+Health reported.
Read full story at Safety+Health
Summer Research: From Project to Published Success

January 22, 2024 by Angela Ferrante

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