Department of Pediatrics

Can schools safely remain open or reopen during periods of significant community spread of COVID-19? According to predictions from a UVM model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the school setting, yes – if appropriate precautions are followed both in school and in the community.

“Ensuring children are empowered and raised to become healthy, happy, productive members of our communities is one of the most important things we can do,” says assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine James Metz, M.D. “Child abuse needs to be brought out from the underbelly of society. It’s easy for people to say ‘the problem is too big; it’s too difficult; it’s too sad.’ But that’s when you need to step into a problem, not away from it.”

(AUGUST 10 & 12, 2020) Professor of Pediatrics William Raszka, M.D., was quoted in an August 10 Wall Street Journal article, titled “Latest Research Points to Children Carrying, Transmitting Coronavirus” CBS6 Albany story, titled "Spike in COVID-19 cases in children nationally, a pediatrics professor explains why."

(JULY 22 & 27, 2020) William Raszka, M.D., professor of pediatrics is quoted in a July 22 article in “The Cut” in The New Yorker, titled "Their Summer Camp Tried to Be Safe. Kids Still Got Sick," and in a July 27 article in WIRED, titled "Some Countries Reopened Schools. What Did They Learn About Kids and Covid?"

(JULY 10-20, 2020) Significant national and international media coverage was generated in response to the publication of a Pediatrics Commentary, titled “COVID-19 Transmission and Children: The Child Is Not to Blame,” authored by Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Benjamin Lee, M.D., and Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases William Raszka, M.D.

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.

(JUNE 9 & 11, 2020) Maria Mercedes Avila, Ph.D., M.S.W., program director of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program, associate professor of pediatrics, and health equity and inclusive excellence liaison, was featured in local news stories on COVID-19 and racial disparities in health on Vermont Public Radio and NBC5.

On May 11, awardees from the Larner College of Medicine Class of 2020, faculty and staff were recognized through an online Honors Celebration featuring remarks from Dean Page and videotaped presentations of each award.

Larner College of Medicine faculty members Gregory Holmes, M.D., professor and chair of neurological sciences, and Gary Stein, Ph.D., Perelman professor and chair of biochemistry, have been selected as University Scholars for the 2020-21 academic year.

The phrase “keep your distance” has taken on a whole new and deeply important meaning in the era of COVID-19 and even Match Day, the annual senior medical student rite of passage, was not “immune” to honoring this behavior. On March 20, 2020, members of the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont’s Class of 2020 went virtual to ensure social distancing while celebrating the news of where they will be spending the next three to seven years training as residents following graduation.

Richard L. Page, M.D., Dean of the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, has announced that, following a national search, Christa Zehle, M.D., has accepted the position of Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education at the College. Dr. Zehle, who has served as Interim Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education at Larner since January 2019, assumes the new role effective immediately.

The Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont held its first-ever event to celebrate and recognize achievements in gender equity on March 4, 2020. Governor Madeleine Kunin provided a keynote address, followed by an awards ceremony at which Ramsey Herrington, M.D., Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., Debra Leonard, M.D., Ph.D., and Lauren Elizabeth Faricy, M.D., were recognized.

University of Vermont scientists, physicians, and students gathered at the Larner College of Medicine February 6 for the first-ever on-campus “virus slam” hosted by the Translational Global Infectious Diseases Research Center. At the event, some twenty experts, from five UVM colleges and institutes, gave five-minute mini-talks that ranged from explaining the biochemistry of the virus’ interaction with the human immune system to interpreting the latest data from the World Health Organization.

​The Teaching Academy at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont held its annual Snow Season Education Retreat on January 15-16, 2020 in the College’s Medical Education Center and UVM Davis Center. Highlights included an Induction Ceremony for 2019 new members and advanced members, the presentation of the annual Teaching and Education Awards, and the first annual Snow Season Debate, moderated by Professor and Chair of Pediatrics Lewis First, M.D.

The Larner College of Medicine Global Health Program hosted three events during the week of September 23 that focused on the topic of migrant healthcare. Presenters included Jonathan Melk, M.D., CEO and chief medical officer for the Chiricauhua Community Health Centers in Douglas, Ariz., Darlene Melk, M.D., medical director of the Southern Arizona Children's Health Project and director of community pediatrics, and Naomi Wolcott-Maccausland, migrant health coordinator of Bridges to Health in UVM Extension.

(AUGUST 2, 2019) Richard Wasserman, M.D., professor of pediatrics, commented on motivational interviewing techniques used to encourage patients to adopt healthier behaviors in an Advisory.com article.

(JULY 11, 2019) Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Erica Gibson, M.D., commented on expanding healthcare access for transgender youth under Medicaid in VT Digger. Gibson, who is also the medical director of the UVM Medical Center’s Transgender Youth Program, addressed potential changes to transgender healthcare covered by Medicaid, including eliminating the minimum age for gender affirming surgeries.

(JUNE 18, 2019) Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Lori Racha, M.D., was interviewed on Vermont Public Radio's “But Why: a Podcast for Curious Kids.”

(JULY 3, 2019) Before she became a neonatal fellow at The University of Vermont Medical Center, Adrienne Pahl, M.D., practiced as a primary care pediatrician in Vermont for three and a half years. Through this work, she got to know parents of babies who were exposed to opioids during development, witnessing how these families faced not only the usual pressures of caring for a newborn but also the challenges of a child with serious medical problems.