Dean's Celebration of Excellence in Research
September 18 - 22, 2023
The Dean's Celebration of Excellence in Research is an annual event highlighting the research being conducted by junior faculty, senior faculty, postdoctoral trainees, and graduate students at the University of Vermont and the University of Vermont
Larner College of Medicine.
The Medical and Graduate Student Research Showcase was held on Monday and Tuesday, September 18 and 19 and provided a venue for developing scientists to share their amazing work and research stories with the Larner College of Medicine Community. Each presenter spoke for twelve minutes or less, followed by three minutes of Q & A. Presentations were awarded first and runner-up prizes in three categories - Medical Student, Junior Graduate Student and Senior Graduate Student. A full list of awards presented during the event can be found below.
On Monday, September 18, the Research Laureate Lecture, "Erroneous DNA repair, genomic instability, and cancer" was presented by Sylvie Doublié, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.
On Tuesday, September 19, Andra Stevenson, Ph.D.'01, M.P.H., Senior Director of Global Medical Affairs for Merck & Co., Inc. was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award and presented the Distinguished Alumni Lecture titled, "Unlocking Success Together: Navigating Achievement Through the Power of Mentorship & Collaborative Growth”.
The first annual Research Rally was held on Wednesday, September 20, where researchers presented seven minute Ted-style talks on various topics from their origin stories to cutting edge research.
The State of Research at the College address and Awards presentation was held on Thursday, September 21 and included a recap of the year's major research accomplishments and the presentation of several research awards. A complete list of award recipients is listed below.
View the program and full list of award nominees
The final event of the Dean's Celebration of Excellence in Research was the Stetson Lecture, “From Bog to Bedside: The story behind the first dedicated Phage Therapy Program in North America”, presented by Steffanie Strathdee, Ph.D., M.Sc., Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences and Harold Simon Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.
View Dr. Strathdee's Presentation
2023 Dean's Excellence in Research Award Recipients
Research Showcase Award Recipients
Medical Student
1st place - Samuel Aldous, “Optimizing Infant Perioperative Medicine: Characterization of Awake Infant Spinal Anesthesia Using Surface Electromyography”
Runner-Up - Keira Goodell, “Investigating a Role for the Orphan Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Tie1 in Cellular Metabolism”
Junior Graduate Student
1st place - Ally Morrissey, “Endoplasmic Reticulum moves by hitchhiking on Golgi-derived vesicles”
Runner-Up - Jamie Reulbach, “Effects of Chronic Hypertension and Sex on Spatial Reference and Working Memory”
Senior Graduate Student
1st place - Shannon Prior, “Metabolic rewiring promotes metastatic potential in STK11 null KRAS-driven lung adenocarcinoma”
Runner-Up - Jennifer Oshita, “Communication Disability Accommodation Services in Early Adopting US Healthcare Organizations”
Outstanding Research Publication Award Recipients
Medical Student
Samuel Short, M.D.'23, “Plasma Pro-Enkephalin A and Incident Cognitive Impairment: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Cohort”
Graduate Student
Evan Hoffman, Ph.D.'22, “Human alveolar hydrogels promote morphological and transcriptional differentiation in iPSC-derived alveolar type 2 epithelial cells”
Post-Doc
Elizabeth Corteselli, Ph.D., "Structural and functional fine mapping of cysteines in mammalian glutaredoxin reveal their differential oxidation susceptibility"
Resident
Colleen Kerrigan, M.D., "Structural and functional fine mapping of cysteines in mammalian glutaredoxin reveal their differential oxidation susceptibility"
Larner College of Medicine Staff Award Recipients
Clinical Research Coordinator
Kim Luebbers, M.S.H.S., R.N., Director of the Office of Clinical Trials Research and Assistant Dean for Clinical Research Administration
Scientific Research Staff
Nicole Bouffard, Senior Lab/Research Technician, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Imaging & Analysis Specialist, Microscopy Imaging Center
Larner College of Medicine Faculty Award Recipients
Clinical Trials Research Award
Charlotte Teneback, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine
Research Mentor
Chris Berger, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics and Biochemistry and Associate Dean of Graduate Education & Postdoctoral Training
Rising Star New Investigator
Osama Harraz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
Sherrie Khadanga, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine
Christian Pulcini. M.D., M.Ed., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Mid-Career Investigator
Noah Kolb, M.D., Associate Professor Neurological Sciences
Research Laureate
Hugh Garavan, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Psychological Science