Research

Timothy Plante ’06 M.D.’10, M.H.S., assistant professor of medicine, has been appointed the Martin E. Bloomfield ’56 M.D.’60 and Judith S. Bloomfield ’59 Early Career Professor in Cardiovascular Research at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine.

The University of Vermont (UVM) is participating in a major national research effort to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of varying types of blood thinners to treat adults diagnosed and hospitalized with COVID-19—the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Renier Brentjens, M.D., Ph.D., director of cellular therapeutics in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, presented the 5th Annual Stetson Lecture in Technological Advances in Medicine via Zoom on September 8. He discussed “CARs and Armored CARs: Improving CAR T Cell Therapy for Cancer.”

(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."

The University of Vermont received $181.7 million in research funding during the 2020 fiscal year - the largest in UVM history by a wide margin. The Larner College of Medicine had the largest number of grants.

(AUGUST 4, 2020) Associate Professor of Psychiatry Stacey Sigmon, Ph.D., is featured in the September 2020 issue of Fast Company as one of the 74 “Most Creative People in Business for 2020.” Sigmon is featured under the category of "For Designing A Superior Solution" for her work developing new models of opioid treatment delivery.

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.

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.