Department of Surgery

Justin DeAngelis, M.D., and Mariah McNamara, M.D., have been appointed as interim assistant deans for students in the Office of Medical Student Education at the Larner College of Medicine, effective March 1, 2021.

International adult aortic surgery expert Chris Rokkas, M.D., Ph.D., was invested as the inaugural Frank P. Ittleman Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine during a remote investiture ceremony held on February 2, 2021 in front of guests from across the United States and around the world.

Members of the Larner College of Medicine’s medical Class of 2023, leaders, medical educators, and staff gathered virtually January 28 to celebrate the students’ achievements and recognize the faculty and staff who have supported them during an online Foundations Celebration event.

Medical education leaders and scholars gathered virtually on January 13 and 14, 2021 for the Larner College of Medicine Teaching Academy’s 2021 Induction and Award Ceremony and Snow Season Education Retreat. Co-presented with the University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group, the ceremony recognized medical educators and kicked off the annual education program, which this year featured several sessions on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

New research, published by scientists at the University of Vermont and Caltech in the journal Cell, has pinpointed three specific mechanisms that allow SARS-CoV-2 to incapacitate human cells by disabling the cell’s alarm system to call for help or warn nearby cells of infection.

Margaret A. Tandoh, M.D., F.A.C.S, an expert in trauma, burn, and wound care and acute care surgery, has been invested as the inaugural Richard L. Gamelli, M.D.’74 Green and Gold Professor in Surgery at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. The ceremony was held remotely on September 22, 2020.

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.

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.

Research findings, published in JAMA Network Open and led by University of Vermont Cancer Center researcher Brian Sprague, Ph.D., show that breast cancer screening with digital breast tomosynthesis (also known as 3D mammography) improves breast cancer screening performance among most radiologists.

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.

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.

​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.

A study that evaluated opioid prescribing patterns at the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) before and after state-mandated regulations went into effect was presented by UVM Larner College of Medicine Clinical Instructor of Surgery Mayo Fujii, M.D., M.S., at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2019.

(AUGUST 2, 2019) Healio.com highlighted research conducted by Assistant Professor of Surgery Thomas P. Ahern, Ph.D., M.P.H and colleagues in an article, titled "Certain medications linked to increased breast cancer risk."

The UVM Medical Center launched its first-ever emergency medicine (EM) residency, welcoming six new doctors to the three-year program in June. What sets the UVM program apart from many others is its mix of tertiary and rural hospital experiential offerings, and its focus on independent clinical decision-making.

Teaching Academy Director Kathryn Huggett, Ph.D., and the Frymoyer Scholars Program Review Committee have announced that five faculty projects were selected to receive 2019 Frymoyer Scholarship funding.

(JUNE 4, 2019) A breast cancer study published in Radiology and co-authored by Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the Vermont Breast Cancer Surveillance System Brian Sprague, Ph.D., has been picked up by the newswires and published on multiple websites.

(JUNE 4, 2019) The state’s three University of Vermont (UVM) Health Network hospitals are expanding access to treatment for patients with opioid use disorder with the support of a $1.5 million federal grant. The grant will support expansion of a program to offer rapid access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), such as buprenorphine, for opioid use disorder in the hospitals’ emergency departments.

The Larner College of Medicine’s Class of 2019 Honors Night on May 13 was all about celebrating achievements. Medical students, leaders, faculty members, family and friends gathered for the event in UVM’s Davis Center to honor the recipients of individual student awards, faculty awards, a staff award, and a department award, as well as recognize the new student inductees for the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and Gold Humanism Honor Society.

(MARCH 17, 2019) Local Vermont media coverage of the annual S.D. Ireland St. Patrick's Day cement truck parade featured an interview with David Krag, M.D., S.D. Ireland Professor of Surgical Oncology at UVM's Larner College of Medicine, whose research is supported in part by the S.D. Ireland Cancer Research Fund, for which the event is a fundraiser.