As the risks of climate change are further elucidated, the voices of health professionals are critical in policy-making that protects people."

On May 13, Honors Night for graduating medical students at the Larner College of Medicine took place in the Grand Maple Ballroom in UVM’s Davis Center. Among the accolades presented at the event were the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society faculty, housestaff, and community physician awards; the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine faculty and student awards; the inaugural group of Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Scholars; department awards to students; and awards from the medical student Class of 2022. Read the full Honors Night article, for information about all awards and respective recipients.

At the Larner medical student Class of 2022 Honors Night event on May 13, Charles MacLean, M.D., associate dean for primary care and professor of medicine, announced the names of the inaugural class of Vermont AHEC (Area Health Education Centers) Scholars. According to Dr. MacLean, "the goal of the AHEC Scholars program at the Larner College of Medicine is to provide students with a deeper understanding of the social and cultural factors that influence an individual’s overall health as well as their access to healthcare." AHEC Scholars have supplemented their education and completed projects that have addressed such priorities as social determinants of health; interprofessional education and collaboration; integration of behavioral health into primary care; impact of opioid prescribing in our communities; cultural competence and cultural humility; and  using quality improvement approaches to transform the way health care is delivered.

The following medical students who have been recognized as AHEC Scholars: Michael Barnum; Elizabeth Baumgartner; Richard Brach; Alexander Braun; Sara Brennan; Magalie Carey; Kelly Chan; Sally Clark; Julia Clemens; Marlijne Cook; Noorin Damji; Emily Eakin; Gia Eapen; Adam Fakhri; Faith Genereux; Catherine Gereg; Emma Hall; Ryan Harned; Luke Higgins; Seneca Hutson; Sylvia Lane; Kelly MacPherson; Rachel Madhur; Taylor Marquis; Colby McGinn; Collin Montgomery; Adessa Morano; Michelle Oberding; Alexa Pius; Megan Prue; Adam Ross; Claudia Russell; Lauren Struck; Irene Sue; Nikkole Turgeon; Allison Tzeng; Jenna Wells; Nicole Wershoven; Hakeem Yousef.

Larner medical students Dana Allison ’23, Vinh Le ’23, Richard Brach ’22, and Eileen CichoskiKelly, Ph.D., director of education instruction and scholarship and associate professor of family medicine, presented their work on the Larner College of Medicine's LHome project, a student-led initiative to support medical student experiencing food and resources insecurity, at the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) 2022 Healing the Heart of Healthcare conference May 5-7. Allison is the project's founder, Le is a GHHS member and student class president, and Brach is a GHHS member. (Pictured at left: (Top) Dana Allison; (bottom) Vinh Le.)

Jessica Heath, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics and biochemistry, has been appointed the inaugural vice chair for research for the Department of Pediatrics and UVM Children’s Hospital, effective July 1, 2022. Dr. Heath, who was selected following an internal search, will be responsible for strengthening the department’s research mission and providing leadership and mentorship in the development of basic science, clinical, and translational research programs that foster that mission. 

“Dr. Heath ... will be taking on this new role, but she is certainly not new to the many facets of pediatric research,” said Professor and Chair of Pediatrics Lewis First, M.D., M.S., in an announcement to his department. “Dr. Heath began her research career doing basic and translational research at Duke University as a fellow and faculty member, and she has continued to grow and develop her research career since starting as an assistant professor in our department and in the Department of Biochemistry in 2015.”

Currently the Department of Pediatrics’ Institutional Principle Investigator for the Children’s Oncology Group, Dr. Heath’s research focuses on the translational cancer biology of acute pediatric and adolescent leukemia. She oversees the clinical research program of the division of pediatric oncology and participates in clinical research projects locally and nationally, including the creation of a regional pediatric leukemia biorepository and a project to examine household hardship experienced by pediatric leukemia patients and their families. 

Roz King, M.S.N., R.N., instructor in surgery and a doctoral degree candidate in the Clinical and Translational Science Ph.D. program, has been awarded an Emergency Nursing Diverse Voices Research (ENDVR) Fellowship. The ENDVR Fellowship seeks to support new researchers who are members of underrepresented communities. This grant provides professional development funding, including expenses, to attend research activities at two subsequent Emergency Nurses Association annual conferences and more.