Department of Medicine

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Anne Dixon, M.A., B.M., B.Ch.
Chair, Department of Medicine
Professor of Medicine

Message from the Chair

Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the Department of Medicine Winter/Spring 2024 edition of The Chart.

Listen to an audio message from Dr. Anne Dixon

Dixon Appointed Amidon Chair of Medicine

Anne Dixon, M.A, B.M.B.Ch., professor of medicine, was appointed the E.L. Amidon, M.D.'32 Chair in the Department of Medicine on March 29, following her appointment as Chair of the Department of Medicine on September 6, 2023. Dixon had been serving as Interim Chair since October 2022.

A member of the faculty at UVM since 2001, Dixon served as Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine from 2009-2023. She is also director of the Vermont Lung Center.

Dixon holds an M.A. from the University of Cambridge, England, and earned her medical degree from the University of Oxford, England. Her training includes an internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins University and a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Washington.

“We are fortunate to have such an accomplished clinical and research leader at the helm of the Department of Medicine guiding its faculty, staff, and learners. After a national search that attracted many excellent candidates, Dr. Dixon emerged as the right person to lead our largest department,” stated Dean of the Larner College of Medicine at UVM Richard L. Page, M.D.

Established in 1989, the Amidon Chair was created to honor Dr. E. L. Amidon, a revered teacher and former chair of the Department of Medicine. Polly Parsons, M.D., who led the department from 2005-2022, was named Amidon Chair in 2006.

Dr. Anne Dixon and Dean Rick Page standing together at a ceremony

Dean Richard L. Page presented a medallion and flowers to Dr. Anne Dixon.

View a video of Dr. Dixon's investiture >>

Kat Cheung Appointed to Lead Center on Aging

Katharine L. Cheung, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine, assumed the role of Interim Director of the UVM Center on Aging at the Larner College of Medicine, effective September 1, 2023. A geriatric and palliative nephrologist, Cheung served on the Center on Aging faculty advisory board for six years before stepping into the directorship role. She succeeds Michael LaMantia, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine and division chief for geriatric medicine, who served as the Center on Aging director from 2017-2023.

Cheung is actively engaged in clinical practice, community service, and research focused on the care of older adults with advanced kidney disease and cognitive impairment.

In her new role with the Center on Aging, Cheung looks forward to connecting with colleagues across the UVM campus whose work focuses on older people and aging. One of her top priorities is to relaunch the center’s pilot grants initiative for UVM faculty who are interested in pursuing research focused on gerontology or geriatric issues.

Dr. Kat Cheung leads the Center on Aging.

Food As Medicine: Larner Students' Pilot Course Gets Future Doctors Cooking

Ginger, garlic, and curry aromas waft through the first-floor hallway in the medical education center, where sounds of light conversation blend with scraping, clinking, and chopping. Inside the Larner Classroom, medical students peel carrots, dice onions, and de-stem kale.
This is not a potluck social, it’s an academic class.

Last semester, 28 first-year medical students learned about culinary medicine, which pairs nutritional science with preventative health care. This evening’s session is one of five in a semester-long extracurricular program that teaches about lifestyle interventions for chronic disease. The program was developed by medical class of 2026 students Sarah Krumholz, a registered dietician before medical school, and Molly Hurd, who has an M.S. in pharmacology and saw the benefits integrative health strategies while studying abroad. As the students learn about the role of nutritions food in preventing disease, they prepare and eat their dinner.

On tonight's menu: Golden lentil soup, sweet potato stuffed with black beans, and cancer prevention.

Guest speaker Kim Dittus, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine, presented the didactic portion of the class, showing the scientific evidence linking food and health. An oncologist and UVM Cancer Center member, Dittus’ research focuses on the impact of nutrition and exercise on improving cancer outcomes.

Benjamin Sebuufu '27 scoops soup for Dr. Kim Dittus and Jake Ayisi '27.

Read about the culinary medicine class >>

Empowering Voices: Gender Equity Event Highlights Intersectionality

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont hosted the fifth annual Celebration of Gender Equity in Medicine and Science on March 7, 2024, in the Sullivan Classroom in the Medical Education Center.

Debora Kamin Mukaz, Ph.D., M.S., assistant professor of medicine and co-founder of #BlackInCardio, presented a keynote address on “Why Intersectionality Matters for Life Sciences and Medicine.” Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kamin Mukaz’s interest in STEM was stoked by her family, who deeply valued formal education—however, like many young women, Kamin Mukaz quickly realized the pervasiveness of sexism in education, both in her home province of Katanga, as well as abroad, in the U.S.

Intersectionality, the topic of Kamin Mukaz’s lecture, is defined as the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. “I exist at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities, each shaped by systems that determine what rights and resources I have access to,” stated Kamin Mukaz, noting how her identities as an immigrant and a Black woman intertwine, and how experiences stemming from those identities have affected her path through academia, as well as in health care.

See who in the Department of Medicine received awards in Faculty and Staff Updates section of this newsletter.

Debora Kamin Mukaz presented the keynote address at the Celebration of Gender Equity in Medicine and Science.

Read more about the Celebration of Gender Equity in Medicine and Dr. Kamin Munaz's presentation >>

Division Highlights Faculty & Staff Highlights Research Highlights Beyond Medicine

Moment of Equipoise Presentations & Publications