LCOM & Department News

Larner Team Plays Role in NIH COVID-19 Blood Clotting Treatment Trials

September 10, 2020 by Jennifer Nachbur

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.

(Stock photo)

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. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the launch of two of three adaptive Phase 3 clinical trials September 10.
 
Antithrombotics, also known as blood thinners, keep blood proteins or platelets from clumping or sticking to each other, but doctors have not yet determined if, and at what point in the course of COVID-19 infection, blood thinners might be effective at treating patients with this condition. Researchers have noted that many patients who have died from COVID-19 had formed blood clots throughout their bodies, including in their smallest blood vessels. This unusual clotting, one of many life-threatening effects of the disease, has caused multiple health complications, from organ damage to heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and stroke.
 
Part of the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) initiative, these trials will be conducted at more than 100 sites worldwide and will involve COVID-19 patients who have not been hospitalized, who are currently hospitalized, and who have been discharged after hospitalization for moderate to severe disease. Collectively known as ACTIV-4 Antithrombotics, the common goal of the three trials is to give doctors critical insights to improve the care of patients with COVID-19 and prevent life-threatening blood clots. All three trials will be coordinated by the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and funded through Operation Warp Speed (OWS).
 
“There is currently no standard of care for anticoagulation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and there is a desperate need for clinical evidence to guide practice,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “Conducting trials using multiple existing networks of research sites provides the scale and speed that will get us answers faster.”
 
UVM's engagement in the ACTIV-4 initiative is three-fold. First, the Laboratory for Clinical Biochemistry Research, led by University Distinguished Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Biochemistry Russell Tracy, Ph.D., drafted the biospecimen collection protocols for the three ACTIV-4 trials, and will receive and house all biosamples collected as part of ACTIV-4 protocols. The lab will also serve as the central laboratory for the studies, working closely with the ACTIV-4 Data Coordinating Center at the University of Pittsburgh and ACTIV-4 Mechanistic Studies Center at the University of Michigan.
 
“We will make ACTIV-4 biosamples available to researchers worldwide to help us better understand how SARS-CoV-2 makes certain people so ill, and how best to treat COVID-19,” said Tracy.
 
Second is an effort led by Professor of Medicine and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc., a lead investigator on the RAPID COVID COAG anticoagulation trial that will form a key part of the ACTIV-4 Antithrombotics inpatient clinical trial. RAPID has begun recruiting patients in Canada and Brazil and will soon begin in the U.S. as part of ACTIV-4 Antithrombotics. Cushman sits on the NHLBI Collaborating Network of Networks for Evaluating COVID-19 and Therapeutic Strategies (CONNECTS) Steering Committee overseeing COVID-19 human research.
 
”The speed at which these investigations are being implemented—essentially ‘warp speed’ in terms of the normal research process—is remarkable and a testament to the collaboration of many investigators around the country and our NIH and OWS partners,” said Cushman.
 
Third, Assistant Professor of Surgery Christos Colovos, M.D., Ph.D., will lead the ACTIV-4 Antithrombotics Inpatient Trial at UVM Medical Center, offering Vermont patients with COVID-19 the opportunity to participate in this research and receive potentially life-saving treatment if Vermont experiences another COVID-19 surge. This trial will investigate the safety and effectiveness of different doses of the blood thinner heparin to prevent clotting events and improve outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Additional anticoagulants may be tested, depending on the trial results, and all study participants will continue to receive clinical care as indicated for their condition. UVM will not be participating in the ACTIV-4 Antithrombotics Outpatient trial.
 
“We must use therapies that support the natural inhibitors of clotting in the blood,” said Keith Hoots, M.D., director of NHLBI’s Division of Blood Disorders and Resources. “Heparin has shown promise, but we really need clinical trial data to determine how much blood thinner, or even antiplatelet medication, to give.”
 
“The UVM Larner College of Medicine is proud and honored to participate in these critically important clinical trials to address life-threatening thrombosis in COVID-19,” said Dean Richard L. Page, M.D. “Drawing on our faculty’s expertise in hematology, clinical trial design and biospecimen management, these studies have promise for benefit to Vermont, our nation and the entire international community.”
 
NIH announced the ACTIV public-private partnership in April 2020 to develop a coordinated national research response to speed COVID-19 treatment and vaccine options. Managed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, ACTIV brings together multiple partners from government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations.

 

Past Department Highlights

vandervliet-habibovic420x280A new study by Albert van der Vliet, Ph.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and a team of University of Vermont (UVM) researchers is honing in on why people with asthma often have worse symptoms if they are obese. This new research demonstrates that the gene DUOX1 likely contributes to the connection between obesity and asthma.  The research was published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology and was highlighted as an APSselect article for March 2023. Albert van der Vliet, Ph.D., was the senior author on the paper, along with department of pathology and laboratory medicine coauthors Aida Habibovic, lab research technician;Litiele Cruz, Ph.D., visiting scholar; Vikas Anathy, Ph.D., associate professor; University Distinguished Professor Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D.; and additional team members and authors from UVM. Read the full LCOM News story LCOM News (4/2023)

Congratulations to Bronwyn Bryant, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, for having your proposal, Consequential Validity of Entrustable Professional Activities in Pathology Residency Training selected to receive a Frymoyer Scholars Program project of $48,000 to be funded July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025. (4/2023)

Congratulations to Martin Chang, M.D., Ph.D., on accepting the new role as Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs. (4/2023)

Congratulations to Joanna Conant, M.D., on becoming the new Pathology Student Fellowship Director starting July 1, 2023. (4/2023)

Congratulations to The Cunniff Lab, on receiving funding to support research focused on malignant mesothelioma. The funding was from The Butler Family Foundation Fund for Cancer Research at the University of Vermont Cancer Center. The Butler Fund was established by the Butler family in memory of two loved ones lost to mesothelioma. (03/2023)

Congratulations to the following recipients that received pathology research support funding. Nathaniel Shannon in Brian Cunniff's, Ph.D., lab was awarded $1800 towards the cost of travel to the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Society for Redox Biology and Medicine (SfRBM). Litiele Cruz, Ph.D., and faculty mentor Albert van der Vliet, PhD., were awarded $2622 for her project "Characterization of Laminin Oxidative Modifications by Peroxidasin in Pulmonary Fibrosis". Nels Olson, PhD., MPH., $14,582 for the purchase of an Agilent BioTek 405 TS Touch Microplate Washer, Model 405 TSRS. Ashley Volaric M.D., Joanna Conant M.D., and David Seward, M.D, Ph.D., were awarded $13,680 for their project, "The Effect of Epstein Barr Virus Latency on Cellular DNA Methylation Profile of Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma". (3/2023)

A number of faculty and students from the pathology and laboratory medicine department presented research at the American Heart Associations Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle, and Cardiometabolic Health (EPI/Lifestyle) Scientific Sessions 2023 in Boston February 28 - March 3. Students presenting were Maggie King, a master in science pathology degree student who was mentored by faculty scientist J. Peter Durda, Ph.D. pathology and laboratory medicine. Maggie presented on "Complete Blood Count Analysis in the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Cohort Study with a Point of Care Instrument." Her study is supported by NHLBI. And second-year medical student and 2022 Cardiovascular Research Institute Summer Research Fellow Megan Zhou, mentored by pathology and laboratory medicine associate professor Nels Olson, Ph.D. Megan presented on "Coagulation Factor IX and Incident Diabetes Risk: The Reasons for Geographic and Race Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study." Also, pathology and laboratory faculty members that were coauthors of presentations given, assistant professor Margaret Doyle, Ph.D., and University Distinguished Professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, Russell Tracy, Ph.D. (3/2023)

Congratulations to Dr. Bei Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., MLS(ASCP), associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, for being selected for a Distinguished Scholar Award by the Association of Biochemistry Educators for her submission entitled "Activate Students' Learning Outside Classroom". Dr. Zhang will be presenting this submission at the 2023 Association of Biochemistry Education Conference. (3/2023)

Congratulations to our 2023 Gender Equity Award Nominees. Gender Equity Champion Award nominee, Debra Leonard, M.D., Ph.D., Chair and Professor Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Our departmental nominees for The Polaris Award for Outstanding Mentorship- an award for informal or formal mentorship for women or gender diverse college community members, Rebecca Wilcox, M.D., Pam Gibson, M.D., Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., and Christi Wojewoda, M.D. (2/2023)  

Congratulations to Dr. Scott Anderson, M.D., on being selected to receive the Association of Pathology Chairs 2023 Margaret Grimes Distinguished Achievement Award in Graduate Medical Education. This award was made in recognition of Dr. Anderson's outstanding contributions to graduate medical education and his stature as a nationally recognized leader in pathology education. (2/2023)

Congratulations to Dr. Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., Dr. Kelly Butnor, M.D., Dr. David "Bebo" Seward, M.D., Ph.D., and Dr. Sharon Mount, M.D., on their news story in The Charlotte News, on their "giant steps in cancer research." Read the full article here:  Humble Superstar (1/2023)

Congratulations to Dr. Elizabeth Bundock, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Examiner of Vermont and clinical assistant professor of pathology, for her appointment by the American Board of Pathology, to the Test Development and Advisory Committee for Forensic Pathology 2023. (1/2023)

Dr. Beri Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., MLS(ASCP), associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, presented a panel, at the Snow Season Education Retreat, titled "The Pearls and Pitfalls of Publishing in Medical Education", with three clinicians Dr. Hale, Dr. Halle, and Dr. Rideout. (1/2023)

Congratulations to Dr. Bronwyn Bryant, M.D., assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine on her Awards for  Teaching and Educational Excellence, Learner Assessment, conferred at the Teaching Academy Induction and Award Ceremony on January 11, 2023. (1/2023)

Albert in JapanCongratulations to Dr. Albert van der Vliet, Ph.D., pro-fessor of pathology and laboratory medicine, for being selected as an Invited Fellow to Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, to participate in research in the laboratory of Takaaki Akaike, M.D., Ph.D., professor of environmental medicine and molecular toxicology. The invitational fellowship relates to a Tohoku University initiative that allows Tohoku faculty members to host invited researchers to promote collaborative research in the host lab for up to three months. The objective is to promote joint publications and expand international collaborations. Dr. van der Vliet's visit coincided with a medley of scientific meetings and symposia collectively termed  Redox Week In Sendai 2022 and held October 27-November 1, 2022. The events brought together leading scientists from around the world in the specific research fields of nitric oxide biology, polysulfur biochemistry, and biology. Van der Vliet was co-organizer and speaker at one of the symposiums, and Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., and Brian Cunniff, Ph.D., both professors of pathology and laboratory medicine, also participated as invited speakers. Additional Japanese federal funding supports the exchange of invited researchers, graduate students, and post-doctoral scholars to collaborate on research. Read more about the redox research collaboration  between UVM and Tohoku University. (01/2023) 

Congratulations to Dr. Douglas Taatjes, Ph.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and director of the Center for Biomedical Shared Resources, at the UVM Cancer Center's recent annual scientific retreat he and Dr. Alan Howe, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, were chosen from a group of five cross-disciplinary teams that competed for $25,000 in seed funding. They were chosen by a vote of the membership. Each team had 30 minutes to develop an idea with an actionable research plan that aligned with one of several proposed Cancer Center initiatives to address research relevant to the populations of Vermont and northern New York. The funds were awarded for the "Spatialomics and Precision Medicine Pipeline" project. This will be co-led by Dr. Taatjes, Ph.D., and Dr. Howe, Ph.D. (12/2022)

DebraDr. Debra Leonard, M.D., Ph.D., was the invited speaker for the Women in Cytometry reception at the 2022 International Clinical Cytometry Society Annual Meeting in Montreal on October 23. Dr. Leonard presented a talk titled "Leading from Within". Dr. Nicholas Haslett presented a poster at this same meeting. (10/2022)

Congratulations to Dr. Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., on her Lung Cancer Discovery Award from the American Lung Association. Read the full article here: VermontBiz (10/2022)

Larner Medicine profiles Dr. Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., and her research. Read the full profile here: Probing Oxygen's Mysteries (10/2022)

Research News see the news on UVM vaccine trials on eradicating polio and lead investigator Dr. Jessica Crothers, M.D., Read the full article here:  Research News (10/2022)

Congratulations, to Dr. Laura Greene, M.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and assistant dean for admissions, who recently accepted an appointment as program director of the Pathology Residency Program, effective July 1, 2023. Thank you to Dr. Scott Anderson, M.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, who as served as the program director since 2009. (10/2022)

Congratulations, to Dr. Jason Brazelton, M.D., for being named Physician of the Year by the Vermont Medical Society. "Dr. Brazelton's thoughtful and collabrative approach has improved care in our community and Porter's Medical staff has been incredibly fortunate to work with him." (09/2022)

Litele Cezar de Cruz, Ph.D., a visiting scholar from Brazil in the lab of Dr. Albert van der Vliet, Ph.D., and Nathaniel Shannon, a graduate student in the CMB program, in the lab of Dr. Brian Cunniff, Ph.D., based on their abstracts, have both received a Travel Award from SfRBM to attend the SfRBM Annual Meeting in Orlando later this year. https://sfrbm.org/meetings/2022-annual-conference/. In addition, Nate's abstract was selected to be presented as a talk at the conference. Chris Dustin, a former RBP Ph.D. student, and now a post-doc candidate at University of Pittsburg will also give an oral presentation at the conference. RBP is again well represented at this major conference in our field.

Research Day 2022, the fifth pathology research day was an incredible success. Thank you to the organizers Vice Chair for Research Dr. Mark Fung, M.D., Ph.D., Elizabeth Corteselli, Ph.D., post doctoral associate, Nate Shannon, CMB graduate student, and Dr. Rosemary Mattaino, M.D. Thank you as well to the presenters, and moderators for an engaging experience. Four sessions were held spanning the topics of: emerging technologies, and advances in knowledge using new technologies, a panel discussion on having a well-balanced academic career, and presentations from trainees, and internal award recipients. A well attended reception was help in the Hoehl Gallery after the event. (09/2022)

Research Day organizers - 2

(Dr. Fung, M.D., Ph.D., Elizabeth Corteselli, Ph.D., Nate Shannon, Dr. Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D.,)

Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, has received a two-year, $200,000 Lung Cancer Discovery Award from the American Lung Association (ALA). The grant will support her research project, titled "Glutaredoxin, Glutathione Metabolism and Lung Cancer." According to the ALA, "The Lung Cancer Discovery Award is for highly meritorious research projects with the potential to significantly improve and transform diagnostic and therapeutic paradigms; foster innovation, use novel approaches; and/or accelerate progress in lung cancer research that improves patient care and helps save lives." (08/2022)

Congratulations to Dr. Christina Wojewoda on her acceptance, as a Master Teacher, into the Larner College of Medicine Teaching Academy. (8/2022)

Congratulations to Dr. Alex Kaloff on receiving The University of Vermont Medical Center Leadership Award for the second quarter of 2022. (7/2022)

Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Wilcox on being selected as a member of the 2022-2023 class of fellows participating in the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program at Drexel University College of Medicine. Read more (06/2022)

Dr. Elizabeth Corteselli, a post-doctoral fellow in our department and trainee on the VLC T32 training program, is the recipient of a prestigious Parker B. Francis Fellowship Award. She will be recognized during a reception at the ATS conference in San Francisco this coming week. Congratulations Elizabeth! (05/2022)

Yvonne Janssen-Heininger, Ph.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine has been recognized by the Provost and Senior Vice-President for the university of Vermont Distinguished Professor recognition. This recognition is reserved for the most prominent faculty members who have made outstanding contributions to advancing knowledge in their disciplines. This is a significant honor for Dr. Janssen-Heininger. This accolade will be awarded during the spring 2022 UVM Commencement ceremony. Congratulations!! (05/2022)

Dr. Mount and Dr. Threlkeld won a Stout award at USCAP, a Stout award recognizes and awards an individual for the best English language peer-reviewed paper published, which resolves scientific medical problems by studying the anatomic features. Congrats to both! Read paper here: Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2021 May 1 (04/2022)

Congratulations! Jo Conant, M.D. has received the ‘Gender Equity in Medicine and Science Rising Star’ award. This award recognizes a woman or gender minority* faculty or staff member at the Larner College of Medicine who is in the early stage of their career, and who demonstrates excellence in contributions to students, colleagues, and/or the institution in the areas of gender equity and inclusion through service, program development, teaching, research or beyond. The awardee also shows the promise for future contributions and leadership in their field as well as in achieving goals for the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion. (02/2022)