The University of Vermont (UVM) Medical Group at Fletcher Allen recently presented research awards to six UVM/Fletcher Allen clinicians in recognition of their exceptional research efforts at a special reception held in December 2011.

Research Recognition Awards
Two research recognition awards, each carrying a $1,500 cash award and a $6,000 block grant related to the awards’ focus, were presented at the UVM Medical Group event.

David Krag, M.D., S.D. Ireland Professor of Surgery, was named Senior Researcher of The Year, an honor that recognizes a faculty member who is more than 10 years from residency or fellowship training. Krag’s groundbreaking research into sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer includes the development of radiotracer-guided surgery that has benefited more than a million patients.

UVM Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics Robert Althoff, M.D., Ph.D., was named Junior Researcher of the Year, an award that recognizes a faculty member less than 10 years out from residency or fellowship training. Althoff studies genetic elements of childhood psychiatric disorders.

Investigator-Initiated Research Awards
This award was created to help align the academic missions of Fletcher Allen and the UVM College of Medicine and enhance multidisciplinary and multi-departmental projects and comes with a two-year, $50,000 grant funded by Fletcher Allen. Two teams were recognized with this award at the December 2011 event.
 

Daniel Bertges, M.D., an associate professor of surgery and vascular surgeon, and Muriel Nathan, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of medicine and endocrinologist, received a grant to conduct a controlled quality improvement project that is designed to test the effect of aggressive perioperative insulin management on both perioperative glucose control, and short-term infectious complication in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects undergoing peripheral vascular surgery.

Professor of Medicine and medical oncologist Marie Wood, M.D., and Brian Sprague, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery, received the grant to study the relationship between inflammation and increased breast density in a population of women at increased risk for breast cancer, along with the ability to stratify patients based on body mass and menopausal status.