The University of Vermont Department of Neurological Sciences and the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI) of Vermont jointly presented a special Neuroscience Grand Rounds by the CVRI’s first Visiting Professor Marc Fisher, M.D., M.Sc., editor-in-chief of Stroke, on October 10, 2014. The lecture, titled “Translational Stroke Research: A Personal Perspective,” took place in Davis Auditorium on Level 2 of the Ambulatory Care Center at Fletcher Allen Health Care.

A professor emeritus of neurology at University of Massachusetts, Fisher has extensive expertise in performing MRI-based research in rat stroke models to evaluate the presence and evolution of the ischemic penumbra. Using diffusion/perfusion MRI, his experimental group has evaluated the effects of therapies on the progression of the diffusion/perfusion mismatch. Recently, he and his team have shown that high-flow 100 percent oxygen therapy initiated early after embolic stroke in rats markedly inhibits the expansion of the ischemic core on diffusion imaging and extended the time window for successful reperfusion. Fisher has published extensively, with more than 230 peer-reviewed articles, and has edited or co-edited 11 books.

The CVRI’s members include UVM investigators focused cardiovascular research from across multiple departments at the College of Medicine. The Institute’s objectives are to improve communication, particularly across disciplines, departments, and colleges;            increase collaboration; increase funding to support cardiovascular research; and advance and highlight excellence in research nationally and internationally.

CVRI Research Seminars, like Fisher’s Neuroscience Grand Rounds presentation, are designed to highlight excellence in cardiovascular research, improve communication and collaboration across all disciplines and departments, foster new research, and engage junior investigators. Future CVRI Visiting Professors’ research seminars include:

• November 7: “Peripheral Artery Disease” with Mark Creager, M.D., Senior Physician, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and President-Elect of the American Heart Association
• November 18: “Vascular Complications of Pregnancy” with Leslie Myatt, Ph.D., Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Co-Director of the Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
• May 3, 2015:  “Translating Python Biology to Mammalian Hearts” with Leslie A. Leinwand, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder and Chief Scientific Officer, BioFrontiers Institute
• May 8, 2015:  “Heart Failure” with Marvin Konstam, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Tufts University and Chief Physician Executive, The CardioVascular Center at Tufts Medical Center.

Learn more about the CVRI here.