Sobel & Alpert Visiting Professorships

The Sobel Visiting Professorship honors Burton E. Sobel, MD, Founding Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont (CVRI). Dr. Sobel’s remarkable career exemplified the CVRI mission to advance cardiovascular research and reflected his guiding principle to “believe only those facts that have been tested, evaluated, and clarified.”  

 In keeping with this legacy, the Sobel Professorship brings distinguished leaders in cardiovascular medicine to the University of Vermont for an extended program that includes a keynote lecture and a series of interactions with trainees and early-career investigators. This structure is designed to provide the Sobel Professor with meaningful opportunities to inspire, mentor, and guide emerging investigators.  

These visits are made possible through a generous gift from Martin Bloomfield, MD '60

The Alpert Visiting Professorship honors Norman R. Alpert, PhD, Professor and Chair of UVM's Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics from 1966 to 1995. Dr. Alpert built an internationally recognized department focused on cardiovascular physiology and was influential in the recruitment of eminent cardiovascular scientists and physician scientists to UVM. The results of their collaborations and challenging of assumptions put UVM on the map as a center of excellence in Cardiovascular Biology and literally moved research from the bench to the bedside. 

The Alpert Professorship brings leaders in cardiovascular medicine to the University of Vermont for an extended program that includes a lecture and a series of interactions with trainees and junior investigators.  In this way, the Alpert Professor will have the opportunity to inspire and guide early career investigators. 

These visits are made possible through a generous gift from Martin Bloomfield, MD '60

The Early Career “Rising Star” Visiting Professorship, established in 2017 by CVRI’s Early Career Advisory Committee, brings outstanding early-career investigators to campus for a series of events focused on trainees and junior faculty. 

The program is designed to foster meaningful connections, spark new collaborations, and create opportunities for lasting partnerships across investigators and institutions. 

These visits are made possible through the generous support of donors to the Jim Ray Memorial Heart Ride and the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont.