Cushman is a University Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, director of the Thrombosis and Hemostasis Program at UVM, co-director of the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health, and co-director of the Laboratory for Clinical Biochemistry Research. She works with patients who have either deep vein thrombosis which occurs mostly in the legs, or pulmonary embolism. Less than half of the population understands these issues, she noted, which can lead to delayed diagnoses.
“Too often we see people who have been short of breath for weeks,” she said, “and it turns out their lungs are full of clots. I want to raise awareness of these issues.”
Cushman did just that when she cautioned a presenter at a seminar she was attending at UVM in 2015 that he should delay his departure and get his leg looked at. The presenter, Joe Golding, was about to get on a plane, which is a risk factor for clots. Cushman convinced him to delay the flight and get a CT scan—which revealed early-stage cancer. When the presenter thanked her, she disappointed him by not following his advice to solicit a donation—the seminar was on how medical professionals should talk about philanthropy with patients—but he forgave her because she may have saved his life. She recalls that Golding gave her a look which reminded her that she had erred, but it didn’t matter. He had decided to donate $25,000 to one of Cushman’s research projects.