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Inaugural Rural Medicine Education Director
Office for Research & Engagement (ORE) Launches Website
Kaufman joins Prestigious Board
Carney’s Public Health Lecture
Gupta’s Groundbreaking Parkinson's Disease Research
Gramling’s Cancer Warrior Award
Larner Students Named Directors for Latino Medical Student Association-Northeast Region
“LMSA is an amazing community that made me feel at home from the first conference I attended. I am so excited to take on this new position. It is so important for the Latino community to have a place where we can connect over our shared experiences and be a support system for each other during our path to becoming Latino doctors.” — Mirella Fernandez ’28
Two medical students from the Larner College of Medicine’s Class of 2028 were elected to regional leadership roles within the Latino Medical Student Association following the Northeast Regional Conference this March. Past Larner Chapter Co-Presidents Mirella Fernandez and Jesus Mendoza were named regional director-elects of the Latino Medical Student Association–Northeast (LMSA–NE) and will assume full regional director roles in 2027. Their election follows a record-setting conference attendance by 10 Larner students—the largest delegation from Vermont to date.
“It’s a privilege and honor to be able to continue to grow and showcase the Latino community from Vermont. Through LMSA, I have found a new home away from home and hope to continue paving the way for future Latinos in medicine.” — Jesus Mendoza ’28
Founded to represent, support, educate, and unify Latinx medical students in the northeastern United States, LMSA-NE comprises more than 60 medical school chapters and 1300 student members. This regional organization extends north to Maine (University of New England), south to Washington, D.C. (Georgetown, Howard), and to Western Pennsylvania (University of Pittsburgh), with new chapters and members joining every year. Now in its fifth decade, LMSA-NE continues with its original mission: the recruitment, retention, and support of underrepresented minorities into the medical field and the improvement of health care delivery to the Latino community. LMSA-NE is fully affiliated with the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), formerly the National Network of Latin American Students (NNLAMS). This is a national partnership between other regional Latino medical student groups to create one strong voice for Latino medical students throughout the entire United States.
Schlein Named New Program Director of Rural Medicine Education
Sarah Schlein, M.D.’10, associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, has been named inaugural program director of rural medicine education in Larner’s Office of Medical Education, effective April 1.
In this newly created role, Dr. Schlein will ensure the integration of rural-focused curricula; serve as director of the Rural Medicine Pathway program, overseeing the development and delivery of rural-focused medical education across all Larner campuses; and ensure that Larner’s rural education experiences meet the rigorous standards set by accrediting bodies while promoting comparability across all sites.
Schlein earned her M.D. at Larner in 2010, then completed an emergency medicine residency at University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals, where she was chief resident, followed by a fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine from the Wilderness Medical Society and a medical education fellowship at the Teaching Academy at the Larner College of Medicine; she also holds a diploma in mountain medicine (DiMM) from the Wilderness Medical Society.
Schlein’s current professional positions include emergency medicine attending physician at UVM Medical Center (UVMMC) and UVM Health–Porter Medical Center; director of Wilderness Medicine, the Wilderness Medicine Fellowship, and Larner’s Wilderness Medicine course; Larner PCR preceptor; director of the UVMMC Emergency Medicine URM Student Scholarship; director of the UVMMC Emergency Medicine Visiting Student Clerkship; and core faculty of the Emergency Residency at UVMMC.
Office for Research and Engagement Launches New Website
The Larner College of Medicine’s Office for Research and Engagement (ORE) partners with centers and colleges across UVM to support faculty and trainees throughout all stages of research development, providing expert research career training, guidance, programs, resources, and infrastructure. Learn about R Scholar and K Scholar programs, a grants library, internal and external grant opportunities, and much more at ORE’s newly launched website or by navigating through the Explore menu on the Larner homepage to the Larner Research webpage.
Peter Kaufman, M.D., Elected to Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Board of Directors
Breast oncologist Peter Kaufman, M.D., professor of medicine at the Larner College of Medicine, has been elected to a three-year term on the board of directors of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. His leadership and expertise in clinical research will support the organization’s mission to advance cancer care and discovery.
The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology is a national leader in advancing cancer research, uniting over 25,000 cancer specialists at 115 main institutions and 1,400 affiliates across the U.S. and Canada. As part of the National Clinical Trials Network, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and a leading research base for the NCI Community Oncology Research Program, the alliance conducts pioneering, practice-changing clinical trials that improve outcomes and reshape standards of care.
“From Past to Future”: A Lecture in Public Health by Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H.
On April 8—during National Public Health Awareness Week—Jan K. Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for public health and health policy, professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Public Health, and M.P.H. program director, presented a lecture at the Larner College of Medicine as part of the Health C.A.R.E. (Cultural Awareness, Research, and Education) Grand Rounds Series. Titled “From Past to Present to Future: Transformative Lessons from Public Health History,” the talk explored the evolution of public health and its lasting impact, highlighting topics ranging from environmental health to policy and how lessons from the past often shape the future.
New Tool Can Better Diagnose Parkinson’s Disease
A multicenter research project led by Deepak Gupta, M.D., M.S., associate professor of neurological sciences and director of clinical informatics for neurology at UVM Health, has culminated in development of a novel tool, which was announced in January in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports. The tool, referred to as a clinical decision support for Parkinson’s disease (CDS-PD), uses a machine learning informatics system to support systematic decision-making in real time at the point of care.
“Parkinson’s disease affects movement and can cause tremor, slowness, stiffness, and changes in walking speed and balance. Because early symptoms can overlap with other conditions, an early and accurate diagnosis can be challenging,” says Dr. Gupta, who is director of clinical informatics for neurology at UVM Health.
University of Vermont co-authors on this research include Larner Class of 2026 medical student Cole Zweber, who recently matched for neurology residency at Stanford University; Vivikta Iyer, M.D., visiting scholar and postdoctoral fellow, who recently matched for neurology residency at the University of Arkansas; Ian Zurlo, medical assistant at the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC), who worked on this project as an undergraduate student under a Laud Student Fellowship provided by Binter Center for Parkinson’s Disease at UVMMC; and James T. Boyd, M.D., Robert W. Hamill, M.D., Green and Gold Professor of Neurological Sciences and director of the Frederick C. Binter Center for Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders at UVMMC.
Read more about Dr. Gupta’s research and the new tool
Bob Gramling, M.D., Honored with Cancer Warrior Award from University of Colorado
Larner Professor of Family Medicine and Holly and Bob Miller Chair in Palliative Medicine Robert Gramling, M.D., D.Sc., was honored with a Cancer Warrior Award for Research Achievement and Research Mentoring from the University of Colorado Anschutz Cancer Center, where he presented his team’s work exploring how AI can help us find human connection in advanced cancer. A member of the UVM Cancer Center, Dr. Gramling is a palliative care physician who studies how conversations can enhance our understanding of the patient experience.
UVM to Apply for Its Own Clinical and Translational Research Award
The Larner College of Medicine has enjoyed a productive partnership as co–Principal Investigators with MaineHealth for two five-year cycles of the Northern New England Clinical and Translational Research (NNE-CTR) award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. After careful consideration, Larner has made the strategic decision to separate from its formal partnership with MaineHealth and move toward a model in which the University of Vermont applies for its own institutional Clinical and Translational Research award. The decision was announced by Larner Dean and UVM Chief Medical Affairs Officer Richard L. Page, M.D., and Senior Associate Dean for Research Kate Tracy, Ph.D.
This action will provide UVM with greater strategic control and programmatic independence, allowing closer alignment of scientific priorities, governance, and resource allocation with core campus strengths and positioning the university for the next phase of growth and impact in translational science. A direct institutional award will also enhance UVM’s national visibility and leadership in translational research.
As part of this transition, Gary Stein, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, will step down as Principal Investigator after nearly a decade of extraordinary service and leadership, and Peter Calabresi, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Neurological Sciences, and Tracy Madsen, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of emergency medicine and vice chair of research for the Department of Emergency Medicine, will serve as co–Principal Investigators of the new project. Drs. Calabresi and Madsen bring highly complementary expertise—spanning translational neuroscience and clinical trials, population health, clinical operations, and community engagement—along with a strong track record of leading large, multi-investigator grants.
Dean Page and Senior Associate Dean Tracy expressed their profound gratitude for Dr. Stein’s vision, generosity of time, and enduring contributions, which have shaped NNE-CTR into the strong program it is today and positioned it well for its next chapter. Likewise, they thanked Larner’s colleagues at MaineHealth for their partnership and said they look forward to future collaborations.
Larner Research Presentations at EPI | Lifestyle Conference
Larner medical students Jenna Bourdeau ’28, Sarah Krumholz ’26, Ayda Oktem ’28, and Veronica Shea ’28 and postdoctoral associate Fatima El Azzouzi, Ph.D., presented their research at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health (EPI | Lifestyle) conference, held March 18–19 in Boston:
- Jenna Bourdeau, “Social Determinants of Health and Circulating Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration: The REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Cohort” (Mentor: Mary Cushman, M.D., MSc.)
- Fatima El Azzouzi, Ph.D., “Metabolomic Pathway Alterations in Serum of Postmenopausal Women with Stroke” (Mentor: Tracy Madsen, M.D.)
- Sarah Krumholz, “Ultra-Processed Food Intake and Incident Coronary Heart Disease in REGARDS” (Mentor: Tim Plante, Ph.D.)
- Ayda Oktem, “Postmenopausal Endogenous Sex Hormone Levels and Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Risk in the Women’s Health Initiative” (Mentor: Tracy Madsen, M.D.)
- Veronica Shea, “Endothelial Dysfunction and Risk of Severe COVID-19 in a Biracial U.S. Cohort” (Mentor: Debora Kamin Mukaz, Ph.D.)
The American Heart Association’s EPI | Lifestyle conference supports research into population‐based approaches to reduce cardiovascular disease and improve cardiovascular health. This year’s sessions included keynote lectures, interactive presentations focused on population science and global cardiovascular health, a wide range of oral abstract sessions, and discussions on implementation science as it applies to promoting cardiovascular health and adopting healthy behaviors, as well as networking roundtables and early career–focused events.