Lewis First, M.D., M.S., professor and chair of pediatrics at the Larner College of Medicine and the UVM Children’s Hospital for the past 30 years, will be honored with the 2024 Clifford G. Grulee Award at the upcoming American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) conference in Florida later this month. This award—the highest recognition bestowed by the AAP—was established in 1951 in honor of Dr. Clifford Grulee, who served as secretary-treasurer and, later, executive secretary of the AAP from its founding in 1930 until his retirement in 1951.

“Being recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics with the Grulee Award is an honor that I share with everyone who wants to ensure the optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being of all children—which is what the mission of the AAP is all about,” said First on learning he is the recipient of this award. 

First joins other UVM pediatric faculty who have previously won this national honor, including the late R. James (Jim) McKay, M.D., first chair of the department, and the late Jerold Lucey, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of Pediatrics for 33 years, both of whom were given this award together in 1981; the late Paula Duncan, M.D., co-author of Bright Futures, the AAP’s health maintenance textbook used by pediatricians all over the world, in 2008; and Joseph Hagan, M.D., another co-author of Bright Futures, who received the award in 2017.

Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Sean Diehl, Ph.D., in collaboration with scientists from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, has been awarded a $4.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The primary goal of the Flavivirus and Alphavirus ReVAMPP (FLARE) Center is to establish a pandemic preparedness research network supporting advancements in the development of a dengue vaccine. The center will develop antigen designs, vaccine platforms, and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against prototype flaviviruses and alphaviruses—vector-borne illnesses transmitted to humans via insects—and establish their efficacy in animal models of disease. Examples of flaviviruses include dengue virus, West Nile virus, and yellow fever virus; examples of alphaviruses are chikungunya and the family of eastern, western, or Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses.

Diehl’s specific role in this multi-institutional effort will build on a recent discovery of a structure-based method to design and produce a stable version of the dengue virus envelope (E) protein. This tool displays a three-dimensional structure of the key viral protein relevant to what is displayed on a virus particle, and Diehl will use it to isolate human antibodies that strongly neutralize dengue virus. How these antibodies block dengue viruses will be visualized by high-powered cryo-electron microscopy, and these antibodies will be tested for protection in animal models to understand how our immune system can generate such protection. Diehl and other scientists involved in the project aim to establish a “plug and play” modular protein subunit and mRNA vaccine platforms to counter currently circulating and future epidemic flaviviruses.

Victor May, Ph.D., professor of neurological sciences and pharmacology, has been awarded the Samuel W. Thayer Endowed Professorship of Anatomy. This professorship was established in 1910 to honor Dr. Samuel White Thayer, who graduated from the Vermont Medical College in 1838, was instrumental in re-establishing the Medical College at the University of Vermont in 1853, taught Anatomy and Physiology, and served as dean of the College of Medicine for 19 years from 1854 to 1871 and then again from 1880 to 1882.

May, who received his Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology at Northwestern University and completed postdoctoral training at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is an internationally recognized and respected researcher and one of the world’s experts on the expression and regulation of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide and its cognate PAC1 receptor in the central and peripheral nervous systems. He began his career as an assistant professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the University of Vermont in 1989.

In a new publication in the Journal of Cachexia and Sarcopenia of Muscle, Deena Snoke, Ph.D., a post-doc in the lab of Michael Toth, Ph.D., shares her research findings that lung cancer patients experience a 20 percent reduction in muscle fiber size after two months of conventional treatment despite no measurable changes in muscle at the whole-body or whole-tissue level.

While many previous studies have reported on the profound effects of cancer and its accompanied treatment on skeletal muscle, this was the first study to examine longitudinal changes in muscle at the cellular level. Conducted in collaboration with Hibba Tul Rehman, M.D., Kim L. Dittus, M.D., Ph.D., and Toth, and supported by the Microscopy Imaging Center, the new work highlights the need to target muscle loss early in the course of treatment even in patients with stable body weight and composition.

Read more about Snoke's research.

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and UVM Cancer Center member Elias Klemperer, Ph.D., and his Co-PI Matthew Carpenter, Ph.D., from the Medical University of South Carolina have received a prestigious R01 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The $3.2 million award will support Klemperer and his team as they conduct a comprehensive study on the dual use of cigarettes and electronic cigarettes. This research will investigate the patterns of dual use and their impact on smoking cessation, with potential implications for both clinical practice and regulatory policy.

“Cigarette smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in the US, and accounts for nearly one third of all cancer deaths. Most experts agree that e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes, but it’s unclear whether dual use of both products increases or decreases risk for harm” said Klemperer. “This study aims to identify patterns of dual use that can lead to harm reduction.”

The study, titled "Dual Use of Combustible and Electronic Cigarettes: A Fine-Grained Naturalistic Cohort Study to Investigate Dynamic Use Patterns and Trajectories that Lead to Smoking Cessation," will follow a national cohort of 396 dual users, alongside 198 exclusive smokers and 198 exclusive e-cigarette users. Through daily diaries, monthly surveys and more, the study aims to identify the specific use patterns that most effectively predict quitting combustible cigarettes.

More than 100 neurovascular researchers from throughout the U.S. gathered at the Larner College of Medicine for the Blood Fest 2024 symposium August 22–23. Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health co-director Mark Nelson, Ph.D., chair and University Distinguished Professor of pharmacology at UVM, presided over the event with co-organizers Anna Devor, Ph.D., professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, and David Kleinfeld, Ph.D., professor of neurobiology at University of California–San Diego. This symposium is hosted annually in various locations by USArhythms (Ultra Slow Arterial rhythms), a project of the National Institutes of Health Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative. The symposium provides opportunities for early-career investigators to present brain blood flow research, develop new hypotheses, and collaborate with other researchers.

On August 31, 2024, Larner medical students, including Javier Rincon '25, and the Nuvance/UVM Global Health Academy collaborated with the Dominican Community Center of Danbury, Connecticut, to observe International Overdose Awareness Day. This was the second year the organizations and students worked together on this event with a focus on Connecticut, which is home to some of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies and is plagued by opioid overdoses.

During the ceremony, different organizations from the surrounding area gathered to spread awareness of the opioid pandemic while individuals, families, and organizations affected by and working to combat the opioid pandemic were recognized. The medical students assisted not only in organizing the event, but also in providing educational materials, safe use kits, and Narcan for the community.