Whole Person Care: Good Medicine for All

Helene M. Langevin, MD

Former Director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Helene M. Langevin, MD, oversaw a $170 million annual portfolio that features whole-person research, positive health processes, and pain management. Now, as the new Research Director for the Osher Center for Integrative Health, Langevin leads the growth of UVM’s robust, transdisciplinary research agenda, aligned with national and international partners and field experts. 

Part of the Osher Center for Integrative Health's 2026 Laura Mann Integrative Healthcare Lecture Series. Presented by UVM Medical Center, Family Medicine, UVM Larner College of Medicine. 

(Recording captured: Monday, March 9, 2026, 8:00 - 9:00 am, in person at UVM Medical Center Davis Auditorium during Family Medicine Grand Rounds. Online via Zoom.) 

View Presentation Slides (>>> PDF): Whole Person Care: Good Medicine for All

Inner Skills for Climate Resilience: An Existential Toolkit for the Polycrisis

Sarah Jaquette Ray, PhD

Monday, February 23, 2026, 8:00 - 9:00 am

Sarah Jaquette Ray, PhD explores the emotional dimensions of climate and environmental justice, focusing on how feelings like anxiety, despair, and hope shape activism, especially among youth. Through books, workshops, and public writing, she empowers communities to navigate climate challenges with resilience and purpose. Host of the podcast Climate Magic and author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet (California, 2020), Ray led an international network of educators to create and publish The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators (2024). 

Published in the LA Times and Scientific American and featured on podcasts like Hidden Brain and The Atlantic’s “How to Age Up,” Ray’s interdisciplinary work bridges environmental humanities, social justice, and psychology, offering tools for inner transformation and collective action. Visit Dr. Sarah Jaquette Ray's website. 

Presented by the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UVM as part of the 2025-2026 Laura Mann Integrative Healthcare Lecture Series. 

Recommended Reading:

• Introduction to The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators: How to Teach in a Burning World.
• Chapter 2 from A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet,“Cultivate Climate Wisdom.”

Food & Mood: Culinary Medicine for Group Medical Appointments

• Sravan Kakani, MD, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, University of Vermont Larner, College of Medicine
• Rachel Boyers, Garden Educator, University of Vermont Medical Center
• R. Leah Pryor, Executive Chef Manager, Culinary Medicine Manager, University of Vermont Health
• Melissa Kelly, Clinical Dietician , University of Vermont Medical Center

Osher Affiliates Sravan Kakani, MD, R. Leah Pryor, Rachel Boyers, and Melissa Kelly present the impact of UVM Health's “Food and Mood” program--an initiative blending nutrition, mental health, and community connection--on group medical appointments like Seneca.

Recorded Nov. 17, 2025. Presented by: University of Vermont Medical Center, Family Medicine, University of Vermont, Larner College of Medicine during Family Medicine Hybrid Grand Rounds. Part of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UVM's Laura Mann Integrative Healthcare Lecture Series.

Supporting Women's Health Across the Lifespan with Acupuncture Therapy: Current Science and Clinical Applications

Lisa Taylor-Swanson, PhD, MAcOM, LAc, Dipl OM

Clinician-researcher in the fields of women's health and traditional East Asian medicine, Lisa Taylor-Swanson, PhD, MAcOM, LAc, Dipl OM, is known for her passionate dedication to research and has published in the areas of menopause and women's health, patient-practitioner relationships, and acupuncture in the context of IVF. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah, College of Nursing and is pursuing a program of research focused on women's health, integrative health, and Traditional East Asian Medicine. She is co-president of the Society of Acupuncture Research.

Recorded during OBGYN Department Grand Rounds at University of Vermont Medical Center's Davis Auditorium on September 16, 2025.

BONUS RESEARCH SEMINAR!

We Are Stronger Together: Collaboratively Developing Interventions with Midlife Women

Lisa Taylor-Swanson, PhD, MAcOM, LAc, Dipl OM

Recorded following OBGYN Department Grand Rounds at University of Vermont Medical Center's Davis Auditorium on September 16, 2025.

Live Cooking Demonstration & Lecture with Chef Brian Yazzie: Indigenous Food Sovereignty

Presented on October 13, 2025, 4 - 5 pm, Dudley H. Davis Center, Frank Livak Ballroom, 417. 

Chef Brian Yazzie, a renowned Indigenous chef and advocate for food sovereignty, offered an inspiring live cooking demonstration and lecture, prepared traditional Indigenous dishes while sharing the deep cultural significance behind the ingredients and culinary practices.

Brian Yazzie (a.k.a. Yazzie the Chef) is a Diné Chef from Dennehotso, Arizona which is located on the Northeastern part of the Navajo Nation. He currently resides in Saint Paul, MN and has a degree in Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Culinary Arts from Saint Paul College. Yazzie focuses on bringing together hyper-local indigenous ingredients from the streams, rivers, and forests to revitalize healthy indigenous cuisine. He brings creativity to ancestral knowledge through modern techniques.  

Through this engaging presentation, attendees learned about Indigenous food sovereignty—its importance in preserving Indigenous knowledge, protecting natural resources, and fostering community health and resilience. If you have any questions, reach out to Isaac Shoulderblade (ishoulde@uvm.edu).  

Presented by The First Nations' Collective. Sponsored in part by the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UVM’s Laura Mann Integrative Healthcare Lecture Series. Free. Open to students, staff, and faculty.