Excellence in Research | Research | The University of Vermont(title)

The Dean's Celebration of Excellence in Research is an annual event highlighting the research being conducted by junior faculty, senior faculty, postdoctoral trainees, and graduate students at the University of Vermont and the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine.
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Celebration of Excellence in Research 2024

Join us as we celebrate another year of research excellence at the Larner College of Medicine!

Date: Monday, September 23 – Friday, September 27, 2024

Information about this year's events can be found below.

2024 Schedule of Events

Monday, September 23

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3:00 PM – 5:30 PM: Medical Student Summer Research and Grad Research Poster Display 

Medical Students and Graduate Students from the Larner College of Medicine will display posters showcasing their recent research. Medical student research will be displayed in the Given Courtyard and the MedEd Lobby (outside the Sullivan Classroom) and graduate student research will be displayed in Hoehl Gallery.

  • Given Courtyard
  • Hoehl Gallery

Tuesday, September 24

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12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Alumni Award Presentation and Lecture

"The Science of Service"  by Jennifer Musa, Ph.D.'94 

Dr. Jennifer (Collart) Musa ’94 is a Biology Professor at SUNY Broome Community College. She earned a BA in Biology and Psychology from SUNY Oswego in 1990 and a Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology from the University of Vermont in 1994, where she worked with Dr. Rodney Parsons. After postdoctoral research at Cornell University, she joined SUNY Broome's Biology faculty in 2001. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Musa has taught Anatomy and Physiology to thousands of students and developed innovative interdisciplinary courses. She received the New York State Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2009.

Read more about Dr. Musa (PDF)

Wednesday, September 25

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5:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Research Rally & Reception

Larner College of Medicine researchers will give short Ted-talk style presentations about their inspiring research. View the Presentation schedule (PDF)

Thursday, September 26

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4:30 PM – 5:30 PM: Awards and Research Celebration Address

Awards will be presented for Research Publications in the Medical Student, Graduate Student, Post-Doc and Resident categories, Clinical Research Coordinator, Scientific Research Staff, Clinical Trials, Research Mentor, New Investigator, Mid-Career Investigator, Research Laureate and Junior and Senior Investigator of the Year. Senior Associate Dean for Research Kate Tracy, Ph.D., will deliver her Research Celebration address following the awards presentations. 

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Reception

  • Hoehl Gallery

Friday, September 27

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11:45 am – 12:45PM: Stetson Lecture

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A Strategic Blueprint to Academic Start-up Success, presented by Johannes Fruehauf, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Fruehauf is a physician-scientist and life-science entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Biolabs and LabCentral, the largest biotech incubators and co-working spaces. They have launched over 850 venture-funded life science startups across 16 cities in the US, Germany, France, and Japan, fostering a culture of openness and shared resources. Startups from Biolabs/LabCentral have raised over $30 billion in venture capital since 2010.

Read more about Dr. Fruehauf (PDF)

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM: BioLab Partnership Announcement

Join Kirk Dombrowski, Ph.D., University of Vermont vice president for Research and Economic Development, Kate Tracy, Ph.D., senior associate dean for Research at the Larner College of Medicine, UVM alumnus, Chris Pacheco, Ph.D., vice president of Venture Partnerships at Ginkgo Bioworks, and Johannes Fruehauf, Ph.D., M.D., founder and president of Biolabs for a conversation moderated by Dean Richard L. Page about an exciting new partnership between science and business. The University of Vermont has partnered with Biolabs, a world-class co-working ecosystem for life science startups, to establish the UVM Biolabs Innovation Hub. The UVM Biolabs Innovation Hub will be located at UVM and will provide state-of-the-art resources to encourage the growth of life science start-ups and commercialization of research discoveries that foster and unlock innovative ideas to benefit both people and planet. 

Read more about Dr. Dombrowski

Read more about Dr. Tracy

Read more about Dr. Fruehauf (PDF)

Read more about Dr. Pacheco (PDF)

3:30 pm – 5:00 PM – BioLab Partnership Reception

  • Given Courtyard
Person conducting research in lab

Research Excellence at Larner

Every year we celebrate the dedicated research conducted by faculty and students at the Larner College of Medicine. Below is a listing of past awards and award winners.

Dean's Excellence in Research Awards 2023

Research Showcase Award Recipients
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Medical Student

1st place - Samuel Aldous, “Optimizing Infant Perioperative Medicine: Characterization of Awake Infant Spinal Anesthesia Using Surface Electromyography”

Runner-Up - Keira Goodell, “Investigating a Role for the Orphan Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Tie1 in Cellular Metabolism”

Junior Graduate Student

1st place - Ally Morrissey, “Endoplasmic Reticulum moves by hitchhiking on Golgi-derived vesicles”

Runner-Up - Jamie Reulbach, “Effects of Chronic Hypertension and Sex on Spatial Reference and Working Memory”

Senior Graduate Student

1st place - Shannon Prior, “Metabolic rewiring promotes metastatic potential in STK11 null KRAS-driven lung adenocarcinoma”

Runner-Up - Jennifer Oshita, “Communication Disability Accommodation Services in Early Adopting US Healthcare Organizations”

Outstanding Research Publication Award Recipients
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Medical Student

Samuel Short, M.D.'23, “Plasma Pro-Enkephalin A and Incident Cognitive Impairment: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Cohort”

Graduate Student

Evan Hoffman, Ph.D.'22, “Human alveolar hydrogels promote morphological and transcriptional differentiation in iPSC-derived alveolar type 2 epithelial cells”

Post-Doc

Elizabeth Corteselli, Ph.D., "Structural and functional fine mapping of cysteines in mammalian glutaredoxin reveal their differential oxidation susceptibility" 

Resident

Colleen Kerrigan, M.D., "Structural and functional fine mapping of cysteines in mammalian glutaredoxin reveal their differential oxidation susceptibility"

Larner College of Medicine Staff Award Recipients
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Clinical Research Coordinator

Kim Luebbers, M.S.H.S., R.N., Director of the Office of Clinical Trials Research and Assistant Dean for Clinical Research Administration

Scientific Research Staff

Nicole Bouffard, Senior Lab/Research Technician, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Imaging & Analysis Specialist, Microscopy Imaging Center Associate Professor of Psychological Science

Larner College of Medicine Faculty Award Recipients
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Clinical Trials Research Award

Charlotte Teneback, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine

Research Mentor

Chris Berger, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics and Biochemistry and Associate Dean of Graduate Education & Postdoctoral Training

Rising Star New Investigator

Osama Harraz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

Sherrie Khadanga, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine

Christian Pulcini. M.D., M.Ed., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine

Mid-Career Investigator

Noah Kolb, M.D., Associate Professor Neurological Sciences

Research Laureate

Hugh Garavan, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Associa

2023 Presentations

Medical and Graduate Student Research Showcase
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This venue is for developing scientists to share their amazing work and research stories with the Larner College of Medicine community. Each presenter speaks for 12 minutes or less, followed by three minutes of Q & A. Presentations are awarded first and runner-up prizes in three categories: Medical Student, Junior Graduate Student, and Senior Graduate Student. See the full list of awards presented during the 2023 event (PDF).

Research Laureate Lecture
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"Erroneous DNA repair, genomic instability, and cancer" was presented by Sylvie Doublié, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and molecular genetics. 

Distinguished Alumni Award and presented the Distinguished Alumni Lecture
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Andra Stevenson, Ph.D.'01, M.P.H., Senior Director of Global Medical Affairs for Merck & Co. Inc., was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award and he presented the Distinguished Alumni Lecture titled, "Unlocking Success Together: Navigating Achievement Through the Power of Mentorship & Collaborative Growth.” Watch Dr. Stevenson's Presentation

Research Rally
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The first annual Research Rally was held on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. Researchers presented seven minute Ted-style talks on various topics from their origin stories to cutting edge research. Watch the Research Rally Presentations

State of Research at the College
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The State of Research at the College Address and Awards Presentation was held on September 21, 2023, and included a recap of the year's major research accomplishments and the presentation of several research awards. Watch the 2023 State of Research Address and Awards Presentations

The Stetson Lecture
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The final event of the Dean's Celebration of Excellence in Research was the Stetson Lecture, “From Bog to Bedside: The story behind the first dedicated Phage Therapy Program in North America,” presented by Steffanie Strathdee, Ph.D., M.Sc., associate dean of global health sciences and Harold Simon Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine. View Dr. Strathdee's presentation