medicine technology educational v e r m o n t

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FROM THE DEAN
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COLLEGE NEWS
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PRESIDENT ’ S CORNER
CLASS NOTES
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
OBITUARIES
2 0 0 7
FALLING DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
A professor ponders what it is to be in
gravity’s grip on his journey through
life with ALS.
Campaign tops goal, students don
their coats, new chairs in medicine
and surgery, and more.
HALL A
M A G A Z I N E
by joseph patlak, ph.d.
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31
33
38
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PINPOINTING THE SCIENCE BEHIND
AN ANCIENT HEALING ART
Medical researcher Helene Langevin,
M.D., conducts a rigorous, meticulous
investigation of acupuncture.
by stacey chase
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EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
The College of Medicine is at the
forefront of using 21st Century tools to
teach today’s innovative curriculum.
photo essay by raj chawla and
edward neuert
on the cover:
photograph of Adetola Fadeyibi, class of 2010, viewing a COMET pathology slide by Raj Chawla
RAJ CHAWLA
vermont
medicine
FROM THE DEAN
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2 0 0 7
Though I have attended many White Coat ceremonies here at the College of Medicine, none
have been more special to me than this February’s
event in Ira Allen Chapel. As Interim Dean I welcomed students from the Class of 2010, and their
friends and family from all over the world, many
of whom had spent many long hours traveling to
Vermont through the record-breaking blizzard
that had ended only hours earlier.
Vermont itself had donned a white coat of
sorts, and the sun shone brilliantly as we made our way to the chapel
through chest-high piles of snow. We heard speaker Allan Ramsay,
M.D., remind the students that, important though the white coat is as
a symbol of commitment, it is the commitment within the person
wearing the coat that is most important to focus on.
That commitment is evident throughout the stories and updates
you will find in this issue of Vermont Medicine. In January many
friends and longtime colleagues of Professor Joe Patlak, Ph.D., joined
Joe and his family to celebrate his quarter-century commitment to the
College. Joe, who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
several years ago, continues to educate us with his elegant essays that
he presents on his blog: one such dispatch is reprinted here.
Helene Langevin, M.D., has staked out a unique and very interesting commitment: to illuminate, through rigorous scientific investigation, the mechanisms behind the ancient art of acupuncture.
Finding the basis behind such “complementary” medicine is increasingly important, as patients more and more add such components to
their own treatment regimens.
My background reminds me that we use ceremonies and programs
as traditions to reflect on our values and what is important as future
professionals. The students who received their white coats — indeed,
all students at the College — find that medical education is filled with
such traditions. At the same time, we are exposing them to a revolutionary, innovative, ever-improving curriculum. Delivering that curriculum in the most effective and accessible way is what our largely
in-house developed educational tools are all about. The photo-essay
in this issue shows you some of the technological tools that help students absorb the increasing amount of material that makes up medical education today.
Finally, none of our efforts here would get very far without the
financial support shown by the alumni, staff, parents, and friends of
the College. The fact that the university and the school have both
reached or exceeded their goals for the current fundraising campaign
is a milestone that deserves our recognition, and our heartfelt thanks.
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RAJ CHAWLA
UVM Exceeds $250m Campaign Goal
EDITOR
edward neuert
ASSISTANT DEAN
FOR COMMUNICATIONS & PLANNING
carole whitaker
WRITER
jennifer nachbur
ART DIRECTOR
elise whittemore-hill
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
INTERIM DEAN
john p. fogarty, m.d.
EDITORIAL ADVISORS
rick blount
ASSISTANT DEAN FOR
DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS
marilyn j. cipolla, ph.d.’ 97
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
OF NEUROLOGY
christopher s. francklyn,
ph.d.
PROFESSOR OF BIOCHEMISTRY
james c. hebert, m.d.’ 77
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR GRADUATE
MEDICAL EDUCATION
With several months remaining in the official timeline
for its comprehensive fundraising campaign, the
University of Vermont has exceeded the $250 million
campaign goal.
President Daniel Mark Fogel announced that total
commitments to the Campaign for the University of
Vermont went over the top at $250.6 million as of the
end of the day January 18, 2007.
Launched in July of 2001 as only the second campaign in UVM history, the Campaign for the University of Vermont is concentrated on raising funds primarily for student scholarships, faculty support, and
facilities.
“This signal achievement is a tremendous vote of
confidence in UVM and an affirmation of an intense,
widely-shared belief in the University’s value and quality,” Fogel said. “We should also see this moment as
freighted with the obligation to meet the high expectations UVM has been working toward and as a call to
continue to develop the philanthropic resources that
will be key to fulfilling the promise, not least of all by
intensifying our efforts to increase the campaign total
through to its deadline in June of this year.”
Fogel expressed gratitude for “the generosity of our
wonderful donors and volunteers and for the coordinated efforts of deans, faculty, staff, and our colleagues
in Development and Alumni Relations.” He gave
THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
• $250 million fundraising goal
• Launched in 2001, public phase of campaign
was announced in fall 2003
• College of Medicine initial $60 million goal
increased to $80 million in 2005
• College of Medicine fundraising now exceeds
$83 million
special thanks to the members of the university’s Board
of Trustees and to the National Campaign Steering
Committee.
“Their support and that of the entire university
community has positioned the University of Vermont
to realize its overarching goal in the years ahead—to
become known as the nation’s premier small public
research university,” Fogel said.
Two years ago, the College of Medicine’s original
campaign goal of $60 million was informally increased
to $80 million, due to the enthusiastic initial response
from donors. Campaign giving to the College now
stands in excess of $83 million.
russell tracy, ph.d.
SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH
& ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
A COAT, AND A COMMITMENT
vermont medicine is published three times a
year by the University of Vermont College of Medicine.
Articles may be reprinted with permission of the editor.
Please send address changes, alumni class notes, letters
to the editor, and other correspondence to
University of Vermont College of Medicine Alumni
Office, Given Building, 89 Beaumont Ave., Burlington,
VT 05405. telephone: (802) 656-4014
Letters specifically to the editor may be e-mailed to:
[email protected]
UVM’s Ira Allen Chapel was filled with students, faculty, staff, and family members on Friday, February 16,
who braved the post-blizzard snowy conditions for
the annual White Coat Ceremony. Begun in the 1990s
to mark the beginning of clinical education for medical students, the ceremony is a public commitment
by students to compassionate patient care and scientific proficiency. This year’s address at the ceremony
was given by Professor of Family Medicine and
Associate Professor of Medicine Allan Ramsay, M.D.
UVM MEDICAL PHOTOGRAPHY
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COLLEGE NEWS
AWARDS
Biomedical Research Center
Launched with New Grant
An $11.4 million grant will allow UVM to conduct five
new studies on Centers for Disease Control-designated “priority pathogens” — infectious agents that
impact the health of millions of people worldwide. The
funding will launch the Vermont Center for
Immunology and Infectious Diseases — a nationally
competitive Center of Biomedical Research Excellence
(COBRE) in the rapidly growing field of immunology
and infectious diseases. This award marks the third
COBRE grant UVM has received from the National
Center for Research Resources at the National
Institutes of Health since 2000.
Directed by Ralph Budd, M.D., professor of medicine and director of UVM’s immunobiology program,
the COBRE grant builds on the university’s well-established expertise in immune response to infection and
medically significant infectious agents such as bacteria,
viruses and parasites. The COBRE program fosters
collaborations between senior faculty mentors and five
promising junior faculty, provides training for graduate
students and will support an additional three new faculty in the areas of immunology, infectious diseases,
and microbial pathogenesis respectively. An interdisciplinary group of faculty from six departments and
three colleges at UVM will participate in the COBRE.
The grant also supports technology expansion in two
of UVM’s core laboratory facilities — proteomics and
microarray. Gary Ward, Ph.D., associate professor of
Ralph Budd, M.D., professor of medicine and director of
UVM’s new grant for its Center of Biomedical Research
Excellence in immunology/infectious diseases.
microbiology and molecular genetics, is co-director of
the grant.
“This is a unique opportunity to foster a program of
science in a culture of mentoring,” said Budd. “It draws
upon the highly collaborative spirit of UVM’s talented
faculty to develop a truly interdisciplinary study of the
immune response to infectious agents. The Center will
not only provide a nurturing atmosphere for students
and faculty, it will benefit the health of Vermonters, as
well as provide an economic engine for skilled jobs.”
UVM’s two other COBRE grants have both received
continuation grants in the past year and a half. The
Center for Neuroscience Excellence program recently
received a continuation grant of $11.1 million and the
Translational Research in Lung Biology and Disease
program has received continuation grant funding totaling $11.1 million since 2005.
New AHEC Medical and Research Directors
Paula Duncan,
M.D.
Charles
MacLean, M.D.
Interim Dean John P. Fogarty, M.D. has announced two
appointments in the Office of Primary Care and the Area
Health Education Centers Program (AHEC). Paula
Duncan, M.D., professor of pediatrics, has been named
medical director, effective; and Charles MacLean, M.D.,
associate professor of medicine, has been named
research director. Both report to Fogarty in his role as
associate dean for primary care, and will work closely
with Elizabeth Cote, director of the AHEC Program.
“We are pleased to have these two outstanding faculty members, who possess such strong commitments
to the health of Vermonters, providing leadership for
primary care and AHEC,” said Fogarty. “The Office of
Primary Care and AHEC will play an increasingly important role in the College of Medicine and across Vermont,
in keeping with the state’s growing need for a stronger
health care workforce, solid networks of community
faculty to provide health care for Vermonters, strengthened research and education programs and expanded
efforts in chronic care.”
Duncan will maintain her faculty appointment and
continue her work in the department of pediatrics and
as youth health director for the Vermont Child Health
Improvement Program and co-director of the Generations course in the curriculum.
MacLean, who joined UVM/Fletcher Allen Health
Care as assistant professor of medicine in 1988, will
maintain his faculty appointment and continue his
activities and research within the Primary Care Internal
Medicine division.
THIS PAGE : RAJ CHAWLA , UVM MEDICAL PHOTOGRAPHY ; TOP RIGHT: EDWARD NEUERT; BOTTOM RIGHT, VMS
RECOGNITION
Lewis First, M.D., professor and chair
of pediatrics and senior associate
dean of medical education at the
College, received the 2006 national
Education Award at the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National
Conference and Exhibition on October in Atlanta, Georgia. The Education
Award is presented annually to recognize a member of the AAP whose educational contributions have had a
broad and positive impact on the
health and well being of children and
adolescents.
The College of Medicine Class of
2009 celebrated their completion of
the Foundations Level of the Vermont
Integrated Curriculum (VIC) on February 2, and presented the following
awards: Outstanding Foundations
Course — Cardiovascular, Respiratory
and Renal Systems; Foundations
Course Director Award and the Dean
Warshaw Integration Award (for the
faculty member whose teaching best
captured the spirit of the VIC) —
William Hopkins, M.D.; Foundations
Teaching Award — John Lunde, M.D.;
The Silver Stethoscope (for the faculty
member who had few lecture hours,
but made a substantial contribution)
— James Hudziak, M.D.; Above and
Beyond Award — Masatoshi Kida,
M.D.; Best Support Staff (Non-teaching) — Mary Campbell; AMSA Golden
Apple Award — Robert Macauley,
M.D.; Outstanding Teaching Assistant
Award — Derek Strong.
Robert Klein receiving his
scholarship award from
Mimi Reardon, M.D. ’67
John Murray, M.D.’63, a local pediatrician and College of Medicine clinical professor of pediatrics, and Robert
Klein, a third-year medical student,
were among several individuals honored at the Vermont Medical Society’s
2006 Annual Meeting. Murray, who
practices at Timberlane Pediatrics in
South Burlington and Burlington, was
recognized for providing 38 years of
exceptional health care to children in
Chittenden County with the 2006
Distinguished Service Award — the
highest honor that the society can
bestow on one of its members.
Medical student Robert Klein received
a $10,000 Mildred A. Reardon, M.D.
Scholarship from the Vermont Medical Society Education and Research
Foundation (VMSERF). Named in
honor of Mildred Reardon, M.D.’67, a
professor emerita of medicine at the
College of Medicine who was instrumental in forming the VMSERF, the
scholarship is given annually to a
medical student who is committed to
practicing medicine in Vermont after
completing residency training. Also at
the annual meeting, the VMS named
David L. Johnson, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology, as the society’s new president for 2006 – 2007.
Interim Dean John P. Fogarty, M.D.,
announced in January that Brian Cote
has been appointed associate dean
for finance and administration at the
College. Cote has served as the assistant dean since 2004, and has taken
on an increasingly significant role
in managing the strategic financial and human resources of the
College. Cote will also continue in
his role as treasurer of University
Medical Education Associates
(UMEA) and will join Information
Systems Interim Director Russell
Tracy, Ph.D., and UVM Chief Information Officer David Todd in helping to develop strategic direction
for the College’s IS operations.
SCHWEITZER FELLOWS ’
BOOK DRIVE HELPS FAMILIES
IN TREATMENT
Lystra Hayden (above) is one of
seven second-year medical students at the College of Medicine
who received a 2006-07
Schweitzer Fellowship to conduct
a community service project.
Hayden, whose fellowship project
focuses on opiate-addicted mothers, spearheaded a book drive to
create a lending library for clients
at The Chittenden Center, the
local treatment clinic for opiate
dependence. The fellows sorted,
cleaned, labeled and then presented more than 1000 donated
books. In addition to Hayden,
the current class of Schweitzer
fellows at the UVM College of
Medicine includes Gaurab Basu,
Sarah Grimm, Dung Huynh, Gilda
Ngo, Ginny Van Duyne and Russ
Meyer.
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COLLEGE NEWS
RESEARCH MILESTONES
NOT READY TO QUIT SMOKING ?
TRY CUTTING BACK
PARSONS NAMED
MEDICINE CHAIR AND
CLINICAL LEADER
Interim Dean John P. Fogarty, M.D., of the
College of Medicine, and Melinda Estes,
M.D., President and CEO of Fletcher Allen
Health Care, have announced the appointment of Polly Parsons, M.D., as E.L.
Amidon Professor and Chair of Medicine at
the College of Medicine and Physician Leader of
Medicine at Fletcher Allen Health Care.
Parsons was previously Interim Chair and Physician
Leader of Medicine since June of 2005. She has served
as Director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
and Chief of Critical Care Services at UVM and
Fletcher Allen since 2000. In addition, Parsons has
held multiple national leadership positions, including
serving on and chairing National Institutes of Health
(NIH) grant review committees and chairing the FDA
Advisory Committee on Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs.
“Dr. Parsons is an outstanding investigator and
scholar with extensive leadership experience in pulmonary and critical care medicine and expertise as a
clinician and teacher,” said Fogarty. “She is internationally recognized in the field of Acute Lung
Polly Parsons, M.D.
Injury/Acute Respiratory
Distress Syndrome and pulmonary disease research,
and has been the recipient
of several grants from the
National Heart, Blood
and Lung Institute of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH).”
“Polly has provided strong leadership as Interim
Chair and Physician Leader of Medicine since June of
2005 and has a solid platform of success on which to
build moving forward,” said Estes. “She has made significant contributions as a past president of the
Fletcher Allen Medical Staff, and in service on key
internal boards and committees.”
Parsons is a past president of the Fletcher Allen
Medical Staff and served on the Faculty Practice Board
and the Strategic Management Committee. Named
one of America’s Top Doctors for four consecutive
years (2001–04) and again in 2006, she was honored
with the 2006 Elizabeth A. Rich, M.D., Award from
the American Thoracic Society.
UVM and Fletcher Allen Name Taheri Clinical Affairs Leader
Paul Taheri,
M.D.
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Interim Dean John P.
Fogarty, M.D., and
Fletcher Allen President
and CEO Melinda Estes,
M.D., have announced
the appointment of
Paul Taheri, M.D., M.B.A.,
as president of the
Faculty Practice at
Fletcher Allen and senior associate dean for
clinical affairs at the College of
Medicine.
Taheri, a native of Buffalo, N.Y.,
was selected following a national
search. He was most recently director of trauma surgery at the
University of Michigan Health
System, as well as vice chair of surgery for hospital affairs and associ-
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ate dean for academic business
development at the University of
Michigan School of Medicine.
A practicing general/trauma surgeon with a Master’s degree in business administration from the
University of Michigan School of
Business, Taheri leads a group of
more than 480 physicians at
UVM/Fletcher Allen and joins
Fletcher Allen’s senior management
team. In his role as senior associate
dean for clinical affairs, he will oversee the Office of Clinical Trials
Research and Graduate Medical
Education. In addition, Taheri will
continue to practice medicine,
working as a general surgeon in the
Department of Surgery, specializing
in trauma, burns and critical care.
Taheri earned a Bachelor of
Science degree from St. Lawrence
University and graduated from New
York University School of Medicine.
Taheri’s professional and academic
activities include membership in
the American College of Surgeons,
American Burn Association, American Association for the Surgery of
Trauma and the Eastern Association
for Trauma, and the publication of
more than 60 papers in national and
international journals. He has participated in numerous health care
special projects at the University of
Michigan over the last decade,
including projects focused on optimizing operating room scheduling
and enhancing Emergency Department throughout.
JOHN HUGHES : UVM MEDICAL PHOTOGRAPHY ; ALL OTHERS : RAJ CHAWLA
In a review article in the December
Nicotine and Tobacco Research,
researchers at the University of
Vermont have found an unexpected, effective alternative to motivate smokers to quit smoking – cutting back. According to the qualitative review of 19 studies on smoking reduction in individuals who
did not want to quit, this method, typically coupled with the
use of nicotine replacement products, led to an increase in
quitting in 16 of the studies. “Cutting back is approved as a
method of quitting in several European countries, but not in
the United States,” said lead author John Hughes, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the College of Medicine. “Our review
contradicts the commonly held belief that quitting requires
stopping abruptly and provides evidence that smokers can
quit successfully by reducing the amount of cigarettes
smoked. Furthermore, our review indicates cutting back is
often a great way to start changing smoking that can lead to
eventual quitting.” Hughes and colleague Matthew Carpenter
warn that smokers do need to understand that there is no
good evidence that cutting back alone decreases smokingrelated health risks and thus clinicians should promote reduction only as a step towards eventual cessation to their
patients.
WHAT ’ S GOOD FOR THE HEART IS GOOD FOR THE VEINS
New research shows that diet can influence a person’s risk for
vascular disease. In a study published in January in
Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association,
researchers including Mary Cushman, M.D., associate professor of medicine, discovered that middle-aged adults who ate a
diet rich in fish, fruits and vegetables lowered
their risk of developing a potentially fatal blood
John
clot by more than 40 percent. Lead study author
Hughes,
Lyn Steffen, Ph.D., of the University of
M.D.
Minnesota School of Public Health, Cushman,
and colleagues tested the hypothesis that foods
rich in B vitamins and w-3 fatty acids can lower
venous thromboembolism (VTE) incidence and
meat intake can promote incidence of VTE. The
dietary pattern associated with lower risk of
VTE in this study is similar to that suggested for
reduced cardiovascular disease by the American Heart
Association 2006 Diet Recommendations, suggesting that
such a diet may reduce the risk of VTE.
POTENTIAL KEY TO BRAIN BLOOD - FLOW DISORDERS
College of Medicine scientists have clarified the cellular
process responsible for signaling regional blood flow changes
in the brain, thereby uncovering possible causes for such disorders as stroke, migraine, and Alzheimer’s disease. The study
was published in November in the prestigious journal Nature
Neuroscience.The mechanisms by which neurons in the brain
signal blood vessels to dilate and increasing blood flow to different regions remain largely unknown, and are central to
understanding brain function. The diameter of blood vessels in
the brain can be modulated by extracellular potassium, a common element present inside and outside all cells of the body.
Such modulation of vessel diameter permits changes in blood
flow to occur in the brain, as well as in other organs and tissues.
With this knowledge, lead study author Mark Nelson, Ph.D.,
professor and chair of pharmacology, set out to determine
whether the diameter of cerebral blood vessels in the brain
could be modulated under physiological conditions by external potassium ions. To accomplish this, he and his research
team studied the communication that takes place between
neurons and blood vessels in mouse and rat brains. The
research team discovered early on that neuronal activity
appeared to be communicated to the blood vessels through
intermediary cells known as astrocytes. Astrocytes, which
comprise about half the brain, had not been previously
thought to play an active role in brain processes. In addition to
Nelson, the research team included Jessica Filosa, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in pharmacology; Adrian Bonev, Ph.D., research
assistant professor of pharmacology; Stephen Straub, Ph.D.,
postdoctoral fellow in pharmacology;
Keith Wilkerson, Ph.D., postdoctoral felAdrian Bonev, Ph.D.,
low in pharmacology; and collaborators
Stephen Straub,
at Stanford University.
Ph.D., and Mark
Nelson, Ph.D., in the
Totman Lab.
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McFadden Named Chair and
Clinical Leader of Surgery
David McFadden, M.D. has been named Stanley S.
Fieber Professor and Chair of Surgery at the College
of Medicine and Physician Leader of Surgery at
Fletcher Allen Health Care.
McFadden was most recently professor and chair of
surgery, surgeon-in-chief and chief of general surgery
at West Virginia University. A general surgeon specializing in surgical oncology, he was also a member of
West Virginia’s Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center.
He earned a medical degree from the University of
Virginia and completed a surgical internship and residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by a
year as assistant chief of service and instructor in surgery at Johns Hopkins. In 1987, he joined the faculty
at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and
then in 1992 moved to the University of California Los
Angeles, where he was named director of the General
Surgery Residency Program and chief of the Division
of General Surgery. In 2000, McFadden joined West
Virginia University. He also held the position of interim chair of orthopaedics there from 2002-03.
McFadden, who has performed funded research in
the areas of gastroenterology, endocrinology, oncology
and pancreatic physiology for two decades, holds a
1996 patent for a method of inhibiting the growth of
pancreatic tumors. He is the author of more than 210
articles in leading medical journals and has delivered
nearly 100 national and international invited presenta-
MEDICAL ADMISSIONS:
NEW LEADERSHIP, NEW PROCESSES
“This is first and foremost a team effort,” says Janice Gallant,
M.D.’89, who this past fall was appointed the College’s new associate dean for admissions. Sitting in her office on the second floor
of the Given Building, with Director of Admissions Tiffany
Delaney at her side, Gallant emphasizes the collaborative nature
of the job of crafting each successive class of new medical students. “It’s the work of the Admissions Committee — all that voluntary effort — that really makes a successful process,” she says.
“We have an experienced, knowledgeable, caring, hard working and committed group of people whose primary goal is the
selection of an excellent class of medical students who will go on
and become excellent physicians/scientists serving the community and the world through important clinical, educational and
research endeavors,” says Gallant.
“Someone who applied to medical school as recently as five years ago might not recognize the
process now,” explains Tiffany Delaney. “Today’s medical school application process is virtually
paper-free, with applicants receiving much of their information through online sources. At the
College of Medicine, applicants are able to follow the progress of their application through a
secure website that tells then of their status throughout the process.”
The goal is to create a seamless and informative application experience for applicants. “We try
to provide information on all aspects of the medical school experience — from financial aid and
financial planning, to the curriculum and student life,” says Delaney. “Applicants who interview
at the College of Medicine spend the day learning about the College of Medicine — from its history to current events (include COMET, the VIC, and student life). Even current students are
involved by sharing lunch with applicants and leading tours. Applicants are also met and greeted
by a senior associate dean or the dean of the College himself.”
“I think the College of Medicine is seen by applicants as a very challenging and very enjoyable
place to learn,” says Gallant, who speaks with each group of interviewing applicants during the
admission season and asks them specifically what made them apply to UVM. “The reasons students want to enter medicine do not seem to have changed over the years — despite the immense
changes we have seen in technology. Our applicants speak of caring, compassion and of an intense
desire and drive to help others.”
Chair of Surgery
David McFadden, M.D.
tions on his work.
Co-editor in chief of the Journal of Surgical Research
since 1997, McFadden has been an active member of
the Association for Academic Surgery since 1987, serving as its president and on the Board of Directors.
Named one of America’s Top Doctors four times, he is
the recipient of two Outstanding Attending Awards at
West Virginia, as well as the Dean’s Award for Clinical
Excellence. He has mentored medical students, residents and fellows, and earned the UCLA Golden
Scalpel Award for Excellence in Teaching three consecutive years.
McFadden replaces Steven Shackford, M.D., who
stepped down as chair of surgery last May after 17
years of leadership. Shackford continues to serve as
professor of surgery and is a practicing vascular surgeon at Fletcher Allen.
STUDENTS DISPLAY VERMONT PUBLIC HEALTH PROJECTS
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TOP : RAJ CHAWLA ; LEFT: ANDY DUBACK , BOTH UVM MEDICAL PHOTOGRAPHY
ADMISSIONS
BY THE NUMBERS
6160
applications for
the Class of 2011
10%
increase in applications
in the past year
110
Top Honors
TOP : RAJ CHAWLA ; RIGHT: COURTESY BRITTON KEESHAN
More than 100 second-year University of Vermont medical students
showcased 14 recently-completed public health projects at a special
reception focused on Vermont’s most critical health issues on
January 24 in the Health Science Research Facility Gallery. Joining the
students for the event were Interim Dean John P. Fogarty, M.D., Jan
Carney, M.D., associate dean for public health, and representatives
from the United Way of Chittenden County and Vermont social service and nonprofit agencies. The College of Medicine’s Public Health
Projects program is designed to teach students to approach health
issues affecting populations of people in the broadest and most practical sense. Among the Public Health Projects conducted during the
fall of 2006 were programs focused on preventing suicide in Vermont
teens, improving asthma education, promoting physical activity in
children, and communicating environmental health risks.
Associate Dean for Admissions,
Janice Gallant, M.D. ’89, and
Director of Admissions
Tiffany Delaney.
Expected number of
Class of 2010 positions
All the 110 members of the class of 2010 came to the college this fall with their own individual stories of hard work
along the journey to medical school. Britton Keeshan is
undoubtedly the first-year student with the highest altitude on his trek. The Connecticut native was the youngest
person ever to summit the highest peak on each of the
world’s continents, beginning with Denali in 1999 and ending with Everest in 2004, when he was 22. He is pictured
here on Everest, holding photos of his famous grandfather,
the late Bob “Captain Kangaroo” Keeshan, whom he credits with encouraging him to “push the boundaries and seek
the outer limits of whatever I was doing.”
41%
Vermont residents
in class of 2010
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9
COLLEGE NEWS
Q U E S T I O N S O N H E A R T FA I LU R E
Ophthalmologist, Orthopaedic Researcher
are New Named Professor Posts
with Martin LeWinter, m.d.
Martin LeWinter,
M.D.
VERMONT MEDICINE: What causes heart failure and what
are its consequences, in terms of related health conditions,
as well as from the perspective of economic burden?
MARTIN LEWINTER: Almost any disease process that can
affect the heart can cause heart failure — heart valve disease, various types of congenital heart defects, alcoholism
and viral infections are examples. However, the most
important causes are coronary artery disease with associated damage to the muscular wall of the heart, hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Typically, these three
major factors occur in various combinations. There is also
a fairly large group of patients with what is termed idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, meaning heart muscle disease without a known cause. Interestingly, recent evidence
indicates that a significant proportion of these “idiopathic” cases are caused by mutations. The symptoms of heart
failure are mainly shortness of breath and peripheral fluid
build-up. The severity of symptoms is extremely variable,
ranging from minimal disability to patients who are bedridden. While the great majority of patients have at least
some disability, modern treatment has had a major positive impact. Survival with heart failure 20 years ago was
dismal, but there has been significant and progressive
improvement. It is still a very serious problem, but there
is real reason for hope in the majority of patients. The
economic burden of heart failure is enormous. It is the
single most common diagnosis in Medicare patients and
10
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Recent statistics from the American Heart Association
show that after age 65, roughly 10 out of every 1,000 people per year suffer from heart failure, the ineffective
pumping of the heart that leads to an accumulation of
fluid in the lungs. As director of the heart failure program
in the division of cardiology, Martin LeWinter, M.D. professor of medicine and molecular physiology and biophysics,
examines heart failure as a clinician and a basic scientist.
Among his many multi-year research studies are two
projects designed to identify the molecular mechanisms
responsible for a condition that causes heart failure called
diabetic cardiomyopathy. LeWinter is the principal investigator of a new, $1.25-million, five-year grant from the
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which will
establish a regional consortium for conducting heart failure research in northern New England.
Brian Kim, M.D., assistant
professor of surgery, and
Bruce Beynnon, Ph.D.’91,
professor of orthopaedics
and rehabilitation, have
each been named to succeed
Brian Kim, Ph.D.
to a named faculty endowment in their respective
departments at the College of Medicine. Kim is the next
Duncan Persons, M.D.’34 Green & Gold Professor in
Ophthalmology. Beynnon is the McClure Professor in
Musculoskeletal Research.
Kim earned a medical degree from St. Louis
University and joined the faculty in 2006. His research
specialties include age-related macular degeneration,
diabetic retinopathy and macular edema.
the costs are currently on the order of tens of billions of
dollars per year.
NIH-funded research in heart failure, particularly
in the areas of primary diseases of the heart muscle
and responses of the heart muscle to chronic stress.
The department of molecular physiology and biophysics, the cardiology unit in the department of
medicine, and the cardiothoracic surgery unit have
collaborated on this effort. One of the most novel
and unique aspects of UVM’s heart failure research
has involved the use of extremely small biopsies
obtained by our cardiothoracic surgery colleagues
during cardiac surgery. Our biopsy techniques have
allowed us to perform fundamental studies in
patients during various phases of heart muscle disease and failure and to capture a more realistic
understanding of basic mechanisms and treatment
options. Roughly 300 such biopsies have been performed over the last 15-plus years.
What prompted the National Institutes of Health to set up
regional research consortiums focused on heart failure?
Advances in basic science and technology have resulted
in an explosion of potential new approaches to the management and treatment of heart failure and a need for efficient
mechanisms to bring these approaches quickly from the
laboratory to the bedside. The concept is to put together a
group of diverse centers with expertise in heart failure that
can accomplish clinical trials quickly and flexibly, with sufficient numbers of patients, and with great expertise. The
studies envisioned for this network and the RCCs consist of
novel management strategies that are not usually undertaken by the pharmaceutical industry and clinical trials of new
therapies that require relatively small studies to test their
efficacy in advance of larger, more definitive industry-funded trials. Some of these approaches might not be carried
out by industry because of limited financial returns. A second major goal is to quickly disseminate the knowledge
gained to practicing physicians, as well as industry.
What is UVM’s history in this area of research? What information has your previous work in heart failure uncovered
that will aid you in this regional effort?
UVM has a long history of both basic and translational
RAJ CHAWLA
Beynnon earned his undergraduate,
masters, and doctoral degrees from UVM
and has been a member of the faculty
since 1986. He is a member of several
orthopaedic journal editorial boards. His
research has earned him many awards,
including the O’Donoghue Sports Injury
Research Award of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.
The Persons Professor is named in
memory of Dr. Duncan Persons, an ophthalmologist who graduated from the College of
Medicine in 1934 and left an estate gift to fund the
endowment. The McClure Professorship was established in 1988 by a generous gift from Lois H. McClure
and the late J. Warren “Mac” McClure.
known as PPAR-δ agonists that are used in the
treatment of diabetes. Our hypothesis is that these
drugs have unique properties (compared to other
drugs used to treat diabetes) that will improve the
effects of diabetes on the heart muscle. Many diabetes patients have heart muscle abnormalities that
can be detected using a ultrasound testing (echocardiography), so we will use this technology to determine if improvement occurs over time with drug
treatment. If our hypothesis is correct, this would
constitute the first treatment shown to reverse the
effects of diabetes on the heart muscle. The projected number of subjects for this trial is around
500. The other project will exploit our myocardial
biopsy methods in patients with diabetes as well
as hypertension, which typically occur together.
This trial will require 160 to 170 patients willing to
undergo biopsy during heart surgery.
We understand that there are two research projects
planned. What is the focus of these projects and how
many study participants do you expect to enroll?
At the end of the grant’s five years, what do you and
your colleagues hope to have discovered?
We submitted two proposed projects in applying
for this grant, both of which are centered on diabetes and the heart. In the future, we will have
opportunities to propose additional trials. One of
the projects is a one-year, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of a class of insulin-sensitizing drugs
Diabetes has a number of deleterious effects on
the heart that account for the fact that it is an
extremely potent risk factor for heart failure. At the
end of the five years, we hope to have made a real
contribution to the prevention and treatment of
diabetes-related heart failure.
LEFT: RAJ CHAWLA ; RIGHT: SABIN GRATZ
Bruce
Beynnon,
Ph.D.’91
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11
Suddenly, I was falling. Time changed, perceptions heightened,
For the last few years, Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics and Pharmacology
Joe Patlak has dealt with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as a “part of my journey through
the garden of life,” as he describes it on his internet blog. This essay is just one of the elegant
dispatches from that sojourn to be found at http://viewpoint-als.blogspot.com.
g
fdown
allin
the
rabbit hole
by
joseph patlak, ph.d.
12
PHOTOGRAPH BY ELKE PINN , M . D.’89
the world became a different place. My precipice was nothing more than the
slightly uneven threshold at the front door of our local truck rental place. That
little extra unanticipated step caused my knee to buckle, and my ALS-weakened legs had no reserve to compensate. Time slows in that moment between
standing and landing. I was looking for a handhold, wondering who might be
seeing me in my moment of embarrassment, trying at least to fall with grace. I
was falling, and in a split second I was journeying out of the world of the able.
This is the fall of ALS.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a disease of the motor
neurons. Although the nervous system has trillions of working cells called neurons, most are fairly small and only
responsible for local communication. One type of nerve cell
is the motor neuron. They are huge by comparison, like oldgrowth sequoias, stretching from brain to spinal cord, or
from cord out to the muscles themselves. In most people the
motor neurons function without interruption throughout life,
giving us the ability, usually taken for granted, to deliberately control our movements. ALS affects specifically these
mega-neurons, for reasons that are not understood. It often
strikes in the prime of life, and when it does, it burns through
these old-growth stands with the ferocity of a forest fire. First
only minor changes are noticeable, but within the next few
years weakness and paralysis spread progressively from one
region to the next.
My own case is fairly typical: at age 52 I noticed that my
left hand and arm were weakening, and that my legs felt odd,
shaky. Working with my neurologist, we ruled out other diseases that could have caused such changes. But nothing fit the
symptoms like ALS. In the end it doesn’t matter what name
or neurological classification one uses: I am losing motor
neurons at a precipitous rate, and there is no known way to
do a thing about it. A diagnosis like this stereotypically comes
with a warning to “get your affairs in order”. Suddenly the
balance of normal life was gone, the footholds vanished.
I have been falling for two years. At first the changes were
so minor, yet the knowledge of future weighed so heavily.
The famed sequence of denial, anger, bargaining, depression,
and acceptance came all at once, jumbled, changing daily,
hourly. But acceptance came quickly enough. There I was,
like an old fashioned cartoon character, hanging midair, several steps beyond the precipice but only slowly realizing how
far down the bottom looked. I was falling.
13
As a society we love to fall. Some jump from
planes for the exhilaration of a few minutes free fall,
others seek out the highest peaks to ride down, or
the highest cliffs to dive from. It’s the ride that
counts, the control on the descent, the grace of the
final landing. At that moment, hanging still at the
top of the precipice, I suddenly had to decide how I
would fall, how I might stay in control of the ride,
how I might land.
4
Adaptation is the only defense when ALS is on the
rampage. As one muscle failed, I learned to adapt by
substituting a different one. If my dominant left
hand could no longer write, my right hand wrote
instead. If my leg couldn’t move, my arm did the
work. It’s remarkably automatic, although there is
always an adjustment period. I had to start adapting
my expectations, my relationships, my emotions as
well. Not least, my home would have to adapt.
My wife Elke and I live in Vermont because, 25
years ago, I was offered a great job here. We live in
rural Vermont because we feel best out in this countryside, where life melds into the quiet rhythms of
nature. Our house echoed the long traditions of
buildings in this valley—two storey, with an additional room carved under the eaves of the attic;
steep stairs that were closed off by doors; small
rooms, porches and a myriad of floor-level changes
—and we loved it. Falling as I was, though, we had
to view the house through different lenses. For a
wheelchair, our beloved house would be a trap. We
had a year, perhaps a bit more, before the rising tide
of my disability would drive us from our home.
We chose, instead, to adapt our housing like I
was trying to adapt my body. We worked with an
architect experienced in handicapped design, and
with a dedicated contractor. We eliminated my need
to climb stairs by building a new bedroom and bathroom in an addition. We opened up the interior to
make as many 5’ turning circles (for wheelchair
turns) as we could get, and we put in a neat covered
ramp leading up to the mudroom. We juggled
finances, we found a temporary condo, and we
packed everything we didn’t immediately need into
the basement and upstairs. Finally, we moved out, in
the middle of a March blizzard. In the process, we
needed a truck rental, and my job was to pick up the
truck first thing in the morning. That’s when I fell.
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There were no hand-holds inside that truckrental doorway, at least not in the direction of my
fall, just a corrugated layer cake of shifting cardboard. My leg bent cleanly and naturally under me,
and all too quickly I was splayed out in an uninjured
jumble of arms and legs. The store was deserted
that early, so I was granted the luxury of time to sort
out the worst of the jumble and sit up before anyone
happened along. The guy on morning shift came by
a minute later, to find me leaning on his cardboard
mountain, eyeing the displayed stack of tow-bars for
its potential as a climbing gym.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“I’m feeling just fine, but my leg is weak and it
gave way. I was just about to get myself up.”
“Great, give a holler if you need help.”
It was a quick, anonymous interaction, a few
words before he went on with his work, before I
pulled myself up the tow-bars. I imagined calls to
911, EMTs rushing in, hours spent waiting for an
overworked Emergency Department resident to
check on my status. But my fears evaporated. All it
took was a quick separation of two important concepts, wellness and ability. It took but a few words
to say I was well, a look from eye to eye, a light tone
of voice. Well meant not ill, and not ill meant not
medical. By being well, I was upright, oriented,
descending, but still in control. Not able—no big
deal—we all reach a level where help is necessary—
give a holler. I was discovering that I could stay in
control, even while falling.
4
Like Alice in her rabbit hole, I found the well very
deep and the fall very slow. I had time to grab at
marmalade jars, to probe into cupboards at each
level. Falling slowly, but not able to stop or even
pause a while. Yet I don’t fall alone.
One Thursday evening last spring, Elke and I
went to the local repertory theater. We were slowed
by my awkward gait, by my cane, and we arrived at
the last minute, once most seats were already filled.
We edged our way between the set and the front
row of the theater-in-the-round audience, almost
on stage ourselves. My foot hit something unexpected in this tight, uneven terrain, and despite
Elke’s firm grip on one side, and a cane on the other,
I had my usual encounter with the floor. But gracefully—onto a knee first, then a thigh, keeping my
head and shoulders up, more like an enforced sit —
no pain, no sprain. Help was offered in overabundance, and Elke and I used a convenient stage chair
to get me sitting, then standing, and finally into my
designated seat. Again, the wellness was apparent,
and my inability was ostensibly taken for granted.
The play started, and my brief embarrassment was
quickly forgotten in the joy of the production.
Yet I was not alone that evening, as I found out at
intermission. Thursdays was the night for the local
retirement community’s outing to the theater, and
much of the audience was over 80. I was warmed by
an outpouring of octogenarian empathy, for these
were folks who knew falling, who feared it for its
life-threatening potential, who knew what it meant
to gradually fail in your abilities. My fall took me
through the community of the elderly, and they
hospitably treated me as an honored guest. Before
leaving I learned the grace of my elders who have
come to terms with life as it is and with an impending end.
I have moved on, always drifting downward.
Construction was completed, we reinvaded our
house, and I’ve moved into position for the next acts
of the drama. My legs are nearly useless, one arm is
limp, and stomach, back and neck are getting
unsupportably weak. A wheelchair is my vehicle of
choice these days (indeed, I may be turning into a
connoisseur of wheeled personal vehicles).
I am passing through the community of the disabled. This seems a more solitary place, as I journey
in the caring arms of loved ones, largely separate
from those who reside here. I didn’t grow up here,
and I won’t be staying for long, so I go as a stranger.
Yet the residents have made their mark. Sidewalks
and public buildings have ramps, doors are workable, provisions made and ADA regulations
addressed. Although our world is far from perfect
for the wheelchair-bound, I thrill, in my naïveté, at
each success. Without support from the shoulders
of the giants who have shaped this landscape, I
would have long-since crashed.
ALS is a prism, spreading out the spectrum of
disability, showing one hue at a time, a continuum
of abilities spread out over time. At each point in
that spectrum, one can be well or one can be ill,
because that is a separate, unconnected gradient.
Those who reside in the community of the disabled
know this, and now I know it too. Regardless of
On January 11, 2007, friends and colleagues
gathered in the HSRF Gallery to celebrate
the more than quarter-century career of Joe
Patlak. Joe is internationally recognized for
his expertise in single molecule biophysics,
focusing on ion channels and molecular
motors in the cardiovascular system. As an
educator, Joe was founding course director of
the Cardiovascular, Respiratory, and Renal
course within the Vermont Integrated
Curriculum and Director of an NIH Training Program in Molecular Mechanisms of
Muscle Contraction. One of Joe’s most
notable impacts on the College of Medicine
was his introduction of the Internet to the
College years before it became a commonplace
of everyday life.
ability, one can be well and ready to continue the
journey.
But as my abilities fail, the bottom of the well,
the rabbit hole, looms. I may crash land, I may continue to plumb new depths, or I may crumple gracefully into a jumble of arms and legs. Will the ride
become too tedious, too painful, too exotic to maintain? Could I really decide to pull out, this close to
the end? All I can do for now is fall—perhaps to the
bottom, still graceful, unable to fall any more. VM
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2007
15
pin
pointing
the science behind
an ancient healing art
by STACEY CHASE
L
ying on a beige table
in the stark orthopaedics lab at
the University of Vermont
College of Medicine in Burlington, participant after participant endures
the insertion of hair-thin needles mid-thigh and just below the knee, while
five researchers, led by Research Associate Professor of Neurology and
Orthopaedics Helene Langevin, M.D., monitor a body of machinery:
ultrasound scanner, torque sensor, electrocardiograph, and laptop, on
which the volunteers rate the needling sensations on a scale of 0 to 10.
Langevin, glasses halfway down her nose, hovers between the device
that is measuring torque and the study volunteer — in this instance, Sue
Burns, an administrator in the university’s biochemistry department who
suffers from arthritis and is facing hip-replacement surgery. Burns became
a study subject because she’s interested in acupuncture and the possibility
that it might relieve her pain.
photograph by SABIN GRATZ
16
“She’s one of the highest-funded
“We’re trying to relate what’s Research Associate
acupuncture researchers in the coungoing on locally with your percep- Professor Helene
try,” says Ted Kaptchuk, an assistant
tions and your cardiovascular func- Langevin, M.D., in her
professor of medicine at Harvard
Given Lab. At left,
tion,” Langevin tells her.
Medical School and an authority on
This on-going study, which is the special needleChinese medicine. “In the acupuncture
largely aimed at investigating the implantation device.
field, she’s a celebrity.”
torque, or twisting force used in
Though she rarely wears the white
needle rotation, is the latest in
Langevin’s dogged, single-minded quest to pinpoint lab coat, Langevin has a scientist’s love of the reguthe scientific basis behind the Chinese healing art larity of lab work, meticulous research skills, and
that has been practiced for millennia but whose standards as rigorous as her intellect. “I’m more
interested in investigating it,” she says of acupuncphysiology has never been fully understood.
Demystifying acupuncture could eventually ture, “than practicing it.”
mean better diagnosis and treatment of ailments
like chronic pain and usher acupuncture into this
eated at a gray steel desk in her austere,
country’s medical mainstream. Only an estimated 4
percent of U.S. adults have tried acupuncture.
cramped office on the fourth floor of the
“Unless we understand the mechanism of these
Given Building, and dwarfed by the piles of
treatments,” Langevin says, “it’s going to be very
medical tomes and esoteric articles and
hard for them to get integrated into our health care
abstracts, Langevin analyzes data and crosssystem, including insurance reimbursements.”
sectional ultrasound images of needles
Langevin’s innovative research into the ancient inserted into the tissue of live human subjects and
therapy has gained nationwide, even worldwide, rodent models. She muses: “It’s really like solving a
attention. Langevin — a third-generation physician big puzzle, you know?”
who is both a board-certified internist (with a subAs far back as 300 B.C., Chinese texts described
specialty in endocrinology) and licensed acupunc- acupuncture treatments and a reaction to the
turist — presented her findings at scientific meet- needling called de qi (pronounced day chee),
ings in China and Hong Kong this past December. thought to be important in achieving its therapeutic
Two months earlier, she won a grant worth an effect. During de qi, two phenomena occur: one senexpected $1.9 million from the National Institutes sory, one biomechanical. The patient usually expeof Health’s National Center for Complementary riences a slight ache in the area surrounding the
and Alternative Medicine, bringing her grant-fund- needle, while the acupuncturist may feel the needle
ing total over the past seven years to more than $4.4 being grasped by the tissue — a tug often described
million. Only a few faculty members at the College as akin to a fish biting on a line.
Langevin made headlines in 2001 when the peerof Medicine have ever received NCCAM funding.
S
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JORDAN SILVERMAN
reviewed Journal of Applied Physiology published the
results of a landmark study in which she and her
colleagues quantified de qi’s biomechanical component, or needle grasp, by measuring the force necessary to pull an acupuncture needle out of the skin.
Her research showed something else: Gently
manipulating the needles back and forth or twisting
them clockwise significantly increased the pullout
force — which sometimes reached 500 grams, or
slightly more than a pound — over no rotation at
all. The increase was 52 percent with back-andforth movement, and 167 percent with clockwise
turning. Moreover, the force needed to retract a
needle, with or without rotation, was on average 18
percent greater at traditional acupuncture sites than
at control points.
“The important thing is that needle manipulation increases needle grasp, and we found this
everywhere — but slightly more at acupuncture
points,” Langevin says.
A key to Langevin’s receiving her first grant was
a custom-made, hand-held needling device resembling a dentist’s drill that records all the measurable
parameters on an attached computer; an earlier proposal in which acupuncture needles were inserted
and retracted by hand was rejected because investigator bias could not be eliminated.
Four years ago, Langevin and partners David L.
Churchill, Ph.D., an engineer at MicroStrain Inc. in
Williston, and Burlington acupuncturists Robert
Davis and Bonnie Povolny, founded Stromatec Inc.,
a Burlington company now developing prototype
torque sensors — a miniaturized version of the
needling device — for possible use in teaching
acupuncture techniques, research, and clinical practice. The venture was underwritten by a National
Institutes of Health grant that encourages investigators who are also inventors to take their inventions
into the marketplace. UVM holds the patents on
both the instrument and method of measuring needle torque.
As she continues to unravel acupuncture’s
ancient mysteries, Langevin’s research has proved
that the connective tissue that winds around
acupuncture needles — much like spaghetti wadded
around a fork — is responsible for needle grasp.
The commonly held notion had been that a muscle
contraction was the likely cause. Further study has
revealed that needle manipulation transmits a signal
to fibroblasts, the cells that make up such tissue,
causing them to spread and flatten. “The needle is,
in fact, stretching the tissue from the inside,”
Langevin explains. “The tissue is not just being
pulled, it’s actively responding to the stimulus. The
connective tissue is dynamically responsive to the
mechanical stimulation. This is completely new.”
The fibroblasts’ response to the needling initially stunned researchers, who had believed the cells
might ball up. But flawed predictions and sheer surprises are part of the joy of scientific discovery for
this physician-turned-physiologist. “If you’re right,
that’s great,” Langevin says. “But if you’re wrong,
then it sometimes gives you even more information
because, a lot of times, it’s what’s unexpected that’s
beyond what you could even imagine.”
It’s that kind of indefatigable ego, coupled with
the high quality of Langevin’s research, that has
earned her the respect of fellow physicians,
acupuncturists, and researchers. “She’s trained as an
acupuncturist, but she’s not a proponent,” Kaptchuk
says. “One of the things that’s really remarkable
about her work is it’s the only acupuncture research
that’s absolutely replicable. She measures every
thrust, every force.”
U
sing needling and ultrasound imaging,
Langevin and her team are now beginning to
test her newest hypothesis: that connective
tissue abnormalities occur more frequently in
patients with low back pain than others.
“So far, we don’t know that there’s anything wrong with the connective tissue in people with
low back pain,” she says. “But if we determine the
winding is abnormal, this would be a hint that the
connective tissue may cause or perpetuate this pain.”
Such a discovery could eventually lead to better treatment options for sufferers, including not only
acupuncture but also manual-based therapies like
massage.
Langevin’s attempt to elucidate the mechanism
of acupuncture by looking at cellular changes in the
poorly studied connective tissue is novel. “There
are Western scientists who think it’s all about nerve
stimulation,” says Peter Wayne, Ph.D., former
research director of the New England School of
Acupuncture in Watertown, Mass., and the new
director of Tai Chi research programs at Harvard
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19
University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the
Chinese University of Hong Kong — in the birthplace of acupuncture — were particularly unusual
for a foreigner. “I did not know what kind of reception I was going to get,” Langevin admits, “but they
were very cued into what I was talking about. They
were enthusiastic about the research.”
B
“One of the things
that’s really
remarkable about
her work is it’s the
only acupuncture
research that’s
absolutely
replicable. ”
Medical School, “but she’s opened up a
whole new model. She’s very interested
in the fundamental biology of this [connective] tissue… which will offer broad
insights into all of medicine, not just
acupuncture.”
Langevin also hopes to demonstrate
a pattern of abnormality in the needling
response of patients that corresponds to
specific meridians, or the twelve main
energy channels that acupuncturists
believe run through the body, as
predicted by traditional acupuncture
theory.
Since publishing her ground-breaking study on de qi in 2001, Langevin’s
research has evolved from investigating
the mechanism of acupuncture to
examining basic connective tissue physiology. The hoped-for next step would be clinical
trials on low back pain patients in an effort to prove
acupuncture’s efficacy.
“Imagine that you could show that a course of
acupuncture treatment would result in changes in
the needle response,” Langevin says. “Then it won’t
be difficult to go to the doctors and say, ‘This is how
it works.’ Because then we’ve shown that not only
do people feel better — because that could be a
placebo effect — but the tissues have changed. So,
to me, that would be very, very powerful.”
Robert Hamill, M.D., a neurologist and chair of
the Department of Neurology at the College of
Medicine, marvels that Langevin’s rise to promi-
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V E R M O N T
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nence in the world of
acupuncture took just five
short years. “Every now
and then someone is in the
right place at the right
time and makes a sentient
observation that revolutionizes a field,” he says.
“She’s a crisp thinker.
…She’s made it a scientific
discipline when so much of
it was smoke and mirrors.”
Hamill
recalls that
when Langevin first came
to the university ten years
ago, she was merely looking for “a corner of a lab
bench.” Today, she runs
her own lab, staffed with
an assistant, research engineer, and two technicians. “From this very meager beginning, she very
quickly captivated a lot of folks. She has a remarkable ability to look across disciplines and bring
technology and approaches from other fields to the
questions she is asking,” he says, noting Langevin’s
collaboration with the departments of physics,
radiology, pathology, and medical biostatistics,
among others.
An unlikely West-meets-East trailblazer,
Langevin has presented her research at scientific
gatherings in Barcelona and Munich, among a number of foreign cities, in the past two years. But
recent lectures to researchers at the Shanghai
JORDAN SILVERMAN
ack home in Vermont, the French-Canadian
professor walks or bikes to campus from the
nearby home she shares with her husband
and two children.
“I do go home to my kids each night. And
I do relax,” says Langevin. But in the lab, she
is known for her formidable focus on the task at
hand. “She’s like a laser beam,” says Jim Fox, the
research engineer in her lab.
Hers is an intellectual curiosity born of personal
experience. During her residency at Johns Hopkins
Hospital in 1985, Langevin sought acupuncture for
nerve-injury pain after exhausting all that Western
medicine had to offer. After three months of treatments on her leg, her pain was gone. “I was
intrigued by this strange way of looking at the
anatomy in terms of the meridians,” she says. “The
fact that I got better was almost irrelevant in my
decision to study it.”
But Langevin’s relentless fascination with
acupuncture has only raised more questions — and
more hypotheses — and she tosses them rapid-fire
into the air as if to make room for new ones already
forming in her mind. “What are meridians? What
are the needles doing? What kind of effect does it
have on the tissue? How does it help the body
heal?” she ponders. “If we understood all that, I
think doctors would feel much more comfortable
recommending acupuncture.”
Until then, Langevin will continue the hunt for
answers. “I love this work,” she says. “I truly love it.”
And it isn’t hard to image her 20 years from now,
holed up in her office, the itch to understand the science behind acupuncture still under her skin.
“Helene has single-handedly rescued acupuncture research from the dead end it had reached
because of [previous] findings that had been inconclusive or contradictory,” Kaptchuk says. “I don’t
know if Helene is going to solve the acupuncture
riddle, but she has the best chance of anybody.” VM
DAVE BARRINGTON
C
O
M
P
L
E
M
E
N
T
A
R
Y
Gingko Biloba
M
E
D
E
C
I
N
E
The growing role of complementary medicine was
recognized nine years ago with the formation of the
National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (NCCAM), the nation’s lead agency for the
study of traditional healing in the context of rigorous
science.
Researchers at the College of Medicine are studying the healing properties of the leaves of the Ginkgo
biloba tree, one of the oldest tree species in the
world, which have been used for thousands of years
in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diseases of
the heart and lungs, and to “benefit the brain.”
Today, scientists at UVM’s Laboratory for Clinical
Biochemistry Research, led by Senior Associate Dean
for Research and Academic Affairs Russel Tracy, Ph.D.,
participate in the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study
(GEM), an NCCAM-funded study that seeks to find out
if medicine made from the ginkgo leaf can delay
dementia, the common changes in memory, thinking
and personality that can occur with age. GEM may
help to determine if Gingko biloba can help to slow or
prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
In other ginkgo-related research, Professor of
Anatomy & Neurobiology and Neurology Felix
Eckenstein, Ph. D., and colleagues have published on
the prevention of age-related spatial memory
deficits in transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s
disease by Ginkgo biloba treatment.
On the educational front, the Consortium of
Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine
recently accepted the UVM College of Medicine as
one of four new member schools: Yale, Stanford, the
University of Colorado were the others admitted.
This prestigious opportunity allows the College to
join with 35 other academic centers to further understanding and knowledge in integrative health.
W I N T E R
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21
one morning in mid-August of 2003, one of
those invisible boundaries between the way things
used to be and the way they are now was quietly
but firmly crossed at the College of Medicine.
That day, the Class of 2007 entered, and became
the first class of students to begin their full medical education under the College’s new Vermont
Integrated Curriculum (VIC). That same day,
those students each received their school-issued
laptop — their first portal to COMET, a new set
of electronic learning tools developed at the
College that would become an increasingly important part of their learning environment.
Developed by faculty, staff, and students over the
course of several years, COMET is now an integral part of each student’s day. “We had many
interesting pieces of educational technology, like
the CATSlab pathology tools, here at the College
before the VIC introduction,” says Jill Jemison,
who leads the COMET development team. “But
what COMET did was deliver a learning management system that offered universal access — to
every student, every faculty member, to every
lecture and piece of course content. It serves as a
link for everything.”
TECHNOLOGY
photographs by RAJ CHAWLA
22
EDUCATIONAL
A look at the tools that support 21st
by
Century education for medical students
EDWARD NEUERT
First-year student Adetola Fadeyibi
reviews a pathology slide on COMET
23
The VIC’s hallmark is integration –— the weaving together of
basic science knowledge with clinical experience. One of the
tools found on COMET are case studies, such as the one these
members of the Class of 2009 are seen above discussing with
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean for
Student Affairs Scott Waterman, M.D.
On this day, the students in this Neural Science course first
gather in the large Case Study Room (left and below) on the
ground floor of the Medical Education Center to listen to and
participate in a panel discussion and question-and-answer session on schizophrenia. After hearing from actual patients, family members, and a social service provider who deal with the disease on a daily basis, the students break into small groups in
classrooms in the center.
“The students have already reviewed the case study in the
module on COMET,’ explains Waterman. “They’ve worked
their way though it on their own. It comes in three installments,
with questions after each section. You could think of it as an
online textbook chapter on schizophrenia. This small-group session allows them to compare and contrast what they’ve learned
in the study with what they’ve just heard from the personal experiences of the panel. The learning module becomes a springboard to deeper discussion and understanding.”
24
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
For third-year student Robert Klein, seen here during a clinical
rotation at the Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen
Health Care, COMET is the main repository for the information and tools he needs every day; and it is accessible via any
Internet-connected computer (and modules are downloadable to
PDA devices) so that students in Burlington, at Maine Medical
Center, or at any clinical setting in the world can readily access
information.
“Here I’m looking at the Pediatric Clinical Clerkship homepage,” explains Klein. “Basically, every course and every rotation
has its own area on COMET. When you need to find readings,
PowerPoints, schedules, syllabi, evaluations, etc., you go to your
personal homepage, select a course or rotation and, on that
homepage, there are several green tabs which take you to the
various elements of that course. In the hospital I use COMET
to check my daily schedule of classes and events I need to attend.
I enter patient information in our clerkship interaction trackers.
I access medical publications, fill out evaluations of lectures and faculty, submit assignments, find out grades… I can even look at a
PowerPoint from two years ago if I need to.
“I think COMET really adds to our medical education. I’d go so far as to say it’s necessary. I can’t even imagine another way of
having all that information so accessible and
organized.”
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At every point we’ve
“stopped
and said ‘what
does the curriculum
need, what does the
College of Medicine students regularly work with
standardized patients (S.P.s), highly trained people
who are expert at playing the role of patients presenting with various illnesses. Students interact
with S.P.s in the exam rooms at the Student
Assessment Center in the Given building. Here,
second-year medical student Curtis Witcher practices an eye exam with S.P. Vivian Jordan. Behind
him are related COMET learning modules. With
computers in every assessment room, COMET can
function as an adjunct to the S.P. presentation, by
adding in pieces the S.P. cannot mimic — such as
the sound of congested lungs, or an ailing heartbeat
— that the student can access at the appropriate
time in the assessment.
“COMET is a great tool, especially when used
in the setting of working with S.P.s,” says Witcher.
“We get a chance to learn about a body part or system online with some helpful visual aids and then
apply what we’ve learned in an actual patient
encounter. Since the S.P.s have been trained in
advance, they can assist us through the physical
exam skills which helps solidify our knowledge of
the subject matter.”
26
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
student need, and how
can we use technology
to answer that need?
”
— Jill Jemison
(Above) One of the many people
from across the College who
devoted countless hours to the
development of COMET, Foundations course director and Professor
of Anatomy & Neurobiology and
Biology Cindy Forehand, Ph.D.,
reviews her lecture material
online with Jeff Worthley ’09.
(Middle) A slide from the Virtual
Microscope. (At left) COMET team
members Anthony Colli, Andrew
Verhelst, Judith Kessler, Cathy
Ryan, and Jill Jemison.
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27
HALL A
The VIC ideally needed a universal testing platform, and that is what students
such as the group of Class of 2008 members taking a clerkship exam in the Mimi
Reardon Classroom (below) have at their
disposal. (Top right, a student doing
some last minute studying before taking
the actual exam, middle right. While in
exam mode, the student’s computers are
unable to access any outside resource.)
“While the VIC was in development,
Cindy Forehand and Karen RichardsonNassif really pushed the idea that online
exams would allow for continuous quality
improvement,” explains Jill Jemison.
“We’re able to standardize the test-taking
format, standardize the experience of taking the exam, and then standardize the
data we’re getting out of the exams.”
COMET’s development has augmented the person-to-person learning experience, not replaced it. “We haven’t tried to
cram in technology where it isn’t needed,” says Jemison. “There’s no ‘virtual
anatomy lab,” for instance. We can’t
replace the value of real dissection. At
every point we’ve stopped and said ‘what
does the curriculum need, what does the
student need, and how can we use techVM
nology to answer that need?’”
P R E S I D E N T
C L A S S
’
S
C O R N E R
30
31
N E W S
33
38
N O T E S
D E V E L O P M E N T
O B I T U A R I E S
In 1905, when the College of Medicine completed its third home at the corner of Prospect and Pearl streets
in Burlington, the main lecture room where students spent so much of their time was named Hall A.
The Hall A magazine section seeks to be a meeting place for all former students of the College of Medicine.
VM
28
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
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PRESIDENT ’S CORNER
M.D. CLASS NOTES
H A L L A
H A L L A
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
DEVELOPMENT &
ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICE
It is with great sadness that I must tell you that Patricia A.
Fenn, M.D., class of 1965 and until very recently, the president-elect of your Medical Alumni Association, died on
January 24th in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania of pancreatic cancer
at the age of 70. She will be missed by all of us who have gotten to know and admire her as a person and as a dedicated
coworker on behalf of the UVM College of Medicine and
the Medical Alumni Association. Pat’s classmates undoubtedly will be most deeply moved upon learning of her passing,
as have her relatives, her many friends and colleagues in
Pennsylvania. Pat’s obituary can be found among those of several other alumni
and friends — too many — in this section of the magazine.
Of course, most of you who are reading this column did not know Pat, but
those of you who did will remember her as a singularly gentle and kind woman
who approached her professional life in the same way that she conducted her
personal relations. Not one to trumpet her significant accomplishments, Pat
nevertheless quickly became respected and loved by those who worked with her.
A native Vermonter (Bellows Falls), she graduated from UVM with a B.A. in
zoology before joining her medical school class as one of its very few female students at that time. Following graduation from medical school, Pat went to Bryn
Mawr Hospital in Pennsylvania for her training in internal medicine and on to
a rheumatology fellowship at Temple University. A superb clinician, she joined
the staff of Bryn Mawr Hospital, rising to become its Chief of Service of
Rheumatology and Director of the Arthritis and Orthopedic Center, serving on
the medical faculty of Thomas Jefferson University as well.
In 2005 Pat received the A. Bradley Soule Award, the highest honor that the
UVM College of Medicine grants to its alumni. In his citation when Pat was
given that award, John P. Tampas, M.D. ’54 noted how she had maintained her
close links to UVM, where she served on the University’s Alumni Council and
chaired its Education Committee. For many years, she was an active member of
the Medical Alumni Association, worked on its Planned Giving Committee and
where I got to know her, on the Alumni Executive Committee. A member of
the Wilbur Society, Pat supported the College of Medicine generously, establishing a Medical Alumni Association Term Scholarship for students and contributing funds for classroom 201, which was named for her in the new Medical
Education Center.
Pat’s last months were spent facing her illness and its arduous treatment with
stoicism and resolve. In my last conversation with her, she acknowledged that
the treatments had been difficult, but that she was managing pretty well. She
also asked me to send her regards to my wife, whom she said she always enjoyed
being with in Burlington when we would get together. That was typically Pat.
Marv Nierenberg, M.D.’60
30
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
ASSISTANT DEAN
rick blount
DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS MANAGER
ginger lubkowitz
DIRECTOR , MAJOR GIFTS
manon o ’ connor
DIRECTOR , MEDICAL ANNUAL GIVING
sarah keblin
DIRECTOR , MEDICAL ALUMNI RELATIONS
cristin gildea
DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
travis morrison
ASSISTANTS
jane aspinall
james gilbert
todd stewart
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
MEDICAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
ALUMNI EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
2006–2007
OFFICERS
TERMS )
PRESIDENT
( TWO -YEAR
marvin a. nierenberg, m.d.’60
(2006-2008)
PRESIDENT- ELECT
ruth a. seeler, m.d.’62
(2006-2008)
SECRETARY
james c. hebert, m.d.’77
(2006-2008)
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
john tampas, m.d.’54
(ongoing)
MEMBERS - AT- LARGE :
(6-YEAR TERMS )
leslie s. kerzner, m.d.’95
(2002-2008)
frederick mandell, m.d.’64
(2002-2008)
don p. chan, m.d.’76
(2002-2008)
mark allegretta, ph.d.’90
(2003-2010)
mark pasanen, m.d.’92
(2004-2010)
h. james wallace, iii, m.d.’88
(2004-2010)
naomi r. leeds, m.d., ’00 m.p.h.
(2004-2010)
paul b. stanilonis, m.d.’65
(2006-2012)
carleton r. haines, m.d. ’43
(2006-2012)
jacqueline a. noonan, m.d. ’54
(2006-2012)
If you have news to share, please contact your class agent
or the alumni office at [email protected] or
(802) 656-4014. If your email address has changed, please
send it to: [email protected].
1937
Nathaniel Gould writes:
“We are now in a
retirement home in
Birmingham, Alabama.
Best wishes to all!”
1941
John S. Poczabut
62 Doral Farm Road
Stamford, CT 06902
(203) 322-3343
1943
Francis Arnold Caccavo
(M.D. Dec. 1943)
51 Thibault Parkway
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-3841
Carleton R. Haines
(M.D. Dec. 1943)
88 Mountain View Road
Williston, VT 05495
(802) 878-3115
Harry M. Rowe
(M.D. March 1943)
65 Main Street
P.O. Box 755
Wells River, VT 05081
(802) 757-2325
[email protected]
1944
Wilton W. Covey
357 Weybridge Street
Middlebury, VT 05753
(802) 388-1555
1945
Robert E. O’Brien
414 Thayer Beach Road
Colchester, VT 05446
(802) 862-0394
[email protected]
H. Gordon Page
9 East Terrace
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 864-7086
1946
J. Bishop McGill
152 Sanborn Road
Stowe, VT 05672
(802) 253-4081
[email protected]
R E U N I O N
Richard E. Pease
P.O. Box 14
Jericho, VT 05465
(802) 899-2543
Edward S. Sherwood
24 Worthley Road
Topsham, VT 05076
(802) 439-5816
[email protected]
March 15, 2007
Match Day
College of Medicine Campus
April 20, 2007
American College of Physicians
Reception,
Marriott, San Diego, Calif.
Simon Dorfman
8256 Nice Way
Sarasota, FL 34238
(941) 926-8126
’ 0 7
George H. Bray
110 Brookside Road
New Britain, CT 06052
(860) 225-3302
Porter H. Dale
5 McKinley Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
(802) 229-9258
Thomas Holcomb says he
and his wife, Eleanor are
“starting to come apart,
but hope we can find
enough replacement parts
to let us get to our 60th
Reunion!”
1948
S. James Baum
1790 Fairfield Beach Road
Fairfield, CT 06430
(203) 255-1013
[email protected]
1949
James Arthur Bulen
4198 North Longvalley Rd.
Hernando, FL 34442
(352) 746-4513
[email protected]
1951
Edward W. Jenkins
7460 South Pittsburg Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74136
(918) 492-7960
R E U N I O N
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 14, 2007
Class of 2007 Dinner
Emerald Ballroom,
Sheraton Burlington
Burlington, Vt.
1950
1947
Joseph C. Foley
32 Fairmount Street
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-0040
[email protected]
’ 0 7
1952
Brewster Davis Martin
Box 128
362 VT Route 110
Chelsea, VT 05038
(802) 685-4541
May 5, 2007
Alumni Executive Committee
Meeting
UVM College of Medicine
May 20, 2007
Medical Commencement
Ira Allen Chapel
June 8-10 2007
2007 Medical Reunion
UVM College of Medicine
For updates on events see:
www.med.uvm.edu/medalum
1953
(802) 864-4927
[email protected]
Richard N. Fabricius
17 Fairview Road
Old Bennington, VT 05201
(802) 442-4224
[email protected]
1956
1954
John E. Mazuzan, Jr.
366 South Cove Road
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 864-5039
[email protected]
1955
Marshall G. London
102 Summit Street
Burlington, VT 05401
Ira H. Gessner
1306 Northwest 31st Street
Gainesville, FL 32605
(352) 378-1820
[email protected]
R E U N I O N
’ 0 7
1957
Larry Coletti
34 Gulliver Circle
Norwich, CT 06360
(860) 887-1450
[email protected]
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M.D. CLASS NOTES
H A L L A
Sanford Bloomberg selfpublished his autobiography in 2004, which
includes his experiences at
the College of Medicine.
1958
Peter Ames Goodhue
Stamford Gynecology, P.C.
70 Mill River Street
Stamford, CT 06902
(203) 359-3340
1959
Jay E. Selcow
27 Reservoir Road
Bloomfield, CT 06002
(860) 243-1359
[email protected]
R E U N I O N
1962
G. Millard Simmons
3165 Grass Marsh Drive
Mount Pleasant, SC 29466
[email protected]
1963
R E U N I O N
John J. Murray
P.O. Box 607
Colchester, VT 05446
(802) 865-9390
[email protected]
H. Alan Walker
229 Champlain Drive
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
(518) 561-8991
[email protected]
1964
Marvin A. Nierenberg
6 West 77th Street
New York, NY 10024
(212) 874-6484
[email protected]
Anthony P. Belmont
211 Youngs Point Road
Wiscasset, ME 04578
(207) 882-6228
[email protected]
Melvyn H. Wolk
Clinton Street
P.O. Box 772
Waverly, PA 18471
(570) 563-2215
[email protected]
Lester H. Wurtele, Jr. is still
practicing radiology three
days per week. He and his
wife, Irma, have “two
wonderful grandchildren
and get back to Vermont
at least once a year.”
Wilfrid L. Fortin
17 Chapman Street
Nashua, NH 03060
(603) 882-6202
[email protected]
John M. McGinnis writes:
“Forty-nine years after
being a first year med
student I am meeting the
class of 2010 as a standardized patient in their
doctoring skills class.”
1965
George A. Little
97 Quechee Road
Hartland, VT 05048
(802) 436-2138
george.a.little@
dartmouth.edu
Joseph H. Vargas III
574 US Route 4 East
Rutland Town, VT 05701
(802) 775-4671
[email protected]
1966
Robert George Sellig
31 Overlook Drive
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
Queensbury, NY 12804
(518) 793-7914
[email protected]
Ruth Andrea Seeler
2431 North Orchard
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 472-3432
[email protected]
1960
1961
32
’ 0 7
and service to the community bring honor upon
themselves and
Northeastern.”
1968
1967
David Jay Keller
4 Deer Run
Mendon, VT 05701
(802) 773-2620
[email protected]
John F. Dick II
P.O. Box 60
Salisbury, VT 05769
(802) 352-6625
Timothy John Terrien
14 Deerfield Road
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 862-8395
’ 0 7
Ursel Danielson writes:
“Life is good. First grandson started college at USC
and granddaughter is
working on her driver’s
license. I am looking forward to seeing our class
this coming spring.” Mimi
Reardon received a 2006
Outstanding Alumni
Award from Northeastern
University at a ceremony
held Oct. 20. Mimi graduated from Northeastern in
1963 with a degree in biology. She was honored for
her many accomplishments and community
service, including the
establishment of the first
Area Health Education
Centers program in
Vermont, her role in promoting rural health education and health care
careers in Vermont, as well
as her work to identify
funding for loan repayment aid for Vermont
health care professionals
practicing in underserved
areas. First presented in
1978, Northeastern's
Outstanding Alumni
Awards are given annually
to “those graduates whose
professional attainment
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Professor of Surgery Steven
Shackford, M.D. and Samuel B.
Labow, M.D.
group of institutions to earn
designation as a National
Cancer Institute-designated
center. Now — with the genIrwin H. Krakoff M.D.
erous support of the Lake
Champlain Cancer Research
Organization and numerous other friends, colleagues
and family — the VCC is paying tribute to its founding
director by announcing completion of funding for the
Irwin H. Krakoff, M.D. Green & Gold Professor at the VCC.
The honor is expected to be awarded to one of the next
generation of physician-scientists who will carry on
Krakoff’s legacy. Krakoff remains active in VCC affairs,
advising the leadership on the future of the center.
LABOWS FUND NEW SURGERY LECTURESHIP
1969
Susan Pitman Lowenthal
200 Kennedy Drive
Torrington, CT 06790
(860) 597-8996
susan_w_pitmanlowen
[email protected]
1970
Raymond Joseph Anton
1521 General Knox Road
Russell, MA 01071
(413) 568-8659
[email protected]
John F. Beamis, Jr.
24 Lorena Road
Winchester, MA 01890
(781) 729-7568
[email protected]
1971
Wayne E. Pasanen
117 Osgood Street
North Andover, MA 01845
(978) 681-9393
wpasanen@lowell
general.org
R E U N I O N
1972
F. Farrell Collins, Jr.
205 Page Road
Pinehurst, NC 28374
(910) 295-2429
’ 0 7
A Stowe, Vt. couple who have formed strong ties to the
Department of Surgery at the College of Medicine has
funded a new annual lecture at the College with their
recent pledge of $250,000. Dr. Samuel B. and Michelle D.
Labow pledged current and estate gifts in excess of $5
million in the past year. Their initial gift funded the
Samuel B. and Michelle D. Labow Green & Gold Professor in Colon & Rectal Surgery and the Labow Lectureship in Colon & Rectal Surgery. The new Shackford/
Labow Lecture in Surgery is named in honor of
Professor of Surgery Steven Shackford, M.D., who was
chair of the Department of Surgery from 1990 to 2007.
The inaugural Labow/ Shackford lecture will take place
June 28.
CRANE CHALLENGE HELPS
PROPEL MED FUND
Donations to the UVM College of Medicine Fund for fiscal year 2007 are off to a great start. Director of Annual
Giving Sarah Keblin reports that nearly $400,000 has
already been raised for the annual fund. The kickoff of
the newly-renamed and reorganized fund has been
highly successful, due in large part to the challenge
fund created by alumnus Edward Crane, M.D.’47. Dr.
Crane’s challenge gift matches new and increased gifts
from his fellow graduates. The Med Fund has attracted
more than 1100 donors as of February 15, a more than
25% increase over prior years’ annual giving rates, and
has seen significant numbers of new and recent-alumni donors.
KRAKOFF HONORED WITH GREEN AND GOLD
Under the leadership of Irwin H. Krakoff, M.D., the
Vermont Cancer Center in 1978 became one of an elite
TOP LEFT AND RIGHT: UVM MEDICAL PHOTOGRAPHY
SCOTT AND KIM IRELAND :
A COMMITMENT TO CANCER RESEARCH
This St. Patrick’s Day, the trucks of the S.D. Ireland
Construction Corp. roll through the streets of
Burlington on parade. The twenty-year tradition of the
company now celebrates not only the Irish heritage of
the company’s founders, but also the Ireland family’s
commitment to cancer research at the Vermont Cancer
Center. Scott and Kim Ireland
know first-hand about those
efforts. Scott is a survivor of
melanoma, and he credits his
survival in a large part to the
care provided him by Professor
of Surgical Oncology David M.
Krag. S.D. Ireland Corp. fundraising efforts, including
money collected during the
St. Patty’s Parade, now support
Dr. Krag’s extensive cancer
research through the S.D. Scott and Kim Ireland
Ireland Cancer Research Foundation. The Irelands are also working with the College
on additional fundraising to support breast cancer
research at the Vermont Cancer Center.
WOLKS SUPPORT PEDIATRIC RESEARCH
AND EDUCATION
Melvyn H. Wolk, M.D.’60 and Marilyn K. Wolk have provided the College with a $650,000 charitable remainder
trust to fund the Wolk Research & Education Fund in
Pediatrics. Dr. Wolk is a retired pediatrician and pediatric allergist. The Wolks’ son, Larry, is a 1988 graduate
of the College.
W I N T E R
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M.D. CLASS NOTES
H A L L A
VERMONT PHYSICIAN
OF THE YEAR
For her outstanding service to the
Vermont medical community, the
Vermont Medical Society has presented Suzanne Parker, M.D.’73 of
Charlotte with its 2006 Physician of
the Year Award. Dr. Parker, a psychiatrist with a private practice in
Burlington, is a leader in the field of
addictionology. Dr. Parker was a
founder of the Vermont Practitioner Health Program, and served
as its medical director until
recently. She also helped to launch
Suzanne Parker, M.D. ’73
practitioner wellness programs at
the Medical Center Hospital of
Vermont and at the College of Medicine. Before moving back
to Vermont in 1987, Dr. Parker was the psychiatric director of
the Department of Substance Abuse at Henry Ford Hospital in
Detroit, Mich.
“Dr. Parker has been a prime force behind the establishment of an effective program to support the recovery of
Vermont physicians and she has been tirelessly dedicated to
the treatment of the suffering physician,” said Dr. Peter Dale,
immediate past president of the Vermont Medical Society. “Dr.
Parker has been an inspiration to all of those who were fortunate to work with her on helping lead physicians to recovery.”
The Physician of the Year Award is given to a Vermont
physician who has demonstrated outstanding performance in
the quality of care given to his or her patients, demonstrated
skillful and compassionate patient care, and has demonstrated dedication to the welfare of his or her patients in accordance with accepted principles of good medical practice.
34
1973
1974
James M. Betts
715 Harbor Road
Alameda, CA 94502
(510) 523-1920
[email protected]
Douglas M. Eddy
5 Tanbark Road
Windham, NH 03087
(603) 434-2164
[email protected]
Philip L. Cohen
483 Lakewood Drive
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 628-0221
[email protected]
Cajsa Schumacher
78 Euclid Avenue
Albany, NY 12203
[email protected]
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
Constance Passas is enjoying life on the beautiful
seacoast of N.H. She is in
a full-time, very busy and
challenging rheumatology
practice. She would welcome contact from any
classmates: 603-430-8333.
1975
Ellen Andrews
195 Midland Road
Pinehurst, NC 28374
(910) 295-6464
[email protected]
1978
Paul McLane Costello
Essex Pediatrics, Ltd.
89 Main Street
Essex Junction, VT 05452
(802) 879-6556
1976
Don P. Chan
Cardiac Associates of
New Hampshire
Suite 103
246 Pleasant Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603) 224-6070
[email protected]
R E U N I O N
Alexandria is in her first
year at Brown, studying
music and medical anthropology. Gail is busy doing
general internal medicine,
chairing George
Washington’s ethics committee and traveling with
her husband, Larry.
1979
Sarah Ann McCarty
1018 Big Bend Road
Barboursville, WV 25504
(304) 691-1094
[email protected]
’ 0 7
1977
1980
Mark A. Popovsky
22 Nauset Road
Sharon, MA 02067
(781) 784-8824
mpopovsky@
haemonetics.com
Richard Nicholas Hubbell
80 Summit Street
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-5551
rich.hubbell@
vtmednet.org
Allan Freedman writes: “I
am still in Atlanta,
Georgia, now approaching
30 years and enjoying the
practice of hematologyoncology more than ever
now that there are seven
doctors in the group. This
specialty is constantly
challenging, evolving and
rewarding, but I am still
finding extra time to ride
my bike, play tennis and
otherwise enjoy the sunny
South.” Gail Povar writes
that her son Justin has
graduated from Brown
University and has a neuroscience research job in
Boston. Daughter
Sarita H. Brouwer writes:
“I have found my medical
‘home’ caring for our
retired soldiers at the
Boston VA Hospitals, as
an anesthesiologist.
Daughters: Rachel
applying to med schools;
Rebekah is in college.
David Diamond is my
love.”
1981
Craig Wendell Gage
2415 Victoria Gardens
Tampa, FL 33609
CraigGage@
alumni.uvm.edu
David P. Meeker, who is
president of the Lysosomal
Storage Diseases Therapeutics business unit of
Danbury, Conn.-based
Genzyme Corporation,
has been named to the
company’s board of directors. During his leadership
of the business unit, he has
held development responsibility for its therapeutics
portfolio, and global
responsibility for three
marketed enzyme replacement products which have
generated over one billion
dollars in revenue. He
joined Genzyme in 1994.
R E U N I O N
’ 0 7
1982
Linda Hood
4 Cobbler Lane
Bedford, NH 03110
(603) 471-2536
[email protected]
Martha McCarty’s oldest
daughter is a sophomore
at Bowdoin College and
her youngest is a senior in
high school. Martha is
busy with private practice
and is chair of the pediatrics department at
Winchester Hospital in
Massachusetts.
1983
Diane M. Georgeson
2 Ravine Parkway
Oneonta, NY 13820
(607) 433-1620
[email protected]
Anne Marie Massucco
15 Cedar Ledge Road
West Hartford, CT 06107
(860) 521-6120
[email protected]
Ronald Hartfelder is doing
well in Salem, Mass. He is
now the medical director
of endoscopy at North
Shore Medical Center.
CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION
1984
2007 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Richard C. Shumway
34 Coventry Lane
Avon, CT 06001
(860) 673-6629
rshumway@
stfranciscare.org
12th Annual Vermont Perspectives in Anesthesia
March 7-11, 2007, Stoweflake Resort, Stowe, Vt.
Susan Pories writes: “I
have been privileged to
work with the Harvard
medical students on medical narrative writing and
the humanities. Our first
book, The Soul of a Doctor
was published in June
2006. I’d love to hear from
other UVM physicians
involved in similar endeavors: spories@BIDMC.
harvard.edu
1985
Vito D. Imbasciani
1915 North Crescent
Heights Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(323) 656-1316
[email protected]
1986
Darrell Edward White
29123 Lincoln Road
Bay Village, OH 44140
(440) 892-4681
[email protected]
1987
Michael J. Kaplan has five
beautiful children, ages 9,
9, 9, 7 and 3. He has a
busy knee and shoulder
orthopaedic practice, is an
instructor at Yale University Department of Orthopaedics, is an ESPN medical correspondent and a
program chairman for the
The Stowe Conference on Digestive Diseases
March 8-10, 2007, Topnotch Resort, Stowe, Vt.
Vermont Blueprint for Health – Chronic Care
Conference
April 20, 2007, Sheraton Hotel, Burlington, Vt.
Child Psychiatry for the Primary Care Clinician
May 3–5, 2007, Wyndham Hotel, Burlington, Vt.
Women’s Health: Perception, Prevention and Practice
May 9–11, 2007, Sheraton Hotel, Burlington, Vt.
Family Medicine Review Course
June 5–8, 2007, Sheraton Hotel, Burlington, Vt.
Vermont Summer Pediatric Seminar
June 14–17, 2007, The Equinox, Manchester, Vt.
Advanced Dermatology for The Primary Care Physician
September 6–9, 2007, Samoset Resort,
Rockport, Maine
Dementia & Geriatric Neuropsychiatry Conference
September 14–16, 2007, Stoweflake Resort, Stowe, Vt.
Primary Care Sports Medicine
September 26–28, 2007, Sheraton Hotel,
Burlington, Vt.
21st Annual Imaging Seminar
October 12–14, 2007, Stoweflake Resort, Stowe, Vt.
5th Annual Northern New England Critical Care
Conference
October 18–20, 2007, Stoweflake Resort, Stowe, Vt.
Northern New England Neuroimmunology Symposium
October 26–28, 2007
Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, Vt.
College of Medicine alumni receive a special 10% discount
on all UVM Continuing Medical Education conferences.
For information contact:
University of Vermont
Continuing Medical Education
128 Lakeside Avenue Suite 100
Burlington, VT 05405
(802) 656-2292
http://cme.uvm.edu
M.D. CLASS NOTES
H A L L A
Connecticut Orthopaedic
Society. Cate McKegney
writes: “Our 25th reunion
was great — seeing my
classmates. After my
father’s death in February
and hearing how much he
meant to his former students reminded me that
true teachers live on long
after their lifetimes end.”
R E U N I O N
’ 0 7
1988
H. James Wallace III
416 Martel Lane
St. George, VT 05495
(802) 872-8533
james.wallace@
vtmednet.org
Lawrence I. Wolk
5724 South Nome Street
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
(303) 771-1289
lawrence.wolk@
cigna.com
1989
Peter M. Nalin
13216 Griffin Run
Carmel, IN 46033
(317) 962-6656
[email protected]
Dean G. Mastras writes:
“Julie, Kassie, Izzie and I
are enjoying the skiing. It’s
another record snowfall in
the Cascades. We are finishing up our Mt. Retreat
at Lake Wenatchee and
busy opening up a new
office in Olympia Wash.
Not many UVM Alumni
in the area so we would
love to hear from you!”
Peter Nalin received the A.
Alan Fischer Award from
the Indiana Academy of
Family Physicians. It recognizes members who in
the opinion of the Board
of Directors of the IAFP
36
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
have made outstanding
contributions to education
for family medicine, in
undergraduate, graduate
and continuing education
spheres. Michael Rousse
writes: “Ginger and I are
hanging out in the hills of
Danville, Vt., on our minifarm. We put up over
2000 bales of hay this
summer — ready for winter. I am now the medical
director of corrections in
the state of Vermont —
something a little different.
Durham, CT 06422
(860) 349-6941
1990
Anjulika Chawla is a professor at Brown University
and is working at Hasbro
Children’s Hospital as a
pediatric oncologist.
Barbara Angelika Dill
120 Hazel Court
Norwood, NJ 07648
(201) 767-7778
[email protected]
1991
John Dewey
15 Eagle Street
Cooperstown, NY 13326
[email protected]
K.A. Kelly McQueen is still
in Arizona, practicing
part-time anesthesia and
part-time public health.
R E U N I O N
’ 0 7
1992
Mark Eliot Pasanen
1234 Spear Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 865-3281
mark.pasanen@
vtmednet.org
Katherine Ray is enjoying
practicing child and adolescent psychiatry in
Portland, Maine.
1993
Joanne Taplin Romeyn
22 Patterson Lane
1994
Holliday Kane Rayfield
P.O. Box 819
Waitsfield, VT 05673
(802) 496-5667
[email protected]
1995
Allyson Miller Bolduc
252 Autumn Hill Road
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 863-4902
allyson.bolduc@
vtmednet.org
1996
Anne Marie Valente
4616 Dolwick Drive
Durham, NC 27713
(919) 806-8110
[email protected]
Patricia Ann King, M.D., Ph.D.
832 South Prospect Street
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-7705
patricia.king@
vtmednet.org
R E U N I O N
’ 0 7
1997
Julie Clifford Smail
10 Proctor Street
Manchester-by-the-Sea,
MA 01944
(360) 240-8693
jsmail@
fidalgomedical.com
Alexander Hughes writes:
“Post fellowship I have
spent the last four-andone-half years at
Vanderbilt University. I
am currently an assistant
professor in the pediatric
cardiothoracic division. At
home, Brenda and I have
our hands full with
Andrew (12), Emily (8)
and Matthew (1).
1998
Halleh Akbarnia
4700 Bromley Lane
Richmond, VA 23226
(804) 204-2595
[email protected]
1999
Everett Jonathan Lamm
11 Autumn Lane
Stratham, NH 03885
(603) 929-7555
[email protected]
Deanne Dixon Haag
4215 Pond Road
Sheldon, VT 05483
(802) 524-7528
Jason Cook is currently in
his second year of his
pediatric critical care fellowship at Mass General
Hospital. David J. Finley
writes that he is currently
a thoracic surgery fellow
at Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center
in his first year. His wife,
Jennifer, is in her second
year of surgical research
and will be returning to
NYU to finish her general
surgery residency. Their
son Nathaniel Finley is
now 14 months old. David
Lindquist writes: “We are
settled in Rhode Island.
Who’d’a thunk it? Eva
turns 9 in January, Axel is
6. Jen is bucking for associate professor at Brown. I
started as the assistant
program director for the
Department of Emergency
Medicine this fall. Stop by,
and we’ll paddle on the
bay.” Peter James Swarr
married Elizabeth Brice
Calhoun in April 2006 in
Cheraw SC. Fellow
Vermont alum Dr. Ram
Anand Narasimhan ’99
served as a groomsman.
The Swarr’s make their
home in Nashville, Tenn.
Peter is a partner of Cool
Springs Internal Medicine
and Pediatrics, assistant
professor at Vanderbilt
University, and Elizabeth
is a senior consultant for
the Vanderbilt Center for
Better Health.
2000
Jay Edmond Allard
USNH Yokosuka
PSC 475 Box 1757
FPO, AP 96350
[email protected]
Michael Jim Lee
71 Essex Lane
Irvine, CA 92620
michael_j_lee1681@
yahoo.com
2001
Ladan Farhoomand
1481 Regatta Road
Carlsbad, CA 92009
(626) 201-1998
[email protected]
Joel W. Keenan
Greenwich Hospital
Five Perryridge Road
Greenwich, CT 06830
[email protected]
JoAn Louise Monaco
Suite 6-F, 5E
4618 Warwick Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64112
(816) 753-2410
[email protected]
Stephan Hatch writes:
“Kathryn Masselam and I
are engaged, and plan to
wed next summer in
Manchester, Vt. Otherwise
KIERNAN SPEAKS ON ‘ LAST RIGHTS ’
DURING PALLIATIVE CARE WEEK
Vermont writer and former Burlington Free Press
staff member Stephen Kiernan spoke at the
College of Medicine on January 24 as part of a week
of lunchtime presentations and discussions
organized by the Palliative Care Student Interest
Group. Kiernan is the author of Last Rights:
Rescuing the End of Life from the Medical System, a
book recently published by St. Martin’s Press. Several people connected with the College were
interviewed as part of Kiernan’s research for the book, including the late Bruce Fonda, Associate
Professor of Psychiatry Terry Rabinowitz, M.D., Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine Zail Berry,
M.D., Professor of Family Medicine Allan Ramsay, M.D., Clinical Professor of Family Medicine
Robert Orr, M.D., and Abigail Donaldson, M.D.’06.
After an introduction by Interim Dean John P. Fogarty, M.D., Kiernan spoke about the ways, over
the past three decades, that medical advances have extended lives and changed the way we die.
He spoke about the disconnect that can still exist between the way patients desire to live the end
of life, and how much of the medical system continues to treat the dying. Palliative Care Week also
featured presentations by Dr. Berry, by Brookes Cowan, Ph.D., Robert Macauley, M.D., and others.
I am in practice in
Stonington, Conn., and
Kathryn finishes up her
optho residency next June.
I hope all is well up in
Vermont. I sure do miss
those beautiful summers
up there.”
R E U N I O N
’ 0 7
2002
Jonathan Vinh Mai
15 Meadow Lane
Danville, PA 17821
(570) 275-4681
[email protected]
Thuan T. Nguyen finished
residency last year and
moved from Philadelphia
to Phoenix. He is newly
single, but enjoying life.
He works in a small community hospital that sees
some interesting stuff and
has run in a marathon and
is training for another in
January.
2003
Omar Khan
33 Clearwater Circle
Shelburne, VT 05482
(802) 985-1131
[email protected]
Scott Goodrich
13 Mountain View Blvd.
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 864-7787
[email protected]
Rima B. Carlson graduated
from a family practice residency and started serving
her National Health
Service Corps. obligation
at a small hospital in
Hancock, MI. She and her
husband are expecting a
child in April and are in
the process of adopting a
girl from Haiti.
2004
Jillian S. Geider
jillian.geider@
vtmednet.org
Emily A. Hannon
emily.hannon@
hsc.utah.edu
Steven D. Lefebvre
fabulous5lefebvre@
hotmail.com
Laura (Howard) Leduc had a
daughter, Tessa, born June
13, 2006. Bryan Suchecki,
writes: “I finished my
internship at the National
Naval Medical Center in
Bethesda, Maryland. For
the next two years, I will be
the flight surgeon for a helicopter training squadron
in Pensacola, and then will
look to return to UVM as a
resident.
2005
Julie A. Alosi
[email protected]
Richard J. Parent
[email protected]
2006
William C. Eward
[email protected]
Deborah Rabinowitz
debbie.rabinowitz@
uvm.edu
W I N T E R
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S P R I N G
2007
37
OBITUARIES
H A L L A
JOHN T. WRIGHT, M . D.’41
Dr. Wright, of Tampa, Fla., died
January 4, 2007. He was 93. Dr.
Wright completed his undergraduate
studies at Norwich University and
before receiving his medical degree
from UVM in 1941. He served with
the U.S. Army Medical Corps from
1941-1946, and retired as a lieutenant
colonel. Dr. Wright ran his medical
practice in Tampa for more than 30
years, during which time he was
instrumental in the creation of
University Community Hospital,
where he served as the first chief of
staff.
EDNA DOLE BACKUP, M . D.’46
Dr. Backup died at Wake Robin in
Shelburne, Vt., on July 31. She was
born Aug. 3, 1914, on a hilltop farm
in Proctorsville, Vt., the second of
four daughters of Fletcher Enos Dole
and Laura Rogina Harrington. Dr.
Backup graduated from Simmons
College in 1936, with a B.S. in chemistry and biology. She worked as a
medical technologist until 1943,
when the physicians she worked for
in St. Johnsbury helped her go to
medical school. She graduated from
the College of Medicine, cum laude.
Dr. Backup and her husband, UVM
classmate Phil Backup, moved to
Tacoma, Washington, for their
internships. They raised three daughters in Tacoma. Dr. Backup moved
back to Vermont in 2001.
FREDERICK PRATT, M . D.’53
Frederick
Pratt, M.D.’53
38
Dr. Frederick Pratt died
August 25, 2006, in his home in
Sacramento, Calif. Born in
North Clarendon, Vt., on
August 18, 1926, he was the
son of Roy and Mary Pratt. A
World War II veteran, he
attended the University of
Vermont on the G.I. bill, graduating
in 1950 with a Bachelors of Science
before entering the College of
Medicine. During medical school he
met and married Anna Temple
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
Condos (Dr. Anna Pratt, pathologist, Travelers Insurance Company in
deceased 1974). In 1954 he moved to 1990 as vice president and chief medFolsom, Calif., and began his career ical director.
as a general practitioner. After
four years of practice Dr. Pratt
PATRICIA A .
returned to the east coast to
FENN , M . D.’65
complete a residency in plastic
Dr. Fenn was born
and reconstructive surgery at
on Sept. 21, 1936,
Upstate New York Medical
in Bellows Falls,
Center, Syracuse. He returned
Vt., and died Jan.
to Sacramento, Calif., in 1962
24, 2007, in Bryn
Mawr
Hospital,
and began a private practice in
Bryn Mawr, Penn.
plastic surgery. Dr. Pratt was
Patricia A. Fenn,
She was educated
also an assistant clinical proM.D.’65
in the Vermont
fessor, Department of Plastic
Surgery, University of California public schools and received her B.A.
Davis School of Medicine and found- from UVM 1959 before earning her
ed the Sutter Cleft Palate and M.D. At the time of her death, her
Orofacial Anomaly Panel, Sacra- specialization was in internal medimento. He married his second wife cine, rheumatology. Dr. Fenn joined
Patricia, a surgical nurse, in May of the staff of Bryn Mawr Hospital in
1976. After 25 years Dr. Pratt July 1969 and continued on staff there
“retired” from private practice to for the rest of her life. She also served
begin a second career of volun- as senior attending rheumatologist
teerism. This career took Dr. Pratt to from July 1985 to 2007. She was chief
the far reaches of the globe to help of service of rheumatology at Bryn
those most in need of medical care. Mawr Hospital from July 1985 until
He was also committed to local July 1992, was the medical director of
health activities.
the Bryn Mawr Hospital Arthritis and
Orthopedic Center from August 1989
JOSEPH R . JURKOIC , M . D.’60
to September 1995, and was a
Dr. Jurkoic died on June 23, 2006 at rheumatology consultant at Bryn
his home in East Berlin, Conn. after Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital from
a long illness. He was 75. He was July 1986 until her death. She
born in Bellows Falls, Vt., where he received the Main Line Health
completed his high school education. System “Helmsman Award for OutFollowing high school he joined the standing Physician Leadership“ in
United States Navy and served in the November 1994. Dr. Fenn was a
medical corps from 1948-1952. Upon member of the UVM College of
leaving the service he completed col- Medicine Planned Giving Committee
lege and medical school at UVM. from 1995 to 2002, a member of the
After serving his internship at the UVM Alumni Council from 1995 to
Bishop DeGoesbriand Hospital in 2001, and chairwoman of the UVM
Burlington, he completed a two year Alumni Council from 1995 to 2001.
residency at the University of Ver- She was a member of the College of
mont. In 1963 he entered a private Medicine Alumni Executive Commitpractice of Pediatrics in New Britain, tee from 1996 to 2002, and treasurer
Conn., and in 1970 became Chief of of the committee from 2002 to 2006.
Pediatrics at New Britain General In 2005, the Medical Alumni AssociaHospital with a faculty appointment tion awarded her the A. Bradley Soule
at the University of Connecticut Award, the highest alumni honor
College of Medicine. He completed bestowed by the College of Medicine.
his professional career at the
CHARLES M . D ’ANGELO, M . D.
‘68
Dr. D’Angelo, formerly of Chicago,
died on October 30 at his home in
Dodgeville, Wisconsin of malignant
insulinoma, an extremely rare type of
cancer. He was a board-certified neurosurgeon and practiced for 25 Years
at Rush Medical College in Chicago,
specializing in microscopic surgery
for aneurysms and pituitary tumors.
For several years Chicago magazine
listed him among Chicago’s best neurosurgeons. He greatly enjoyed mentoring nurses, medical students, and
residents. In 1964 he married his
high school sweetheart, Betsy Curtis.
His greatest pride and joy came from
being a father to their daughter, Cara
Catarina D’Angelo, who died of cystic fibrosis in 1978 at the age of eight.
JAMES E . EMMONS M . D.’68
Dr. Emmons died May 29, 2006 in
Cottonwood, Arizona after a brief
battle with cancer. He was born July
9, 1935. In 1958, Dr. Emmons graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. After the completion of Ranger training and
Airborne Jump School, he was stationed in Europe with the U.S. Army.
After serving several years with the
Army Tank Corps in Bad Hersfeld,
Germany, he left the military to
attend medical school.. He completed his residency at the University of
Michigan Medical School in 1973. In
1974, Dr. Emmons moved his family
to the Verde Valley of Arizona, where
he established Verde Valley Urology
in Cottonwood. He was a surgeon at
the Marcus J. Lawrence Medical
Center and served two terms as the
chief of staff. Dr. Emmons retired
from practicing medicine in 1998.
Dr. Emmons commitment to duty
continued to be strong as he began
his career as a combat surgeon in the
U.S. Army Reserve from 1977 to
1995.
FACULTY
WILLIAM VAN B . ROBERTSON , M . D.
WILLIAM A . TISDALE , M . D.
William Van Bogaert Robertson
passed away in northern California
on May 7, 2006 at the age of 91.
“Van” or “Robbie” as everyone called
him was professor of biochemistry
and experimental medicine at the
College of Medicine from 1945 to
1961. Students remembered his formidable lectures on the Krebs cycle
inside the classroom. Outside, however, his good humor, delight in discussion over a beer, his widespread
knowledge, his integrity, and his
strength and abandon on the ski-trail
seemed more important and durable.
His informal influence on many of
his students was profound. His counsel and insight helped form many
medical and scientific career decisions. His defense with his colleague
Arnold Schein of Alex B. Novikoff,
professor of pathology at UVM during the McCarthy Era aligned him
with Archbishop Robert Joyce of the
Catholic Diocese of Vermont, Rabbi
Max Wall of Burlington, and many
other religious leaders and statesmen
who affirmed his defense of academic freedom versus political expediency. Only many years later was
Novikoff reinstated at UVM and
given an honorary degree. Some of
Robertson’s ideas on curriculum
innovation have since been adapted
by the College. He left UVM for a
second distinguished career at
Stanford Medical School, where he
continued to teach and do research in
mucopolysaccharide metabolism.
— by Arthur Kunin, M.D.’52
William Allan Tisdale, M.D., died on
Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006, in the
Vermont Respite House in Williston.
He was born in Quincy, Fla. on Feb.
14, 1928. He graduated from the
University of Florida in 1947 and the
Harvard Medical School in 1951, and
served as a medical officer in the U.S.
Army during the Korean conflict. He
completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he
met his future wife Nancy. He then
completed a research fellowship in
hepatology at Yale University School
of Medicine. At Yale, he was also an
Instructor in Medicine and in 1959
was the recipient of the Francis
Gilman Blake Award given by the
senior class to the most outstanding
teacher in the medical sciences. He
then returned to Boston as Instructor
in Medicine at Harvard Medical
School and Research Fellow at the
Medical Foundation. In 1965 he
became Associate Professor of Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School
and Director of Medical Education.
He came to Burlington in 1965 as
Professor of Medicine and Chairman
of the Department of Medicine until
1974. He founded the Geriatrics
Unit at the College of Medicine in
1978 and served as its Director until
his retirement in 1994. He received
the Teacher of the Year award in
1985, and also served as Medical
Director at the Burlington Health
and Rehabilitation Center. After
retiring from the College of Medicine, he worked as a medical reviewer and mentor at the PKC
Corporation, a Burlington company
that develops software for linking
patient information with medical literature. A memorial service for Dr.
Tisdale will be held on campus on
April 26.
W I N T E R
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S P R I N G
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39
P r o f i l e s in g i v i n g
A Family Presence
for three generations & beyond
november 15, 2006
5:50 p.m.
mimi reardon classroom
For the Bove family of Rutland, Vt., connections to the
generous commitment has been recognized with the nam-
College of Medicine run long and deep. Ernest Bove, M.D.,
ing of a room in the Student Assessment Center. Exam
(at right) is a member of the Class of 1981 and a urologist in
Room 12 will now be known as the Bove Family Room.
Rutland. His father, Edward, was a 1946 graduate of the
Naming opportunities can create a visible legacy of your
College. Today, a third generation of the Bove family, Erica,
connection to the College of Medicine. They exist at many
(at left) is learning the art and science of medicine at the
varying levels, from laptop computers and student lockers
school as a member of the Class of 2009.
to conference rooms and larger teaching facilities. For more
The Bove family has long recognized the important place
the College holds in their family history with sustained sup-
Kelly Mebust, class of 2010, works on her needle skills
during a suturing workshop for first- and second- year medical students.
information, please contact the Development and Alumni
Relations Office.
port of the College’s fundraising efforts. Their most recent
photograph by Raj Chawla
medical development and alumni relations office
(802)656-4014 [email protected] www.med.uvm.edu/giving
40
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
W I N T E R
/
S P R I N G
2007
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Crafting the future
Albert D. Blenderman, M.D.’43 spent
decades repairing and reshaping the human
body as an orthopaedic surgeon. In retirement, his trained hands have continued to
craft the subtle forms of bone and flesh —
in the meticulous carvings of birds he brings
to life from blocks of wood.
Dr. Blenderman and his wife, Virginia,
have also helped to shape the future of
medical care, with their generous establishment of the Albert D. Blenderman, M.D.’43
Endowed Scholarship Fund. For more than
six years, medical and nursing students have
benefited from the support the Blenderman
Scholarship Fund has provided. One current
medical student recently expressed to Dr.
Blenderman the significance of scholarship
support in her life:
JEFF FAY
“This is a note of tremendous gratitude for
such an outstanding financial gift! As I begin
this lifelong endeavor of learning and practice
in medicine, I am inspired by the fulfilling
environment UVM has created for medical
students, and how supportive its alumni are.
You are an example for me, and I thank you
for that.”
For more information on scholarship support, contact:
university of vermont college of medicine
medical development and alumni relations office
(802) 656-4014 [email protected]
www.med.uvm.edu/giving
VERMONT MEDICINE
89 Beaumont Ave.
Burlington, Vermont 05405
Your gift to the College of Medicine can,
as the Blendermans’ has, shape medical
careers in a positive way for decades to come.
Donors have two new options for creating a
named scholarship at the UVM College of
Medicine — a currently funded scholarship
or an endowed scholarship. Each of these
opportunities can leverage matching dollars
generously provided by the Medical Alumni
Association.
Non-Profit Org.
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