UVM Medical Group at Fletcher Allen announces research award grants

The University of Vermont Medical Group at Fletcher Allen announced the winners of four new Medical Group awards at the practice’s annual holiday reception held December 7, 2010. The awards, newly created to highlight Fletcher Allen’s academic mission and recognize the outstanding work of UVM/Fletcher Allen faculty, each carry a $1,500 cash award and $6,000 block grant related to the award’s focus.
Allyson Bolduc, M.D., associate professor of family medicine, was named CME (Continuing Medical Education) Educator of the Year in recognition of her role of course director for the long-standing and highly successful Family Medicine Review Course from 2006 through 2009. Under Dr. Bolduc’s direction, attendance at the longest-running family medicine conference in the country grew by approximately 30 percent.
Barry Heath, M.D., professor of pediatrics, director, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and chief, Division of Inpatient and Critical Care at Vermont Children’s Hospital, was named GME (Graduate Medical Education) Teacher of the Year for his unique and innovative teaching of medical residents and fellows. Dr. Heath is described by residents and fellows as an enthusiastic teacher who is patient with new learners and communicates well with the health care team
Christopher Huston, M.D., associate professor of infectious disease, was named Junior Researcher of the Year. This award honors a researcher who is less than 10 years out from graduation from residency or fellowship training. The author of 18 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Huston’s research focuses on the molecular basis for the pathogenesis of invasive infection by an intestinal amoeba that is the second leading protozoan cause of death in the world.
Hillel Panitch, M.D., professor of neurology, was named Senior Researcher of the Year. This award honors a researcher who is more than 10 years out from graduation from residency or fellowship training. Dr. Panitch, who passed away on December 23, 2010, served as director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at Fletcher Allen for ten years. He made seminal research contributions in defining the pathophysiology and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. His animal studies suggested that MS is an autoimmune disease; human studies confirmed this and revealed disease mechanisms that led to interventional therapies that are now the standard of care worldwide.
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