The University of Vermont Medical Group at Fletcher Allen recently presented research and education awards to eight of its physician members to recognize their exceptional teaching and research efforts. The UVM Medical Group consists of approximately 450 physicians from all fields of medicine devoted to advancing patient care through clinical and laboratory research and educating the next generation of providers.
“These awards seek to recognize and encourage the critically important work our members do beyond providing excellent patient care,” said Paul Taheri MD, MBA, president of the UVM Medical Group and senior associate dean for Clinical Affairs at UVM. “The value of having an academic medical center is rooted in the expertise our physicians develop through research, and how that expertise provides direct benefits to patients and improves the education of medical students, residents and fellows.”
Research and Education Recognition Awards:
- Radiologist Jeffrey Klein, MD of Williston was named Continuing Medical Educator of the Year for his work as a teacher and administrator. Dr. Klein serves as the associate dean for Continuing Medical Education at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.
- Alan Rubin, MD of Burlington, a primary care physician, was selected as the Graduate Medical Education Teacher of the Year for his contributions as a teacher, mentor and role model for residents and medical students.
- Robert Althoff, MD, PhD of South Hero won the Junior Researcher of the Year award which is presented to a faculty member less than 10 years out from residency or fellowship training. Dr. Althoff, a child psychiatrist, studies genetic elements of childhood disorders.
- Surgical Oncologist David Krag, MD of Shelburne was recognized as Senior Researcher of the Year, an award presented to an individual more than 10 years out from residency or fellowship training. Dr. Krag’s ground-breaking research into the use of radiotracer-guided surgery in breast cancer has benefited more than a million patients worldwide.
Investigator-Initiated Research Awards:
These two awards each come with a $50,000 grant funded by Fletcher Allen for two years of medical research. They were created to help align the academic missions of Fletcher Allen and the UVM College of Medicine and enhance multidisciplinary and multi-departmental projects.
This year’s two winning teams are:
- Vascular Surgeon Daniel J. Bertges, MD and Endocrinologist Muriel Nathan, MD, PhD, both of South Burlington. Their controlled quality improvement project is designed to test the effect of aggressive perioperative insulin management on both perioperative glucose control, and short-term infectious complication in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects undergoing peripheral vascular surgery.
- Medical Oncologist Marie Wood, MD of South Burlington and surgery researcher Brian Sprague, PhD of Colchester. Their study will try to establish the relationship between inflammation and increased breast density in a population of women at increased risk for breast cancer, along with the ability to stratify patients based on body mass and menopausal status.
Fletcher Allen Health Care, together with our partners at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is Vermont’s academic medical center. Our mission is to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve by integrating patient care, education and research in a caring environment. Fletcher Allen serves as a regional referral center -- providing advanced care to approximately one million people in Vermont and northern New York -- and as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties.