2021 UVM Larner College of Medicine Alumni Association Awards

Each year The UVM Larner College of Medicine Alumni Association Awards Committee selects alumni to receive awards in six distinct categories. The UVM LCOM Alumni Association Awards were created to give appropriate recognition to Larner College of Medicine alumni who have been outstanding in their service to the College, the community at large, or in their career accomplishments.

This year, we are celebrating award recipients online, with short videos highlighting their careers, skills, and traits that make them most deserving of the College's recognition. Watch UVM President Suresh Garimella and LCOM Dean Richard L. Page, M.D.'s "Welcome!" video below, then take time to view the videos we have created to celebrate our outstanding alumni! Enjoy!


A. Bradley Soule Award


About the Award

Dr. A. Bradley Soule was born in St. Albans, Vermont in October 1903. He enrolled at the University of Vermont in the Fall of 1921 and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1925. Three years later, Dr. Soule received his M.D. from the College of Medicine and did a one-year internship at the Mary Fletcher Hospital. Except for a year of residency training in radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and the time Dr. Soule served in World War II, he remained on the University of Vermont faculty for almost 54 years.

The A. Bradley Soule Award is presented to an alum whose loyalty and dedication to the College of Medicine most emulate those qualities as found in the award's first recipient, A. Bradley Soule, M.D.'28.

Learn more about this award and its past recipients here.


Betsy Sussman, M.D. ’81

Radiologist and Professor, Department of Radiology, UVM Medical Center and UVM Larner College of Medicine; 2021 American College of Radiology Fellow

In grade school, Betsy Sussman, M.D.’81, was inspired to study medicine after reading a biography of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to graduate medical school in the U.S. in 1849. A Burlington, Vt., native, Dr. Sussman was also encouraged on this path by her father, Joe Sussman. Although he did not attend college, he had great respect for his brother, Ralph Sussman, M.D.‘38, a local pediatrician and founder of the Century Club of the UVM Medical Alumni Association. After training in internal medicine and diagnostic radiology in Rochester, N.Y., Dr. Sussman returned to Vermont in 1987 as a body imaging fellow in radiology. Encouraged by her mentor, Dr. John Tampas, she never left. She started as assistant professor in 1988, rising through the ranks to associate professor in 1994 and professor in 2001. Her interest in women’s imaging led to dual appointments in radiology and obstetrics and gynecology. Dr. Sussman has enjoyed teaching, serving on many local and national committees and volunteering on federal Indian reservations. She has joined classmate Peter Millard, M.D.’81, to teach ultrasound to medical students attending the Catholic University of Mozambique and has worked with her mentor, Kristen Destigter, M.D., on Imaging the World scanning protocols in obstetric and breast ultrasound to improve healthcare in developing countries. Read her complete bio here.


Distinguished Academic Achievement Award


About the Award

The Distinguished Academic Achievement Award is presented to alumni in recognition of outstanding scientific or academic achievement.

Learn more about this award and its past recipients here.


Timothy S. Carey, M.D. '76

Research Professor of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Timothy S. Carey, M.D. ’76 is Research Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was general medicine division chief during the 1990’s, a former director of the Sheps Center for Health Services Research, and served as co-PI of UNC’s NIH sponsored North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS). After earning his M.D. from the UVM Larner College of Medicine in 1976, Dr. Carey interned and then completed a medicine residency at Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. In 1985, Dr. Carey earned his MPH from the University of North Carolina, where he was also a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. Dr. Carey is a skilled internist, researcher, teacher, and administrator, winning numerous institutional, regional, and national honors, including the John Eisenberg Award for mentoring from AHRQ and the American College of Physicians' Laureate Award. He has trained numerous fellows over time through T32 awards and serving as a junior faculty mentor. He has published more than 170 peer reviewed journal articles with topics such as work-related disability, neck and back pain, end-of-life care, and health disparities in pain management.


Patricia King, M.D. '96, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont

Patricia King, M.D. ’96, Ph.D., FACP, is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine where she is active in medical school curriculum development and medical student teaching, receiving the inaugural LCOM award for Curriculum Innovation in 2020. She is active clinically in the practice of primary care internal medicine with the University of Vermont Health Network. She earned her Ph.D. in Physiology from Brown University and M.D. from the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Vermont Medical Center, including service as Chief Resident. She is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. King has been extensively involved with medical licensure and regulation since 2003 both in Vermont and nationally. She was a member of the Vermont Board of Medical Practice from 2003 to 2015, and chair from 2010-2014. She was elected to the Board of Directors of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) 2014-2020, and elected as Chair 2018-2019. Her work at FSMB included serving as Chair of FSMB’s Workgroup on Physician Sexual Misconduct (2018-20), whose recommendations have been recognized nationally and are resulting in improvements to state medical board function and public protection across the country. Dr. King was awarded the John H. Clark Award (National FSMB award) in 2014 in recognition of her service to the VT State Medical Board. Dr. King has also been an active participant in many roles for the United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE), co-owned by the National Board of Medical Examiners and the Federation of State Medical Boards.


Jennifer McNiff, M.D. '86

Professor, Departments of Dermatology and Pathology Director, Yale Dermatopathology Laboratory Director, Yale Dermatopathology Fellowship Program

Jennifer McNiff, M.D. ’86 is a Professor of Dermatology and Pathology at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. After earning her medical degree at the Larner College of Medicine, Dr. McNiff trained in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center where she served as chief resident. She next completed a fellowship in dermatopathology at the Medical College of Virginia, before joining the faculty at the Yale University School of Medicine where she has spent her career. She has served as Director of Dermatopathology for the past two decades, and recently served as Interim Chair of Pathology at Yale. Dr. McNiff’s interests and publications focus on general clinicopathologic correlations in dermatopathology and immunoflourescence techniques in dermatopathology. She has served the American Society of Dermatopathology in multiple roles, including President, Program Committee Chairman, and Board Member. She has also been active in the International Society for Dermatopathology, serving on the Executive Committee. Dr. McNiff is a regular invited speaker at these and other venues. Dr. McNiff was awarded the Walter Nickel Award for Excellence in Teaching of Dermatopathology from the American Society of Dermatopathology in recognition of her years of educating dermatology and pathology residents, fellows, and other physicians.


Frederick B. Rogers, M.D. '81

Adjunct Professor of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

Frederick B. Rogers, M.D. ’81 is a Senior Trauma Research Consultant and former Division Chief and Trauma Medical Director, Program Director General Surgery Residency, and Director of Research at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health. He has been a dedicated trauma surgeon for more than 30 years. He holds appointments as Professor Emeritus in the Department of Surgery at the University Of Vermont Larner College Of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the University Of Pennsylvania Perelman School Of Medicine. Following his medical education at The University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, he completed his General Surgery Residency at The University of Illinois at Chicago and Trauma Fellowship at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Rogers collaborates extensively in trauma surgery, critical care, education and research. His research interests include trauma system development with a focus on Level IV trauma centers, geospatial mapping of variance within organized trauma systems, and inferior vena cava filters in severely injured patients. Recently, he was published in the coveted New England Journal of Medicine, A Multicenter Trial of Vena Cava Filters in Severely Injured Patients, a Randomized Control Trial of over 240 trauma patients which is a most significant contribution to the trauma arena. This adds to his 270 publications in peer-reviewed journals in addition to 329 presentations and lectures on various trauma care, critical care and trauma system development topics.


Service to Medicine and Community Award


About the Award

The Service to Medicine and Community Award is presented to alumni who have maintained a high standard of medical service and who have achieved an outstanding record of community service or assumed other significant responsibilities not directly related to medical practice.

Learn more about this award and its past recipients here.


Paul Morrow, M.D. '76

Forensic Pathologist, Auckland, New Zealand

Paul Morrow, M.D. ’76 grew up in Shelburne, VT. He earned his medical degree at UVM, where he took a year student fellowship in pathology, including research with Dr. John Craighead on a mouse model of diabetes. Dr. Morrow completed an anatomic pathology residency at SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY and his clinical pathology residency in Evanston, IL, before completing a forensic pathology fellowship in Chapel Hill, NC. Dr. Morrow returned to Vermont in 1981 as Deputy Chief Medical Examiner and became Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Vermont in 1990. In addition to the development of a new office-mortuary facility, which included an innovative room dedicated for post mortem tissue donation (heart valve, bone, skin), Dr. Morrow created the Assistant Medical Examiner death investigator system to replace the failing physician-based regional medical examiner system. By the end of Paul’s tenure the VT OCME earned accreditation by the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME). In 2004, Paul took early retirement from the State of Vermont. In 2005, he became a senior forensic pathologist at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Sydney, Australia, and in 2009 he became a regional forensic pathologist with the Northern Forensic Pathology Service in Auckland, NZ. In 2019, he completed an on-line Master of Public Health from George Washington University. He remains involved with death investigation in New Zealand, continuing to work part-time as a forensic pathologist and is actively engaged with the NZ Coroner system.


Kelley Saia, M.D. '01

OB/GYN, Boston Medical Center Professor, Boston University School of Medicine

Kelley Saia, M.D.’01 is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Boston Medical Center and the founder and director of Project RESPECT, Substance Use Disorder in Pregnancy Treatment clinic at Boston Medical Center. She is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is a Diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. In addition to practicing as a generalist in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Saia has 15 years of specialized experience in managing and treating pregnant women with substance use disorders. Established in 2006, Project RESPECT is a unique multidisciplinary program designed to stabilize and treat pregnant women with substance use disorders, predominately opioid use disorder, which combines high risk obstetrical care, psychiatric care, relapse prevention, social services, and peer support. Through the Project RESPECT clinical services, Dr. Saia trains fellows in Addiction Medicine, resident physicians from OB/GYN, Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine and medical students from Boston University and visiting universities. The Project RESPECT clinic is a national model for the complex delivery of care for these mother-baby pairs. In July 2021, Project RESPECT and Boston Medical Center will launch the first ACGME-accredited Maternal Health and Addiction Medicine Fellowship in the country combining specialized high risk obstetric and addiction medicine training for OB/GYN physicians. Dr. Saia states the following about her UVM Larner College of Medicine education: “I LOVE my job and the work our team does! Since 2005, we have cared for over 6,000 women in our program. None of this would have been possible without the educational opportunity granted to me by Dr. Sproul and the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. I am forever grateful!”


Early Achievement Award


About the Award

Presented to an alum who has graduated within the past 15 years in recognition of their outstanding community or College service, scientific, or academic achievement.

Learn more about this award and its past recipients here.


Philip Chan, M.D. '06, M.S. '04

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine and Department of Behavioral and Social Science, Brown University Chief Medical Officer, Open Door Health Medical Director, Rhode Island Department of Health.

Dr. Chan completed his undergraduate, graduate, and medical school education at the University of Vermont. He subsequently completed his internal medicine residency and clinical and research fellowships at Brown University. Informed by his experiences, Dr. Chan started the state-supported STD clinic in 2012 in the urban center of Providence, Rhode Island which currently provides safety-net care to underserved populations. He has since expanded on these efforts to lead multiple NIH, CDC, SAMHSA, and other grants related to HIV/STD care and prevention. Dr. Chan also started the first pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) program for HIV prevention in the state and leads multiple initiatives including ongoing social media and online efforts to engage at-risk populations online such as gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men (MSM), addressing health disparities including issues related to cost and financial sustainability, and understanding behaviors and developing efficacious interventions to improve uptake of HIV/STD preventative services. In early 2020, Dr. Chan started a primary care clinic for the LGBTQ+ community to improve access to primary and gender care in Providence. At the center of these approaches is a focus on underserved populations and improving access to preventative healthcare. In addition to his numerous leadership roles and respected research, Dr. Chan serves on numerous national board and committees and serves as a reviewer on several publications, including on the Editorial Board of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. He is also a Medical Director at the Rhode Island Department of Health for their Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Epidemiology (CHHSTE). During the pandemic, Dr. Chan led aspects of the COVID-19 response for the State of Rhode Island. His passions include improving access to healthcare and providing preventative medicine for marginalized populations.


Alexa Craig, M.D. '06

Director of Neonatal Neurology Program, Department of Pediatrics, Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA

Alexa Craig, M.D. ’06 is a neonatal and pediatric neurologist with a research interest in neonatal neurocritical care; specifically the use of therapeutic hypothermia for neuroprotection. After earning her MD from the Larner College of Medicine in 2006, she completed a pediatric residency at Maine Medical Center (MMC), a child neurology residency at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital, and a neonatal neurology fellowship at Washington University and St Louis Children’s Hospital. Her work, including the creation of a neonatal neurology program at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (BBCH) at Maine Medical Center, has focused on improving the neurological outcomes for babies born in Maine. Dr. Craig has pioneered telemedicine applications for neonatal neurology through both research and clinical practice to eliminate disparities in access to care. Dr. Craig is the recipient of numerous scholarly and teaching awards, is the director of the BBCH Cerebral Palsy Clinic, is a member of the Child Neurology Society, and the MMC Institutional Review Board.


Robert Larner, M.D. '42 Student Award


About the Award

This award is presented annually to a current student(s) for outstanding leadership and loyalty to the College and one who embodies Dr. Larner’s dedication to not only supporting his medical alma mater but to inspiring others to do so as well.

Learn more about this award and its past recipients here.


Luke Higgins

Class of 2022

Luke Higgins is a member of the Larner College of Medicine (LCOM) Class of 2022. During his time at the College, Luke has been engaged as a student leader across campus, representing the student voice while recognizing the mission of the College and vision of our medical education program. Luke received a Bachelor of Science degree with highest distinction in Biomolecular Science with a minor in the History of Law and Policy from University of Michigan in 2018. While an undergraduate student, Luke engaged in several clinical research opportunities as a Detroit Community-Based Research Program Fellow with the American Indian Health and Family Services and as a Clinical Lab Research Assistant in the Departments of Transplant Surgery and Pediatrics. At the Larner College of Medicine, Luke is an elected student member of the LCOM Medical Curriculum Committee, which is the institutional body that oversees our medical education program. In addition, he serves as an organizer on the Social Justice Coalition Student Leadership Group and worked on a student-led personal pronoun inclusivity initiative. He is also a student member of the Jumpstart VIC Curriculum Committee, the LCME Independent Student Analysis Task Force, and multiple search committees for leadership positions in the College.

UVM Medical Alumni Relations

Larner College of Medicine 89 Beaumont Avenue Courtyard at Given, 3 North Burlington, Vermont 05405

802.656.4014 medalumni.relations@med.uvm.edu

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*Schedule subject to change.