Beth Kirkpatrick, MD; Donna Rizzo and Kimberly Vannest named University Scholars for 2021 – 2022 academic year.
The University of Vermont Graduate College is pleased to announce the 2021-2022 University Scholars. The University Scholars program recognizes distinguished UVM faculty members for sustained excellence in research, scholarship and creative arts.
Basic and Applied Sciences
Professor and Chair, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Dr. Kirkpatrick is Professor and Chair in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Vermont (UVM) Larner College of Medicine. She holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and is an attending physician at the UVM Medical Center. She received her M.D. at Albany Medical College and performed an Internal Medicine residency and chief residency at the University of Rochester. She completed subspecialty and research training in Infectious Diseases
Erika Bueno, Plant and Soil Science Graduate Program
The University of Vermont Graduate College is pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2020-2021 Dr. Roberto Fabri Fialho Research Award is Erika Bueno, a doctoral candidate in the Plant and Soil Science Program.
Erika is a PhD candidate at the University of Vermont working under the guidance of Dr. Yolanda Chen. As a member of Dr. Chen s research group, Erika combines empirical and theoretical approaches in evolutionary biology to study the molecular drivers of stress tolerance in the Colorado potato beetle (CPB). By using a multi-level approach that integrates phenotypic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic tools, she is characterizing how insecticide resistance influences cross-tolerance to subsequent heat stress in CPB. Her interests in evolutionary biology are driven by her natural curiosity for understanding how insects thrive under challenging environments associated with anthropogenic change. Her long-term goal is
Patrick Mullen, Neuroscience Graduate Program. Photo courtesy of UVM Larner Med
The University of Vermont Graduate College is pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2020-2021 Rodney L. Parsons Anatomy and Neurobiology Award is Patrick Mullen, a doctoral student in the Neuroscience Graduate Program.
Pat grew up in Potsdam NY and earned a BS in neuroscience from St. Lawrence University, where he worked on a research project investigating a novel treatment for multiple sclerosis. Following graduation, he worked as a research assistant at Boston University Medical School studying the role of amyloid precursor protein phosphorylation in Alzheimer’s disease.