Geisel School of Medicine News

Physician-researcher Amber Barnato has been reappointed as director of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and chair and professor of Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine.

Read article - Features Felicia Goodrum, a professor of microbiology and immunology, discussing Anthony Fauci's pandemic-era notes and the scientific debate over COVID-19's origins. "We are less safe. We are less prepared for a pandemic right now than we were in 2019," Goodrum said, warning that funding cuts and ongoing disputes over the pandemic's origins are hindering research to prevent future outbreaks.

Listen to Story - A radio segment features research by Elijah Stommel, a professor of neurology, linking chronic exposure to cyanobacterial blooms with an increased risk of ALS. The program examines new research on airborne blue-green algae toxins and how aerosolized cyanobacterial toxins may contribute to chronic exposure.

Geisel professor Nicholas Jacobson, in recognition of leading the first clinical trial of a generative AI therapy chatbot using a platform developed in his lab called Therabot, has been named one of two finalists worldwide for the Chen Institute and Science Prize for AI Accelerated Research.

Listen—A podcast interview with Nicholas Jacobson, an associate professor of biomedical data science and psychiatry, discusses his leading of the first clinical trial of a fully generative AI therapy chatbot, thoughtful regulation of AI in mental health, and closing the gap between the need for mental health care and the shortage of providers.

Read article—Nicholas Jacobson, an associate professor of biomedical data science and psychiatry, writes about the potential of Therabot, a generative AI therapy chatbot developed in his lab, and clinically developed AI-assisted therapy in general, to expand access to psychotherapy with personalized, evidence-based care at scale. "We expect that this intervention could lead to a regime change in the field," Jacobson writes.

Read article—A Dartmouth study found that physicians may spend more time editing AI-drafted responses to patients than it would take to write them because of errors, irrelevant information, and a lack of key follow-up questions. The team created a training method that improved AI's accuracy by 33% and reduced editing by 26%. "I don't foresee a time when the portal can respond to a patient without a clinician editing it first," said Tim Burdick, an associate professor of community and family medi

Gretchen Carpenter MED’29 and Raymond Huang MED’29 are among 100 medical students from across the U.S. selected to participate in the AAMC’s summer leadership program RISE: Developing Future Leaders in Academic Medicine and Science for Rising Second Year Medical Students. The program is designed to equip students with essential leadership skills through storytelling and reflection that will support their journey through medical school and beyond.

Read article—Sarah Preum, an assistant professor of computer science, and Tim Burdick, an associate professor of community and family medicine, discuss Dartmouth research finding that AI-generated patient portal messages often require substantial physician editing. "You don't want to integrate large language models into the workflow and just shift the bottleneck so that doctors are devoting their cognitive energy to playing AI janitor and fixing mistakes," Preum said. (Similar coverage in TechTa

Read article—Steven Woloshin, a professor of health policy and clinical practice, is quoted in a story about the number of people who get screened for lung cancer being far below the number that are eligible. "If the public health goal is to reduce deaths from lung cancer through screening, it only works if you treat the people it identifies," Woloshin said.

Read article—Martin Gross, an associate professor of surgery, says there is no evidence that icing the testicles improves testosterone or sperm production. Gross shared that healthy habits such as exercise, sleep, weight management, and avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol are far more effective ways to support men's reproductive health.

Listen—Ilana Cass, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology discusses the increasing closures of labor and delivery units at rural hospitals, and measures to expand the reach of existing resources.  "We really have to take a beat and think, how can we expand the workforce of individuals who want to provide obstetrics care in rural locations so we don't find ourselves looking at this map with more X's than circles of open units," Cass said. Starts around 21:55.

James C. Strickler, MD (D’50 DMS’51), dean emeritus and active emeritus professor of medicine and of community and family medicine at Geisel School of Medicine, died on June 27 at age 99.

Driven by a strong commitment to health equity while pursuing their own passions, Geisel School of Medicine’s 2026 – 2027 Schweitzer Fellows are collaborating with local partners to develop sustainable, evidence-based projects that address health disparities in Upper Valley communities.

Listen to Podcast—Philip Goodney, a professor of surgery, is highlighted in a podcast about improving access to care for patients with peripheral arterial disease. Vascular surgeon Devin Zarkowsky credits Goodney's research mapping underserved areas with high amputation rates for shaping his decision to establish a practice in an underserved part of San Diego County.

Read article—Kathleen Clem, a professor of emergency medicine, is featured in a story about a dramatic increase in cases of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome caused by frequent use of more potent forms of cannabis. "This is not your parents' weed," Clem said. "It's been really amped up and much stronger in potency, and you don't necessarily know what you're getting."

Jay Buckey, a professor of medicine and director of the Space Medicine Innovations Laboratory at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, and section chief of Hyperbaric Medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, was recently awarded the Albert R. Behnke Award by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS).

Read article—Marcus Shaker, a professor of pediatrics and medicine, comments on new research finding no significant difference in in-hospital mortality between men and women treated for anaphylactic shock. Shaker said the findings reinforce the importance of early recognition of anaphylaxis and emphasized that epinephrine remains the first-line treatment for severe allergic reactions.

Read article—Andrew J. Smith, an assistant professor of psychiatry, discusses the challenges physicians face when setting professional boundaries. The article examines how medical training and workplace culture can discourage doctors from prioritizing their own wellbeing, contributing to burnout and stress.

Read article—Lesley Jarvis, an associate professor of radiation oncology and applied sciences, and Brian Pogue, a professor of biomedical engineering, appear in an article about the human eye's ability to detect high-energy particles. Jarvis and Pogue worked on a camera for detecting radiation that produced visible light in a patient's eye during testing, which Jarvis later confirmed was produced by charged particles. "And all of a sudden, right out of her pupil we saw blue light glowing out of