Enjoying the view in Charlotte, saving lives at UVM

In 2015, Dr. Mary Cushman attended a seminar at the University of Vermont on how medical professionals should talk about philanthropy with patients. She disappointed the presenter by not following his advice, but he forgave her because she may have saved his life.

Joe Golding’s message was that when people thank doctors for their work, the physicians should accept the gratitude and tell them that if they want to further express their appreciation with a donation, there are people they can talk to. After the presentation, one of the organizers asked Cushman to look at Golding’s leg. As a vascular hematologist, she is an expert in blood clots, and she agreed that his leg looked worrisome.

An ultrasound didn’t show a clot, but Golding also mentioned chest symptoms, and Cushman was concerned that a clot might have moved from his leg to his chest. Golding was about to get on a plane, which is a risk factor for clots. Cushman convinced him to delay the flight and get a CT scan which revealed early-stage cancer.

When Golding thanked her, she forgot her lesson and just said “no problem.” She recalls that Golding gave her a look which reminded her that she had erred, but it didn’t matter. He had decided to donate $25,000 to one of Cushman’s research projects.

Cushman wears many hats including director of the Thrombosis and Hemostasis Program at the University of Vermont, co-director of the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health and co-director of the Laboratory for Clinical Biochemistry Research.

She works with patients who have either deep vein thrombosis which occurs mostly in the legs, or pulmonary embolism. She noted that less than half of the population understands these issues, which can lead to delayed diagnoses.

“Too often we see people who have been short of breath for weeks,” she said, “and it turns out their lungs are full of clots. I want to raise awareness of these issues.”

In addition to her medical degree, Cushman completed a master’s in epidemiology to learn about research methods that explain how and why diseases and health conditions are distributed across various populations. 

“It made all the difference,” she said. “The training allowed me to elevate my research using state-of-the-art methods.”

One research project Cushman has been involved with is Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Strokes. She is part of a group that won a $24-million grant from the National Institute of Health to follow 30,000 people across the country. The American Southeast, with the exception of Florida, is known as the stroke belt, and Black people are at a high risk of strokes, so the goal was to identify risk factors.

“To study geography as a risk factor you need a lot of sites,” Cushman said.

The initial information was collected by telephone and then people were visited in their homes for bloodwork, physical exams and EKGs to get a baseline. The first exams were conducted in 2003, but the grant has been renewed, and exams were conducted again 10 and then 20 years later. Cushman just learned that the first person who participated in the study has agreed to a third visit.

Of the original 30,000 people involved in the study, 8,000 are still involved in it. UVM is the central lab and holds all the blood and urine samples, but scientists from outside the university have begun using the information for other purposes like genomic research. When the grant was initially funded, the National Institute for Health asked Cushman’s team to also collect cognitive testing results. She now has a post doc student who is studying how atrial fibrillation contributes to cognitive impairment.

After 27 years in Shelburne, Cushman sought a place with a little more space and a view, landing in Charlotte in 2019. When she was stuck at home during the pandemic, she felt lucky to have a view that didn’t include other houses, and she began taking sunset photographs every night to post on social media with the goal of bringing something positive to her feed.

Cushman enjoys creating perennial gardens on her property. “Digging in the dirt and pulling out weeds and thinking of the design are very different from what I do at work,” she said. “It’s relaxing and good exercise.”

Cushman is thrilled that one of the first students she trained is now a full professor at the University of Vermont.

“You can do your science and publish papers,” she said. “That’s wonderful and rewarding, but it doesn’t always have staying power. The people that emanate from what you’re doing and go on and share that with others is equally important.”