Mary Cushman

Mary Cushman is an American vascular hematologist. She is a Full professor of Medicine and Pathology in the Robert Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont. Early life and education Cushman grew up in western Massachusetts where she was encouraged by her mother to pursue "an easier, more traditional life and not have to work so hard." In spite of this, she enrolled at the University of Vermont, a school she described as "very progressive," and sought after a medical degree. Cushman earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Vermont in 1985 before enrolling at their Robert Larner College of Medicine for her medical degree. Upon earning her MD, Cushman earned a research fellowship in Hematology at the University of Vermont and Fletcher Allen Health Care. During her fellowship, she intended to study breast cancer but soon became interested in the hematology consult service. She eventually received her medical degree in 1989 and pursued a Master of Science degree in Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Career After completing her fellowship, Cushman joined the faculty at the University of Vermont College of Medicine (UVM) in 1996. In her first year at the college, she received a grant from the American Heart Association's (AHA) former New Hampshire/Vermont Affiliate and volunteered with their organization at both local and national levels. Beginning in 2004, Cushman sat on the editorial board for the journal Archives of Internal Medicine and was later promoted to the rank of Associate Editor for the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (JTH) in 2007. While serving in these roles, Cushman published evidence that there was an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) with postmenopausal hormone therapy based on preliminary data from two Women's Health Initiative trials. She also focused on disproving racial and geographical differences in blood clotting and stroke risks. In a co-authored study published in the Annals of Neurology, she concluded that increased stroke mortality rates could not be directly and solely linked to traditional risk factors and external stressors such as poverty and access to care need to be considered.