The Argosy Foundation has made a $2 million gift to support research at the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health (VCCBH) at the University of Vermont’s (UVM) Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine. The gift honors the memory of former Vermont resident Mary Abele and will advance a major research initiative aimed at improving the prevention of stroke and heart attack in people living with atrial fibrillation (AFib).

The project will be led by Mary Cushman, M.D.’89, co-director of the VCCBH, a collaborative research hub at UVM focused on some of the most urgent health challenges facing society, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cognitive impairment.

AFib, an irregular heart rhythm that affects an estimated 59 million people worldwide, dramatically increases the risk of stroke and is also linked to a higher risk of heart attack. The risk of AFib is expected to triple by 2050. While blood-thinning medications can significantly reduce stroke risk, clinicians currently rely on outdated risk prediction tools that often fail to accurately identify which patients would benefit most from treatment. As a result, some high-risk patients go untreated while others receive medications they may not need.

Dr. Cushman’s research aims to transform that approach. Researchers will analyze blood samples from thousands of participants in the REGARDS study, a large ongoing national health study, to identify biological markers linked to stroke and heart attack risk in people with Afib. By measuring circulating proteins involved in inflammation, heart function, metabolism, and brain health, Cushman’s team will search for patterns that signal elevated risk of stroke or heart attack. Those findings will then be combined with clinical data and analyzed to develop new tools for predicting risk.

“The ultimate goal is to create ‘personalized risk profiles’ that allow physicians and patients to move beyond the current one-size-fits-all model of prevention,” explained Cushman. “With more precise information about an individual’s biological risk factors, clinicians could better target treatments—such as anticoagulant medications or other preventive therapies—to those who need them most.”

The research could also reveal entirely new biological pathways that contribute to stroke and heart attack in people with AFib, opening the door to future drug development or new therapeutic strategies. The project began in March 2026 and will run for two years.“

We are incredibly grateful to the Argosy Foundation for making this considerable philanthropic investment in the work of Dr. Cushman,” said Kathleen Kelleher, interim president and CEO of the UVM Foundation. “Philanthropy plays a powerful role in expanding the reach of UVM’s research enterprise—particularly as an R1 research university—by enabling investigators like Dr. Cushman to pursue bold new ideas that have the potential to improve health outcomes in Vermont and far beyond.”

Dr. Cushman, a University Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Larner, is a practicing hematologist at UVM Medical Center and an internationally recognized researcher. Under her leadership, together with Mark Nelson, Ph.D., the VCCBH has grown into a dynamic interdisciplinary research program that brings together investigators from 13 UVM departments. The center has supported nine research project leaders, seven pilot investigators, and dozens of early-career scientists in its Pipeline Investigator Program, helping to build the next generation of cardiovascular and brain health researchers.

“I am excited to convene a team to conduct this research that can help people with Afib stay healthy,” Cushman said. “The Argosy support will allow us to investigate important research questions rapidly, so we can get results to the public.”

The Argosy Foundation is a private family foundation dedicated to supporting programs that strengthen communities and improve lives. Founded in 1997 by entrepreneur and philanthropist John Abele, co-founder of medical device company Boston Scientific, the foundation funds initiatives in education, health, human services, the environment, and the arts. Its mission is “to support people and programs that make our society a better place to live.”

John Abele and his late wife, Mary, raised their three children before settling in Vermont. Mary Abele devoted her life to compassion, spirituality, and community building, founding All Souls Interfaith Gathering to help people find personal connections to faith and the divine. Despite suffering a stroke that paralyzed the left side of her body, she lived the final eight years of her life with remarkable resilience and optimism. The experience deepened her commitment to raising awareness about stroke and its impact on individuals and families.

“Mary’s experience gave our family a firsthand understanding of how life-altering stroke can be,” said John Abele. “By supporting this research in her memory, we intend to accelerate discoveries that will help doctors prevent these events before they happen—and ultimately spare other families the uncertainty and hardship that accompany these conditions.”