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The hallways at the Larner College of Medicine have created and supported love stories throughout the years. During a month that puts heart health and romance in the spotlight, we celebrate the connection shared by five Larner-affiliated couples at various stages in their relationships. Whether they crossed paths prior to medical school, during orientation, or mid-semester in anatomy labs, these duos run the gamut from married, parenting human or four-legged babies, to just a few years along in their heart-led journeys.

“How little we know! How much to discover / What chemical forces flow from lover to lover!” — Frank Sinatra

The Science of Love

What happens to your brain when you fall in love? Child and adolescent psychiatrist Jeremiah Dickerson, M.D., �պ����� Larner College of Medicine assistant professor of psychiatry, spoke to Vermont Public in 2024 about how love works in the scientific sense. In , Dickerson describes a course he taught at Larner titled Sex, Love & the Neuroscience of Relationships, which examined the neurobiology of love and relationships across the lifespan while exploring aspects of attraction, attachment, affection, identity, pathology, and neurodiversity.

“There are really powerful, therapeutic forces at play when we think about relationships, and the evidence is really robust … Thinking about connectedness and feeling seen, loving, feeling that we are loved, all make for healthier brains and richer lives.” — Jeremiah Dickerson, M.D.

Beyond Larner, a 2023  showed evidence of the positive health outcomes associated with being pair-bonded, related to the roles of oxytocin, dopamine, and vasopressin in regulating neural circuits responsible for generating bonds in animals and humans alike. According to a recent article by Cindy Perlin, LCSW, “,” romantic love can even influence pain management. “Studies show that partners who provide emotional support help each other cope with pain more effectively. The presence of a loved one, even in the form of holding hands, has been proven to lessen pain intensity,” writes Perlin.

In matters of attraction and partner selection,  by Constanze Lenschow et al. analyzed modalities beyond the visual in which humans, mice, and rats select potential mates. According to the study, “Mate choice is a multistage affair, where complex sensory information and elaborate actions are used to identify, scrutinize, and evaluate potential mating partners”—meaning love at first sight may not always be enough to create a successful match, given other relevant factors, such as touch and audition.

Research aside, the following Larner pairs who have chosen each other amidst the rigors of medical school and faculty life offer a glimpse into their lives with stories of how they first met.

Meet the Larner Couples

Karena Nguyen ’25 and Tin Nguyen ’25

Karena and Tin first met on the short walk to campus from their neighboring apartments at the start of medical school orientation. They were placed in the same anatomy group, where they learned about their common background and shared interests over long hours in the lab. As their relationship grew, they found themselves sharing playlists and going on late-night snack runs. They continued their tradition of exploring new restaurants (and Costco samples) together throughout third-year rotations in Connecticut. Karena and Tin have always supported one another, from the anatomy lab and now to the couples residency match on March 21. They are excited to see where their shared residency adventure leads them … but first they are off to Vietnam for a global health elective, where they plan to try new foods and explore the local music scene.

Audree Baroni ’25 and Tanner Baroni ’27

Audree says, “We met in 2019 at UCLA. Tanner had a course with my long-term best friend and roommate. He walked her home after one of their classes one night, as it was late, and came into my apartment. He excitedly shared about the intramural corn hole league he was a part of and invited me to join his team, as he heard about my corn hole prowess. I joined, we made it to the finals, and our love slowly blossomed.

“We quickly realized we both shared an interest in medicine and applied for the 2021 cycle. �պ����� was my top choice, and when I was accepted, Tanner decided to forego his other acceptance to join me across the country and support my dreams. We were married in the summer of 2022, and later that year, Tanner was also accepted to Larner. In 2024, we had our first child, Caelum, and currently I am matching into emergency medicine and Tanner is in his second year at Larner.”

Chellie Nayar ’25 and Tyler McGuire ’25

Chellie and Tyler’s friendship started as study group buddies in the anatomy lab and many a MedEd study room. Hour after hour of studying can either bring you together or drive you apart, and their relationship quickly blossomed as they discovered their shared love for adventures outside the classroom and hospital throughout Vermont’s mountains and trails and beyond. When they aren’t hiking, running, mountain biking, or skiing uphill or downhill, you can find them playing with their four-legged son, Frank.

Marissa Birne and Jonathan Palmer ’27

Jonathan says, “Marissa and I met in the first week of college swing dancing on the roof of the library. During a semester as best friends and competitive ballroom dance partners, we discovered many shared passions—music, dance, nature, silly jokes, and caring for our community—and fell in love. I proposed by a waterfall in the White Mountains last summer, and she said yes! Now Marissa leads educational and intergenerational programming at the �պ����� Center on Aging, and I am preparing to enter rotations. In our free time as new Vermonters, we love to hike, volunteer, host dinner parties, play music with friends and patients, and—of course—plan our wedding.”

Tobey Horn, M.D., and Delia Horn, M.D.’13

Delia says, “We met at a fundraiser for South Sudanese refugees when I was a �պ����� med student and my husband was a resident at Dartmouth. Then I did residency at �պ����� and he joined the faculty at �պ����� as an attending physician in psychiatry. He worked for �պ����� for about 10 years, all through my residency, fellowship, and early faculty years, and recently left to work for the Veterans Administration. In addition to medicine, we share a passion for skiing, travel, and caring for the environment. We live in Burlington right by the lake, where we are happily raising our two beautiful daughters.”