What is the Immunology, Inflammation, & Infectious Disease (3i) Initiative
The Immunology, Inflammation, and Infectious Disease (3i) Initiative at University of Utah Health was formally established in 2017 on the premise that a better understanding of the three "I"s will fundamentally change the way we think about disease.
The vision of the 3i Initiative at the University of Utah is to become a center of scientific excellence known internationally for its top-tier research performed at the nexus of the immunology, inflammation and infectious disease fields to make fundamental discoveries that ultimately improve patient care.
It is built on a strong foundation of almost 180 faculty who do research in related fields at four colleges or schools and 30 departments across campus. A major goal is to integrate basic, translational, and clinical research in these areas by strengthening the 3i community and fostering collaborations.
The International Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Foundation (iCMLf) has awarded the prestigious Rowley Prize to Michael Deininger, MD, PhD. Deininger’s selection as the 2019 awardee was announced in February. Formal presentation of the prize occurred at an international scientific conference in Bordeaux, France, earlier this month.
Deininger is a professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Hematology and Hematological Malignancies at the University of Utah (U of U). He leads the Center of Excellence in hematology and hematologic malignancies at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI). This group encompasses physicians, scientists, students, and support personnel working collaboratively to advance research and training in hematology and develop new approaches to treat blood diseases, including blood cancers.... Read More
In this podcast, Vicente Planelles, PhD, answers our questions about the factors contributing to the public's lack of trust in the medical community, the advice he gives to lay people who buy into "fake news," and the role health care practitioners play in reducing the spread of misinformation.... Read More
he Pew Charitable Trusts announced today the six pairs of researchers who will make up its 2019 class of Innovation Fund investigators.
These investigators—alumni of Pew’s biomedical programs in the United States and Latin America—partner on interdisciplinary research to tackle some of the most complex questions in human biology and disease. Spanning the spectrum from virology to epigenetics and from microbiology to developmental biology, research teams combine multiple disciplines to advance scientific discovery and improve human health.... Read More
Nanell Mann began getting urinary tract infections in 1971, when she got a hysterectomy following the birth of her sixth child. She would take antibiotics and get better. Get sick again. Take antibiotics. Not get better. Take other antibiotics. Repeat, repeat, repeat for more than 40 years—the list of treatments that worked against her infections getting shorter and shorter and shorter over time. Her UTIs became resistant to multiple antibiotics. And she kept getting sick.... Read More
Researchers at University of Utah Health have identified a specific class of bacteria from the gut that prevents mice from becoming obese, suggesting these same microbes may similarly control weight in people. The beneficial bacteria, called Clostridia, are part of the microbiome — collectively trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that inhabit the intestine.... Read More
Gut microbes produce compounds that prime immune cells to destroy harmful viruses in the brain and nervous system, according to a mouse study published today in eLife.
The findings suggest that having a healthy and diverse microbiota is essential for quickly clearing viruses in the nervous system to prevent paralysis and other risks associated with diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
A condition that causes progressive damage to nerve cells, multiple sclerosis has become more common over the past several decades. Viral infections in the brain or spinal cord are thought to trigger this disease. Some scientists believe that changes in the way we eat, increased sanitation or growing antibiotic use may be causing detrimental changes in the helpful bacteria that live within the human body, potentially increasing the risk of multiple sclerosis and other related diseases. ... Read More
Nicole Frank, PhD Associate Director, 3i Initiative Vice President of Health Sciences Research Unit Phone: 801-213-0644 Email: nicole.frank@hsc.utah.edu
