Voices of U of U Health
Monthly Momentos: August 2025
This ongoing blog series celebrates people, milestones, and achievements from across our health system. Content is adapted from monthly updates shared with the University of Utah Board of Trustees.
Forbes recognizes U of U Health as one of America’s Best-in-State Employers, new CEO announced for Moran Eye Center, new IMPACT program advances health services research, and more August highlights.
Kudos
- Forbes recognized University of Utah Health as one of America’s Best-in-State Employers for 2025 for fostering an environment where employees can thrive. Top employers were selected from a vast sample of more than 160,000 employees working for companies with at least 500 US-based workers.
- Margaret “Peggy” Battin, MFA, PhD, distinguished professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of internal medicine, is retiring after 50 years at the University of Utah. A philosopher and internationally recognized bioethicist, Battin has been a central member of the Center for Health Ethics, Arts, and Humanities at U of U Health for nearly 30 years.
- Jessica Osterhout, PhD, assistant professor of neurobiology at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, was selected as a 2025 Pew Scholar by the Pew Charitable Trusts. This program provides funding to early career investigators of outstanding promise whose science is relevant to the advancement of human health. Osterhout will use the four-year award to investigate how the immune system communicates with the brain during sickness.
- Becker’s Healthcare named Donna Roach, MS, CHCIO, FCHIME, FHIMSS, chief information officer at U of U Health, to its list of Hospital and Health System CIOs to Know in 2025. This list features forward-thinking leaders who are transforming their hospitals and health systems by harnessing cutting-edge technologies to enhance, streamline, and elevate the delivery of health care.
- Becker’s Healthcare named Mari Ransco, associate executive director of patient experience at U of U Health, to its list of Hospital and Health System Chief Experience Officers to Know in 2025. This list features leaders who elevate every touchpoint along the patient and provider journey, ensuring that experiences are safe, seamless, high-quality, convenient, and compassionate.
- Becker’s Healthcare named Jen Simmons, BSN, RN, director of nursing quality at U of U Health, to its list of Patient Safety Experts to Know in 2025. This list features patient safety experts who are unwavering champions for patient harm reduction, disease management, and disaster preparedness.
- Jia-Wen Guo, PhD, associate professor of nursing, Jenny Alderden, PhD, assistant professor of nursing, and nursing alum Stacie Hunsaker, PhD, were inducted into the American Academy of Nursing for their substantive and sustained contributions to health care.
- Mary Jo Pugh, PhD, RN, professor of epidemiology and investigator with the Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytical Sciences (IDEAS) Center of Innovation at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, was honored at the 2025 Military Health System Research Symposium with an Outstanding Research Accomplishment Award. Pugh, one of only two investigators nationwide to receive the award, was recognized for her research revealing the long-term health consequences of traumatic brain injury.
- Adriele Fugal, MPH, a PhD student at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, was selected for a one-year fellowship with the Centre for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (CIDACS)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) in Brazil. Under the mentorship of Ivette A. López, PhD, MPH (public health), Fugal will conduct a scoping review on Zika virus, an area the institute is recognized for.
- Clayton Powers, DPT, a College of Health alum, patient advocate, and physical therapist at U of U Health, was recently featured in the “Made Better by You” series. His work underscores the real-world impact of College of Health graduates and the importance of preparing students for meaningful careers in health care.
Leadership Announcements
- Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA, was appointed chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and CEO of the John A. Moran Eye Center. Pettey has been a faculty member at Moran since 2011. Pettey succeeds Randall J Olson, MD, who led the department for 46 years and established its John A. Moran Eye Center as a global leader in ophthalmic care, research, and education.
Achievements in Research
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The Utah Data Coordinating Center (DCC) at the University of Utah is the official data partner for the $101 million XPRIZE Healthspan competition—an ambitious global effort to extend healthy human aging. DCC will oversee clinical trial coordination and data validation for teams developing therapies that aim to restore key functions—muscle, cognition, and immunity—by at least 10 years in adults aged 50–80, all within a single year.
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The Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine launched the Integrating Medicine and Policy to Achieve Healthcare Transformation (IMPACT) Program. IMPACT aims to recruit, retain, and support exceptional clinician-scientists at all academic ranks who are dedicated to impactful late translational, health services, and outcomes research. Adam Bress, PharmD, MS (population health sciences), was named inaugural program director and Valerie Vaughn, MD, MS, SFHM, ACP (internal medicine), was named associate program director.
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Katsu Funai, PhD, associate professor of nutrition and integrative physiology, led a study in mice that suggests Ozempic causes less muscle loss than expected, though muscles may get weaker even when muscle mass is unchanged. The findings, published in Cell Metabolism, highlight a need for clinical studies in humans to understand Ozempic’s side effects.
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Two new studies led by Chris Gregg, PhD, professor in neurobiology and human genetics, suggest that hibernating animals’ superpowers could lie hidden in our own DNA. The findings, both published in Science, could eventually lead to therapies to help reverse neurodegeneration, diabetes, and aging-related conditions.
Achievements in Education
- The Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine and the School of Dentistry held white coat ceremonies for the incoming class of 2029.
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Dentistry received its second-highest number of applications, enrolling 50 incoming students from 25 universities—30 from Utah, including rural areas, and 20 from 15 other states. Incoming classes regularly rank in the top 25% nationally for GPA, science GPA, and Dental Aptitude Test scores.
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Medicine’s incoming class includes 125 students—91 from Utah, 16 from surrounding states, and 18 from across the country. A total of 38 students are enrolled in research track programs focused on rural care and population health. The class includes first-generation students, as well as students from rural communities and non-linear pathways.
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The digital publishing unit at the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library has created history-related digital collections for the College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, and the library itself. Collections for the College of Health and School of Dentistry are underway.
Clinical Achievements
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U of U Health earned a HIMSS Level 7 distinction—the highest possible—for effectively incorporating the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model in acute and ambulatory care. This distinction recognizes the coordinated efforts of clinical, support, and IT teams to improve patient safety and satisfaction, and data security through successful EMR implementation.