Voices of U of U Health
Monthly Momentos: February 2026
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.
Providing care for the U.S. Biathlon team, legislature recognizes SafeUT for 10 years of impact, a wristband that reads muscle signals from the forearm, and more February highlights.
Kudos
- The Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, & Pain Medicine honored Talmage Egan, MD, for more than 30 years of transformative leadership at U of U Health, including over a decade as department chair. Egan led significant growth in department size, innovation, and national impact, all while fostering a patient-centered culture grounded in humility, integrity, and steady leadership. While Egan is stepping away from his role as chair, he remains a contributing member of the faculty.
- Nitish Khurana, PhD, research assistant professor of molecular pharmaceutics, was selected as a National Cancer Institute Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) Early Career Scientist, recognizing his work on fluorescence-guided imaging to improve surgical precision in head and neck cancer.
- Donna Roach, MS, CHCIO, CDH-E, LFCHIME, LFHIMSS, system chief digital information officer for University of Utah Health, was recognized on Becker’s Hospital Review’s 2026 list of Hospital and Health System CIOs to Know, highlighting her recently expanded system-level role.
- The Family Caregiving Collaborative at the College of Nursing now sponsors two monthly national speaker series: Teaching with Families in Mind, launched in partnership with the University of California, Davis, and Conversations with Caregiving Researchers, now co-sponsored with Johns Hopkins University.
Leadership Announcements
- Grace Lim, MD, MSc, MBA, was named chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, & Pain Medicine at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. She joins us from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her work spans anesthesiology, perioperative care, and pain medicine, with a focus on women’s and maternal health.
- Sean Overton, MD, MBA, associate professor of anesthesiology, was appointed inaugural senior vice chair for Clinical Operations & Performance for the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, & Pain Medicine. In this new role, Overton will strengthen clinical partnerships, enhance collaboration across teams, and support high-quality, reliable perioperative care throughout the health system.
- Several existing leaders are expanding their roles to support greater collaboration and shared accountability across U of U Health:
Tracey Nixon, MSN, RN, was named system chief nurse executive, providing systemwide leadership for nursing operations and professional practice across U of U Health.
Donna M. Roach, MS, CHCIO, CDH-E, LFCHIME, LFHIMSS, was named system chief digital information officer, providing executive leadership for U of U Health’s digital and information technology infrastructure.
James Sanders, PhD, was named inaugural system chief analytics & insights officer, leading the Health System Insight Center and development of a unified enterprise analytics platform to support clinical, operational, and strategic decision-making.
Christian Sherwood, MA, was named system chief human resources officer, overseeing systemwide HR functions and advancing a unified, people-centered workforce strategy across U Health.
Achievements in Clinical Care
- SafeUT celebrated 10 years of statewide impact. Since launch, the program has recorded more than 329,000 app downloads, facilitated 2,760 emergency interventions, supported over 203,000 student chats, and received more than 80,000 school safety tips—establishing SafeUT as a national model in youth mental health and school safety. On the first day of the legislative session, the program received an official citation recognizing its contributions to the lives of Utah citizens over the past decade.
- Sports medicine physician Brett Toresdahl, MD, is medical director for U.S. Biathlon. For the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, he oversaw injury management, illness prevention, and comprehensive medical support to ensure athletes could withstand the physical and immune stress of intense international training and Olympic competition.
Achievements in Education
- The School of Dentistry reported its strongest admissions cycle in the school’s 14-year history for the 2025-26 cycle, receiving nearly 800 applications—a 15% increase over its prior high.
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The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library completed its earthquake retrofit and hosted an open house to celebrate its reopening. More than 100 faculty, staff, and students attended the event, which showcased the library’s research services, data management support, and innovation resources.
- Faculty leaders from recreational therapy, occupational therapy, and athletic training—Rhonda Nelson, PhD, Beth Cardell, PhD, and Justin Rigby, PhD—were featured in a special issue of the Therapeutic Recreation Journal for their collaborative work on interprofessional education and team-based learning.
Achievements in Research
- In a rare off-site visit, the Utah Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee met at the University of Utah to discuss upcoming state funding for universities. During their visit, lawmakers had the opportunity to hear directly from U of U Health research faculty, leaders, and students about the ways research translates into better health, stronger communities, and economic impact across the state.
- The University of Utah and Meta announced a research collaboration to evaluate consumer-grade electromyography wristbands designed to improve accessibility and human-centered technology for people with limited hand mobility. The project will assess how muscle signals can be translated into customizable gesture-based controls for everyday devices, including smart home technologies.
- University of Utah Health research directly informed life-saving care for two-year-old Briar Curtis when a genetic study led by Martin Tristani-Firouzi, MD, professor of pediatrics, uncovered a link between severe epilepsy and cardiac rhythm abnormalities. The findings supported the use of a heart monitor that detected a prolonged pause in Briar’s heartbeat. Reilly Hobbs, MD, assistant professor of pediatric surgery, placed a pacemaker in her chest to restart her heart should it ever stop again. Thanks to this surgery, Briar now enjoys more energy and freedom.
- Dustin Williams, PhD, and Nicholas Ashton, PhD, from the Department of Orthopaedics, developed an innovative antibiotic delivery device called the Vetlen Pouch that has successfully treated severe, hard-to-treat infections in animals by allowing continuous, high-dose antibiotics at wound sites. Their findings in veterinary cases demonstrate promising healing outcomes and provide a strong proof of concept for translating this technology into human clinical trials to improve infection care.
Community Collaboration
- U of U Health partnered with Granite School District for its first 2026-2027 Kindergarten Kickoff event, supporting approximately 250 families with resources on health insurance access, dental and mental health, research, and nutrition education.