The University of Utah awards select faculty members on an annual basis for exceptional work in teaching, research mentorship and service. As the U recently announced the 2022 awardees, we want to call particular attention faculty members who are part of our health sciences research community. Below are the awardees and excerpts from the award nominations shared in the announcement. For the full list of awardees, visit the @theU article. Distinguished Research Award Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, distinguished professor, Pediatrics & Ophthalmology Services, School of Medicine Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, M.D. is a vitreoretinal surgeon and scientist. She holds the Calvin S. and JeNeal N. Hatch Presidential Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah and an adjunct professor at the University of Utah departments of Neurobiology and Pediatrics. Dr. Hartnett is the founder and director of Pediatric Retina at the John A. Moran Eye Center and principal investigator of the Retinal Angiogenesis Laboratory holding two R01s to study age-related macular degeneration and retinopathy of prematurity, leading causes of blindness worldwide. Distinguished Research Award Kathi Mooney, distinguished professor, College of Nursing Kathi Mooney is a Distinguished Professor and holds the Louis S. and Janet B. Peery Presidential Endowed Chair in the College of Nursing. She is also the Co-Leader of the Cancer Control and Population Science program at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Dr. Mooney pioneered and achieved international and national distinction for her research to develop and test innovative, person-centered, home-based models of cancer care. Her research focuses on health care delivery and value-based cancer care, integrating methods from the fields of innovation, clinical oncology, clinical trials, community-based research and public policy. Distinguished Research Award Sean V. Tavtigian, professor, Department of Oncological Sciences, School of Medicine and Huntsman Cancer Institute In his 12 years at the University of Utah and HCI, Dr. Tavtigian has obtained five new NIH R01 grants, renewed the R01 that he was originally awarded while at IARC, and served as Chair of the NCI Cancer Genetics Study Section. He is also a member of the Steering Committee for the Utah Genome Project and sits on three international sequence variant interpretation working groups. Distinguished Professor Julio C. Facelli, professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics, School of Medicine Professor Julio C. Facelli is an exemplary scientist, leader and educator who has advanced the principles of diversity and interdisciplinary excellence at the University of Utah over the past 37 years. He led the development of the university’s extensive and successful research computing infrastructure as a campus-wide resource. He is an exceptional educator and mentor who has measurably enhanced diversity in the field of informatics. His work has substantially grown cross-campus interdisciplinary scientific collaborations linking biomedical research with advanced computational methods. Distinguished Professor Scott Summers, professor, Department of Nutrition & Integrative Physiology, College of Health Dr. Summers is an outstanding, world-renowned research scientist that has made and will continue to make breakthrough findings in our understanding of insulin action, regulation of glucose homeostasis and lipid metabolism. He is without doubt one of the top leaders in this field and his cutting-edge research program provides the framework by which other laboratories have and continue to follow. Distinguished Teaching Award Tim Formosa, professor, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine Tim is one of the most creative teachers I know. Every year he uses the famous chocolate factory episode of “I Love Lucy” to illustrate how cells make and process proteins. I guarantee that students remember how proteins are processed long after that first day of medical school! His teaching blends a caring student-centric attitude with the goal of helping students learn to think critically. He has the perfect balance between ease and focus, humor and seriousness. Not surprisingly, this approach has proven to be extremely popular with students and faculty. He is a fantastic case-based learning facilitator and his groups never want to give him up, to the point where I’ve seen actual petitions to keep him as facilitator. His teaching evaluations for his didactic teaching and facilitation are consistently outstanding. Presidential Public Impact Scholars Award Michelle Litchman, assistant professor, College of Nursing Dr. Litchman’s program of research emphasizes the social context of chronic disease management across the lifespan. Her research examines online environments to understand the influence of peer support on health outcomes, and diabetes management in the “real-world.” Her recent work highlighted the underground exchange of diabetes medications and supplies, resulting in national media attention and the passing of House Bill (HB) 207 in Utah, illustrating the real and immediate impact of her work. HB 207 created an incentive for health benefit plans to reduce the required copayments for insulin and created a program that allows Utahns to purchase insulin at a steeply discounted price. She provides the voice of the profession and nursing visibility on influential boards. Distinguished Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Mentor Award Donald Ayer, professor, Oncological Sciences, School of Medicine