A priority we have at University of Utah Health is to take the time to celebrate career milestones and achievements, in addition to noteworthy discoveries and innovations. Research with the goal of improving human health can run into a lot of unexpected twists and turns and moves forward incrementally. But our faculty and trainees’ passion, steady work, and perseverance, leads to important moments where new understandings and tested ideas translate into opportunities to improve health or advance knowledge in significant ways.
It is with these hard-earned moments in mind that we have built a collection of notable research from recent years in partnership with the Eccles Health Sciences Library and the U of U Health research communications team. Every year, we work with each school and college in the health sciences to identify high-impact research. Research leadership representatives from across the health sciences evaluate and select a handful of investigators and their milestone publications to be honored in the collection of pioneering research.
This year, we had another strong set of publications that were submitted for consideration and we are proud to announce that the following discoveries and investigators were selected as honorees.
Honoree List
Neonatal Fungi Promote Lifelong Metabolic Health by Helping to Establish Normal B Cell Mass — Investigators: Charles Murtaugh, PhD; June Round, PhD | Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine | Department of Human Genetics; Department of Pathology
MEC Time Cells Contribute to Forming 'Timelines' Of Experiences and Distinct Temporal Contexts — Investigator: Jim Heys, PhD | Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine | Department of Neurobiology
A Promising Broad-Acting SARS-Cov-2 Monoclonal Antibody — Investigator: Tyler Starr, PhD | Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine | Department of Biochemistry
Multi-Center Trial on a Drug That Changes Clinical Practice in Prostate Cancer — Investigator: Neeraj Agarwal, MD, FASCO | Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine | Department of Internal Medicine; Huntsman Cancer Institute
Shared Decision-Making Strategies for Stroke Prevention in Patients with Afib — Investigators: Elissa Ozanne, PhD; Angela Fagerlin, PhD | Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine | Department of Population Health
Discovery Of Gene Linked to High-Altitude Adaptation May Transform Blood Cancer Care — Investigators: Jihyun Song, PhD; Josef Prchal, MD | Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine | Department of Internal Medicine; Huntsman Cancer Institute
Purgo Pouch & Vetlen Pouch — Investigators: Dustin Williams, PhD; Nicholas Ashton, PhD | Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine | Department of Orthopaedics
Long-Term Health Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans — Investigator: MJ Pugh, PhD, RN | Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine | Department of Internal Medicine
Reactivating Motor Memories During Sleep Boosts Learning and Performance — Investigator: Genevieve Albouy, PhD | College of Health | Department of Health & Kinesiology
Metabolite Biosensors for Live Cell Imaging — Investigator: Katharine L. Diehl, PhD | College of Pharmacy | Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Uncovering How Soft Corals Make Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Compounds — Investigator: Eric Schmidt, PhD | College of Pharmacy | Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Travel Distance Between Participants in US Telemedicine Sessions With Estimates of Emissions Savings — Investigator: Mollie Cummins, PhD, RN | College of Nursing
How a Key Protein May Protect the Liver from Cancer Caused by Fatty Liver Disease — Investigator: Mei Koh, PhD | College of Pharmacy | Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology
How Sea Slugs Help Reveal the Secrets of Fat and Drug-Making Enzymes — Investigators: Chris Hill, DPhil; Eric Schmidt, PhD | Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine; College of Pharmacy | Department of Biochemistry; Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Continuing to Celebrate Pioneering the Future
In the coming months, we will continue to celebrate the work of these researchers as they are featured in Pioneering the Future—a series designed to present this important work to a broader audience, enabling a greater understanding of the true impact of our research.
Congratulations to all who were selected this year! We look forward to continuing to tell the story of your research and celebrate your work.