Dr. Parks is Emeritus Professor of Neurobiology & Anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine. From 2008 until his retirement in 2016, he was Vice President for Research and President of the University of Utah Research Foundation. After training in neuroscience at the University of California, Yale University, and the University of Virginia, Dr. Parks joined the Utah faculty in 1978. His research on neurobiology of the developing auditory system was continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for 26 years, he taught neuroscience to medical and graduate students for 30 years, and was chair of his department for 15 years.
Dr. Parks was a co-founder of NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. and a board member from 1986-2006; the company developed three first-in-class drugs and was acquired by Shire Plc for $5.2 billion in 2015. He has also served as a board member or scientific advisor for several private companies (currently including ConusRx, Navigen Pharmaceuticals, Q Therapeutics, and SentrX Animal Care) and as a trustee or director for several non-profit organizations. He received a Claude Pepper Award from the National Institute on Deafness and Communicative Disorders in 1993, was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2013 and received a Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology in 2015.
