University of Utah Health announced several significant developments in 2019, including major research grants from the National Institutes of Health and new institutional appointments. The organization's activities spanned from groundbreaking medical discoveries to the opening of new healthcare facilities.
The National Institutes of Health awarded $10 million to University of Utah Health for an international clinical trial led by neurosurgery professor John Kestle to evaluate treatment options for hydrocephalus in children. Additionally, a $3 million NIH grant was awarded to a multidisciplinary team to investigate how air pollutants might aggravate asthma in children. Other NIH-funded projects addressed the opioid crisis and addiction research.
The university saw several leadership and academic honors, including Yoshimi Anzai receiving the Marie Slodowska-Curie Award from the American Association for Women Radiologists. Peter Stang and Anne Blaschke were named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors. Administrative changes included the appointment of Catherine B. Soehner as Director of the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library and Robyn Reynolds as chief marketing and communications officer, effective January 6, 2020.
New healthcare initiatives were launched, such as the Mountain West Mothers’ Milk Bank, a collaboration between University of Utah Health and Intermountain Healthcare. The University of Utah Health also celebrated the grand opening of its Sugar House Health Center.
Research efforts also focused on diverse areas, including genetic studies on obesity and metabolic diseases, the discovery of brain cell links to OCD and anxiety in mice, and investigations into the relationship between brain circuitry and suicide risk.
