Research in the Department of Medicine
The Department of Medicine at the University of Utah is a catalyst for discoveries that will ultimately lead to new treatments and improvement in patient care, and is a national and international leader in basic, translational, and clinical research. This tradition was established early in its history when Maxwell Wintrobe, M.D., the founding Chair of Medicine, received the first extramural NIH grant ever awarded. The Department’s impact on biomedical research and medical investigation has continued to grow since that time.
The Department of Medicine currently ranks among the top departments of medicine in the U.S., based in part on total grant and contract awards from the National Institutes of Health, other granting agencies, associations and foundations focused on human diseases, and biomedical industry. Together, Department of Medicine faculty direct more than 500 federal, foundation, and industry-sponsored grants and awards, with more than $72 million in funding received in fiscal year 2011. These awards include individual NIH research projects (R01, R03, R21, MERIT, Pioneer, and others), recent Challenge Grants and other ARRA (Recovery Act) awards, center grants, and international collaborations and consortia. Department of Medicine faculty members direct major projects and key leadership roles in the University of Utah Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), which is funded by an institutional NIH NCRR Clinical and Translational Science Award. In addition, Department of Medicine investigators lead laboratories and programs in the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, the Huntsman Cancer Institute, the Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute and other major research sites in the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, and collaborate actively with faculty in the basic sciences, in other clinical departments, and in other schools and colleges in the University.
The Department is a fertile milieu for research career development and mentoring, and provides leadership and administration for NIH-sponsored training grant programs, direction and major presence in unique institutional research career development initiatives including the Program in Molecular Medicine and the HHMI-sponsored Med-to-Grad Program, and infrastructure for individual research career development awards to junior and mid-range faculty members. These include K08, K23, and K99/00 awards from the NIH, Career Development Awards from the Veterans Administration, a Physician Scientist Early Career Award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and American Heart Association Scientist Development Awards. Research activities by students, house staff, and fellows are strongly encouraged, supported, and facilitated. The Department of Medicine has a physician-scientist track, the Physician Scientist Training Program, as a pathway toward clinical and research fellowship and subsequent junior faculty appointment for house staff who are committed to careers in investigation and academic medicine early in their evolution. Excellence in discovery biomedical investigation, clinical research, and research career development has been a primary mission and a foundation block of the Department of Medicine since its inception, in parallel with excellence in clinical care and medical education.
Research Programs
Investigation and Discovery in the University of Utah Department of Medicine: Major Areas of Research Emphasis
Cardiology
Basic and translational studies of myocardial biology and heart failure including reductive/oxidant stress mechanisms; stem cells in myocardial injury and repair; transplantation and ventricular assist device technology
Structural and molecular basis for cardiac arythmias including atrial fibrillation; novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches
Vascular biology, including molecular mechanisms of vascular barrier stabilization, angiogenesis, and vascular malformations
Clinical Epidemiology
Mathematical modeling and simulation of transmissible diseases
Epidemiology and prevention of healthcare-associated infection and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens
Development and evaluation of novel surveillance and decision-support systems; translational research in clinical and population informatics; biostatistical and epidemiologic methods for longitudinal analysis and causal inference
Molecular epidemiology of cancer; behavioral strategies for cancer control and chronic disease risk reduction
Cardiovascular Genetics
Genetics of atherosclerotic coronary disease involving pedigree analysis and other genetic tools
Genetics of hypelipidemia and lipid metabolism
Hypertension and obesity as genetic risk factors
Endocrinology
Molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular complications of diabetes, focusing on mitochondrial dysfunction, dysregulated insulin signaling, and altered substrate metabolism
Using zebrafish to identify pathways that regulate adipogenesis and hepatic lipid metabolism
Translational studies of hexosamines, retinol binding proteins, and other molecular contributors to insulin resistance
Mechanisms of adipocyte metabolism and adipogenesis in obesity and insulin resistance
Molecular mechanisms of glucose intolerance and diabetes in hemochromatosis and related disorders
General Internal Medicine
New anticoagulant strategies and novel platelet activities in management of venous thrombosis and thromboembolism
Ambulatory out-of-office blood pressure assessment and management
Patient-centered home initiatives
Genetic Epidemiology
Definition of heritable contributions to health- and disease-related phenotypes
Studies of high risk pedigrees to indentify predisposition genes in neoplastic, gynecologic, and musculoskeletal syndromes
Creation and analysis of linked genelogic databases
Development of methods and strategies for genetic analysis of extended pedigrees
Geriatrics
Studies of inflammatory pathways, cytokine systems and cholinergic regulation in the brain and peripheral tissues in aging and neurodegenerative disorders
Translational studies of neurohumoral and genetic contributions in vascular stiffness and geriatric hypertension; assessment of blood flow, metabolic regulation, and oxidative stress in aging and diseased skeletal muscle
Design and implementation of quality improvement projects for common geriatric conditions
Medical informatics and computerized clinical systems for application to geriatric health and disease and for prospective surveillance and data collection
Gastroenterology
Molecular virology and biology of hepatitis C (HCV); identification of novel anti-viral agents and studies of host response to HCV infection using new genomic approaches
Genetics and molecular epidemiology of colon cancer and other gastrointestinal neoplasms
Activities of nuclear receptors in lipid metabolism, fatty liver, and liver cancer
Molecular biomarkers, genetics, and new therapies for eosinophilic esophagitis and other inflammatory enteropathies
Interventional gastroenterology, including navigable feeding tubes, new stents, ablation of Barrett’s esophagus
Hematology
Biology and targeted therapy of leukemia and myeloproliferative neoplasms
Regulation of lymphocyte development
Novel strategies for treatment of multiple myeloma
Biologic basis of graft versus host disease
Biology of iron and trace metals and their roles in porphyrias, hemochromatosis, and hematologic disorders
Pathogenesis of giant cell arteritis
Infectious Diseases
Interactions of herpes viruses and other cancer-causing viruses with the host innate immune system
Viral mechanisms of gene regulation
Genetic determinants of susceptibility to viral infections
Nitric oxide as an innate mechanism of host defense against malaria, other pathogens, and neoplasia
Mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of severe malaria – clinical studies in Tanzania and elsewhere
Novel diagnostics in transplant- and immunodeficiency-related infections
Medical Ethics and Humanities
Using performance theory to analyze the clinical encounter, particularly standardized patient encounters and patient-physician communication
Ethical, regulatory, psychosocial, and justice issues in genetic and neuroscience technology
Health care privacy (including medical records, infectious disease, public health) and access to health care, especially with regard to age and disability
Ethical and legal issues at the end-of-life
Nephrology
Regulation of sodium and water homeostasis and blood pressure by the kidney: molecular physiology, genomics, pathophysiology, and experimental therapeutics. Major projects focus on renal functions of endothelin, PPARγ, prostaglandins, and purinergic signaling.
Complications and treatment of chronic and end stage renal diseases: vascular access, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and other facets of pathobiology and management
Stem cell biology in acute kidney injury; interventional trials in renal transplantation
Pathogenesis and approach to diabetic nepropathy, Alport’s syndrome, and other renal disorders
Oncology
New approaches to screening and diagnosis in colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer
Genetic basis for human neoplastic syndromes
Clinical trials of new and emerging anti-cancer therapies
Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine
Inflammatory and immune mechanisms in acute lung injury/ARDS, oxygen toxicity, and pulmonary infection; new molecular approaches to therapy
Molecular mechanisms in lung injury: NADPH oxidases, proteases, RAGE pathways, and others
Genetics and consequences of nicotine addiction; phenotypes and genetics of COPD
Molecular mechanisms and epidemiology of pulmonary hypertensive syndromes
Novel post-transcriptional pathways and activities of platelets, myeloid leukocytes, and endothelial cells; new inflammatory and thrombotic mechanisms in sepsis and other systemic inflammatory syndromes and their pulmonary complications
Systems biology of cystic fibrosis
Rheumatology
New therapeutic interventions in osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, vasculitis, systemic sclerosis, and other rheumatologic syndromes
Microbial factors and toll-like receptor signaling in experimental rheumatologic syndromes, autoimmunity, and systemic inflammation
Genetics and biology of systemic sclerosis with a focus on therapeutic development
Mechanisms of vasculitis, including a potential infectious cause of giant cell arteritis. Phenotypic evaluation and biomarkers of disease activity in subjects with vasculitis
Heritability and genetic features of osteoarthritis; genotype-phenotype correlation in psoriatic arthritis in patients enrolled in a large registry
Roles of smoking, air pollution, and other environmental exposures on rheumatoid arthritis. Prevalence of sleep apnea in spondyloarthritis and roles of anti-inflammatory therapies in sleep apne