Julie Fritz, PhD, PT, ATC

Dr. Julie Fritz is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy & Athletic Training at the University of Utah. Dr. Fritz’s research career has focused on developing and evaluating nonpharmacologic interventions for patients with chronic pain. She is currently a Principal Investigator for clinical trials investigating nonpharmacologic interventions for persons with chronic musculoskeletal pain funded through the NIH-VA-DoD Pain Management Collaboratory, the NIH HEAL Pragmatic and Implementation Studies for the Management of Pain to Reduce Opioid Prescribing (PRISM) and Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC) programs, PCORI, and the Department of Defense. Federal agencies have continuously funded Dr. Fritz’s research since 2008, and her work has included rigorous clinical trials published in high-impact journals. In addition, these studies have provided Dr. Fritz with the opportunity to engage with interdisciplinary teams of physical therapists, physicians, behavioral health specialists, informaticists, biostatisticians and healthcare economists. Her experience and expertise in developing and evaluating interventions for persons with chronic pain, and leading inter-disciplinary teams conducting clinical trials will be invaluable in the role as a Principal Investigator for the University of Utah Program to Provide Pain Research Knowledge (UP3RK) along with Dr. Adam Gordon. Dr. Fritz has worked with Dr. Gordon in collaborative research and mentoring efforts, and she looks forward to working with him to train clinical pain researchers. Dr. Gordon and Dr. Fritz share a commitment to mentoring the next generation of investigators dedicated to clinical pain research that improves the lives of persons with chronic pain and related conditions. In her role as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Health at the University of Utah, Dr. Fritz mentors and promotes the professional development of junior faculty and trainees, helping them to gain the resources they need to be successful in their research agendas. She has personally mentored a total of 38 pre-doctoral trainees, 4 post-doctoral trainees and 7 junior faculty researchers including 5 K current of former awardees. This mentoring experience has helped Dr. Fritz gain the ability to align expectations in the context of a mentoring relationship, assess mentees’ level of understanding and ability. All of the post-doctoral and junior faculty researchers she has mentored remain in academia and several have highly successful independent research programs with sustained extramural funding, demonstrating Dr. Fritz’s ability to foster independence in my mentees. She has been a mentor in the University of Utah’s Vice President Clinical and Translational (VPCAT) Research Scholars Program from 2014-2021, providing mentorship to 14 junior faculty members at the University of Utah from a variety of disciplines including medicine, nursing, psychology, and physical therapy. The VPCAT mentoring model promotes matrix mentoring structure with an emphasis on effective communication and inter-disciplinary relationships. From 2018-2022, Dr. Fritz was a mentor in the University of Utah’s Health Equity Leadership & Mentoring (U-HELM) program that provides mentoring and leadership development opportunities to junior faculty and postdoctoral scholars from under-represented populations in the health sciences. She received training as a U-HELM mentor from the National Research Mentoring Network and additional training in cultural diversity which has provided invaluable skills to address diversity and work effectively with mentees from backgrounds that differ from her own. The research and mentoring experiences and training Dr. Fritz has engaged in make her well-suited to serve as a Principal Investigator for the UP3RK program at the University of Utah. The VPCAT mentoring model serves as a foundation for the UP3RK. Serving as a scientific and institutional mentor in the VPCAT program, Dr. Fritz learned strategies to help mentees set and achieve their research goals, understand their personal strengths, and identify areas for development. The U-HELM program is not a traditional research mentoring program, but instead focuses on supporting trainees from under-represented populations with a focus on cultural identities, micro-aggressions and lack of diversity in the workplace and resilience. Dr. Fritz is excited to bring her experience and mentoring background to the UP3RK program.