Administration
Matt is a Utah native who grew up in Murray. He has a love affair with playing sports (baseball, softball, basketball, tennis, and martial arts). He holds a bachelor of arts and masters degree in business administration from Columbia College (St. Louis, Missouri). Before joining the University of Utah, he moved to Tempe, AZ, for work and met his future wife, but ultimately moved back to Utah because of strong roots. He enjoys camping, hiking, fishing, music, riding motorcycles, traveling, and spending time with his son and wife.
Bennsey was born in the Philippines and has acquired a deep love for domestic and international travel. Growing up in a former US State Department family, she spent most of her childhood and adolescent years traveling to and living in various countries around the globe including Laos, Jordan, Austria, and the Philippines. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the University of California, Riverside, having made Southern California her new home following high school. As a recent transplant to Utah in 2019, she has come to appreciate all of the outdoor activities and sights that the Beehive State has to offer and has quickly become captivated by the Mighty 5 National Parks. She enjoys hiking, off-roading in her Jeep with her husband, spending time with her dog and baby girl, going to the gym, dancing, singing karaoke, and of course, traveling all over the world.
Sarah has been with the department since November 2019. She graduated from the University of Utah with her BS in health, society and policy and recently acquired her MBA in health care administration from WGU. Her weekends revolve around traveling with her husband and wearing out their two high energy aussie/blue heeler dogs—Jagger and Archie. Sarah is a foodie and enjoys eating at local restaurants, cooking, and baking up treats.
Accounting & Finance
Grants & Contracts
With over a decade of experience in the healthcare industry, Erik brings extensive expertise in managing Pharmaceutical and large NIH/NCI Phase I-III sponsored clinical trials across diverse disease groups, including Neurology, Oncology, Cardiology, Pulmonary critical care, Pediatrics, and Physical and Occupational therapies.
His educational background includes a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Healthcare administration/management and a Bachelor of Science in Health, Society, and Policy.
Early in her accounting career, Susan worked at the IRS, and soon realized she was on the wrong end of the taxation process. She changed her career trajectory and spent many years with local CPA firms as a successful tax accountant before transitioning to the University of Utah in 2013.
Susan’s favorite hobbies include stained glass, welding, landscaping, video editing, woodworking, and more. Her current project is finishing the basement in her home by herself (with occasional help).
Susan is an avid reader and has recently become an audiobook addict since this allows her to “read” books and work on her basement and hobbies at the same time.
Department & Division Support
Amanda is a native Utahn who has been with the University of Utah since August 2019. She graduated from the University of Utah with her BS in health promotion and education in 2018 and is also a certified health education specialist. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, camping, going out to eat, learning all things about health and wellness, and traveling. Some of her favorite places she has traveled to are Hawaii, Ireland, and Italy. Amanda and her husband have two dogs, a boxer and shih tzu, and are expecting a baby boy to join their family in June 2023.
Monica is a native Utahn who has been with the Department of Neurology since 2016. She graduated from the University of Utah with her bachelor's degree in health, society and policy and a minor in consumer and community studies. Monica will complete her MBA in healthcare management from Western Governor’s University in the summer of 2023. Some of her favorite places she has traveled are Hawaii, Alaska, and Washington DC. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, trying new restaurants, camping, taking yearly trips to Disneyland, and watching college football and Utah gymnastics. She loves anything cats.
Krystal and her family are long-term employees of the U. She has been married to her husband, Reed, for 14 years and has two kids, Jaxson and Liam, and has an Argentinian Mastiff named Yeti. As a family, their favorite activities are to go camping, to go see movies, and to have backyard firepit hangouts. She loves to bake and cook anything and everything, but her specialty is cakes. In her down time, she run a couple blogs (individually, and with her mom and sisters).
Residency Support
Carol was born and raised in the southern Idaho area. She always loved coming to visit friends and family in Salt Lake, and when she was 21, she and her family moved there, which she was very excited about. She has been happily married to her husband for 26 years and helps him in her spare time at his plastic fabrication business. They have two children—Brittany and Mackenzie—and now a new daughter-in-law. Carol has two grand dogs that are a Boston and chocolate lab named Rilo and Rodgie. Carol has been with the department for over 24 years, and she loves her neurology family, which includes faculty, staff, and trainees. She jokes around that she is a “lifer” with the department and wants to stay here until she retires.
She and her family have dressed up for Halloween for several years, and some of her favorite costumes included being pixie fairies, Cruella Deville and dalmatians, members of Village People, zombies with Michael Jackson, and Kiss, where they won first place in a costume competition. She shared her love for this holiday by hosting a party for the residents a few years ago, which she now does yearly.
Carol loves to spend weekends at her family home outside of Preston, Idaho, and also visiting Southern Utah where her daughter currently goes to school.
Carol likes to read, knit, craft, hike, go to college basketball games, and create memories with her family. She loves anything that is orange and, in her spare time, likes to watch the Food Network channel.
Fellowships
Advancement
Editing, Publishing, & Marketing
Melissa once told her sister that she hated editing and never wanted to do it again. Ten years later, she graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in editing and publishing. In her time as an editor, she’s worked on content from American Pika behaviors to Bitcoin to women in science fiction; now that she’s with the Neurology Department, she spends her time making complicated ideas clear and accessible for multiple audiences. When she’s not hunched over her computer working, Melissa enjoys getting her friends to drive her around, trying out questionable yoga poses, and talking inappropriately during movies. Her favorite punctuation mark is the parenthesis (though she’s also a sucker for a semicolon).