Faculty, fellows, and residents conduct research in many areas of clinical and basic sciences. Grants from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, March of Dimes, Primary Children's Hospital Foundation, and others support these activities. The flexible continuity clinic schedule enables residents to participate in research during their second and third years of training. Each year several residents conduct research studies that lead to publications in peer reviewed journals and presentations at regional and national meetings, including Pediatric Academic Societies, the AAP National Conference & Exhibition, and Pediatric Hospital Medicine Conference. In 2019, one of our second year residents won the Academic Pediatric Association Resident Research Award at PAS. The department supports travel when residents present at scientific meetings.
Residents may receive protected time to work on research during both a second half-day each week as second- and third-year residents and/or by taking up to 4 weeks of research elective during these years. For residents interested in pursuing research, the residency mentoring program helps connect them with research mentors and projects, while the Utah StARR program prepares residents for careers in academic medicine by fully integrating research into the residency curriculum.
Each year, residents successfully compete for American Academy of Pediatrics Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) planning grants that have supported resident advocacy projects in the Salt Lake Valley. Recent AAP CATCH grants for University of Utah residents have been given for projects focused on improving care for refugees and addressing immigration-related toxic stress among Latino children.