< content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> University of Utah Department of Surgery Awarded Fifth K-award | Surgery | U of U School of Medicine
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Celebrating the Perfusion Lab & Honoring Don Kimble


The remarkable talent within the department and across divisions is unparalleled.  The dedication our faculty has to improving healthcare outcomes has resulted in our fifth K-award recipient and over $4 million in funding.

K-award recipients include:

 

Brian Bucher, MD

Title: Health Information Technology for Surveillance of Health Care-Associated Infections

Description: The objective of this project is to develop robust and portable automated surveillance toolkit that combines structured EHR data with rich information locked in clinical notes using natural language processing to identify Health-Associated Infections (HAIs) after surgical procedures.

For more information on Dr. Bucher visit his profile

 

Heidi Hanson, PhD

Title: Subtyping Bladder Cancer: A Multi-omic, Exposure-informed, Genealogical Approach (MErGE)

Description: Using dimension reduction techniques to perform an integrative multi-omic analysis of Bladder Cancer (BCa) expression and methylation combined with information on etiological factors associated with BCa risk can lead to the identification of subtypes of BCa that are epidemiologically and clinically relevant.

Follow Heidi Hanson on Twitter @hahanson11

 

Joseph Tonna, MD

Title: Optimizing Selection and Management of Cardiac Arrest Patients Treated with ECMO

Description: The main therapy of cardiac arrest resuscitation is cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which has limited efficacy. As many as 88% of patients in cardiac arrest die. Dr. Tonna’s research prepares for clinical trials of a promising novel treatment in which ECMO is started during CPR (called extracorporeal CPR/eCPR).

For more information on Dr. Tonna visit his profile or follow him on Twitter @JoeTonnaMD

 

Brock O’Neil, MD

Title: Competition, Bundled Care Payment, and Low-Value Cancer Care

Description: Cancer care is increasingly expensive with substantial spending wasted on low-value care. This project seeks to understand the financial drivers that contribute to use of low-value cancer services. This will help to determine which policies and programs make cancer care more efficient and cost less.

For more information on Dr. O’Neil visit is profile or follow him on Twitter @OncONeil

 

Alex Pastuszak, MD, PhD

Title: Characterization of the Role of NELL1 in the Predisposition to Peyronie's and Dupuytren's Diseases

Description: For patients with heritable superficial fibrosing diseases, including Peyronie’s, Dupuytren’s and Ledderhose diseases, there is no “cure” and treatments are incompletely effective. The proposed work will define the role of the NELL1 gene, identified in an ongoing human forward-genetic screen, in these superficial fibrotic diatheses, providing mechanistic insights into these conditions.

For more information on Dr. Pastuszak visit his profile or follow him on Twitter @apastusz