The Utah Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (Utah StARR) program is designed to prepare outstanding residents for a career in academic medicine and clinical investigation by providing them with opportunities to learn and practice clinical, transitional, health service, and community-engaged research skills during their residency training. Utah StARR will provide an early "on-ramp" to research careers for competitive academic faculty positions.
Participating residency programs:
The program main components are: career mentoring, individual development plan, non-degree coursework, research seminars, grant writing, pre-submission grant review, pre-award support and writing workshops. Click here for an overview of the Utah StARR resources.
Because the recruitment and training of clinician-researchers is such a high priority at the current time, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has implemented a loan-forgiveness program for doctors who commit to a career in clinical research. Individuals in the Utah StARR program may consider applying for the loan-forgiveness program when their residency is completed.
Additional information about the program or information on application procedures, please visit our application information page or email us at utahstarr@utah.edu.
Utah StARR Scholar Highlights
Utah StARR Scholars Present at DOIM Research Symposium
Utah StARR Internal Medicine scholars Cecilia Peterson, MD, and Jackson Burton, MD, presented on StARR research at the University of Utah Department of Internal Medicine Research Symposium on October 10th, 2025. Dr. Peterson's research focuses on geriatrician or blood pressure topics and on pulse wave velocity and cognitive outcomes. She presented her work titled "Load-dependent arterial stiffness is unexpectedly lower among older SPRING participants." Dr. Burton's poster focused on his work looking into "AKI Severity and Mortality in Cardiogenic Shock," aligning with his primary research focus of cardiorenal syndrome and cardiogenic shock. Congratulations, scholars!
Access Archived UStARR News
UStARR ArchiveUStARR Scholar Presentations
Kayla Jordanova
Victoria Vardell & Alex Zheutlin
Meet the Utah StARR Program Directors
Molly Conroy MD, MPH is a Primary Care Provider and General Internist at the Madsen Internal Medicine Clinic. As a General Internist, her clinical interests include physical activity and lifestyle counseling, weight management, cardiovascular disease prevention, hypertension management, and women’s health. Dr. Conroy received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and her MD from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed an Internal Medicine residency in the Primary Care Track at the University of California, San Francisco and a General Internal Medicine Fellowship at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. She is Board Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and recognized as a Fellow of both the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association.
Joe Stanford, MD, MSPH, CFCMC, is the Professor and Director of the Office of Cooperative Reproductive Health at the UofU School of Medicine and is the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. With expertise in reproductive epidemiology, restorative reproductive medicine, natural family planning, women's health, and periconceptional/prenatal origins of health, he has led five preconception cohort studies. Stanford has contributed to national scientific advisory committees, including for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Food and Drug Administration's Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs. Dr. Stanford also serves on the board of the International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine.