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.
You may also download and reference our informational slides for more information: /media/21071
Utah StARR Highlights
Leveraging the Matrix Model of Mentoring
The Matrix Mentoring Model supports Utah StARR scholars with a holistic framework that includes five levels of mentorship: self-, senior-, scientific-, peer-, and staff-mentorship. The different types of mentorship aim to create a nurturing environment that fosters accountability, communication, and skills development to create empowered clinical investigators. Besides carefully pairing scholars with primary scientific mentors, Utah StARR hosts monthly events to promote peer-mentoring opportunities with fellow scholars and additional senior- and staff-mentorship opportunities with guest speakers. Utah StARR program directors also meet monthly with all scholars (and more frequently when the scholar is on their dedicated research block) to promote open communication and help address questions with their research and career trajectories.
Publication Support
During their 12 months of dedicated research time, Utah StARR scholars pursue their research interests with the support of program directors, fellow scholars, and their matched research mentoring teams. To-date, Utah StARR scholars have published over 122 publications - 52 of which are first-author publications and several where scholars have collaborated together on their work. Several additional publications are currently submitted and pending official publication dates. Scholars have also presented, had posters, or been interviewed for over 93 events or groups, including University of Utah Medical Grand Rounds, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, Cambridge University Press, University of Utah "Chalk Talk" Series, The Utah ACP Poster Competition, and Medscape Cardiology.
Top Post-Graduation Positions
Utah StARR has five exceptional graduates. Based on their exceptional attributes, training, and research experience, every former scholar has been secured interviews and ultimately accepted their top choice post-residency position. This includes:
- Cardiology fellowship at Northwestern University
- Development and Behavioral Pediatrics fellowship at the Children's Hospital of PHiladelphia
- Stroke fellowship at University of Pennsylvania
- Infectious disease fellowship at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Coveted University of Utah Hospitals & Clinics and Huntsman Cancer Institute positions
Utah StARR program directors and current scholars continue to maintain connections to former scholars even after graduation, and we have been thrilled to watch the achievements of our graduates as their careers continue to flourish.
Research and Grant Writing Training
Utah StARR actively promotes additional research and grant writing training for all scholars. The program offers tuition support to enroll in non-matriculated University of Utah Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) courses. Historically, scholars have leveraged Utah StARR support to attend courses ranging from biostatistics, epidemiology, and more. The program also requires all scholars to engage in grant writing training courses before graduating, and actively supports scholars in applying for funding opportunities. Not only are graduated StARR scholars are eligible to apply for the exclusive K38 "StARRTS" bridge funding after graduation, but former scholars have successfully leveraged HCI pilot awards and T32 funding.
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.