University of Utah Health Research

Many Who Die by Suicide Aren’t Depressed, Genetic Research Suggests A new genetic study found that people in a group of unexpected suicides aren’t just flying under the clinical radar via lower access to psychiatric services—their underlying risk factors may be fundam...

Many who die by suicide aren’t depressed, genetic research suggests | Results challenge common beliefs about suicide risk and show that new approaches are urgently needed. Read the full research story: healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...

U Health logo layered over health campus

Two great resources for the U of U Health Research community: ChatGPT Edu (a university-centered generative AI tool for campus use) https://bit.ly/4oX0c2a+ + wide-ranging support from the Health Research Office. https://bit.ly/3LW6z7u

Researcher showing a smartphone screen displaying a telehealth program.

1 in 5 new moms experience depression during pregnancy or after giving birth. University of Utah Health is supporting moms across Utah through research and outreach. Hear how this program helped one mother and her family. https://bit.ly/4r1HN5W

Congratulations to five @utah.edu scientists, recognized as some of the most highly cited researchers in the world, whose work spans nearly every corner of campus! attheu.utah.edu/announcement...

New Drug Protects Mitochondria and Prevents Kidney Injury in Mice If the drug works in people, it could prevent kidney injury in high-risk populations, or potentially even treat other diseases that affect mitochondria, like heart failure and diabetes.

Researchers have found that AKI is triggered by ceramides, which cause serious injury by damaging kidney mitochondria. Using a backup drug candidate that changes ceramide metabolism, the team was able to preserve mitochondrial integrity and prevent kidney injury in mice. https://bit.ly/3XgUIn3

Mario Capecchi, PhD, annotates diagrams of microglia in the brain. Image credit: Charlie Ehlert / University of Utah Health.

Cells in the brain's immune system can act as "accelerators" and "brakes" for anxiety, opening the door to new treatments for anxiety disorders.

Learn more about the "Research in Mice Reveals Brain Cells That Drive—And Prevent—Anxiety" https://bit.ly/4i6RcFd

Honoring Veterans and 100 Years of VA Research From the pacemaker to pioneering prosthetics, VA research has changed lives for a century. Learn how U of U Health’s partnership with the VA honors veterans through discovery and innovation.

From the pacemaker to pioneering prosthetics, VA research has changed lives for a century. Learn how U of U Health’s partnership with the VA honors veterans through discovery and innovation. https://uofuhealth.utah.edu/notes/2025/11/honoring-veterans-and-100-years-of-va-research

The Search for Cal’s Diagnosis: How U of U Health Genetics Gave a Family Answers For families like Cal Taylor's, genetic research isn't academic. It means shorter hospital stays, better clinical care, and answers to what is often parents' biggest question: why is my kid so sick?

Cal’s story shows how genetic research at University of Utah Health is helping families. Through the NeoSeq project, a rapid diagnosis gave Cal’s care team the answers they needed to guide treatment. #UofUResearch https://bit.ly/3LQ4rxO

Study Finds Melanoma Less Common in Individuals with Several Tattoos Researchers found people with multiple tattoo sessions have a lower risk of melanoma. Experts stress more research is needed to confirm these unexpected findings, and to investigate potential mechanis...

New research finds that people with multiple tattoo sessions may have a lower risk of melanoma. The reason is unclear, and more studies are needed to understand the link.

Find out more: https://bit.ly/3LIpZfL

Portrait of Bob S. Carter, MD, PhD, CEO.

Bob S. Carter, MD, PhD, CEO, during surgery.

Bob S. Carter, MD, PhD, CEO.

Bob S. Carter, MD, PhD, CEO of University of Utah Health, was recently inducted into the National Academy of Medicine. He joins eight other University of Utah researchers recognized for advancing science and health care. https://bit.ly/4nFpbpB

Malaria Parasites are Full of Wildly Spinning Iron Crystals. Scientists Finally Know Why. The first known metallic nanomotor in biology is powered by rocket fuel.

Spotlighting stranger-than-fiction science this Halloween. Blood-invading parasites are full of crystals that mysteriously dance on their own. This eerie motion has baffled scientists for decades, but researchers have finally cracked the case.
healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...
@utah.edu

How Curiosity Led to a Global Medical Breakthrough

Distinguished professor Wesley Sundquist wasn’t chasing awards or recognition. His research focused on understanding how the HIV virus is built on a molecular level and how it infects and spreads through cells in the body. The Sundquist lab discovered that the virus’s protein shell is highly sensitive to change. Even minor tweaks to this protein can stop the virus from replicating as quickly. Could a drug that targeted the shell stop HIV infection?

This question drove pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences to search for drugs that target the HIV shell, with Sundquist as a consultant. Gilead ultimately developed lenacapavir, which binds the viral protein and effectively disarms it. In 2025, the FDA approved lenacapavir for HIV prevention. One injection prevents HIV for six months with nearly 100% efficacy. This can stop an epidemic that causes 1.3 million new infections each year.

“We view ourselves as, first of all, trying to understand the natural world, which I think has great intrinsic value. But we also view ourselves as sort of the feedstock for new ways of approaching medicine.”

Did you know a new HIV-prevention drug started with research at University of Utah Health? Federally funded, curiosity-driven science raised a pivotal question: could targeting the HIV capsid block infection?
Learn more: bit.ly/4no8P4m

Empowering Medicine–Engineering Breakthroughs: Kickoff Symposium · Luma The kickoff symposium aims to showcase successful partnerships between the College of Engineering and the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the…

Register today to discover how interdisciplinary teams are solving complex health challenges during a symposium that brings together researchers from the College of Engineering and the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the @utah.edu. luma.com/jcpx02nn

AI excels at detecting parasites in stool samples, study finds - @theU Joined by U startup Techcyte, ARUP develops deep-learning model that could transform how intestinal infections are diagnosed.

Scientists at our ARUP Laboratories have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that detects intestinal parasites in stool samples more quickly and accurately than traditional methods, potentially transforming how labs diagnose parasitic infections around the world.

New Study in Mice Reveals Long-Term Metabolic Risks of Ketogenic Diet Keto can lead to potentially dangerous changes to how the body processes fats and carbs.

Research with mice found that keto can lead to potentially dangerous changes to how the body processes fats and carbs.
healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...

Moriel Zelikowsky. Photo credit: Savannah Cummins/Savy Media.

Congratulations to Moriel Zelikowsky for joining HHMI’s Freeman Hrabowski Scholars. Learn more: https://www.hhmi.org/programs/freeman-hrabowski-scholars/2025-scholars

Breakthrough Biosensor Tracks Glycine in Living Cells | College of Science Breakthrough Biosensor Tracks Glycine in Living Cells September 22, 2025 Above: The pop art-inspired illustration highlights a new light-up RNA aptamer called Golden Broccoli that was developed throug...

University of Utah biochemists have developed the world’s first single-dyed ratiometric biosensor for glycine imaging. Glycine is a neurotransmitter linked to memory, brain development, and possibly bacterial virulence. Learn more: https://science.utah.edu/chemistry/glycine-molecule-imaging/

Visionary: Utah Researcher Dares to Stop a Leading Cause of Blindness Research at the University of Utah has led to a promising gene therapy for age-related macular degeneration. U of U scientists envision a brighter world—and make it reality.

Research at the University of Utah has led to a promising gene therapy for age-related macular degeneration. U of U scientists envision a brighter world—and make it reality.
https://uofuhealth.utah.edu/newsroom/news/2025/10/visionary-utah-researcher-dares-stop-leading-cause-of-blindness

Metabolism as the next biomedical frontier From harnessing early-life microbes to protect against diabetes, to targeting cardiac metabolism in heart failure, a new hub is proving that metabolism is a common thread across diseases, and the next frontier in biomedical discovery.

The Center for Metabolic Health brings together researchers to tackle major diseases like diabetes and heart failure by focusing on a central factor: metabolism.

Discover more about this interdisciplinary hub at University of Utah Health: https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-025-00227-2

$21.6M Grant Powers Research to Understand Link Between High Blood Pressure, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Dementia The new research will leverage nearly 40,000 blood samples to learn how blood pressure control could change the course of aging.

University of Utah Health researcher Adam Bress, PharmD, will lead a study analyzing nearly 40,000 blood samples from the SPRINT trial to investigate how hypertension treatment may influence Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...

How to Communicate Medical Numbers-a @jama.com Insight from @angiefagerlin.bsky.social @athorpe8.bsky.social @uuhsresearch.bsky.social, @bzikmund.bsky.social @umich.edu

Read and listen to the podcast for useful tips and tools that could improve patient health+lives. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Visionary: U ophthalmologist dares to stop leading cause of blindness - @theU Vision research at the University of Utah has led to a promising gene therapy for one of the most common causes of blindness.

Research at the University of Utah has resulted in a promising gene therapy targeting one of the prevalent causes of blindness.
Learn more: https://attheu.utah.edu/health-medicine/visionary-u-ophthalmologist-dares-to-stop-leading-cause-of-blindness/

Jamie Dwyer, MD, led one of two large clinical trials for baxdrostat, which have been widely recognized as a breakthrough in hypertension care. Nearly half of U.S. adults are affected.https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2507109

When Getting a Job Makes You Go Hungry A new research study reveals when food insecurity spikes for new Utah residents.

A new study published in PLOS One identifies unexpected “danger zones” when the risk of going hungry is highest and proposes solutions to help new residents thrive.
healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...

Research Uncovers Why IBD Causes Blood Clots—and How to Prevent Them Drugs currently in clinical trials for other conditions could help reduce risk of heart attack and stroke for IBD patients. "This could be lifesaving," senior author says.

New research has uncovered why blood clotting malfunctions in IBD—and identified drugs that normalize blood clotting in human cells and animal models of IBD. #research @uofuhealth.bsky.social healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...

Mary Jo Pugh Earns National Outstanding Research Accomplishment Award for Uncovering Long-Term Consequences of TBI Pugh is one of only two investigators nationwide to receive this honor, presented at the 2025 Military Health System Research Symposium.

Congratulations to Mary Jo Pugh, PhD, RN, recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Research Accomplishment Award for revealing long-term health risks of traumatic brain injury, including dementia, substance use disorder, and cardiovascular disease. uofuhealth.utah.edu/newsroom/new...

Industrial pollution's imprint lasts generations - @theU According to new analysis using Utah Population Database, a woman's prenatal exposures can increase risk of intellectual disabilities in daughter's children.

University of Utah researchers find strong evidence that industrial pollution exposure during pregnancy can shape a grandchild’s neurodevelopment.
Learn more: https://attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/industrial-pollutions-imprint-lasts-generations/

Neurobiologist Jessica Osterhout Selected as Pew Scholar Jessica Osterhout, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurobiology at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, has been selected as a 2025 Pew Scholar by the Pew Charitable Trus...

Congratulations to Jessica Osterhout, PhD, assistant professor of neurobiology at @utah.edu, on joining the 2025 class of Pew Scholars and Fellows. She’ll investigate how the immune system communicates with the brain during sickness.
healthcare.utah.edu/publicaffair...

“At a very fundamental level, we don’t know what we don’t know.”

For his role in ensuring that lenacapavir, first HIV drug to offer long-lasting protection, came to life, Wes Sundquist is one of this year’s recipients of the AAAS Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award.

New Study Raises Questions About How Ozempic Affects Muscle Size and Strength Ozempic can cause loss of body weight that isn’t fat, raising concerns that the drug lowers muscle mass and strength. New research in mice suggests that muscle mass changes less than expected, but mus...

A recent study from @utah.edu raises critical questions about how Ozempic may impact muscle size and strength.

Learn more: healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...