• share
• favorite_border

Medical guidelines help doctors understand the best way to treat health conditions. Surprisingly, many doctors do not adhere to them, and this is a problem, according to a new study. People with lower back pain injury miss 11 more days of work in a year when they only receive treatments for lower back pain that are not recommended by medical guidelines compared to people treated according to guidelines.

• share
• favorite_border

Joint grant from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation and Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation provides visionary funding to significantly advance the future of health care in Utah and across the nation through medical education, research, and a new state-of-the-art facility.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study published today in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, reports findings that may change the understanding of how synovial sarcoma develops and spreads. The study was led by Kevin B. Jones, MD and Bradley R. Cairns, PhD from Huntsman Cancer Institute.

• share
• favorite_border

Blacks and Native Americans with health problems prior to contracting COVID-19 are more likely to have longer hospital stays, require treatment with a ventilator, and have a higher risk of death than Whites who have similar preexisting conditions, according to a new nationwide study led by University of Utah Health scientists.

• share
• favorite_border

Within the next decade, the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 could become little more than a nuisance, causing no more than common cold-like coughs and sniffles. That possible future is predicted by mathematical models that incorporate lessons learned from the current pandemic on how our body’s immunity changes over time. Scientists at the University of Utah carried out the research, now published in the journal Viruses.

• share
• favorite_border

A study published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology expands on evidence of lower health care costs and fewer unplanned health care visits in an acute care model of Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Huntsman at Home program, which brings cancer care to patients in their homes.

• share
• favorite_border

Research published in Nature reveals insights into how the body maintains balance with “good” gut bacteria that allows these microbes to flourish in the intestine but keeps them out of tissues and organs where they’re not supposed to be.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute have found critical new insights into how cells defend against melanoma. In a report published in Nature Communications, the team describes how an enzyme called nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, or NAMPT, initiates antitumor activity. The researchers suggest that new therapies strengthening this pathway in immune cells could be the foundation for more effective treatments against melanoma.

• share
• favorite_border

Ensuring that veterans have stable housing not only reduces homelessness but also slashes the cost of providing them with publicly funded health care, according to a national study led by University of Utah Health scientists.

• share
• favorite_border

The National Academy of Sciences has elected Mary Beckerle, PhD, Huntsman Cancer Institute CEO, as a member. Beckerle is among 120 newly elected members announced to the public in a press release during the annual meeting of the National Academy.

• share
• favorite_border

Women who have preeclampsia during pregnancy are at least three times more likely to have strokes later in life than women who do not have a history of this condition, according to University of Utah Health scientists.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study suggests that some neurological disorders share a common underlying thread. Staufen1, a protein that accumulates in the brains of patients with certain neurological conditions, is linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, along with other neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease, according to University of Utah Health scientists.

• share
• favorite_border

COVID-19 and hemorrhagic stroke are a deadly combination, increasing the risk of death up to 2.4 times among patients who have this pairing compared to those who only had hemorrhagic strokes, according to a nationwide study led by University of Utah Health scientists. Patients who survived had longer hospital stays, more medical complications, and less favorable outcomes than those who did not have both conditions.

• share
• favorite_border

Up to one in five employees at an academic medical institution are considering leaving their professions due to the strains of coping with the pandemic in their own lives, according to a new University of Utah Health study.

• share
• favorite_border

Cone snails use a previously undetected set of small molecules that mimic the effects of worm pheromones to drive marine worms into a sexual frenzy, making it easier to lure them out of their hiding places so the snails can gobble them up.

• share
• favorite_border

Huntsman Cancer Institute announced the appointment of physician-scientist Neeraj Agarwal, MD, as senior director of clinical research innovation. Agarwal will serve on the leadership of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at HCI and oversee critical components of HCI’s clinical research infrastructure, among many other things.

• share
• favorite_border

Utah researchers report significant new insights into the development of blood cancers. Comparing DNA data in people with and without blood disorders, the researchers discovered genetic mutations in about 2% of the presumably healthy participants that were identical to those frequently observed in the cancer patients. These findings provide new clues about mutations that may initiate cancer development and those that may help cancer progress.

• share
• favorite_border

An experimental treatment can essentially reverse type 1 diabetes in certain types of laboratory mice, according to a series of studies led by University of Utah Health scientists. An injection of the therapeutic agent converts cells that normally control glucose production into ones that generate insulin.

• share
• favorite_border

Huntsman Cancer Institute and University of Utah Health welcome Sachin Apte, MD, MS, MBA. Apte will serve as chief clinical officer of HCI and physician-in-chief of the cancer hospital. Selected following an extensive national search, Apte begins his appointment on February 8, 2021.

• share
• favorite_border

A University of Utah Health ophthalmologist is investigating how lipids known as VLC-PUFAs could be used to prevent eye disease thanks to a new way to synthesize them for research.

• share
• favorite_border

in a first-of-its-kind study, University of Utah Health scientists found that hormonal IUDs were comparable to copper IUDs for use as emergency contraceptives. The researchers say the finding supports adding hormonal IUDs to current emergency contraception options.

• share
• favorite_border

In 2012, four-year-old Bertrand Might became the first-ever patient diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called N-glycanase (NGLY1) deficiency. Since then, more than 60 additional patients have been found. University of Utah Health geneticist Clement Chow is investigating the disease, which affects every system of the body.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study, led by University of Utah Health scientists, suggests more than half of doctors, nurses, and emergency responders involved in COVID-19 care could be at risk for one or more mental health problems, including acute traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, problematic alcohol use, and insomnia.

• share
• favorite_border

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah announced Jay Gertz, PhD, and Trudy G. Oliver, PhD, have accepted invitations to serve as co-leaders of Huntsman Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center research programs.

• share
• favorite_border

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah has been awarded a five-year, $3 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve Utah’s colorectal cancer screening rates. This funding will provide colorectal cancer screening and follow-up services to people between 50 and 75 years of age through partnership with health systems across Utah.

• share
• favorite_border

Massive “plumes” of glutamate, a key neurotransmitter, surging in the brain could help explain the onset of migraine with aura—and potentially a broad swath of neurologic disease, including stroke and traumatic brain injury—according to an international study led by University of Utah Health scientists.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah have identified a potential drug combination to treat uveal melanoma, a type of eye cancer. Lead author Amanda Truong, trainee in the McMahon Lab at HCI and student at the U of U, explains uveal melanoma patients frequently have changes in genes called GNAQ and GNA11.

• share
• favorite_border

Sobering new statistics released by the Global Burden of Disease study found no significant reduction in the number of people with treatable sight loss worldwide since 2010 as public health services failed to meet World Health Organization (WHO) targets.

• share
• favorite_border

Utah scientists have discovered new functions of a key cellular machine that regulates gene packaging and is mutated in 20% of human cancers. The study was published in print today in the journal Molecular Cell.

• share
• favorite_border

Following a brain-injuring bump or blow to the head, brain cells and blood vessels typically swell. This can lead to a potentially life-threatening increase in pressure inside the skull, and managing swelling is critical for patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). But researchers at University of Utah Health have discovered that swelling may also be important for protecting the brain.

• share
• favorite_border

In a new multicenter study, researchers led by University of Utah Health physicians report that an emerging heart failure treatment could potentially reverse structural damage to the heart, allowing it to heal itself over time. Overall, 19 (40%) patients who were treated with a combination of LVAD support with heart failure medications had sufficient improvement that the LVAD could be removed.

• share
• favorite_border

Today, Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) announced new leadership appointments for two long-standing cancer center members.

• share
• favorite_border

Accomplishing a feat that had been a pipe dream for decades, scientists at University of Utah Health and University of Virginia have recreated in a test tube the first steps of infection by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Doing so has provided up-close access to the virus—which is otherwise obstructed from view deep within the cell—and enabled identification of essential components that HIV needs to replicate within its human host. The research publishes in the journal, Cell.

• share
• favorite_border

For people who experience back pain with sciatica, meaning their pain radiates into their leg, it may be worthwhile to start physical therapy right away, according to new research reported in Annals of Internal Medicine. That approach is different from the initial advice doctors often give patients with back pain, which is to try to remain active and give their symptoms time to subside before considering treatment like physical therapy.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists from the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah have achieved another first in the field of connectomics, which studies the synaptic connections between neurons. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded lab has produced the first pathoconnectome, showing how eye disease alters retinal circuitry.

• share
• favorite_border

5 For The Fight, a global movement inviting everyone to give $5 for the fight against cancer, today announced the inaugural recipients of the 5 For The Fight Cancer Research Fellowship in partnership with Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.

• share
• favorite_border

The vast majority of Twitter users who vape with JUUL e-cigarettes are not using the devices to stop smoking or to improve their health, according to a research team led by University of Utah Health scientists.

• share
• favorite_border

African American men have the lowest five-year survival rate for colorectal cancer (CRC) out of any other racial group. A major factor is low adherence to recommended early detection screening. Yet published research on effective strategies to increase screening for this group specifically are minimal. These findings were published today in PLOS ONE.

• share
• favorite_border

Newly published research has reversed our understanding of an aspect of kidney tumor growth. Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah discovered that two key proteins have opposite roles than what was previously believed.

• share
• favorite_border

Racial disparities among essential workers could be a key reason that Black Americans are more likely than whites to contract and die of COVID-19, according to researchers at the University of Utah. They found that Blacks disproportionately worked in nine vital occupations that increase their exposure to SARs-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

• share
• favorite_border

Wildfires are becoming more common and severe due to climate change and warmer and drier conditions in the West. As wildfire season rages in the United States, people are also at increased risk for COVID-19 infection due to wildfire smoke.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists have developed an injectable drug that blocks HIV from entering cells. They say the new drug potentially offers long-lasting protection from the infection with fewer side effects.

• share
• favorite_border

Self-collected saliva and deep nasal swabs collected by healthcare providers are equally effective for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study conducted by ARUP Laboratories and University of Utah (U of U) Health.

• share
• favorite_border

Tracy Onega, PhD, has been appointed senior director of population sciences at Huntsman Cancer Institute and professor of population sciences at the University of Utah. Onega began her service at HCI on August 1.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah report today the development of new models to study molecular characteristics of tumors of the lung and pancreas that are driven by mutations in a gene named NTRK1. The findings were published today in the journal Cell Reports.

• share
• favorite_border

A consensus statement published today in JAMA Dermatology by a group of melanoma researchers evaluates the use of prognostic genetic expression profiling within clinical treatment of patients with melanoma. The group cautioned against routine use of currently-available genetic expression profiling tests for patients with cutaneous melanoma.

• share
• favorite_border

The National Cancer Institute has renewed the designation of Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, the highest federal rank possible for a cancer research organization. This grant awards HCI more than $29 million over seven years, an increase of 84% in annual funding from the previous award cycle.

• share
• favorite_border

A $4.5 million gift from the Huntsman family will fund an expansion of a unique program at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) that brings specialty cancer care directly to patients in their homes. With this major gift, HCI’s Huntsman at HomeTM will expand to rural Utah, including Carbon, Emery, and Grand Counties. The goal is to provide cancer care for patients who live far from HCI in Salt Lake City by partnering with patients and their caregivers, communities, and medical teams to deliver many aspects of cancer care in a patient’s own home as an alternative to hospital visits at a medical center or emergency department.

• share
• favorite_border

In one of the first studies addressing the role of sex hormones’ impact on stem cells in the gut, scientists outline new insights showing how a steroidal sex hormone that is structurally and functionally similar to human steroid hormones drastically alters the way intestinal stem cells behave, ultimately affecting the overarching structure and function of this critical organ. The authors found that ecdysone, a steroid hormone produced by fruit flies, stimulates intestinal stem cell growth and causes the gut of the female fruit fly to grow in size, as well as other critical changes.

• share
• favorite_border

Changes in blood platelets triggered by COVID-19 could contribute to the onset of heart attacks, strokes, and other serious complications in some patients who have the disease, according to University of Utah Health scientists. The researchers found that inflammatory proteins produced during infection significantly alter the function of platelets, making them “hyperactive” and more prone to form dangerous and potentially deadly blood clots.