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STARS T32 Mentors

Mentors will complete approved mentor training (before mentee's appointment or within the first 6 months) unless they have proof of completion in the last 1 to 2 years. All mentors are required to provide current CITI GCP and Human Subject Research certificates.

List of Approved T32 Mentors by Sphere

Mentors interested in serving as the primary mentor for a STARS T32 awardee should meet these minimum qualifications prior to each application cycle:

  1. To serve as  the primary mentor, you must have served as a primary mentor and graduated at least one graduate student
  2. To serve as a primary mentor for a postdoctoral fellow, you must have received R01 or equivalent level funding

To submit a request, please send the documents to Lyalya Sultanova (lyalya.sultanova@hsc.utah.eduthree business days before the application due date on the announcement. Late requests will not be considered until after the application cycle concludes.

  • Current CV from MBM system or CV that includes the faculty member's mentoring experience for predoctoral and postdoctoral students
  • Current Biosketch
  • Website address
  • Brief statement of why they desire to be part of the faculty (should include their commitment to translational science, collaboration, and joint mentoring)
  • A brief description of their research work, if not included on the website
  • Mentor training within the last 1-2 years

Discovery Mentors

Discovery  emphasizes: mechanism studies, improved disease characterization, gene finding, personalized treatment, disease monitoring, drug discovery, drug delivery, novel algorithm development and discovery software. 

Demonstration Mentors

Demonstration  emphasizes: clinical trials, the development of tools for clinical and population decision making, the development of best practices, and the implementation of evidence-based research into clinical settings. 

Dissemination Mentors

Dissemination  emphasizes: risk communication, visual design, comparative effectiveness research, patient-provider communication, bioethics, and translation to population health. 

Discovery Mentors

Name/Degree(s)

Rank

Department Affiliation

Research Area

Research Interest

Orly Alter, PhD

Assoc. Professor

Bioengineering

Genomics, Scientific Computing

Genomic signal processing, integration of different types of large-scale molecular biological data

Amy Barrios, PhD

Professor

Medicinal Chemistry

Biological Chemistry

Developing chemical tools to interrogate and manipulate the biological activity of protein phosphatase enzymes

Brian Baucom, PhD

Associate Professor

Clinical Psychology

Interaction in romantic relationships

Well-being, psychological distress, psychopathology, chronic health conditions, assessment modalities

Joshua Bonkowsky, MD, PhD

Assoc. Professor

Pediatrics Neurology

Human neurogenetic diseases

Human variants in neurological disease in model organisms

Sihem Boudina, PhD

Professor

Nutrition & Integrative Physiology

Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease

Adipocyte energy dissipation, oxidative stress, weight gain regulation, adipose tissue expansion

Bradley Cairns, PhD

Professor

Oncological Sciences

Genomics

Utilization of epigenomics in understanding chromatin-transcription relationships

Nicola J Camp, PhD

Professor

Internal Medicine

Genomics

Developing methods to provide paradigm shifts for genetic discovery and applied gene-finding projects

Lisa Cannon-Albright, PhD

Professor

Internal Medicine (Genetic Epidemiology)

Genetic Analysis/Genomics

Genetic research utilizing the unique genealogies and high risk-pedigrees in Utah for complex disorders, including diabetes

Amandine Chaix, PhD

Assistant Professor

Nutrition & Integrative Physiology

Circadian clock, Nutrition, Metabolism, Cardiometabolic diseases

To explore the dynamic relationship between nutrition and the circadian clock in health and disease to develop new therapeutic strategies to increase healthspan and well-being across lifespan in humans.

Mingnan Chen, PhD

Assistant Professor

Molecular Pharmaceutics

Immunotherapeutics

Autoimmune diseases, vaccine, protein engineering, recombinant protein and peptide materials, drug delivery, cancer immunotherapy, and metastasis.

Qi Chen, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

Urology

tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs)

RNA modifications, epigenetic inheritance, embryonic development

Hilary Coon, PhD

Professor

Psychiatry

Genetic Analysis/Genomics

Genetics of psychiatric disorders, incorporating sequencing, gene expression, and epidemiology to understand risk

Jennifer Doherty, PhD

Assoc. Professor

Population Health Sciences

Cancer Population Science

Using molecular epidemiology to leverage bioinformatic approaches towards better understanding cancer

Peter Fino, PhD

Assistant Professor

Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation

improving mobility during daily life in people with neurological dysfunction, particularly those with brain injuries

concentrates on functionally relevance that is typical during daily life: Cognitive-Motor interference, brain concussion, balance, motor rehabilitation

Jason Gertz, PhD

Assist. Professor

Oncological Sciences

Genomics

Developing technologies for genomics research including gene regulation in particular

Jacob George, PhD

Assistant Professor

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Neural networks, artificial networks, and bionic devices

Tactile senses, stroke rehabilitation, sensory processing, sensorimotor interactions, robotics

Hamid Ghandehari, PhD

Professor

Pharmaceutics and Bioengineering

Experimental Therapeutics

Development of methods for controlled delivery of bioactive agents

Christopher Gregg, PhD

Assist. Professor

Neurobiology and Anatomy

Genomics

Discovery of epigenetic effects that alter genetic architecture in the brain and the development of gene therapies

David Grunwald, PhD

Professor

Human Genetics

studies cell-intrinsic and as well as intercellular signaling factors that regulate the maintenance or direct the differentiation of tissue precursor cells.

1) study of transcription regulation in Stem Cell populations; 2) identification of cellular and molecular pathways that confer vulnerability to osteoarthritis and study of the functions of these pathways in maintenance of healthy joints; and 3) optimization of genome modification strategies in the zebrafish

Stephen Guthery, MD

Professor

Pediatrics

Genomics

Genetics of immunological disease and clinical study design

Tanya Halliday, PhD, RD

Assistant Professor

Health and Kinesiology

Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation

appetite and food-intake regulation in response to lifestyle interventions such as dietary restriction and exercise. Research Interests: development of effective weight loss maintenance strategies like mindfulness-based interventions, lifestyle behavior changes, and exercise and dietary interventions for the prevention and treatment of obesity and related cardiometabolic conditions.

Keren Hilgendorf, PhD

Assistant Professor

Biochemistry

Signal Transduction Pathways, Differentiation, Stem Cells, White Adipose Tissue, Primary Cilium, Breast Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment

How the body regulates stem cell differentiation to enable tissue maintenance, repair, and growth.

Lynn Jorde, PhD

Professor

Human Genetics

Genomics

Human genetic variation and disease, whole genome sequencing analysis

Mei Koh, PhD

Assistant Professor

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Cellular plasticity

Proteomics, epigenomics, PPI (protein-protein interaction), Protein-Chromatin Interaction, Cancer Therapy Resistance

Daniel Leung, MD, MSc

Tenured Professor

Infectious Diseases

immunology, epidemiology, and clinical management or diahrreal diseases

MAIT cells, cholera, oral vaccines, diarrheal diseases

Carol Lim, PhD

Professor

Molecular Pharmaceutics

Myeloid Leukemia

Molecular mechanisms of signal transduction pathways in cancer, and use peptides or genes as novel therapeutics to disrupt oncogenesis or induce apoptosis

Gabor Marth, DSc

Professor

Human Genetics

Genomics

Development of genomic big data analysis tools

Martin McMahon, PhD

Professor

Dermatology

Metastatic melanoma, lung, and thyroid cancer

Genetic alterations, cultured human cancer-derived cells, genetically engineered mouse models

Frederic Noo, PhD

Tenured Professor

Radiology & Imaging Sciences

CT Imaging Technologies

Image Reconstruction, Medical Imaging Physics, X-ray Computed Tomography, Image Quality Assessment, Tomography, 3D-Imaging

Marcus Pezzolesi, PhD, MPH

Associate Professor

Nephrology

Diabetes

Diabetes etiology, complications, chronic kidney disease (CKD), sequencing, genomics

Vicente Planelles, PhD

Professor

Pathology

Lab focus on VPR and signaling events

Understand, at a molecular level, the succession of signaling events that ultimately lead to the induction of apoptosis

Aaron Quinlan, PhD

Assoc. Professor

Human Genetics

Genomics

Utilization of computer science and machine learning techniques to develop genomic technologies

Russell Richardson, PhD

Professor

Geriatrics

Physiology

Oxygen transport from air to tissue, the link between vascular and skeletal muscle function

Viola Rieke, PhD

Research Associate Professor

Radiology and Imaging Sciences

MR-guided focused ultrasound

Accurately predicting temperature change in bone during focused ultrasound treatments

Paul Sigala, PhD

Assistant Professor

Biochemistry

Malaria Parasite Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Heme and Iron Metabolism, Organelle Metabolism, Regulation, and Adaptation

To develop and apply diverse cellular, genetic, and biochemical tools to uncover general metabolic principles and adaptations governing the unique biology of P. falciparum parasites during infection of human red blood cells and To apply this knowledge to develop novel strategies to target the virulent pathogen.

Scott Summers, PhD

Professor

Nutrition & Integrative Physiology

Diabetes and Metabolism

The link between ceramides and metabolic disease

Kota Takahashi, PhD

Assistant Professor

Health & Kinesiology

Biomechanics

Prosthetics, energetics, locomotion, ankle-foot

Sean Tavtigian, PhD

Professor

Oncological Sciences

Genomics

Areas of genetic susceptibility to cancer

Joel Trinity, PhD

Associate Professor

Geriatrics

Aging and cardiovascular function in health and disease

Neural control, oxidative stress, vascular function, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Martin Tristani-Firouzi, MD

Professor

Pediatric Cardiology

Genomics

Genomic basis of inherited arrhythmia syndromes, functional validation and characterization of putative disease-causing genetic variants, and cardiac development

Katherine Varley, PhD

Assist. Professor

Oncological Sciences

Genomics

Gene expression, transcription factor binding, and DNA methylation profiles

Alana Welm, PhD

Assoc. Professor

Oncological Sciences

Genomics

Patient-derived xenograft models to allow direct testing of new drugs and comparison in vivo

Corrine K Welt, MD

Professor

Endocrinology and Metabolism

Reproductive Disorders

Early identification and intervention, and identification of new treatment targets for infertility

Karen Wilcox, PhD

Professor and Chair

Pharacology and Toxicology

Biological Chemistry Program Anticonvulsant Drugs, inflammation, epilepsy

understanding basic mechanisms underlying epileptogenesis, seizure generation, and therapy-resistance to anticonvulsant drugs with the use of electrophysiological, calcium imaging, pharmacological, behavioral, genetic, immunoblot, and immunohistochemical techniques in a variety of in vitro preparations and animal models of epilepsy

Mark Yandell, PhD

Professor

Human Genetics

Genomics

Software development for model system and human genome sequencing

Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, PhD

Professor

Psychiatry

Neurobiology of Disease, Brain and Behavior, Developmental Neuroscience

Application of MR imaging methods to understand emotional processing and cognitive changes associated with behavioral disorders

Micah Drummond, PhD

Professor

Physical Therapy & Athletic Training

Sports Science & Exercise, Medical Ohysiology, Clinical Sciences

a) Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of skeletal muscle atrophy, regrowth and metabolic function in aging muscle. b) Utilizing therapeutic tools (nutritional, contractile analogs, pharmacological) to limit muscle and metabolic deficits that occur with physical inactivity while enhancing regrowth in aged muscle.

KC Brennan, MD

Professor, Fred W. and Christine A. Fairclough Endowed Chair in Neurology, Vice Chair for Research

Neurology

Migraine and Post-traumatic Headache, Disorders as Manifestations of Dysfunctional Network Plasticity

to understand the mechanisms of migraine and post-traumatic headache. These related disorders are commonly understood as "only" headaches, but they are much more, involving disruptions in all the senses, activation of stress responses, and for many patients—a transition to a chronic pain state.

Kent Lai, PhD

Associate Professor

Pediatrics

study rare inherited metabolic disorders like Classic Galactosemia, Phosphoglucomutase I deficiency, and Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase deficiency, with an overall goal to improve the quality of life for the patients.

long-standing research interest in an inborn error of metabolism, as well as a secondary congenital disorder of glycosylation (CDG) called Classic Galactosemia; research career has largely focused on the identification of safe and effective therapeutic small molecule inhibitors of the human enzyme galactokinase (GALK1) as a novel therapy for this CDG. Focus on (a) effective and safe therapies for this rare, enigmatic and debilitating disorder; and (b) a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms that account for the chronic complications and the variable patient outcomes.

KC Brennan, MD

Professor, Fred W. and Christine A. Fairclough Endowed Chair in Neurology, Vice Chair for Research

Neurology

Migraine and Post-traumatic Headache, Disorders as Manifestations of Dysfunctional Network Plasticity

to understand the mechanisms of migraine and post-traumatic headache. These related disorders are commonly understood as "only" headaches, but they are much more, involving disruptions in all the senses, activation of stress responses, and for many patients—a transition to a chronic pain state.

Sheri Holmen, PhD

Professor

Surgery, HCI

Glioma Melanoma Mouse Models of Cancer Virology Oncogenes Genes, Tumor Suppressor

aims to define critical targets in cancer cells that can become the focus for therapeutic intervention. Current efforts utilize a genetic approach to address this question in tumors that are generally refractory to conventional therapies, including metastatic melanoma and glioblastoma. Identified targets are being further validated using pharmacological inhibitors of clinical importance such that laboratory findings can be quickly translated to the clinic.

Robert Judson-Torres

Associate Professor

Dermatology

Melanocytes, Melanoma, Plasticity, Chemoprevention, Holography, Tumor Initiating Cells, microRNA, Transcriptomics

research program seeks to understand the dynamic transcriptional programs regulating human melanocytes and how disruptions to these programs permit or drive the early stages of melanoma development. His laboratory studies diverse populations of primary human melanocytes and melanoma cell lines using single cell sequencing, live quantitative phase imaging, and CRISPR/Cas9-based precision engineering. Translational aspects of his work include the identification of transcriptional programs as potential biomarkers for early melanoma diagnosis and the discovery of administered compounds that alter the probability of transformation.

Demonstration Mentors

Name/Degree(s)

Rank

Department Affiliation

Research Area

Research Interest

Nathan Blue, MD

Assistant Professor

Obstetrics And Gynecology

High-risk pregnancies

Interested in studying the treatment of placental abnormalities, unanticipated pregnancy events, and fetal growth restriction

Alfred Cheung, MD

Professor

Internal Medicine

Nephrology

Chronic kidney disease and its cardiovascular complications and treatments

Clement Chow, PhD

Assistant Professor

Human Genetics

Understanding the role of genetic variation on disease outcomes

Genetic Variation Rare Diseases Genetic Modifiers ER Stress Drosophila Human and Mouse Genetics

Erin Clark, MD

Assoc. Professor

Obstetrics/ Gynecology

Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Genetic and environmental factors that contribute to preterm birth and neurodevelopmental sequelae

Mollie Cummins, PhD

Assoc. Professor

Nursing

Clinical Informatics/Big Data Analytics

Application of machine learning methods to induce predictive models from health care data

Guilherme Del Fiol MD, PhD

Assist. Professor

Biomedical Informatics

Clinical Informatics

Delivery of patient-specific clinical evidence from the literature and Web into electronic health records to support clinical decision making

Stavros G Drakos, MD, PhD

Professor

Cardiology

Cardiac Recovery

Cardiac recovery associated with unloading and MCS in the chronic heart failure (HF) setting and the acute setting (i.e. acute HF/cardiogenic shock)

Karen Eilbeck, PhD

Assoc. Professor

Biomedical Informatics

Genomics/Clinical Informatics

Genome sequence annotation, gene ontologies, precision medicine

Lee Ellington, PhD, RN

Assoc. Professor

Nursing

Acute and Chronic Care

Communication with family caregivers of advanced cancer patients and the effect of caregiver wellbeing

Angela Fagerlin, PhD

Professor

Population Health Sciences

Decision Aids

Methods to communicate complex medical information to patients and populations

Julie Fritz, PhD, PT

Professor

Physical Therapy

Musculoskeletal Conditions

Use of large datasets of clinical and claims data and the implementation of evidence-based treatment for low back pain

Tom Greene, PhD

Professor

Population Health Sciences

Statistics

Clinical trial design and statistical analysis with expertise in chronic kidney disease

Rachel Hess, MD

Professor

Population Health Sciences

Health Systems Innovation Research

Health-related quality-of-life issues across life transitions and in chronic conditions

Kensaku Kawamoto, MD, PhD

Assist. Professor

Biomedical Informatics

Clinical Informatics

Clinical decision support, application of informatics to support improvement of clinical outcomes in personalized health care

Anne Kirchhoff, PhD, MPH

Tenured Associate Professor

Pediatrics

patient outcomes related to healthcare access and cancer late effects

Cancer Survivorship Childhood Cancer Late Effects

Tommaso Lenzi, PhD

Assistant Professor

Mechanical Engineering

design, development and testing of wearable robots such as powered exoskeletons and robotic limb prostheses

Rehabilitation robotics Mechatronics Prosthetics

Keith Lohse, PhD

Assistant Professor

Health-Kinesiology

longitudinal data analysis in neurorehabilitation

focuses on how the nervous system learns to perform motor actions, especially in the presence of neurological disease or injury.

Jennifer Majersik, MD

Assoc. Professor

Neurology

Stroke Genetics

Bringing disparate researchers from around the world together to provide clarity on phenotyping

Kathi Mooney, PhD, RN

Professor

Nursing

Oncology Nursing

Improving symptom science and the patient experience during cancer treatment and survivorship

Stefan Pulst, MD

Professor

Neurology

Genomics

Inherited diseases of the nervous system

Matthew Rondina, MD

Assoc. Professor

Internal Medicine

Molecular Medicine

Thrombotic disorders

Joshua Schiffman, MD

Assoc. Professor

Pediatrics

High Risk Pediatric Cancer

Evaluating, counselling, and treating children and families at high risk for cancer

Robert Silver, MD

Professor

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Maternal-Fetal Medicine

recurrent pregnancy loss and stillbirth, cesarean delivery, placenta accreta, vaginal birth after cesarean delivery, immunologic diseases in pregnancy, and medical disorders in pregnancy.

Rob Singleton, MD

Professor

Neurology

Neurophysiology

Relationship between early hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, obesity and length dependent nerve injury

Cornelia Ulrich, PhD

Professor

Population Health Sciences

Cancer Epidemiology

Genetic and lifestyle factors in the formation and prognosis of cancer with focus on colorectal cancer

Michael Varner, MD

Professor

Obstetrics/ Gynecology

Maternal-Fetal Medicine

High risk pregnancy

David Viskochil, MD, PhD

Professor

Pediatrics

Clinical Genetics

NF1 and lysosomal storage disorders

Kevin Watt, MD, PhD

Professor

Pharmacology & Toxicology

Drug Therapy

Critical illness physiology, pharmacokinetic modeling, pharmacodynamic modeling, biostatistics, clinical trial design, drug dosing

Robert Weiss, PhD

Professor

Human Genetics

Genomics

Duchenne muscular dystrophy and behavioral and addiction phenotypes

Nathorn (Nui) Chaiyakunapruk PharmD/PhD

Professor & Graduate Program Director

Pharmacotherapy

Evidence synthesis Health technology assessment and Global Health Health economic evaluation Real world data analysis Health policy and system research

ranging from infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, community pharmacy, immunization program, complementary and alternative medicines, pharmacogenomics, and smoking cessation.

Dissemination Mentors

Name/Degree(s)

Rank

Department Affiliation

Research Area

Research Interest

Lisa Aspinwall, PhD

Professor

Psychology

Self-Regulation

Melanoma genetic testing and prevention strategies and self-regulation via processing of negative events

Brian Baucom, PhD

Associate Professor

Clinical Psychology

Interaction in romantic relationships

Well-being, psychological distress, psychopathology, chronic health conditions, assessment modalities

Margaret Clayton, PhD, APRN

Assoc. Professor

Nursing

Patient-provider communication

Mixed methods to investigate patient-provider communication during cancer survivorship and at the end of life

Guilherme Del Fiol MD, PhD

Assist. Professor

Biomedical Informatics

Clinical Informatics

Delivery of patient-specific clinical evidence from the literature and Web into electronic health records to support clinical decision making

Angela Fagerlin, PhD

Professor

Population Health Sciences

Decision Aids

Methods to communicate complex medical information to patients and populations

Jacob George, PhD

Assistant Professor

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Neural networks, artificial networks, and bionic devices

Tactile senses, stroke rehabilitation, sensory processing, sensorimotor interactions, robotics

Tom Greene, PhD

Professor

Population Health Sciences

Statistics

Clinical trial design and statistical analysis with expertise in chronic kidney disease

Rachel Hess, MD

Professor

Population Health Sciences

Health Systems Innovation Research

Health-related quality-of-life issues across life transitions and in chronic conditions

Jakob Jensen, PhD

Professor

Communication

Health Communication

Design and evaluation of strategic health communication with a special focus on cancer

Christopher Johnson, PhD

Professor

Computer Science

Scientific Visualization and Computing

Scientific computing, visualization, and image analysis

Kimberly Kaphingst, PhD

Professor

Communication

Genomic literacy

Understanding preferences for return of results and investigating preferences for models of consent among women in the context of utilization of biospecimens for secondary research purposes

Kensaku Kawamoto, MD, PhD

Assist. Professor

Biomedical Informatics

Clinical Informatics

Clinical decision support, application of informatics to support improvement of clinical outcomes in personalized health care

Jacob Kean, PhD

Assoc. Professor

Population Health Sciences

Health System Innovation and Research

Treatment effectiveness in rehabilitation, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain.

Kathi Mooney, PhD, RN

Professor

Nursing

Oncology Nursing

Improving symptom science and the patient experience during cancer treatment and survivorship

Frederic Noo, PhD

Tenured Professor

Radiology & Imaging Sciences

CT Imaging Technologies

Image Reconstruction, Medical Imaging Physics, X-ray Computed Tomography, Image Quality Assessment, Tomography, 3D-Imaging

Elissa Ozanne, PhD

Assoc. Professor

Population Health Sciences

Health System Innovation and Research

Decision-making, development and testing of clinical decision aids, risk communication methods, cost-effectiveness, and risk modeling

Marcus Pezzolesi, PhD, MPH

Associate Professor

Nephrology

Diabetes

Diabetes etiology, complications, chronic kidney disease (CKD), sequencing, genomics

Ken Smith, PhD

Professor

Human Development and Family Studies

Demography

Utilization of computer science and machine learning techniques to develop genomic technologies

Louisa Stark, PhD

Professor

Human Genetics

Genetics

Comparative effectiveness of educational materials and programs and the effectiveness of health-focused, community-based participatory research projects with diverse, underserved communities

David Wetter, PhD

Professor

Population Health Sciences

Health System Innovation and Research

Inequities in health-related behavior, focusing on high-risk and underserved populations

Karen Wilcox, PhD

Professor and Chair

Pharacology and Toxicology

Biological Chemistry Program Anticonvulsant Drugs, inflammation, epilepsy

understanding basic mechanisms underlying epileptogenesis, seizure generation, and therapy-resistance to anticonvulsant drugs with the use of electrophysiological, calcium imaging, pharmacological, behavioral, genetic, immunoblot, and immunohistochemical techniques in a variety of in vitro preparations and animal models of epilepsy

Nathorn (Nui) Chaiyakunapruk PharmD/PhD

Professor & Graduate Program Director

Pharmacotherapy

Evidence synthesis Health technology assessment and Global Health Health economic evaluation Real world data analysis Health policy and system research

ranging from infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, community pharmacy, immunization program, complementary and alternative medicines, pharmacogenomics, and smoking cessation.

 

 

 

 

 

Contact Us

Primary Contact:

Lyalya Sultanova
T32 Program Specialist 
Email: lyalya.sultanova@hsc.utah.edu

Supervisor:

Jennifer Zitterkoph
Associate Director, Grants & Contracts
Phone: 801-213-1504
Email: jennifer.zitterkoph@hsc.utah.edu