University of Utah

University of Utah researchers have authored Utah's first statewide plan to address homelessness. The plan's title reveals its sweeping ambition: "To make homelessness in all of Utah rare, brief and non-recurring." "It's sort of the guide," says Jesus Valero, assistant professor of political science and one of the plan's authors. "The layout of what the issues are. What some of the ideas for addressing those issues are. A timetable of things that need to get done, benchmarks and measurements of progress that need to take place in order to achieve our goals."

Any law student will tell you that there's a lot of schoolwork-legal research, assigned readings, writing briefs-that doesn't directly relate to going to court. But third year University of Utah law student Stacie Simpson spends five days a week preparing for a courtroom battle with a team of young attorneys, witnesses, and bailiffs as part of the Kids' Court program.

Vitapul, a company developing an injection device that stores medication in a way that extends its shelf-life, won first place and the $5,000 grand prize at the 2019-2020 University of Utah Opportunity Quest business-model, executive-summary competition today. Ten teams advanced to the final judging and awards event at Lassonde Studios. The competition is managed by students at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute and sponsored by Zions Bank.

Before starting the Master of Business Creation program at the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business, Julia Perry already had plenty of experience in the fashion world. She earned a BFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and had worked with big-name companies like Ralph Lauren. But even as she found success in her career, Perry recognized major gaps in the fashion industry. "I noticed there weren't a lot of clothing options for plus-sized women, which I'm passionate about because I am one," she said. This need inspired Perry to create Wyetta. She describes Wyetta as a "plus-sized women's jean company that sells jeans not only by waist size but by body shape." Perry's unique designs provide comfortable and fashionable jeans for body types that are rarely served in the marketplace.

The University of Utah's Department of Theatre will present Qui Nguyen's "She Kills Monsters" at Kingsbury Hall, by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. Directed by Jamie Rocha Allan, this tale of friendship, loss and acceptance follows a young woman, Agnes Evans, as she grieves the death of her sister, Tilly. While exploring her sister's life, Agnes discovers that Tilly was a well-known Dungeons & Dragons player and dives into a fantastical world chock-full of supermodel elves, dominatrix warrior women and nasty ogres.

In their latest study, University of Utah biologists have discovered that Savannah monitor lizards have lung structures that are a kind of a hybrid system of bird and mammal lungs. The researchers took CT scans of the entire lung labyrinth and used two different supercomputers to simulate airflow patterns at the highest resolution. The software used computational fluid dynamics similar to those used to forecast weather, calculating millions of equations every tenth of a second. The findings show that vertebrate lung evolution is complicated and we have yet to understand the full picture.

For the past decade, Manuel has been almost completely blind. But in October, he was finally able to have cataract surgery after University of Utah medicine student Joaquin Zetina stepped up to help.

Altruism and a lack of access and affordability are three reasons why people with chronic illnesses turn to the "black market" for medicines and supplies, new research shows. Scientists at University of Utah Health and University of Colorado ran surveys to understand why individuals look beyond pharmacies and medical equipment companies to meet essential needs. The reasons listed were many but centered on a single theme: traditional health care is failing them.

The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, wages war in our bodies using a strategy evolved over millions of years that turns our own cellular machines against themselves. Despite massive strides in understanding the disease, there are still important gaps. For years, scientists at the University of Utah wished there was a way to visualize how the virus and its molecules interact with human cells in real-time. So, a research group developed one.

University of Utah researchers explore whether rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide is good for plants. Experiments have shown that, yes, increased carbon dioxide does allow plants to photosynthesize more and use less water. But the other side of the coin is that warmer temperatures drive plants to use more water and photosynthesize less. So, which force, CO2 fertilization or heat stress, wins this climate tug of war? In a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the U found that it depends on whether forests and trees are able to adapt to their new environment. The study, they say, incorporates aspects of a tree's physiology to explore how trees and forests respond to a changing climate.

Team of four, including two University of Utah students plan to launch app that allows home and business owners to rent out their parking spots. Company leaders want to change the way people think about parking and be the most popular parking app in Salt Lake city and beyond.

The University of Utah's Department of Theatre presents Homer's classic tale, "The Odyssey," adapted and originally directed by Mary Zimmerman from Robert Fitzgerald's translation. Directed by Alexandra Harbold, the production runs Nov. 8-17, 2019, in the Babcock Theatre in the lower level of Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 South and University Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. The large cast of 27 actors is assembled of University of Utah students.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 1 in 3 people experience debilitating anxiety-the kind that prevents someone from going about their normal life. Women are also more at risk to suffer from anxiety. Yet the roots of anxiety and other anxiety-related diseases, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), are still unclear. In a new study, University of Utah scientists discovered a new lineage of specialized brain cells, called Hoxb8-lineage microglia, and established a link between the lineage and OCD and anxiety in mice.

In March 2019, U student Andrew Pignanelli founded Decheque-a company that matches investors with hedge funds in hoppes of increasing access to the private investment industry. Decheque uses an algorithm to match investors with funds. They then give each pair a compatibility score, to better facilitate the best connections. "We're essentially building a dating app," Pignanelli said. "When signing up you're asked all of these questions. Things like risk tolerance, investment focus, financial goals. And our program takes all of these and shows you exactly what you want." Decheque has the goal of creating more access to the private investment industry. "So many people want to invest in hedge funds but they don't get contacted," Pignanelli said. "And so many funds want to talk with investors but they don't have the means. We're going to change that."

A group of University of Utah students make up the team at Little Wanderers Studios-an indie game company that celebrates diversity of thought through the creation of fun and entertaining experiences that promote awareness and critical outlooks on the world. Little Wanderers Studios is currently working on the demo of their first game called "Wandrian," which translates to "wanderer" in old English. The goal of the game is a world that people can be fully immersed in and can be representative of any player. They plan to release a portion of the game in January 2020 to give people a little taste of what their world is going to look like. They plan to release on PC, Steam, Epic Game store, and maybe Switch.

This fall the University of Utah welcomed its most academically prepared class of first-year students. The freshman cohort for the Fall 2019 Semester includes 4,249 students boasting an impressive 3.66 average high school GPA and an average ACT composite score of 25.8.

This spring the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) and the J. Willard Marriott Library launched the first in a three-year round of awards for the University's faculty, staff and students: the Fellowship in Collections Engagement, or FICE. Five projects have been selected that promise to foster innovative, interdisciplinary, collections-based scholarship and creativity while highlighting the strengths of the UMFA's and Marriott Library's collections. The awards are part of a joint project, "Landscape, Land Art, and the American West," meant to stimulate research, pedagogy and engagement with the collections and resources of the Museum and the Library. The project is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and matching funds from the U.

The David Eccles School of Business and Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute welcomed the inaugural class of founders in the new Master of Business Creation (MBC) program starting this fall semester at the University of Utah. The group consists of 26 founders who have launched 20 companies ranging from fashion and education management to marketing automation and medical devices. Individual founders and founding teams were admitted. All have already made progress in starting their companies and are looking to refine them to grow sales and attract investors, among other goals.

The University of Utah's Department of Theatre opens the season 2019-20 with Frank Wildhorn's "Dracula, the Musical," a thrilling drama of suspense and unrequited love that will bring the undead to life. Directed and choreographed by Musical Theatre Program Head Denny Berry, the production runs Sept.13-22, 2019, at the Marriott Center for Dance.

At the end of March, four University of Utah graduate students spent three days in Washington D.C. for the Catalyzing Advocacy for Science and Engineering (CASE) workshop hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). At a time when the value of education and scientific research is increasingly being questioned by federal lawmakers, encouraging a new generation of policy-makers in academia is vital.

New research from University of Utah geologists details the natural vibration of the tower, measured with the help of two skilled rock climbers. Understanding how this and other natural rock forms vibrate, they say, helps us keep an eye (or ear) on their structural health and helps us understand how human-made vibrations affect seemingly unmovable rocks. The results are published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

Two University of Utah engineering graduate students and their teammates created a robot called Bloodsport that fights other robots in the TV show "BattleBots." Bloodsport has already fought two battles, and its third will air on the Discovery Channel on Friday, Aug. 30, at 8 p.m.

The University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics announces nearly 100 students have been placed in local, national and global internships for the fall 2019 semester. The Hinckley Institute is dedicated to engaging students in transformative experiences and providing political thought leadership.

Researchers at University of Utah Health have identified a link between autism and steroid hormone changes detected in the mother's blood. These changes, which suggest increased estrogen activity, can be seen early in the second trimester. The pilot study, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, opens a new direction in autism research.

Four University of Utah students were selected to complete the Genomics Summer Research for Minorities (GSRM) internship. The 10-week summer paid research program is for undergraduate students interested in genomics research, personalized medicine and biosciences. It provides opportunities for underrepresented and disadvantaged minority students, including women, persons with disabilities and low-income families.

Researchers at University of Utah Health are using machine learning to draw links between genetic controls that shape incremental steps of instinctive and learned behaviors. So far, the study has only explored the building blocks of foraging behavior in lab mice, but the team believes the methodology could be applied to understand the basis of other complex behavior patterns and learn the specific genomic elements that shape behaviors leading to disease in humans, including obesity, addiction, fear, anxiety and psychiatric disorders.

U of U Health researchers have identified a specific class of bacteria from the gut that prevents mice from becoming obese, suggesting these same microbes may similarly control weight in people.

A team of researchers at the University of Utah has developed a prosthetic arm that is helping patients regain their sense of touch. An amputee wearing the prosthetic arm can sense the touch of something soft or hard, understand better how to pick it up, and perform delicate tasks that would otherwise be impossible with a standard prosthetic with metal hooks or claws for hands.

The University of Utah congratulates 8,465 students who recieved their academic degrees on May 2, 2019.

A group of undergraduate and graduate social work students from the University of Utah clocked over 4200 hours this past year. Students focus on health and wellness partnership building and support, including education pathways, mental health, and community capacity building alongside youth, teachers, community leaders, residents, parents, and agencies in the west side of Salt Lake.