Harry Hill Retirement
The Department of Pathology and ARUP bade a fond farewell to Dr. Harry Hill, who has retired after 47 years of service. Dr. Hill, one of the co-founders of ARUP, retired on October 1, 2021.
In his honor, the Department of Pathology and ARUP have established the Harry R. Hill, MD, Presidential Endowed Chair. This new presidential endowed chair will be the department's sixth, and will recognize excellence in leadership and/or academic contributions. The establishment of the endowment was a surprise to Dr. Hill, who learned of the honor during his retirement open house on October 1.
His patients and colleagues will miss him and wish him the very best in his retirement. You can read more about Dr. Hill's legacy here, and more about the presidential endowed chair award here.
BRIDGE UP-HBCU
The Department of Pathology launched a 10 Week Summer Research Program in May 2021 with five students from Howard University and Spelman College. The program was funded by the Department of Pathology, DMRC, and the office of the Vice President for Research. The program was a resounding success with all participants excelling in their labs and loving the program and their time in Utah. Applications for NIH funding are currently submitted, and we are recruiting students for Summer 2022.
MLS Orientation
The MLS Division held its orientation events on August 18th & 19th. The events consisted of a two-day program where faculty and staff introduced themselves to the new junior students and acquainted the incoming students with the teaching laboratory. This year, the program has welcomed the largest amount of students ever, and we look forward to seeing them progress in their academic pursuits.
M&I Retreat
This year’s M&I retreat was held from September 10-11, 2021 at the Park City Sheraton in Park City, Utah. There was a tremendous turnout with over 100 students, postdocs and faculty from our department attending.
Opening remarks by Dr. Peter Jensen kicked off five sessions and 18 individual talks on homegrown research. Dr. Dario Vignali (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) and Dr. Jacob Kohlmeier (Emory University School of Medicine) anchored the retreat as our keynote speakers. New additions to the program included Lab Lightning talks, allowing each PI in M&I an opportunity to introduce their laboratory and research in just 2 minutes. These were followed by even more challenging Flash Poster Talks for senior students and postdocs to present their work in just one minute.
On Friday evening, many of our faculty took part in judging the posters, and Dr. Evavold wrapped up the event by introducing the individual poster winners: Kyla Ost (Round Lab) won first prize and Jennifer Hill (Round Lab) second prize, and there was a tie for first place between Owen Jensen (Leung Lab) and Kaylyn Bauer (O’Connell lab) for the students. The organizers, Matt Bettini, Tracey Lamb and Alysha Stanton wanted to thank everyone that participated and made this retreat the success that it was.
See more about the event here.
Medical Student PSIG Event
The Pathology Student Interest Group had its annual lunch panel event on November 12. Faculty, residents, and our post-sophomore fellow joined the students for a short presentation, discussion, and Q&A session about pathology as a career pathway and residency/fellowship opportunities available in the field. Thank you to all who attended and contributed their expertise!
Microbial Pathogenesis Annual Symposium
The Microbial Pathogenesis Symposium was held on November 5, 2021 after a year off due to the pandemic. This year there were more than 150 registrants from multiple departments across campus, and attendees participated both in person and remotely. The Symposium included diverse talks from 5 of the Microbial Pathogenesis T32 trainees and 6 others, who gave short-format Lightning & Thunder Talks. Dr. Heran Darwin from NYU and Dr. Diane Griffin from Johns Hopkins gave keynote lectures on the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and neurotropic viruses, respectively.