Skip to main content

ABOUT IMPACT HSR

Established in 2025, the IMPACT HSR Ambassadors guide the strategic vision and launch of the IMPACT HSR Program. Comprised of leaders from across the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, the committee is committed to building a thriving, innovative environment for late translational (T3/T4), health services, and outcomes research through five core objectives: 

  1. Build Community: Foster an inclusive and collaborative environment to facilitate knowledge exchange, mentorship, and innovative research partnerships in late translational and health services research.
  2. Enhance Recruitment and Retention: Attract and retain outstanding clinician-scientists and PhD researchers specializing in health services and outcomes research through strategic recruitment efforts and comprehensive career support.
  3. Accelerate Research Excellence: Catalyze new interdisciplinary research collaborations, enhance proposal development, and facilitate innovative grant submissions focused on late translational (T3/T4) and health services research.
  4. Strengthen Mentorship and Career Development: Establish structured mentorship and leadership development programs to specifically support investigators who do late translational, outcomes, or health services research in achieving sustained research funding, academic success, and national recognition.
  5. Elevate National Distinction: Advance the national reputation of the University of Utah as a leading institution for health services, outcomes, and late translational research through high-impact scholarship, policy engagement, and strategic local and national partnerships.

LEADERSHIP

adam bress

Adam Bress

PharmD, MS

Director

Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences

Valerie Vaughn headshot

Valerie Vaughn

MD, MS

Associate Director

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine

Ariel Keklak

Ariel Keklak

MPH

Program Manager

IMPACT HSR Ambassadors

Kelly Baron

Kelly Baron

PhD

Professor (Tenured) in the Division of Public Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine

Benjamin Brooke

Benjamin Brooke

MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery

Einerson, MD

Brett Einerson

MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Andrew Gawron

Andrew Gawron

MD, PhD

Professor (Clinical) of Internal Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology

Adam Hersh

Adam Hersh

MD, PhD

Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases

Marta McCrum

Marta McCrum

MD

Associate Professor of Surgery

Matt Samore

Matthew Samore

MD

Professor of Medicine, Division Chief of Epidemiology

Brian Stagg

Brian Stagg

MD

Associate Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences

Julia E. Szymczak

Julia Szymczak

PhD

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Epidemiology

Victoria L. Tiase

Victoria Tiase

PhD

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Nursing at the University of Utah

Sarang Yoon

Sarang Yoon

DO, MOH

Associate Professor in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Health

Crystal Xu

Crystal Xu

MSc, PhD

Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology

Hilary Coon

Hilary Coon

PhD

Professor of Psychiatry