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:
- Build Community: Foster an inclusive and collaborative environment to facilitate knowledge exchange, mentorship, and innovative research partnerships in late translational and health services research.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Director
Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences
Valerie Vaughn
Associate Director
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
Ariel Keklak
Program Manager
IMPACT HSR Ambassadors
Kelly Baron
Professor (Tenured) in the Division of Public Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
Benjamin Brooke
Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery
Brett Einerson
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Andrew Gawron
Professor (Clinical) of Internal Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology
Adam Hersh
Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases
Marta McCrum
Associate Professor of Surgery
Matthew Samore
Professor of Medicine, Division Chief of Epidemiology
Brian Stagg
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Julia Szymczak
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Epidemiology
Victoria Tiase
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Nursing at the University of Utah
Sarang Yoon
Associate Professor in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Health
Crystal Xu
Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology
Hilary Coon
Professor of Psychiatry