The Utah Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (Utah StARR) program is designed to prepare outstanding residents for a career in academic medicine and clinical investigation by providing them with opportunities to learn and practice clinical, transitional, health service, and community-engaged research skills during their residency training. Utah StARR will provide an early "on-ramp" to research careers for competitive academic faculty positions.
Participating residency programs:
The program main components are: career mentoring, individual development plan, non-degree coursework, research seminars, grant writing, pre-submission grant review, pre-award support and writing workshops. Click here for an overview of the Utah StARR resources.
Because the recruitment and training of clinician-researchers is such a high priority at the current time, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has implemented a loan-forgiveness program for doctors who commit to a career in clinical research. Individuals in the Utah StARR program may consider applying for the loan-forgiveness program when their residency is completed.
Additional information about the program or information on application procedures, please visit our application information page or email us at utahstarr@utah.edu.
Utah StARR Scholar Highlights
Utah StARR Scholar Dr. Meera Nagarajan Published in The Salt Lake Tribune and Quoted In New York Times Article
Utah StARR Obstetrics and Gynecology scholar, Dr. Meera Nagarajan, had a community outreach article published in The Salt Lake Tribune in 2025: Voices: I work hard to build trust with my patients, but I'm worried about access to critical vaccines.
Dr. Nagarajan says in her piece, "A few months ago, I had a discussion with a mother who I've known since I first started caring for her son more than a year ago, when he was born .This time, I was now seeing her second child, a 6-month old During most visits, she would say no to the flu or COVID vaccine, so when I brought it up again, I was prepared for her to say no. To my surprise, she first hesitated and then agreed to the COVID vaccine. It felt like a moment to celebrate. When I asked what was different this time, she said I knew her and her children - and she trusted my advice."
Beyond discussing the importance of trust between providers and their patients, Dr. Nagarajan touched on the continued risk of COVID, its complications (particularly in children, especially those who are not vaccinated), the federal government's approach towards vaccines and COVID, and more.
This Salt Lake Tribune publication ultimately resulted in Dr. Nagarjan being asked for a quote in a New York Times article by Apoorva Mandavilli titled, In Talking to Parents About Vaccines, Pediatricians Navigate a Sea of Misinformation.
This article states, "The conversations tend to be smoother when a family already trusts the clinician. 'Definitely, I’m more successful when I have built a relationship with the family,' said Dr. Meera Nagarajan, who practices in Salt Lake City. While many families decline vaccines for Covid and flu, the measles outbreak in Utah prompted some parents to seek out earlier doses of the measles vaccine to protect their infants, she said."
Congratulations to Dr. Nagarajan, who continues to strive in building patient trust in her practice and increase knowledge in her research on topics in childhood obesity management in primary care, and in mental health screening in early childhood.
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Meet the Utah StARR Program Directors
Molly Conroy MD, MPH is a Primary Care Provider and General Internist at the Madsen Internal Medicine Clinic. As a General Internist, her clinical interests include physical activity and lifestyle counseling, weight management, cardiovascular disease prevention, hypertension management, and women’s health. Dr. Conroy received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and her MD from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed an Internal Medicine residency in the Primary Care Track at the University of California, San Francisco and a General Internal Medicine Fellowship at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. She is Board Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and recognized as a Fellow of both the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association.
Joe Stanford, MD, MSPH, CFCMC, is the Professor and Director of the Office of Cooperative Reproductive Health at the UofU School of Medicine and is the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. With expertise in reproductive epidemiology, restorative reproductive medicine, natural family planning, women's health, and periconceptional/prenatal origins of health, he has led five preconception cohort studies. Stanford has contributed to national scientific advisory committees, including for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Food and Drug Administration's Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs. Dr. Stanford also serves on the board of the International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine.