By Rachel Hess, MD, MS, and Jim Hotaling, MD
At University of Utah Health, discovery has always been part of who we are. Our breakthroughs-from pioneering medical devices to life-changing research-have shaped care for generations. Now, we're focused on the next horizon: building an even stronger culture of innovation that transforms ideas into real solutions for patients and communities.
Our goal is to make innovation work for everyone, moving discoveries into practice faster and with greater impact than ever before.
Turning Discovery into Impact
Research at U of U Health has always been about more than publications or patents. Every study, every breakthrough, and every prototype represents the potential to make someone's life better.
That's why we're reframing how innovation happens across our system. Instead of waiting for discoveries to find their way into practice, we're building bridges between research and real-world application. This means giving our scientists, clinicians, and students the tools-and the confidence-to move great ideas beyond the lab and into the lives of patients faster.
By uniting research, education, and care delivery, we're creating a powerful ecosystem where discovery naturally leads to better health.
A Defining Moment for Discovery
Across Utah and the nation, momentum for innovation has never been stronger. The state's life sciences sector is growing rapidly, fueled by partnerships, venture investment, and a thriving entrepreneurial community. Within our own institution, research funding has surged and collaboration across disciplines is at an all-time high.
The timing is right-and so is our culture. We created a new Chief Innovation Officer role to expand commercialization pathways and form partnerships that bring together bright minds from business, technology, and health care. Most importantly, we're empowering our departments and frontline teams to define how innovation looks in their space and how the system can support them.
Innovation doesn't just come from a single office or lab. It comes from all of us: clinicians seeing new ways to improve care, researchers pushing the boundaries of science, and learners daring to think bigger.
Building a Culture That Encourages Bold Ideas
At the heart of this evolution is a culture shift-one that values curiosity, creativity, and collaboration just as much as compliance or tradition.
In medicine and science, we're trained to minimize risk. Yet innovation asks us to take smart, calculated risks-to test, fail, learn, and try again. By building structures that celebrate experimentation, we're helping our university community move ideas forward without fear of failure.
That means:
- Recognizing innovation as a measure of academic success
- Creating mentoring and funding opportunities for faculty and students with big ideas
- Encouraging partnerships between clinicians and engineers, data scientists, and entrepreneurs
- Simplifying the process of turning discoveries into products, practices, and services that make care better
When innovation becomes part of daily life at U of U Health, every team member becomes a problem solver, and everyone we serve benefits.
Growing the Next Generation of Scientists and Innovators
A culture of innovation doesn't belong to one place-it thrives in the lab, the classroom, and every corner of our campus. Programs like the Center for Medical Innovation's Bench-to-Bedside competition show what's possible when students are empowered to develop sustainable solutions for real-world challenges.
These experiences are shaping a new generation of caregivers who see discovery and delivery as inseparable. For them, solving problems and improving systems is as natural as taking a patient history.
By embedding research and innovation into education, we're teaching future scientists, physicians, and health professionals to see themselves not just as practitioners but as inventors, collaborators, and changemakers.
A Shared Responsibility
Our mission has always been clear: to improve human health. What's changing is how quickly and effectively we can do it. Every new partnership, every seed fund, and every student project shortens the distance between discovery and delivery.
We believe universities have a responsibility-not just to generate knowledge but to share it in ways that reach the people who need it most. That's the power of a culture where innovation and education thrive together.
Innovation is everyone's job. This next chapter of our strategic vision is about building an environment where researchers, clinicians, educators, and learners all work together to imagine what health care can be tomorrow.
