Research Clusters

The USTAR Initiative supports economic development in Utah by providing funding to Utah’s research universities to support the creation of fundamental technologies with the potential to encourage the growth of major industries in Utah. The USTAR funds support start-up packages for world-class faculty with proven track records of research and commercialization. The University of Utah anticipates hiring 32 faculty in the next 3-4 years to expand our existing competencies in twelve key areas:

Fossil Energy: Carbon Engineering Research focus on CO2 sequestration and enhanced oil recovery.

Nanotechnology Biosensors  Development of nanbiosensors for early disease detection, chromatography, and immunoassay applications.

Diagnostic Neuroimaging Research focus on how drug addiction and mood disorders alter brain chemistry. Development of new treatments for drug dependence, better disease classification, and psychiatric disorders in adolescents.

Biomedical Device Innovation Research focus on medical device innovations that improve clinical performance of implants and/or promote functional regeneration of tissue. Technology innovation in the area of new polymers for gene therapy, angiogenic inhibitors and oral delivery of chemotherapeutics.

Imaging Technology Advanced imaging software solutions, early intervention of mental illness and image based methods and technology to simplify diagnosis.

Circuits of the Brain Research focused on genetic manipulation of brain circuits, behavior and electrophysiology.

Personalized Medicine  Research focused genetic discoveries in cancer and inherited syndromes, development of isolated drug targets for new therapies, biomarker diagnostic testing.

Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine  Development and application of new technologies and clinical approaches to cell therapy and regenerative medicines. Technologies that focus on the biology of stem cells and tissue-specific progenitor cells as well as matrices, biomaterials and co-factors that guide and promote the regeneration and function of specific tissues.

Micro & Nano Systems Integration  Research in the area of system integration, electronic packaging and testing of micro and nano systems. Research focus on micro- and nano- systems for biomedical applications, instrumentation of single cells, integrated circuits, microelectromechanical systems, wireless communication systems and sensor networking.

Nanoscale & Biomedical Photonic Imaging Research focused on nonlinear imaging techniques and probe design that support spatial scales too fine to be observed under light microscopy.

Digital Media Research focused on the confluence of computer science, fine arts and architecture mediums. Technologies focused on simulations for healthcare, disaster response and other untapped markets.