Over the last few years, opening a newspaper and seeing Utah at the top of the national economic rankings has become commonplace. 

In teaching labs through the Science Research Initiative (SRI) students learn by doing, starting their first year in the College of Science.

There has been a steady stream of articles about billion-dollar valuations for Utah startups and consistently low unemployment. Amid these headlines, there is growing recognition among analysts and policymakers in Utah that the biotechnology and life science sectors are playing a significant role in that growth. A recent report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute found that the industries created $8 billion in GDP in 2022, part of a total statewide economic impact of $21.6 billion. Job growth in the sector has been particularly impressive; Utah’s 5.7% annual job growth rate significantly outpaces the national average of 3.2%. Due to these steady increases, Utah now has the highest share of statewide employment among all states nationally except Massachusetts. These jobs are also high-paying positions. Wages in the sectors average $96,000, which is 48% higher than the $65,000 average in other industries.

The University of Utah and the College of Science play an important role in this booming expansion, helping supply a sizable portion of talented employees and researchers. According to National Center for Education Statistics graduation data, the U awards roughly 37% of life science-related bachelor’s degrees and 95% of graduate degrees given by schools in the Utah System of Higher Education. Graduates from the College account for nearly two-thirds of those undergraduate degrees and over one-third of the PhDs. As they build their careers, alumni have the opportunity to take principles they learn by working with award-winning faculty and then applying them in professional settings.

“Innovation in biotechnology is touching on every aspect of our lives, from climate change and agriculture to health and wellness,” says Fred Adler, professor of mathematics and current director of the School of Biological Sciences (SBS), the largest academic unit in the College. “As discovery and innovation accelerate, so do the links between basic science and applications. In the SBS, faculty are making transformative contributions to drought-resistance crops based on fundamental discoveries in genetics, testing of drug safety based on research of animal behavior, and to neuroscience through new ways of imaging cells at the finest resolution.”

EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION

In the School of Biological Sciences, faculty are making transformative contributions to drought-resistance crops based on fundamental discoveries in genetics. Credit: Mathew Crawley

The pipeline from the classroom, and the lab, to a successful career is most fruitful when exceptional instructors and researchers provide mentorship and guidance for students. College faculty have been recognized with a range of teaching and research awards, spanning honors like the National Medal of Science (given to three faculty members from the College of Science over the years) and MacArthur Genius Grants (four recipients) to the Rosenblatt Prize, the U’s highest honor for teaching and research (11 recipients). The College has also had 15 members elected to the National Academy of Sciences, 10 of whom are still actively teaching and pursuing research. These individual honors underscore the quality of the researchers’ academic units and are reflected in their national rankings: the SBS graduate program is ranked #13 and the Department of Chemistry comes in at #18 among public universities nationwide by U.S. News & World Report.

Chemistry and biological sciences, which educate a significant number of students that join the biotech and life science sectors, are the top-ranked programs in their fields in Utah and hold top-ten rankings among both public and private schools in the West. The two units also received over $28.4 million in external research funding during fiscal year 2023. These resources provide unique opportunities for students to learn relevant science in hands-on settings and engage in transferable research skills. Considering this impressive track record, it makes sense that life science and biotechnology-related faculty continue to garner recognitions in their fields.

Take, for example, Distinguished Professor and Thatcher President Endowed Chair of Chemistry Cynthia Burrows who won the prestigious Linus Pauling Medal Award. The Burrows Lab hosts organic, biological, analytical and inorganic chemists interested in nucleic acid chemistry, DNA sequencing technology and DNA damage. The team focuses on chemical processes that result in the formation of mutations which could lead to diseases such as cancer. Studying site-specifically modified DNA and RNA strands and DNA-protein cross-linking, Burrows and her group are widely known for expanding studies on nanopore technology to detect DNA damage. Burrows’ research in altering nucleic acid composition can provide valuable information in genetic diseases as well as manipulating the function of DNA and RNA in cells.

The Caron Lab studies the mushroom body of the Drosophila (fruit fly) to better understand how brains are developed to learn.

Another U chemist, Aaron Puri, has also drawn national attention as one of five recipients of the Simons Early Career Investigator Award in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution. The award will provide $810,000 to the Puri Lab over the next three years and, according to Puri, “will enable our research group to work at the interface of biology and chemistry to decipher the molecular details of interactions in methane-oxidizing bacterial communities.” His research looks at the molecular details of interactions in these communities, aiming to solve big problems with microscopic solutions. “These communities provide a biotic sink for the potent greenhouse gas methane,” he continues, “and are a useful system for understanding how bacteria interact with each other and their environment while performing critical ecosystem functions.”

Nearby, in the Skaggs Biology Building, is the lab of Ofer Rog, who recently won an Early Career Medal from the Genetics Society of America. Rog was recognized for work visualizing meiotic exchange between “sisters,” exploring synaptonemal complex proteins and tracking single molecules. Building on this work, the Rog Lab published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in December that outlined a groundbreaking way to study the synaptonemal complex. Rog explains of the complex, “You can think of it like a zipper. The axes of the chromosomes are like the two sides of your shirt. The synaptonemal complex (SC) is kind of like the teeth of the zippers that lock onto each other and can pull and align the two sides of the shirt correctly.” Rog’s team was the first to pinpoint the exact position where the SC interacts with itself to facilitate genetic exchanges. Looking forward, unlocking the SC’s role in meiosis may lead to a stronger understanding of fertility in humans.

Another esteemed faculty member in biology is Sophie Caron, a U Presidential Scholar, who uses the Drosophila mushroom body — a computational center in the fruit fly brain — as a model system to understand how brains are developed to learn. With work described as “stunning” and “breathtaking,” Caron has built an interdisciplinary research program by drawing on computational models, species-comparative studies and various anatomical and behavioral techniques to elucidate the structural, functional and evolutionary pressures that shape the mushroom body’s learning function. In addition to her research, Caron — who was also awarded an outstanding teaching and mentorship award last year— designed and teaches an extremely popular neurobiology class (BIOL 3240), a course taken by hundreds of students.

FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE BOARDROOM

Graduates from the College of Science also play crucial roles in Utah’s burgeoning biotechnology community. Equipped with cutting-edge knowledge learned in classrooms and research labs throughout campus, these alumni are at the forefront of research and development, contributing to significant advancements in life science fields. Their expertise not only drives the success of numerous biotech companies but also attracts substantial investment to the state. By bridging academic excellence with industry needs, alumni ensure a steady pipeline of talent that sustains the growth and dynamism of Utah’s biotechnology sector.

Tom Robbins and Amy Davis of bioMérieux.

There are many examples of these types of professional outcomes. Randy Rasmussen (PhD’98 biology) and Kirk Ririe (BS’05 chemistry) were two of three co-founders of BioFire Diagnostics. The company pioneered instruments that shortened DNA analysis techniques from hours to minutes. Using this technology, they created molecular diagnostics that now simultaneously test for multiple infectious agents, allowing healthcare professionals to get quick and accurate results from onsite instruments. In 2013 BioFire was purchased by bioMérieux, a French biotech firm, for over $450 million. The company is now one of Utah’s largest life sciences employers, with over 3,400 employees throughout its six sites. While Rasmussen and Ririe have since moved on to other projects, College of Science graduates like Amy Davis (PhD’03 biology), vice president of molecular biology, and Tom Robbins (PhD’04 mathematics), vice president of software development, continue to play significant roles in the company’s work.

Some College alumni have also found ways to share their experiences with a new generation of students. Ryan Watts (BS’00 biology) discovered a passion for research while an undergraduate. After he finished his degree, he earned a PhD from Stanford University and eventually co-founded the biotech startup Denali Therapeutics, focused on defeating neurodegeneration. The company went public in December 2017, breaking that year’s record for an initial market valuation of a biotech company. Today, Denali has over 400 employees and a market cap of over $3 billion, including a growing presence in Utah. Despite his busy schedule as CEO, Watts taught a winter semester course for five years at the U which tracked the biotechnology industry and introduced biology students to processes around drug discovery, business strategy, programming and portfolio decision-making.

Another alumnus, Berton Earnshaw (PhD’07 mathematics) used his academic experience to join the founding team of Red Brain Labs in 2012. When the machine learning-focused company was acquired by Savvysherpa in 2014, Earnshaw stayed on as a principal and senior scientist. Eventually, Earnshaw became director of data science research at Recursion Pharmaceuticals, a young clinical-stage biotech and drug discovery company based in Salt Lake City. In a succession of senior roles, Earnshaw has helped guide the company’s foundational machine learning and AI development, assisting in the company’s rapid growth to over 500 employees and an international expansion. Earnshaw started teaching courses at the U on machine learning and neural networks beginning in 2018. In 2024, he accepted a role as a senior fellow with the College of Science, in part to provide an industry perspective into the dynamic world of deep learning and AI.