UROC Innovations

TEAM

Director

Abby Pulsipher, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

Dr. Pulsipher, Director of the UROC Innovations Lab, holds a joint faculty position in the Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Molecular Pharmaceutics at the University of Utah (UoU). She is a Utah CTSI K12 Scholar, Utah VPCAT Scholar, Director of Basic Sciences and Translational Rhinology Research, Director of the PHCEU Undergraduate Summer Research Program, Member of the Utah Center for Nanomedicine, Experimental Therapeutics Group, and Head & Neck Cancers Center, and sits on the Board of Directors at GlycoMira Therapeutics. The UROC Innovations Lab is focused on developing and evaluating new disease models, therapeutics and drug delivery systems, and diagnostic solutions for upper airway diseases and head and neck oncology, as well as elucidating the pathophysiologic mechanisms underpinning these conditions.

Dr. Pulsipher received a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellowship in chemical glycobiology at the California Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the UoU faculty, Dr. Pulsipher directed the research and preclinical development of new therapeutic solutions at GlycoMira Therapeutics, aimed at improving the care, quality of life, and outcomes for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis, while also evaluating the feasibility of novel cancer supportive care agents in mitigating radiation-induced oral mucositis.

Members

Kristine Smith, MD

Assistant Professor

Jeremiah Alt, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

Shae Ashby, PhD

Clinical Research Coordinator

Keenya Fraizer, MPH

Medical Student

Nitish Khurana, PhD

Research Associate

Conner Massey, MD

Fellow

Prince Minkah, PharmD

Graduate Student

Kelsey Morris, BS

Study Coordinator

Nejra Mujkanović

Graduate Student

Gretchen Oakley, MD

Associate Professor


Metin Onbasi

Visiting Pharmacy Student

Richard Orlandi, MD, MBA

Professor

Chelsea Pollard, BS

Research Analyst


Paige Shipman, BS

Medical Student

Fatemeh Zarei, PharmD

Graduate Student

Collaborators

Hamid Ghandehari, PhD

Professor and George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Presidential Endowed Chair

Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer, PhD, CCC-SLP

Professor

Rich Cannon, MD

Associate Professor

Sarah Drejet, MD

Assistant Professor

Amarbir Gill, MD

Assistant Professor

Jessica Kramer, PhD

Assistant Professor

Hilary McCrary, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor

Bryan McRae, MD

Assistant Professor

Phillip Moos, PhD

Associate Professor

Glenn Prestwich, PhD

Presidential Professor Emeritus

Bob Schleimer, PhD

Professor Emeritus

Ben Witt, MD

Associate Professor

Kash Yellepeddi, PhD, RPh

Research Associate Professor

Alumni

Andre Benally, BS
Materials Technologist
Sandia National Laboratories

Brennan Blight, MD
Resident
Riverside Community Hospital

Brock Davis, DO
Resident
North East Regional Medical Center

Alexa Ellis, PharmD
Resident
University of Minnesota

Gabe (David) Gabrielsen, MD
Resident
University of Pennsylvania

Chenge Mahomva, MD
Assistant Professor
University of South Dakota

Emily Mechnick
Undergraduate Student
Virginia Tech

Jorgen Sumsion, MD
Resident
Mayo Clinic Scottsdale

Bhuvan Yathavan, PhD
Formulations Scientist
Ascendia Pharmaceuticals

Michael Yim, MD
Assistant Professor
LSU Health Shreveport

Industry Partners

GlycoMira Therapeutics, Inc.
Echelon Biosciences