“The Intermountain-Stanford grant program is part of an exciting collaboration between Intermountain and Stanford that began almost two years ago and is focused on advancing clinical care best practices, education and training and clinical research in heart disease, cancer, and other conditions. The purpose of the grant award is to spearhead and accelerate research between the two organizations and support innovative projects in research, patient care, and medical education” says Laura Kaiser, Intermountain Healthcare’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

“Our collaboration will foster those scientific discoveries that have potential to improve patient care in both institutions,” says David Larson, MD, MBA, co-chair of the Intermountain-Stanford Collaborative Committee and Stanford University School of Medicine’s Associate Professor of Pediatric Radiology and Associate Chair of Performance Improvement in the Department of Radiology.

The seed grants, up to $75,000 each, were awarded to projects that will be jointly led by principal investigators from Intermountain and Stanford, and will take effect on November 1, 2016.

The seven selected projects focus on genomics, machine learning, biomarkers and epidemiology, biomarkers closer to basic science research, networks of care, infectious disease, and telemedicine. Although they’re from diverse clinical areas, all the studies are designed to improve patient care.

Following are the names of the grant recipients and their project titles:

• Whole-genome DNA sequencing of stage-3 colorectal cancer — Lincoln Nadauld, MD, PhD, Intermountain precision genomics; James Ford, MD, associate professor of oncology and of genetics at Stanford.
• Baseline assessment of hand hygiene practices and ICU microbiology — Bill Beninati, MD, Intermountain critical care medicine; Arnold Milstein, MD, MPH, professor of medicine at Stanford.
• Developing a precision-based approach for the diagnosis and prognosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in the community — Kirk Knowlton, MD, Intermountain cardiovascular medicine; Francois Haddad, MD, clinical associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford.
• Translational approaches to the mechanisms of septic cardiomyopathy — Samuel Brown, MD, Intermountain critical care medicine; Euan Ashley, MRCP, DPhil, associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford.
• Implementation and evaluation of graduating from pediatric to adult care — Aimee Hersh, MD, department of pediatrics, University of Utah and Intermountain’s Primary Children’s Hospital; Korey Hood, PhD, clinical professor of pediatrics at Stanford.
• Impact of donor-derived BK virus infection and immune recovery in kidney transplant recipients — Diane Alonso, MD, Intermountain transplant services; Benjamin Pinsky, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and of infectious diseases at Stanford.
• Development and implementation of a digital health-care program for patients with atrial fibrillation — Jared Bunch, MD, Intermountain heart-rhythm services; Mintu Turakhia, MD, assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford.

“We are privileged to collaborate with the Stanford University School of Medicine, a premier medical school and worldwide leader in science and research,” says Raj Srivastava, MD, MPH, co-chair of the Intermountain-Stanford Collaborative Committee and AVP of Research at Intermountain Healthcare. “We are excited to see these initial projects launch, foster new scientific collaborations focused on improving patient care, and set the stage for the healthcare transformation potential from the Intermountain-Stanford grant program.”

Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 185 clinics, a Medical Group with some 1,300 employed physicians, a health plans division called SelectHealth, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare through high quality and sustainable costs.  For more information about Intermountain, visit intermountainhealthcare.org, read our blogs at intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs, connect with us on Twitter at twitter.com/intermountain and on Facebook at facebook.com/intermountain.