By Jakob D. Jensen, Senior Associate Vice President for Research
This is the first installment in “Distance,” a four-part series exploring how University of Utah research is addressing—and illuminating—the distances that shape life across the American West.
The first challenge of the American West is distance. For generations, a trip to town might take an entire day, a neighbor could live miles away and a storm, an illness, or a broken wagon could transform ordinary distance into extraordinary hardship.
More than a century later, the distance remains.
Nearly three-quarters of the nation’s land area is classified as rural, yet only about one in seven Americans lives there. Nowhere is that contrast more apparent than in the Mountain West, where mountains, deserts, forests, and wide-open valleys continue to shape everyday life.
Across the University of Utah, investigators are exploring what it means to live, work, heal, and thrive in places where geography is never an afterthought. Their work spans medicine, engineering, public health, social science, the humanities, and the arts. Together, it reveals something larger than any one research project.
“From my vantage point in U Research, I see these projects as parts of a larger story: how a public research university can help bridge the distances that shape life across the American West. Among the many ways distance shapes rural life, healthcare offers a particularly clear example of both the challenges communities face and the opportunities for research to make a difference.” Jakob D. Jensen
The best healthcare in the world means little if patients cannot reach it.
Across much of the American West, a routine appointment with a specialist may require several hours on the road. A single medical visit can mean taking time away from work, arranging childcare, or crossing mountain passes in winter weather. Increasingly, University of Utah researchers are asking a different question:
What if healthcare came to the patient instead?
Chia Jie Tan — When Your ZIP Code Shapes Your Care
The best cancer hospital in the state cannot help you if it is hundreds of miles away.
Dr. Chia Jie Tan, a faculty member in the Department of Population Health Sciences in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, studies how place of residence influences cancer care across Utah. His research examines whether geography affects when patients receive treatment, how often they complete recommended care, and ultimately, how well they recover. By understanding the role that distance plays in health outcomes, Tan’s work is helping identify new ways to reduce disparities for patients living far from major medical centers.
Kathi Mooney — The Hospital That Comes Home
The best way to reach some patients is to bring the hospital to them.
For many cancer patients in rural Utah, treatment can mean driving hundreds of miles, sometimes several times each week. Those long journeys can become barriers to care, forcing patients to delay—or even miss—critical treatment.
Dr. Kathi Mooney, a distinguished professor in the College of Nursing and senior investigator at Huntsman Cancer Institute, is leading a groundbreaking effort to change that equation. Supported by an ARPA-H PARADIGM award, Mooney and her colleagues are developing a mobile cancer care unit that brings Huntsman-quality oncology services directly to rural communities. The clinic on wheels will provide examinations, chemotherapy, infusions, symptom management, and access to clinical research, allowing patients to receive specialized cancer care much closer to home. Rather than asking patients to travel to Salt Lake City, Mooney’s work is reimagining how—and where—advanced cancer care is delivered across the Mountain West.
Rob Singleton — Research Shouldn’t Require a Road Trip
The next medical breakthrough should not depend on where someone lives.
Participation in clinical research has traditionally required patients to travel to major academic medical centers—a challenge that has left many rural communities underrepresented in medical discovery.
Dr. J. Rob Singleton, a neurologist in the Department of Neurology in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, is helping change that through the University’s Rural Connections to Research initiative. By partnering with hospitals and clinics across rural Utah and the Mountain West, Singleton and his colleagues are bringing research into the communities where people already receive care. In doing so, they are expanding access to clinical trials while ensuring that tomorrow’s medical discoveries reflect the people they are intended to serve.
Taken together, these projects are moving care closer to the people who need it—and expanding our understanding of what access to healthcare should mean in a region defined by distance.
Learn more about U Research
