The career of Amiko Uchida, MD, has been shaped by a steady commitment to asking clinically meaningful questions—and answering them through rigorous, patient-centered research. That trajectory was recently recognized on a national stage with her selection as a 2026 Young Physician-Scientist Award (YPSA) recipient by the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI).
The YPSA honors early-career physician-scientists in their first faculty appointment who have already made notable research contributions. For Uchida, an Assistant Professor in the University of Utah’s Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, the award reflects a growing body of work focused on immune-mediated gastrointestinal disease – particularly eosinophilic inflammation – and on translating discoveries into better patient care.
A Utah native, Uchida returned to the University of Utah after completing internal medicine training at the University of Washington and a gastroenterology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. There, she pursued advanced training in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and inflammatory bowel disease. Today, she serves as co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Clinic and Director of the Gastrointestinal Biobank—roles that connect clinical care with cutting-edge investigation.
Uchida’s research centers on understanding why and how certain inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract develop and how these insights can improve patient outcomes. Her work examines interactions between the immune system, the gut lining, and the community of microbes that reside there. A major focus of her research is eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a chronic condition affecting about 1 in 700 people in the United States and known to make routine activities such as eating both difficult and painful. By integrating patient samples with laboratory models and large health datasets, Dr. Uchida is uncovering different ways the diet, immune responses, and gut microbes interact.
ASCI’s recognition highlights Uchida’s emergence as a physician-scientist whose work is already shaping how immune-mediated gastrointestinal disorders are understood and studied—marking a significant milestone in a career dedicated to improving diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life for patients.