Episode Transcript
The following is a summary of this episode.
The scientific laboratory is the birthplace of new ideas, rooted in a fundamental understanding of how nature works. While impactful on its own, sometimes discovery is just the beginning. Translatingideas to interventions for improving human health takes added insight and dogged perseverance.
Achieving this milestone is a rarity, but within the past year, three clinical trials have begun testing disease treatmentsbuilt from basic science discoveries at University of Utah Health. It could take years to determine whether a novel therapy for the deadly amyotrophic lateral syndrome (ALS) and two for a familiar foe, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), could become broadly available. But without a start at the lab bench, these possibilities wouldn’t even exist.
In this episode, host Kyle Wheeler interviews Wesley Sundquist, PhD. Dr. Sundquist is the Samuels Professor and Co-Chair of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah. He is also a member of the Cell Response and Regulation Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Kyle and Dr. Sundquist discuss the ordeal of discovery and how a career’s worth of workcan lead to interventions. Additionally, they discuss Dr. Sundquist’s work on HIV that has led to Gilead developing a new intervention. Dr. Sundquist also shares thoughts on the impressive work on HIV done by the Michael Kay, MD, PhD lab.
For more on these discoveries and others from University of Utah researchers that have led to medical interventions, visit Pioneering the Future: From Basic Discovery to Bedside.
Don’t miss out on all the discoveries happening at University of Utah Health. Visit the Discovery & Innovation Digital Collection.