Jared Rutter -  Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT

I have been working in metabolism and metabolic regulation using biochemical and genetic techniques since my time as a graduate student. Much of my laboratory (currently comprised of 5 PhD or MD/PhD students and 9 postdoctoral fellows) is focused primarily on novel metabolic regulation and mitochondrial biochemistry. As part of this effort, we made it a priority to determine the functions of uncharacterized, but highly conserved mitochondrial proteins. This project began about 10 years ago and has led to the molecular descriptions of the functions of ten new protein families. This project has led us into areas of metabolism, electron transport chain assembly and function, and mitochondrial quality control. This follows on our long-term interest in understanding the regulation of lipid metabolism and its impact on glucose homeostasis. 

I have a strong commitment to supporting the research community. This includes the facile sharing of published and unpublished data and reagents as well as being very active in both manuscipt and grant review, including my service as a permanent member of the IPOD study section. My major roles at the University of Utah are focused on research, education and administration. My administrative activities mainly center around recruiting new faculty in the area of metabolism research in connection with the newly established Diabetes and Metabolism Research Center and as the co-leader of the Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation program in the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. I have significant experience in moving basic discoveries from academia to the commercial sector, having founded two successful companies in the small molecule therapeutics space. The first is developing a novel therapeutic based on Rutter lab discoveries and initiated clinical trials in June 2019. The second is in the late pre-clinical phase. I have also recently founded two early-stage venture-backed biotechnology companies