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The Post Research Groundbreakers: Spotlighting Ashton, Fukushima, Rothberg, Simmons and Williams for their research work at the U

Research Groundbreakers: Spotlighting Ashton, Fukushima, Rothberg, Simmons and Williams for their research work at the U


The University of Utah has a rich research history. Thanks to its students, faculty, staff and shareholders, research at the U will only continue to grow, bringing innovations and discoveries to our society.

With this in mind, the Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR) and Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) are showcasing different researchers to spotlight our university’s studies and potential breakthroughs. Here are some of the U’s Research Groundbreakers.

David Rothberg
Nicholas Ashton
Dustin Williams

Dustin Williams, PhD, Nicholas Ashton, PhD, and David Rothberg, MD – Awarded two major Department of Defense awards via the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program and U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command to Support Purgo Pouch Development

The Purgo Pouch is one of Dr. Williams’ original inventions. It is a refillable drug delivery device that sustains local, high-dose drug therapy in injury or surgical sites. Drs. Williams and Ashton co-founded Purgo Scientific, which licensed the Purgo Pouch technology from the University of Utah. The FDA recently granted the Purgo Pouch Breakthrough Device Designation specifically to treat open fracture-related infections. The Department of Defense has multiple research focus areas targeting this space in part because there is still no effective solution to the problem. For seven years, Dr. Ashton has provided pivotal oversight on Purgo Pouch design aspects, leading it to a manufacturable state. Dr. Rothberg’s clinical insight influenced design considerations and a surgical approach for the device. The Department of Defense is currently providing over $9M in funding for these investigators to continue Purgo Pouch development including additional safety and efficacy tests in a highly unique sheep model, and help their team navigate the FDA review process.

“If we look at rates of infection that have accompanied open fractures over the past 40 years, they’ve remained essentially unchanged,” said Dr. Williams. “There are also no effective devices that sustain drug delivery to tumors. Surgeons and clinicians are desperate for solutions. I came up with the Purgo Pouch idea after one of my uncles passed away while receiving dialysis treatment. I sat back in my chair thinking about his life and my thoughts turned to the material used in dialysis tubing. I was also thinking about the limitations of other technologies I was working on like active release antimicrobial coatings. I suddenly realized that I could use semi-permeable membrane material to create a pouch device to control the rate of drug release while providing local, high dose therapy. I drew a concept picture of it on my glass board. That was the genesis of the Purgo Pouch. We already launched a version of the Purgo Pouch, called the Vetlen Pouch, in the veterinary space and it’s healing up dogs and horses across the country. The Purgo Pouch is now poised to revolutionize aspects of human clinical care. We’re focused on open fracture-related infections first, then we’ll determine how the Purgo Pouch can treat tumors. I wake up every morning with a deep purpose-driven mentality to help heal those who suffer.”

Dr. Annie Isabel Fukushima – Featured and interviewed for Hulu’s ‘Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal’ – Episode 8, ‘The Ghosts of Chinatown’

Dr. Annie Isabel Fukushima was featured and interviewed for the Hulu special “Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal” – Episode 8, “The Ghosts of Chinatown” produced by the Duplass Brothers and directed by Dolly Li.

Fukushima served as an expert witness for a criminal case in 2012. Discussion of the case appeared in her award-winning book, Migrant Crossings: Witnessing Human trafficking in the U.S. (Stanford University Press, 2019), which received the American Sociological Association’s Book Award on Asia America. The Ghosts of Chinatown is based on a legal case of People of the State of California Plaintiff v. Tam, Liu, Wu, and Zeng. The complicated case involved elders being scammed and also tapped into a community’s belief system about ghosts and ghost marriages.

As part of the societal impact of her research as an ethnic studies scholar, Dr. Fukushima has offered her expertise for criminal, civil, and immigration cases. Her expertise in racialized and gender-based violence is nationally recognized. “We oftentimes think of research and the furtherance of knowledge in scholarly publications, grant implementation, and as pedagogues in the classroom,” said Fukushima. “However, the scholar’s impact is so wide and how we further knowledge can even shape policy, law, and the courtroom.”

In this particular case, it was one where immigration, criminalization, and quasi-human trafficking cohered. Over a decade later, the case was covered on Hulu because the use of ghosts to facilitate scams has re-emerged.

Dr. Rebecca Simmons – Awarded NIH Small Business Innovation Research grant as part of a collaboration with OvaryIt

The Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology’s Family Planning Division was recently awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant, as part of a collaboration with tech partner OvaryIt. Dr. Rebecca Simmons, the University PI on the project, notes that the grant will address a critical shortcoming in pharmacy-provided contraception.

“In the last five to ten years, more than half of the states in the country have changed their laws to allow pharmacists to prescribe certain methods of contraception,” said Simmons. “This is a huge step forward in improving contraceptive access, but many studies have shown that this policy-change alone doesn’t change practice. Most pharmacies are not set up like medical practices and don’t have things like electronic medical records, patient decision-support tools, and the ability to bill for services. Our work with our colleagues at OvaryIt aims to change this, by furthering developing of a pharmacist platform for contraceptive prescribing.”