Latest news with #UniversityofUtah
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Robert Jarvik, who co-designed the first permanent artificial heart, dies at 79
Dr. Robert Jarvik, who was a key designer of the first permanent artificial heart implanted in a human, died on Monday in his Manhattan home at age 79. Jarvik received his medical degree at the University of Utah, and the implant of the first permanent artificial heart took place at the school as well. The surgery became the subject of both public fascination and fierce debate over medical ethics. According to The New York Times, Jarvik's wife, Marilyn vos Savant, said his cause of death was complications from Parkinson's disease. Jarvik was born in Midland, Michigan on May 11, 1946, and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. His father, Norman, was a physician who ran a family practice and his mother Edythe ran scheduling at the practice, according to The New York Times. Growing up, he was a 'tinkerer' who planned to study architecture but turned his interest to medicine after his father survived an aortic aneurysm, the Times obitury said. Norman Jarvik later died of a second aortic aneurysm. Jarvik attended Syracuse University before studying medicine for two years at Italy's University of Bologna. Jarvik received a master's degree in occupational biomechanics from New York University and then moved to the University of Utah in 1971 where he completed a medical degree in 1976. Jarvik did not follow the traditional medical career path of internship and residency, because he was more interested in developing an artificial heart, per The New York Times. He married Vos Savant in 1985, who survives him. Jarvik had two children, Kate Jarvik Birch and Tyler Jarvik, from his marriage to playwright and former Deseret News journalist Elaine Levin Jarvik, to whom he was married from 1968 to 1985. Vos Savant also has two children from a previous relationship, Mary Blinder and Dennis Younglove. Jarvik had five grandchildren. Jarvik was on a team that worked with Dr. Willem Kolff, the director of the university's Division of Artificial Organs, to design a series of mechanical hearts. One of them, in 1982, was implanted in a cow named Alfred Lord Tennyson, who survived for 268 days, setting a record for an animal. It was in 1982 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave permission to the University of Utah to implant a permanent artificial heart in a human. On Dec. 2, 1982, Dr. William C. DeVries led the surgical team that implanted the Jarvik-7 model in Barney Clark, a 61-year-old retired dentist. To encourage excellent work, Kolff put a student's name on a version of the heart to which they'd made a significant alteration, which is how the heart became the Jarvik-7, as Deseret News reported. The surgery to implant the Jarvik-7, made of aluminum and plastic, lasted seven hours and afterwards Clark told his wife, 'I want to tell you even though I have no heart, I still love you,' per the University of Utah. Clark survived 112 days attached to a 400-pound air compressor — roughly the size of a dishwasher — which helped the Jarvik-7 pump blood through his body. He never left the hospital and the complications included seizures, kidney failure and a broken valve on the artificial heart. Clark died on March 23, 1983, of complications of a bacterial infection of the colon. The second and third patient lived 620 days and 488 days, respectively, after receiving the experimental heart. According to The New York Times, their survival showed that people 'could live long term on the plastic and metal device,' but that the complications the recipients suffered 'impaired the quality of their lives and blunted initial enthusiasm for the heart.' Reporters from all over flocked to University of Utah hospital to cover the artificial heart. The news was celebrated by some, criticized by others. 'By the mid-1980s, medical ethicists and theologians were debating whether artificial hearts improved life or extended a painful decline toward death,' per The New York Times. The Jarvik-7 was implanted in five patients as a permanent artificial heart and used hundreds of times as a temporary implant as patients waited for a donor heart. The FDA withdrew approval in 1990. In 2018, Jarvik was honored by United Business Media for Lifetime Achievement, according to The University of Utah. After leading Symbion, Inc., which was based in Salt Lake City, Jarvik founded Jarvik Heart, Inc. in 1987, based in New York. The company developed smaller, less obtrusive ventricular assist devices that helped pump blood from the heart's lower chambers to the rest of the body. The Jarvik 2000 is around the size of a C battery and its pediatric version, the Jarvik 2015, is about the size of a AA battery, per The New York Times.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Plan ahead: TRAX Red Line to be rerouted during ‘MexTour' event at Rice Eccles Stadium
SALT LAKE CITY () — On Saturday, June 7, the Mexican national soccer team will be making a rare visit to the Beehive State against Switzerland at Rice Eccles Stadium. But if you were planning on making use of the TRAX's Red Line train to make it to the stadium, you'll need to adjust your travel plans. The TRAX line, which typically runs up 400 South to Rice Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus, will and along Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City. This temporary reroute could cause significant delays of up to 45 minutes to the commute, the University of Utah warned. 6 Utah cities ranked among the best 250 places to live in the U.S. — and Salt Lake didn't make the cut To make up for the lack of trains, UTA plans to increase services for bus routes 1, 2, and 4 to help passengers traveling to the University of Utah. Passengers will be encouraged to take the Red Line to Gallivan Plaza Station and transfer to any of the three bus lines to reach the stadium in time for the game. The Red Line closure will allow for UTA maintenance crews to perform maintenance near the Rice-Eccles Stadium station, including at the S-Curve to the University of Utah. The closure and reroute are expected to be in place until Aug. 17. However, normal services will temporarily resume over the July 4 weekend to help accommodate events on the University of Utah campus. Supreme Court allows Trump to revoke Biden's parole program; Sotomayor, Jackson issue scathing dissent Appeals court allows President Trump to continue collecting tariffs GOP runs into voter buzzsaw of criticism on Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' Disney offering Disney+, Hulu subscribers new perks, discounts CBP seizes $184,000 from Mexican man, woman trying to leave US in a Fiat Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Health
- Boston Globe
Robert Jarvik, 79, dies; a designer of the first permanent artificial heart
Clark at first declined to receive the Jarvik-7, DeVries was quoted as saying in a 2012 university retrospective, but he changed his mind on Thanksgiving after he had to be carried by a son to the dinner table. Clark's chronic heart disease had left him weeks from death. If the surgery didn't work for him, he told doctors, maybe it would help others. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up During the seven-hour surgery, according to the retrospective, Clark's heart muscle tore like tissue paper as it was removed after so many years of being treated with steroids. Advertisement Upon awakening, DeVries said, Clark told his wife, Una Loy Clark, 'I want to tell you even though I have no heart, I still love you.' Clark survived for 112 days, attached to a 400-pound air compressor, roughly the size of a dishwasher, that helped the Jarvik-7 pump blood through his body. But he never left the hospital, and he experienced seizures, kidney failure, and a broken valve on the heart that needed replacing. Advertisement DeVries said in 2012 that Clark had probably received too many antibiotics, which can make it more difficult to fight off infections. He died March 23, 1983, from complications related to a bacterial infection of the colon. William J. Schroeder, 52, a retired federal worker who was the second patient to receive the experimental Jarvik-7 artificial heart, lived for 620 days before dying in 1986. Another early recipient of the Jarvik-7, Murray P. Haydon, lived for 488 days before dying at 59. Their survival demonstrated that people 'could live long term on the plastic and metal device,' The New York Times reported upon Schroeder's death. But the newspaper added that strokes and other complications that recipients suffered 'impaired the quality of their lives and blunted initial enthusiasm for the heart.' Dozens -- by some accounts hundreds -- of reporters showed up at the University of Utah hospital to cover Clark's surgery. Some celebrated the news, comparing the breakthrough to man's first walk on the moon. Others, however, criticized what they called the 'Frankenstein'-like aspects of the Jarvik-7 and asked whether the medical team was trying to play God by deciding who received the artificial heart. By the mid-1980s, medical ethicists and theologians were debating whether artificial hearts improved life or extended a painful decline toward death. At a 1985 symposium of religious figures and doctors in Louisville, Ky., a Jesuit theologian noted that in the Christian view, 'life is a basic good but not an absolute good,' adding, 'There is a limit on what we may do to preserve our lives.' Advertisement After five patients received the Jarvik-7 as a permanent artificial heart, Dr. Jarvik said, the device was used hundreds of times as a temporary implant for patients until they could receive a donor heart. One such patient lived 11 years after receiving his donor heart, he said; another lived 14. In January 1990, the FDA withdrew its approval of the Jarvik-7, citing concerns about the manufacturer's quality control. In a 1989 interview with Syracuse University Magazine, Dr. Jarvik admitted that his belief the Jarvik-7 was advanced enough to be used widely on a permanent basis was 'probably the biggest mistake I have ever made.' Still, he defended his work. Of the five recipients of the permanent Jarvik-7, he told the magazine, 'These were people who I view as having had their lives prolonged,' adding that they survived nine months on average when some had been expected to live 'no more than a week.' 'I don't think that kind of thing makes a person in medicine want to stop,' he said. 'It just makes you all the more interested in working it through so it can be better.' Robert Koffler Jarvik was born May 11, 1946, in Midland, Mich., and grew up in Stamford, Conn. His father, Norman, was a physician with a family practice. His mother, Edythe (Koffler) Jarvik, handled scheduling for the practice and later taught typing. From an early age, Robert was a tinkerer. As a teenager, he made his own hockey mask and began developing a surgical stapler. He attended Syracuse University from 1964 until 1968, intending to study architecture, but his interest turned to medicine after his father survived an aortic aneurysm, and he received a degree in zoology. Norman Jarvik died in 1976 after a second aneurysm. Advertisement 'I knew that my father was going to die of heart disease, and I was trying to make a heart for him,' Robert Jarvik once said. 'I was too late.' He studied medicine at the University of Bologna in Italy for two years and received a master's degree in occupational biomechanics from New York University before moving to the University of Utah in 1971. He received his medical degree there in 1976, but he did not follow the traditional career path of internship and residency. He was more interested in developing an artificial heart. Working with Dr. Willem J. Kolff, director of the university's Division of Artificial Organs, Dr. Jarvik designed a series of mechanical hearts. One of them, according to an article in the Times in 1982, was implanted in a cow named Alfred Lord Tennyson, who survived for 268 days, a record for an animal. In 1985, Dr. Jarvik married Vos Savant, who was listed in Guinness World Records in the 1980s as having the highest recorded IQ (228). In addition to his wife, Dr. Jarvik leaves his daughter, Kate Jarvik Birch, and his son, Tyler Jarvik, from his marriage to Elaine Levin, whom he married in 1968 and divorced in 1985; Vos Savant's two children, Mary (Younglove) Blinder and Dennis Younglove, from a previous relationship; a sister, Barbara, and a brother, Jonathan; and five grandchildren. In the late 1980s, his company, Jarvik Heart Inc., began developing smaller, less obtrusive implements, known as ventricular assist devices. Unlike the Jarvik-7, these devices do not replace a diseased heart but assist in pumping blood from the lower chambers of the heart to the rest of the body. One such device, the Jarvik 2000, is about the size of a C battery. A pediatric version, called the Jarvik 2015, is roughly the size of an AA battery. Advertisement According to a 2023 study of the artificial heart market, a descendant of the original Jarvik-7, now owned by another company, is called the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart. It is designed primarily for temporary use in patients who face imminent death while awaiting transplants. The study found that the device had been implanted in more than 1,700 patients worldwide. This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Can the 2034 Winter Games help preserve Utah's quality of life? Here's what a former governor says
Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt has a long list of ways the 2002 Winter Games moved Utah forward, including the rapid rebuilding of I-15, and wants to see the same from the next Olympics. At an Envision Utah breakfast Wednesday in the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium tower, Leavitt recalled a moment from the finale of the 2002 Closing Ceremonies held there that made it clear the efforts were appreciated. 'The fireworks are going. The music is playing. There's smoke in the air and it was just fabulous,' he said, describing how a man in front of him suddenly started chanting, 'Utah, Utah, Utah,' before turning around and recognizing the governor. 'He was embarrassed,' Leavitt said, but then explained he no longer feared the impact of the Olympics. 'He said, 'Governor, I was against this. And I was wrong.' That's really worth remembering. There was a lot of opposition on the same basis. But they were wrong.' Hosting the 2034 Olympics and the Paralympics that follow for athletes with disabilities, and possibly more in the future, provides a way for Utahns to maintain their quality of life as the state grows, he said. 'We won't have the quality of life we want without the Games. We can have it using the Games as a catalyst to preserve it,' said Leavitt, who was elected governor three times before serving in former President George W. Bush's administration. In 2002, that meant creating an 'internal brand' for a state then associated overseas with John Wayne but little else, said Leavitt, now president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. The branding intended to put Utah on the map was part of a larger agenda, to make the state both a winter sports and a technology capital. Using the deadline of the Olympics, Leavitt said the state was able to make major transportation and other improvements. Hosting the 2034 Winter Games offers a chance to do even more, organizing committee CEO Brad Wilson, a former Utah House speaker, assured the audience of community and business leaders. 'I would argue that the 2034 Games, if we do this right, may be the biggest opportunity in Utah's history,' Wilson declared. 'This time we have more runway and we have the ability to engage the entire state.' The International Olympic Committee voted to give Utah a second Winter Games last year under a new bidding process. That gives organizers, who already have the necessary venues in place, two years more than they had to get ready for 2002. Wilson said unlike many prior Olympic hosts that have abandoned costly competition venues, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation has been a 'much better steward' of the taxpayer dollars initially invested in the sliding track, ski jumps and speedskating oval. While those and other Olympic venues will need to be 'spruced up' before 2034, he said the Games can serve as a motivator to get Utahns to 'do the right thing' when it comes to issues such as saving the Great Salt Lake and improving air quality. 'There are some risks we need to lean into and be willing to take,' Wilson said, adding that Utahns should be able to look back at the lead-up to 2034 and say the community involvement 'paid off big time.' Last week, organizers began a 'listening tour' to find out what that involvement should look like. The private meetings, which started in Ogden, are expected to eventually be held throughout the state. Wilson said the job of the organizing committee is 'executing the Games and doing it flawlessly,' something that will require 25,000 volunteers. They're set to be selected in 2033, he said, with preference given to those who've shown 'a commitment to making our community better.' Envision Utah interim CEO Jason Brown said the nonprofit organization focused on planning for the state's growth can play a role in a second 'era of transformation,' helping to determine what progress can be made on priorities like housing, transportation, water and education. Growing up, he said having an Olympics in Utah made him feel like he lived in 'the coolest place in the world.' When the Olympics return in 2034, 'it's going to be a great time. I'm really excited for the Games themselves,' Brown said. 'But what I really hope we don't miss is this opportunity, this excuse, this chance and reason to make Utah everything that we really hope that Utah can be.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The U.S. is halting foreign student visa interviews — here's why
Students and scholars from countries outside the United States have long been woven into the educational and cultural tapestry at Utah's colleges and universities. Higher education institutions across the Beehive State remain popular destinations for students from across the globe. In fact, more than 3,500 international students and scholars are associated with the University of Utah, the state's flagship university. And students from over 100 countries are enrolled at Brigham Young University. Even at a smaller regional public school such as St. George's Utah Tech University, the student body is represented by 36 nations. Those local student figures are reflective of higher learning institutions across the United States. More than 1 million international students from more than 210 foreign countries studied at U.S. colleges and universities during the 2023-2024 academic year — a 7% increase from the previous academic year, according to the IIE Open Doors report. So the impact of a new Trump administration policy regarding international student visas will likely be felt across Utah colleges and beyond. The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while it prepares to expand the screening of their social media activity, The Associated Press reported. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who already had scheduled their visa interviews. A cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press says the State Department plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting. 'Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consulate sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity' until the guidance is issued, the cable says. Asked about the suspension at a briefing Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. uses every available resource to vet people applying for visas. 'We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that's coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,' Bruce said. According to a Politico report, which first reported the State Department's visa interview move, the Trump administration had earlier imposed some social media screening requirements — but those were largely aimed at returning students who may have participated in protests against Israel's actions in Gaza. The cable doesn't directly spell out what the future social media vetting would screen for, but it alludes to executive orders that are aimed at keeping out terrorists and battling antisemitism. Many State Department officials have complained privately for months that past guidance — for, say, vetting students who may have participated in campus protests — has been vague. It's unclear, for example, whether posting photos of a Palestinian flag on an X account could force a student to undergo additional scrutiny, according to Politico. Randy McCrillis, the University of Utah's senior international officer, said in a statement Wednesday that the university typically has around 350 new international undergraduate and 500 new international graduate students each fall. 'The current process will impact those that do not already have visa appointments and we are reaching out to see how many of our students will be impacted by this change,' said McCrillis. 'We do have several offices that rely on funding from international students and a drop in their enrollment will potentially impact the International Student & Scholar Services budget significantly.' Meanwhile, Fanta Aw, the executive director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, decried the State Department's decision — saying it unfairly cast aspersions on hardworking students. 'The idea that the embassies have the time, the capacity and taxpayer dollars are being spent this way is very problematic,' Aw told Politico. 'International students are not a threat to this country. If anything, they're an incredible asset to this country.' Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, told NBC News that a downturn in international students would affect American universities' 'talent pipeline' and income, while benefiting U.S. competitors. 'China will become significantly more attractive than before to students and researchers from the Global South,' Marginson said, adding that 'Western Europe will also gain significantly.' This week's news regarding halts on visa interviews for foreign students comes days after President Donald Trump announced a ban on Harvard University's enrollment of international students — affecting 6,800 students. The Department of Homeland Security claimed that Harvard fostered a community of 'anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators,' referring to allegations that Harvard allowed Chinese paramilitary troops to train on its campus, as well as previous claims that Harvard allowed and even supported antisemitic discrimination. On Friday, Harvard filed a lawsuit against the ban. Hours later, federal Judge Allison Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the ban, per wire reports. Burroughs said Harvard had shown in its lawsuit that, unless the restraining order was granted, 'it will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties.' Trump made clear his belief that many institutes of higher education are corrupt even before he reentered the Oval Office in January. Pro-Palestinian protests, centering on the Israel-Hamas war, have only inflamed his feelings against Ivy League schools like Harvard and Columbia. The president of Harvard, Alan Garber, somewhat agreed with Trump when he said that Harvard needed 'greater intellectual diversity,' including more conservative voices. Harvard investigated itself and found legitimate instances of harassment against Arab and Israeli students, leading it to promise to combat such instances, per school reports. But Harvard has pushed back at Trump's attempts to repeal its tax-exempt status, stem federal research funding and now block student enrollment. Last month, the U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement temporarily revoked the legal status of hundreds of international students — including several studying at Utah colleges and universities. Many of the affected international students said their records were terminated based on charges that had been dismissed or for minor offenses when legally their status could only be revoked if they were convicted of violent crimes, Reuters reported. Following a series of lawsuits across the country and wide public outcry, the Trump administration restored the legal statuses of scores of foreign students while it reportedly develops a new policy that will provide a framework for potentially ending them in the future. The recent experiences of Brigham Young University Ph.D. student Suguru Onda, whose own legal status was stripped and then later restored, drew wide attention. Outside of a couple of speeding tickets, Onda had only one legal hiccup during his six years of study in the United States. He was reportedly cited for harvesting more fish than his fishing license allowed during a 2019 outing with his Latter-day Saint church group. The fishing charge was later dismissed and, last month, Onda learned his legal student status had been reinstated.
