The Weil Institute and the University of Utah: Reimagining a Grand Challenge

In April of 2016, Dr. Austin Johnson, then an Emergency Medicine Physician at UC Davis Medical Center, traveled to the University of Michigan to attend the second annual Massey Traumatic Brain Injury Grand Challenge. Facilitated through the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation with support from the Joyce and Don Massey Family Foundation, the Massey Grand Challenge was established the year prior to accelerate multidisciplinary, high-risk research and innovations to improve traumatic brain injury (TBI) care and outcomes.

Serving as a judge on the Grand Challenge’s Wolverine Den panel alongside nine other experts from academia, industry and the Department of Defense, Dr. Johnson was struck by both the caliber of the projects presented and the diversity of expertise present among the teams and panelists alike. 

“What I saw back then was a rallying of experts coming together to address complex challenges in a way that would have been difficult, if not impossible, had those collaborations not existed,” recalled Johnson. “The people involved at every stage were thinking not only about the science, but about what needed to be done to make that science a reality.” 

For the Weil Institute, the 2016 Grand Challenge marked the second year of what would become a research funding powerhouse that, as of 2025, has distributed more than $9 million to 60 multidisciplinary teams across U-M. For Dr. Johnson, the collaborative framework of the Grand Challenge would later serve as the blueprint for broader impact 1,600 miles from the Michigan border. 

The Grand Challenge Model: Adopted and Adapted at Utah

In 2023, the University of Utah was seeking to expand its research portfolio around opportunities with the Department of Defense. Johnson, now at Utah as Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Research in Emergency Medicine, remembered his time at the Massey Grand Challenge and pitched the idea of launching a similar program—one shaped by the Massey experience of a live funding competition with multidisciplinary teams and judges yet customized for University of Utah Health’s unique position as both the state’s only academic medical center and as the health system with the largest geographic attachment area in the country.

This inspiration culminated in the Remote and Austere Conditions (RAC) Grand Challenge. Co-directed by Dr. Johnson and Dr. Jim McDonough, Executive Director of Department of Defense (DoD) Research in the Office of the Vice President for Research, the RAC Grand Challenge initially focused on funding novel, multidisciplinary solutions centered around medicine and biomedical research for resource-limited settings, such as rural environments and battlefields.

“Along with our home state, University of Utah Health also covers Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Montana, and Idaho,” said Johnson. “As a result, we see a lot of remote and telehealth cases, and our air medical transport program, AirMed, is one of the nation’s busiest. These aspects are part of what drove the RAC Grand Challenge’s initial focus on biomedical innovation for these types of settings.”

In early 2025, the RAC Grand Challenge would broaden its topics of interest to include aerospace and national security, in addition to its original focus on biomedical research. The expansion into these domains led to the program being renamed “High Tech West,” and it drew a wider range of expertise, further demonstrating the ability of the Grand Challenge model to adapt beyond its initial scope.

“Becoming High Tech West allows us to strategically align Department of Defense priorities with academic innovation,” said Dr. McDonough. “The flexibility of the Grand Challenge model means we can respond quickly to evolving national priorities across multiple domains.” 

Today, High-Tech West has funded a total of 16 teams, with projects including a method of improving detection and prediction of cold-weather injuries and a drone-based blood delivery system. Multiple teams have gone on to receive significant follow-on federal funding, with one new company being founded. 

Programs like High-Tech West and the Massey TBI Grand Challenge lower the barrier to entry for ambitious, cross-disciplinary research. We need hundreds of these programs across the country to tackle complex problems and pursue the kind of science-fiction-level thinking that becomes tomorrow’s reality.

Kevin Ward, MD
Executive Director, Weil Institute
Professor, Emergency Medicine & Biomedical Engineering
Michigan Medicine

A Shared Model

The Massey Grand Challenge began by drawing together select groups of teams and judges within the walls of U-M. Now, with the University of Utah as one example, the model is extending across states and institutions. Dr. Kevin Ward, Executive Director of the Weil Institute and Professor of Emergency Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, will serve as a judge at the next High-Tech West competition in February 2026, bringing the story full circle.

“Early stage, high-risk innovation is where breakthroughs begin, yet these projects are typically considered ‘too early’ for major funders like the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense,” said Dr. Ward. “Programs like High-Tech West and the Massey TBI Grand Challenge lower the barrier to entry for ambitious, cross-disciplinary research. We need hundreds of these programs across the country to tackle complex problems and pursue the kind of science-fiction-level thinking that becomes tomorrow’s reality.”

Dr. Johnson echoed Dr. Ward’s statement, perceiving a potential future state in which groups across the United States form their own Grand Challenge-like programs, establishing a network of shared resources and expertise. “I see other institutions getting involved and creating a sort of community of these Grand Challenges. As funding becomes increasingly difficult, we need to work together to get the best ideas out there.”

About the University of Utah

The University of Utah is the state’s flagship institution of higher education, with 18 schools and colleges, more than 100 undergraduate majors and graduate programs, and an enrollment of more than 38,000 students. It is a member of the Association of American Universities—an invitation-only, prestigious group of 71 leading research institutions. The U is advancing a new national model for higher education that delivers societal impact through education, research, health care, and community service, while making social, economic, and cultural contributions that improve lives across Utah and around the world.

About the Weil Institute

The team at the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation is dedicated to pushing the leading edge of research to develop new technologies and novel therapies for the most critically ill and injured patients. Through a unique formula of innovation, integration and entrepreneurship that was first imagined by Weil, their multi-disciplinary teams of health providers, basic scientists, engineers, data scientists, commercialization coaches, donors and industry partners are taking a boundless approach to re-imagining every aspect of critical care medicine. For more information, visit weilinstitute.med.umich.edu.

About the Massey TBI Grand Challenge

Made possible through the generous support of the Joyce and Don Massey Family Foundation, the Massey TBI Grand Challenge is a powerful funding avenue for multidisciplinary critical care research teams that supports the development of diagnostic, device, therapeutic, or health IT solutions addressing the initial ‘golden hours’ of care after severe traumatic brain injury. The Grand Challenge framework addresses the barriers between concept and realization by providing unique tools and resources to funded teams. The Weil Institute is actively seeking donors to empower future Grand Challenges in areas including sepsis, cardiac arrest and trauma and combat casualty care. To get involved, please connect with us at [email protected].