Utah Business has selected 10 women with enduring careers and exceptional impact, who we’ve named our “Most Influential Women.” Through their innovative efforts and inspiring examples, these women have significantly improved their workplaces, industries and Utah as a whole.
MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN: Tracy George, MD
Chief Scientific Officer & President, Innovation Business Unit | ARUP Laboratories
Professor | University of Utah
At a crowded international scientific conference years ago, two young researchers stood before a room of seasoned experts to present their findings on the effectiveness of a drug to treat systemic mastocytosis, a rare, devastating immune system disorder that, at the time, was considered untreatable. Among them was Dr. Tracy George, then an assistant professor at Stanford. As they finished sharing their groundbreaking clinical trial results, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
“The entire room erupted in applause and shouting,” Dr. George recalls. “Everyone had been studying this disease for decades, and as these upstart young Americans, we were the first to actually show research, clinical trials research, that would improve patients’ lives.”
That drug was approved by the FDA, transforming a fatal diagnosis into a disease that can be managed as a chronic illness. For Dr. George, that moment became the North Star of her career: the conviction that laboratory medicine isn’t just about data points — it’s about the human lives hanging in the balance of a diagnostic test result.
However, the path to leadership wasn’t always a straight line. Early in her academic career, she was told at her annual review that she was too much of a “good citizen” and needed to focus more on her own career development.
“I decided right then and there that I wanted to be a different kind of leader,” she says. “I wanted to be the kind of leader who helped her patients, colleagues and others make a difference in this world by working together — collaboration rather than competition.”
Today, as the chief scientific officer at ARUP and president of its Innovation Business Unit, Dr. George remains a “good citizen” who is still an upstart at heart. Fueled by a lifelong curiosity, she spearheaded the creation of ARUP Institute for Research and Innovation in Diagnostic and Precision Medicine™ from the ground up to bridge the gap between abstract research and the patient’s bedside.
“We need to have better diagnostic tests in medicine. We need to help improve patient care,” she says. “So how are we going to do this? Well, you need to invest in research and innovation about five or 10 years back, until the time the test actually comes to patients. And so that’s what we’ve done. We’ve managed to build an entire new institute at ARUP filled with incredible people who are very dedicated.”
Under her leadership, ARUP has become a global powerhouse of precision medicine. One of her team’s most significant recent achievements is the development of a blood-based test for Alzheimer’s disease. Created in partnership with Eli Lilly, the test offers a level of accuracy in the detection of a biomarker for the disease that differentiates the test from those offered by other laboratories. Other research led by Dr. George at ARUP to identify the drivers of disease is giving doctors a roadmap to treat everything from neurodegenerative conditions to aggressive tumors.
Despite the heavy demands of her dual leadership roles, Dr. George is quick to deflect any praise as superwoman to her team. “It’s easy to be superwoman when I have this incredible team of people,” she says. “This is not only me; I lead an incredibly talented group of men and women. … We’re all part of the team. Whether you’re in marketing or you’re doing project management or maybe you’re a technical person on the bench, it doesn’t matter. We’re all on the same team and we all have the same mission and purpose.”
Her greatest pride, however, isn’t found in a lab report. “I’m most proud of being a strong role model for my daughter by showing her that women can be smart, successful and compassionate.”
Her advice to the next generation of leaders is as precise as the tests she develops: “Follow your passions. That’s what’s going to drive you in the long run. … You have to really love what you do because you’re going to spend a lot of time with it. So, follow your passions.”