# Utah Population Database (UPDB)

> **NIH NIH P30** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2020 · $523,221

## Abstract

UTAH POPULATION DATABASE SHARED RESOURCE
ABSTRACT
The Utah Population Database Shared Resource (UPDB), established at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) in
1994, contributes to HCI’s mission by providing state-of-the-art data and analytic services to support genetic,
epidemiologic, demographic, public health, behavioral, and health services research. UPDB provides privacy-
protected access to unique data sets derived from one of the world’s richest sources of linked individual-level
genealogical, medical, vital, and geospatial information, enabling diverse biomedical investigations, including
statewide population analyses. The data include over 11 million individuals linked into pedigrees covering up to
17 generations. UPDB’s aims are 1) to assemble state-of-the-art integrated genealogical, medical, and vital
records and provide data analysis and interpretation for cancer investigations; and 2) to support the scientific
research objectives of the Cancer Center by providing access to tailored complex data sets and advanced
analytic tools. UPDB has been directed by Ken Smith, PhD, since 2010. Management of UPDB within the
Cancer Center ensures that this Resource addresses the needs of Cancer Center members. The services
provided by UPDB are unique and do not exist at any other National Cancer Institute cancer center.
UPDB adds value to cancer research by: 1) providing data and analytic tools to identify high-risk cancer
families, 2) adding extensive geospatial information that permits linkages to environmental variables, and 3)
offering guidelines for the efficient and cost-effective recruitment of subjects into research projects. UPDB
infrastructure enables Cancer Center members to exploit otherwise unavailable key data resources, including
the University of Utah Health and Intermountain Healthcare data warehouses. Cancer Center members with
peer-reviewed funding comprise 11% of the users, and total cancer-related usage exceeds 48%. Since 2014,
UPDB data have been used in 61 cancer-focused, Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved projects that
have yielded 118 publications.
UPDB is an unparalleled biomedical research resource. It provides outstanding data quality on large multi-
generational pedigrees, linked to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Utah Cancer
Registry and most of the state’s electronic medical records. The data in UPDB span decades and are
enhanced by other high-quality databases and geocodes, exposed to rigorous data quality control techniques,
and made available to Cancer Center members with IRB-approved protocols at a reasonable cost. UPDB
enhances the productivity and creativity of HCI’s members and contributes to the Cancer Center’s overall
mission to understand the causes of cancer and promote its prevention within HCI’s catchment area, the State
of Utah.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9935879
- **Project number:** 2P30CA042014-31
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Ken R Smith
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $523,221
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9935879

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9935879, Utah Population Database (UPDB) (2P30CA042014-31). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9935879. Licensed CC0.

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