SALT LAKE CITY — President Russell M. Nelson, leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the University of Utah for his innovative work in the medical field. President Nelson, who dedicated his career to cardiothoracic surgery, helped Utah become the third state in the nation where a successful open-heart surgery was performed decades ago. He was the first surgeon to perform the surgery in Utah, and used the heart-lung bypass machine he and a team created, which was inspired with the help of his wife, Dantzel. During his tenure as a heart surgeon, the global faith leader trained surgeons in China to perform open-heart surgeries and authored or coauthored over 100 research articles. He has been honored with several awards for his contributions to the medical field. President Nelson has been recognized for his pioneering work in cardiac surgery several times over the years, including in 2018 when he was given the lifetime achievement award in science and technology.