Improving the health of West Virginians through the education of health professionals is a core element of the mission of the WVU Health Sciences Center. A National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant awarded to the West Virginia IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (WV-INBRE) program allows the WVU HSC to uphold this mission by assisting colleges throughout the state with research support the colleges may otherwise not have.

The grant – approximately $3.5 million a year for the next five years – allows the WV-INBRE program of the WVU Health Sciences, along with co-grant recipient Marshall University, to provide research support to smaller colleges and universities throughout the state. The grant provides not only money for research studies and collaborative efforts but also supports mentoring of students interested in pursuing careers in research and biomedical sciences.

This summer, 19 undergraduate student interns from seven West Virginia colleges and universities participated in the WV-INBRE summer research program at WVU and 10 others interned at Marshall. The entire group met for a research seminar, the 8th Annual WV-INBRE Summer Research Symposium, on the Marshall campus at the end of the program.

“The WV-INBRE program through NIH funding has been providing research support for almost 10 years,” said Robert Griffith, Ph.D., associate professor in the WVU School of Pharmacy Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences and faculty research development coordinator of the WV-INBRE program. “In return, we have had the privilege of working with and mentoring excellent students and collaborating with faculty members around the state, allowing us to make advancements in research that will improve the lives of the people in our state. This unique program also affords WVU and Marshall University the opportunity to join forces and use our research experience and technology to help other schools further their knowledge and research.”

WV-INBRE program administrative core members are:

• Gary Rankin, Ph.D., principal investigator, Marshall University
• James Sheil, Ph.D., program coordinator, West Virginia University
• Mary E. Davis, Ph.D., bioinformatics core director, West Virginia University
• Don Primerano, Ph.D., cardiovascular research network director, Marshall University
• Mark Reasor, Ph.D., summer research program coordinator, West Virginia University
• Valerie Watson, M.S., INBRE/HSTA Coordinator, West Virginia University
• Robert Griffith, Ph.D., faculty research development coordinator, West Virginia University
• Elsa Mangiarua, Ph.D., assistant summer research program coordinator, Marshall University
• Nalini Santanam, Ph.D., evaluation coordinator, Marshall University

Faculty members from colleges and universities who want to participate in the WV-INBRE program submit a proposal to receive research funding, and students submit an application to participate in the summer research program. A WV-INBRE grant team then reviews each request and determines acceptance and project funding.

“The grant benefits West Virginia on so many levels,” Griffith said. “Through the WV-INBRE program, WVU and Marshall University are able to provide research funding and collaborate with faculty members at other colleges and universities, nurture a love of research and biomedical sciences in our future health professionals and positively impact the health of West Virginians through our research.”

For information about the WV-INBRE program see http://www.wv-inbre.net/.

For information about the WVU School of Pharmacy see www.hsc.wvu.edu/sop/.

09/11/09

-WVU-

CONTACT:
Amy Newton, School of Pharmacy, 304-293-7192
anewton@hsc.wvu.edu