Expert Pitches

West Virginia University Extension Service Family and Community Development agent Andrea Hoover suggests opting for the gift of an experience over material goods this holiday season.

What should be a happy, joyous time of celebration with friends and family is being met with challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic. WVU Extension Service Family and Community Development agent, Ami Cook, offers advice on how you, with a positive attitude and proper planning, can make the most of this year’s holiday season and do it safely.

Current and former smokers can get free virtual lung cancer screenings this month (November) as the West Virginia University Cancer Institute Lung Cancer and Screening Program continue to improve lung cancer screening access and eligibility for West Virginians. November is National Lung Cancer Awareness month.

Anne Lofaso of the West Virginia University College of Law says it will be important to watch how the newest member of the U.S. Supreme Court interacts with Chief Justice John Roberts as the high court hears arguments beginning Tuesday (Nov. 10) that could decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare challenging its constitutionality. Meanwhile, WVU health policy expert Christopher Plein of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences notes the ACA has been a “game changer” for West Virginians and the state’s health care system.

Several West Virginia University faculty members can provide insight and expert commentary to the media regarding Tuesday’s (Nov. 3) election and its fallout.

As the Trump administration prepares to open Alaska’s Tongass National Forest for development and logging, West Virginia University experts Nic Zegre and Brenden McNeil discuss what that means for a planet in the throes of climate change.

As part of Bat Week (Oct. 24-31), Sheldon Owen, West Virginia University Extension Service associate professor and wildlife specialist, challenges residents to learn more about the species of bats found in West Virginia and their important role in nature.

A pair of West Virginia University College of Law professors question whether the historic $8.3 billion settlement with Oxycontin makers Purdue Pharma will actually trickle down to communities ravaged by the opioid epidemic.

A “disappointing” settlement that reveals a bent toward corporate profits over an “unfathomable amount of suffering” should lead to the shutdown of Purdue Pharma, according to West Virginia University experts who both work with people who face substance use disorder issues and have investigated the inner workings of the illicit side of the drug trade. Dr. Judith Feinberg, Dr. James Berry and John Temple are versed in various angles of the national opioid crisis are available to discuss the Justice Department’s $8.3 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma, the drug company that produces OxyContin. Purdue Pharma also agreed to plead guilty to three felonies.

West Virginia University Extension Service’s consumer horticulture specialists, Mira Danilovich and Lewis Jett have advice on ways to make the most of mums and preventing pumpkins from rotting too soon.