Health

Viruses may have a bad reputation, but with a little help from scientists, some of them can do great things. Wen Tao Deng—a researcher with the WVU School of Medicine—is studying how engineered adeno-associated virus, or AAV, could be used in gene therapy for incurable eye disorders. Her work is relevant to a range of conditions that affect visual acuity and color vision, including red-green colorblindness, the most common form of color deficiency. The National Eye Institute has awarded her project $1.9 million.

West Virginia University’s spring 2022 semester will begin Monday, Jan. 10 with many of the current COVID-19 campus health and safety protocols remaining in place as health officials monitor the emerging omicron variant.

We are grateful there was not an incident on Monday (Dec. 6) as suggested in the anonymous letter the University had received. At this time, safety experts tell WVU it may resume normal operations on campus.

Trigger Warning: This message contains content about suicide.

While most people go years without needing the smoke detectors in their homes, they would never choose to get rid of a device that saves lives and prevents injury in the event of an emergency. But that’s often what happens to public health systems across the country. Dr. Christopher J. Martin, professor for the West Virginia University School of Public Health, calls it the “paradox of public health.”

Transformative renovations within the West Virginia University School of Dentistry are radically modernizing facilities to enhance patient care and oral healthcare education for the next generation of West Virginia dentists and dental hygienists.

In a new study, Sunil Sharma, a researcher in WVU's School of Medicine, found that rural COVID patients who end up in an intensive care unit face a greater risk of death than their urban counterparts do. He also discovered that rural patients with COVID-linked acute respiratory distress syndrome are more likely to die than patients with ARDS that’s due to another cause.

West Virginia University will launch several projects and programs designed to address challenges facing rural Appalachia — everything from small-scale farming to supporting the state’s aging population.

A 39-foot customized Winnebago will serve as a medical clinic on wheels in even the most hard-to-reach areas of the state.

President Gordon Gee sent a letter to West Virginia University faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends on Monday, Nov. 8 to address concerns raised by his advisory role at the University of Austin noting this opportunity highlights how transformation across the WVU System can help lift all of higher education.