Health

Exercising in the heat isn’t just miserable. It can even be deadly. Samantha Scarneo-Miller—a researcher with the WVU School of Medicine—and her colleagues at the University of Connecticut investigated the policies that high schools across the country use to protect their student-athletes from the most common safety threats, including heat stroke. The team also traveled from state to state to meet with policymakers and promote life-saving policies. The National Football League and the National Athletic Trainers Association provided $1.4 million for their effort.

West Virginia University is temporarily revising its masking guidelines. Beginning Wednesday, Aug. 18, and for the next 30 days, masks will be required for all those in classrooms, teaching and research labs on all campuses - regardless of vaccination status.

As West Virginia University kicks off a new academic year amid a recent spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, public health researchers at both WVU and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now have a better understanding of university students’ knowledge and perceptions of mask-wearing.

As universities reopen this fall, research conducted at West Virginia University suggests campus recreation usage by students can lead to greater retention and overall academic achievement.

Ajay Aluri, founding director of the Hospitality Innovation and Technology Lab at WVU, has developed a copper-infused mask to help protect employees on the frontlines of customer service.

While the world has been focused on COVID-19 as a health crisis, individual communities may have other specific health concerns that need attention. Population health, which integrates healthcare and public health practices, is an emerging healthcare field that allows professionals to identify a locally pressing health issue, intervene and transform the community’s health outcomes.

Students at the West Virginia University School of Dentistry will have the opportunity to conduct research that will enhance both their academic and professional careers through a philanthropic challenge in memory of pioneering West Virginia orthodontist Dr. William M. Jarrett.

With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Samantha Minc, M.D., vascular surgeon and researcher at the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, is launching a pilot program to prevent amputations in West Virginia. Given that West Virginians face a disproportionate number of risk factors for amputations, the program could save many lives.

West Virginia University is providing additional guidance to students, faculty and staff as campuses prepare to fully reopen for the fall 2021 semester. WVU’s highest priority is to offer a fully in-person, on-campus academic and student experience this fall. As always, the safety of students, faculty, staff and guests will continue to be an important guiding factor.

Six students pursuing doctoral degrees at West Virginia University are receiving funding through the Ruby Scholars Graduate Fellows Program. This year’s fellows are Kelsey Bentley, Julia Ivey, Anuj Kankani, Claire Kelly, Zoe Pagliaro and Matthew Waalkes.