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School of Medicine

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WVU researcher finds link between deprivation and rural suicide rates

This is National Suicide Prevention Week, and John Campo—the chief behavior wellness officer at West Virginia University—is examining trends in suicide rates to make suicide prevention more effective. His recent findings suggest that rural residents may be especially vulnerable to suicide when they face economic challenges.

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WVU researcher studies differences in the immune systems of men and women

Females are less susceptible to infection but are 10 times more likely than males to develop an autoimmune disorder, such as hypothyroidism or rheumatoid arthritis. The female immune system is “a double-edged sword” in that way, said Jennifer Franko, a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology at the West Virginia University School of Medicine.

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Using bacteria from hot springs, WVU biochemist studies RNA splicing in humans

About 70 percent of the human genome doesn’t code for anything. When it’s transcribed to RNA—the instructions our cells follow when they make proteins—most of the message doesn’t contain any useful information. As West Virginia University researcher Aaron Robart put it, it’s “junk DNA.”

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Hand in glove: WVU researchers test safety measures for coal industry

While researchers at West Virginia University were testing coal miners’ safety gloves to help reduce lost-time accidents, they went a step further. Eduardo Sosa, a research associate professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, and Marta Moure, a post-doctoral fellow from Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, reduced the need for future physical testing of the gloves through computer simulations.

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