Consumers in West Virginia and nationally are concerned about their digital data privacy, and there are few and often inconsistent laws to protect them—these are the findings of new research funded by the Center for Consumer Law and Education, a joint program between the West Virginia University College of Law and Marshall University.
The hunt for more evidence of gravitational waves – ripples in spacetime formed by cataclysmic events in the distant universe – will be accelerated with a nearly $2 million National Science Foundation grant awarded to a West Virginia University scientist and her colleagues.
Because injecting drugs increases someone’s risk of getting hepatitis C or HIV, the surge of the viruses in West Virginia is bound up with the opioid crisis. To address this problem, WVU researcher Judith Feinberg is working to integrate services for opioid use disorder, hepatitis C and HIV in 20 primary care clinics across the state. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded the project more than $6.6 million.
In the months that follow, after the recovery crews have packed up and gone home, hopelessness and isolation set in for many disaster victims. These are the times when mental health support is needed most, according to a West Virginia University researcher.
A new, biennial West Virginia population-based health survey—the Mountain State Assessment of Trends in Community Health—will gather information to help health officials and policy makers better understand the critical health needs of all 55 West Virginia counties, with the goal of directing resource allocations to communities that need them most.
About 90% of Americans who need treatment for a substance use disorder don’t get it. West Virginia University researchers have developed a program that allows people who have already walked the path of substance use disorder through recovery to be their guides to a healthier life.
Nicolas Zegre and Jamie Shinn, experts in hydrology and adaptation to climate change, respectively, used flooding in the Greenbrier County communities of Rainelle and White Sulphur Springs in 2016 to focus not only on what the floods did and the damage they caused, but how residents reacted and adjusted how and where they live in relationship to the water.
The vast majority of people who overdose on an opioid will survive the experience. Yet scientists know little about how nonfatal overdoses affect the brain and cognition. WVU School of Medicine researchers Erin Winstanley and James Mahoney systematically reviewed journal articles that examined the topic. Overall, the studies supported a link between overdose, brain abnormalities and cognitive impairment, but more research—with more precision—is needed. Their findings appear in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
This fall, West Virginia University researchers will drill three miles into the ground to test the potential of geothermal energy. If successful, it might eventually help to reduce the carbon footprint of the University and decrease energy costs.
WVU researchers are monitoring wastewater for COVID-19 concentrations and thanks to a nearly $3 million grant will develop a testing network throughout the state. The new testing process has possibilities beyond the pandemic to test for influenza, RSV, HIV and other viruses, as well as signs of antibiotic-resistance genes.