Building on the success of its undergraduate program, the West Virginia University Board of Governors has approved a graduate program in biomedical engineering. The program, which will award degrees at both the master’s and doctoral levels, will be offered in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources starting in the fall semester of this year.
In a move to help improve people’s lives through innovation in fundamental neuroscience research and education, West Virginia University will bring together some 50 of its laboratories to form a new Department of Neuroscience within the School of Medicine.
Anna Gilpin, a senior biomedical engineering major in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources from Martinsburg has been named a Graduate Research Fellow by the National Science Foundation.
West Virginia University junior Ashley Brash is researching the effects of reproductive politics on women in West Virginia. Brash’s research focuses on interpreting actions by legislators and construction of arguments against abortion and allowance of access to reproductive healthcare.
In testimony delivered today (April 18) to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Hota GangaRao, the Maurice and Jo Ann Wadsworth Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at West Virginia University, discussed the importance of investing in advanced materials to continue to lead the world in composite research, development and implementation.
Brian Popp, assistant professor of chemistry at West Virginia University, has been awarded the National Science Foundation’s prestigious CAREER award.
As a child in Texas, Rodney Elliott dreamed of going to college and studying science but it was a dream deferred because of family finances. He joined the Air Force and, after a 20-year career, enrolled at West Virginia University gaining accolades, not just from his professors, but by winning the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering—the Goldwater Scholarship.
Similar to how microwave ovens heat soup but not the bowl, researchers at West Virginia University are exploring the possibility of heating one solution component selectively over others in chemical reactions. The research is led at WVU by Gregory Dudley, the Eberly Family Distinguished Professor and chair of the C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry, in close collaboration with Albert Stiegman, a professor of chemistry at Florida State University.
As a critical component to the administration of justice, researchers are calling for more science in forensic science. Led by Suzanne Bell, chair of the West Virginia University Department of Forensic and Investigative Science, a group of academic scientists who were members of the former National Commission on Forensic Science’s Sub-Committee on Scientific Inquiry and Research are urging the larger scientific community to advocate for independent research and assessment in forensic science.
Some of West Virginia University’s extraordinary researchers are mapping the universe, using hair follicles to solve crimes and helping consumers understand the risks of off-label prescription drugs. Three of those researchers were celebrated last week at the Office of Graduate Education and Life’s annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition, in which 12 doctoral students from across the University competed for the top spots, all of which came with cash awards.