Valerie Galvan Turner, a gynecologic oncologist at the West Virginia University Cancer Institute, has opened a randomized clinical trial to assess whether a novel supplemental treatment can help chemotherapy and radiation fight dangerous cervical and vaginal cancer better.
The National Science Foundation has awarded a three-year, $219,263-grant to Amy Hessl, professor in the Department of Geology and Geography, to reconstruct the history of the Southern Annular Mode, over the last 2,000 years. Hessl and her research team will study the movement of a westerly wind belt circling Antarctica that influences Southern Hemisphere climate, carbon and heat uptake and Antarctic ice melt.
The West Virginia University Board of Governors today (Feb. 8) gave final approval to a trio of updated policies, and also sent out for comment the latest updated rule as it works to complete policy revisions in the wake of the adoption of laws permitting more independence from the state Higher Education Policy Commission. The three rules, unanimously approved, deal with conflicts of interest, outside consulting and ethics; identify theft detection and prevention; and a tobacco-free campus.
As West Virginia University works toward becoming the world’s first Blue Zones Certified university, a graduate-student researcher in the WVU School of Public Health is exploring how one of the Blue Zone Project’s tenets—eating an abundance of vegetables—can make individuals with diabetes, and those at-risk of developing the condition, healthier.
James Wood, interim director of the Energy Institute at West Virginia University, is part of a panel reporting on the outlook of U.S. energy innovation to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources tomorrow (Feb 7).
A field trip to Namibia to study volcanic rocks led to an unexpected discovery by West Virginia University geologists Graham Andrews and Sarah Brown. While exploring the desert country in southern Africa, they stumbled upon a peculiar land formation—flat desert scattered with hundreds of long, steep hills. They quickly realized the bumpy landscape was shaped by drumlins, a type of hill often found in places once covered in glaciers, an abnormal characteristic for desert landscapes.
Karissa Bjorkgren, a second-year student in the Master of Social Work and Master of Public Administration programs at West Virginia University, is dedicated to addressing mental health in rural communities. A native of Franklin, Bjorkgren has experienced first-hand how infrequently rural communities in West Virginia address mental health concerns. She hopes her research will help overcome this disparity.
Yanfang (Fanny) Ye, assistant professor of computer science and electrical engineering at West Virginia University, has been awarded a grant from the National Institute of Justice in support of her work to develop novel artificial intelligence techniques to combat the opioid epidemic and trafficking. The award comes with about $1 million in funding over a three-year period.
Elizabeth Claydon, an assistant professor in the West Virginia University School of Public Health, is parsing how eating disorders may affect women’s experience of—and attitudes toward—pregnancy. The journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth has published her study’s findings.
Each student will receive a $1,000 award: $500 from the Eberly College and $500 from the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium. The recipients are Erica Chwalik, Dillion Cottrill, Ryan Culp, Brenden Glover, Janna Kleinsasser, Maxwell Reese, Simon Wirth and Olivia Young.