Bertagnolli Leads NIH Visit to West Virginia University

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) with NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli (c) and Dr. Ming Lei (r), vice dean of research at the WVU School of Medicine, in Morgantown, W.Va. during a series of visits at West Virginia University (WVU) Health Sciences Campus.

Photo:  WVU

NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli joined U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) on a visit to West Virginia University (WVU) on Mar. 27. 

At WVU’s Health Sciences Campus in Morgantown, Bertagnolli shared some of her priorities for improving health in the nation by getting NIH’s research to more communities. She also had discussions with WVU health sciences researchers, patient care providers and university leaders, and toured several areas, including the WVU Cancer Institute’s LUCAS mobile screening unit.

The NIH group toured several areas of the Morgantown campus, including the WVU Cancer Institute’s mobile lung cancer screening unit, LUCAS.

Photo:  WVU

“It was truly inspiring to witness firsthand the NIH-supported research being conducted at WVU,” said Bertagnolli. “The university’s impressive research portfolio spans a variety of areas, including studying community-engaged amputation prevention in rural patients with diabetes, testing a precision medicine approach for treating breast cancer and researching a vaccine for Lyme disease...West Virginia faces a number of health issues that NIH-funded research is working to address to benefit the health of West Virginians and all Americans.” 

Other NIH’ers on the visit included Dr. Jon Lorsch, director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences; Dr. Tara Schwetz, NIH deputy director for program coordination, planning and strategic initiatives; and Kate Klimczak, NIH associate director for legislative policy and analysis.