Virginia Commonwealth University
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Virginia Commonwealth University
The VCU C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research accelerates the science that promotes healthy communities. It provides the commonwealth with infrastructure and resources that promote interdisciplinary human health research. As the first federally funded clinical and translational research center in Virginia, the Wright Center fosters research collaborations across the state and accelerates the translation of scientific discoveries to patient care. 
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityBackground We cannot meaningfully affect health disparities and inequity without building sustainable partnerships with affected communities. Unfortunately, mistrust in healthcare and biomedical research remains a significant barrier to effective community engagement. The transition to digital methods during the pandemic has also been disruptive on under-resourced community participation in
September 23, 2022Crossing $400M for the first time, funding is up by more than 47% over the past five fiscal years. Virginia Commonwealth University announced the highest sponsored funding figures in its history today, continuing its growing national distinction as a top urban, public research university. The latest institutional record of over $400 million for fiscal year 2022 marks a more than 47% increase over
-Virginia Commonwealth UniversityHealth disparities research is an important and growing field, focusing on differences in healthcare usage and health outcomes based on biological factors outside traditional biophysical causal pathways, such as race, ethnicity, sex and gender, age, residential location, and many other factors. A distinct complication in this research field is that factors often occur across patient and population
February 16, 2022A historic $104 million gift will support VCU’s new Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health in its efforts to stop, prevent and reverse liver disease. A faculty member at VCU since 1989, Arun J. Sanyal has spent his life preparing to serve as director of the new Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health. Mentorship is at the crux of the new liver
December 01, 2021Organ transplant recipients and people living with HIV are more likely to experience adverse effects after contracting COVID-19. And kidney and heart transplant recipients are at highest risk. Those are just some of the conclusions coming from an international team of researchers that includes Virginia Commonwealth University data scientists. Amy Olex, M.S., and Evan French of the Wright Center
-Virginia Commonwealth UniversityAn important topic returns with new speakers and new research. Join the Health Equity Series for a community discussion on health disparities in the Richmond community and across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Life or Breath will cover the inequities of lung health in Black and Brown communities. Speakers include: Patrick Nana-Sinkam, M.D., Wright Center associate director and Chair of the Division
November 19, 2021You wake up one morning with a fever and a cough. Where can you get a rapid, accurate COVID-19 test? The answer has plagued many people in the U.S., where the FDA has been slow to approve at-home, rapid tests, many of which suffer from high false-negative rates. And the more-accurate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 test preferred by clinics and health care providers takes many hours to
October 25, 2021A longitudinal national study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researcher Arun Sanyal, M.D., shows that people with advanced liver scarring caused by obesity, diabetes and related disorders are dying of liver disease. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the research brings new urgency to tests for liver disease, particularly in populations with Type 2 diabetes, and creates a
October 20, 2021Why do people hurt the ones they claim to love? That question has driven researchers to discover much about the psychological and sociological predictors and consequences of intimate partner aggression. But an understanding of the neurobiological causes — or what happens in the brain — remains incomplete. A new study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers used functional magnetic
-Virginia Commonwealth UniversityAre you a research entrepreneur or small business focused on translational science? Join the VCU Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Innovation Gateway in collaboration with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences for a webinar on small business funding opportunities. Learn more about non-dilutive Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business
October 13, 2021The Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research welcomes ten Richmond-area community members, researchers and advocates to a new board that will foster communication between members of the community and Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. The Greater Richmond Community Advisory Board will guide and inform research at VCU by defining research priorities, evaluating projects and
October 08, 2021Sense of smell or taste returns within six months for 4 out of every 5 COVID-19 survivors who have lost these senses, and those under 40 are more likely to recover these senses than older adults, an ongoing Virginia Commonwealth University study found. Among 798 respondents to the ongoing COVID-19 smell and taste loss survey who had tested positive for COVID-19 and reported a loss of smell or
October 06, 2021Inflammasomes were discovered in 2002, and almost 20 years later, the number of diseases for which the molecule has treatment implications continues to expand. “It’s amazing how the implications are growing to so many different diseases, whether it’s gout, heart disease, cancer or addiction,” said P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., VCU’s vice president for research and innovation. “Even more recently, in the
October 05, 2021Guizhi “Julian” Zhu, Ph.D., a Virginia Commonwealth University Wright Center KL2 Scholar alum and assistant professor in the VCU School of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutics, was awarded a five-year grant totaling $1.9 million to study a molecule with implications for the treatment of cancer, genetic diseases and more. The award, which started on Sept. 18, will fund Zhu and his team’s work on
September 16, 2021Three Virginia Commonwealth University researchers were awarded funding that will support the expansion of their health research and translation of that research into improved care for patients. Wendy Bottinor, M.D., and Mathula Thangarajh, M.D., Ph.D., both from the VCU School of Medicine, and Jiong Li, Ph.D., from the VCU School of Pharmacy, are VCU’s 2021 KL2 scholars. The KL2 Mentored Career
August 27, 2021Virginia Commonwealth University is launching a study of the impact of COVID-19 on twins to try to determine why some people experience symptoms much longer than others. The Twin 360 project, which began this week, will help researchers understand the genetic and environmental factors for why some people experience lasting symptoms after contracting COVID-19. And the research will inform possible
August 25, 2021A brain cancer diagnosis is a devastating one to hear. There’s no cure or remission, only levels of stability and estimations of time. Many patients with cancer struggle with mental health and maintaining quality of life, and psychological services or therapy is a standard part of holistic cancer treatment. But patients with brain cancer often aren’t offered that element of care. “Patients with
August 24, 2021More than a decade ago, the VCU Wright Center inaugurated its first class of KL2 Scholars, a cohort of talented junior faculty members looking to advance the world’s knowledge of health through clinical and translational research. Since then, 14 researchers have enjoyed the mentorship, protected research time and general support of their research careers that KL2 Program affords them. Funded by
-Virginia Commonwealth UniversityThis inaugural, regional virtual research symposium hosted by the VCU Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research in collaboration with Eastern Virginia Medical School and Virginia State University will focus on the biology of inflammasomes and the therapeutic potential of inhibiting the inflammasome in diseases. The inflammasome is a macromolecular structure that is central to the
August 12, 2021Zakia McKensey struggled to find doctors who would treat her. The Richmond native came out to her mother at 16 years old and was kicked out of the house. She found a family in the LGBTQIA+ community, but health care for transgender people like herself was almost nonexistant, and patients were subjected to frequent discrimination. “There were no plastic surgeons who wanted to see me. There were no
-Virginia Commonwealth UniversityJoin two CTSA Program hubs and two NCI-designated cancer centers for a community and academic dialogue of trust and trustworthiness in research. Co-hosted by the VCU Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, the Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute, the VCU Massey Cancer Center and the Duke Cancer Institute. Keynote speaker: Rueben Warren, Ph.D., Tuskegee University
July 14, 2021Emergency departments across the United States experienced a surge in opioid overdose cases during the pandemic. Now, a program at VCU Health aims to help those patients receive the treatment they need after they leave the emergency department. The new VCU Health Virtual Bridge Clinic creates a direct link between the emergency department and treatment programs for patients with opioid use
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityThe Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry (MATR) is an organization of twins and their families who are willing to consider taking part in twin-based, health-related research. The MATR welcomes twins of any age, ethnicity, and zygosity (identical or fraternal), as well as higher order multiples such as triplets, quadruplets and quintuplets.
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-Virginia Commonwealth UniversityThe Wright Center’s Health Equity Series is a quarterly exploration and community discussion of health disparities with collaborating partners locally, in Virginia and nationwide. Join expert guests as they present on the latest research, listen to attendees and plan a way forward – through community-engaged research and increased awareness for all. You're invited to participate this August, as
VCU Wright Center: COVID-19 survivor and ACTIV-1 trials participant looks forward to traveling again
July 06, 2021When Linda Thompson retired from the Virginia Department of Transportation in 2019, she started a new job the next day — getting fit. “My new job was going to American Family Fitness and getting in the pool and doing water aerobics,” said Thompson, 72. “I was really in bad shape when I retired. So it was time for me to take care of Linda.” Thompson lost 60 pounds over the next year. The exercise
June 28, 2021As marijuana decriminalization and legalization laws inch across the country state by state, health care providers are seeing more women use the drug during pregnancy. According to a 2019 national study, the rate of marijuana use during pregnancy doubled between 2002 and 2017 — to about 7%. “There’s this popular belief that cannabis is relatively safe,” said Nancy Jallo, Ph.D., an associate
June 24, 2021COVID-19 has widened the life expectancy gap across racial groups and between the U.S. and peer countries. U.S. life expectancy decreased by 1.87 years between 2018 and 2020, a drop not seen since World War II, according to new research from Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Colorado Boulder and the Urban Institute. The numbers are even worse for people of color. On average
May 20, 2021Paul “Pee-J” Beverly doesn’t remember being airlifted to VCU Health from Lexington, Va., last fall. In fact, he doesn’t remember much of his COVID-19 experience at all. But his girlfriend, Angela Griffin, does. “It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever been through,” she said. “Not being able to see him, barely being able to talk to him. And knowing it was touch and go. They pretty much
May 18, 2021Tyrah Vann worked in health care for seven years and holds a Master’s degree in public health. She knew about the health disparities for women of color during pregnancy, birth and post-birth. “However, I still fell victim to it,” she said. “Twice.” Her first baby spent two days in intensive care after Vann’s extreme pre-birth pain was ignored. And Vann still experiences health issues that could’ve
