“We knew we had to be nimble”: Wright Center helps create new models for clinical research during pandemic
If you get COVID-19, go to your local academic research hospital. That’s what Margaret Lessard told her parents. “The pandemic really emphasized to me how going to an academic medical center opens up the possibilities for you as a patient,” said the senior clinical research coordinator at VCU Health. “We had treatments here that weren’t […]
Gut bacteria and health: VCU researcher leverages Wright Center resources to establish himself as leader in the field
Across the world, many years ago, doctors would prescribe unappealing concoctions of human and animal stool a treat a number of stomach ailments. And, in the last 10 years, clinical trials have begun to confirm why. “There’s really a factory inside our bellies,” says Jasmohan Bajaj, M.D., a gastroenterologist and liver specialist at Virginia Commonwealth University. […]
COVID-19 survivor finds hope and health at Community Memorial Hospital
“You’re not going to get anywhere with cures if you don’t have clinical trials. I do it because I might help many people down the road. I might help my daughter.” Rebecca Jennings shared her story about surviving COVID-19 at VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital. Jennings participated in a clinical trial led by Antonio Abbate, […]
Arun Sanyal: the liver specialist leading some of Virginia’s earliest COVID-19 clinical trials
Before the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset in Virginia, Arun Sanyal, M.D., a liver specialist at VCU Health and associate director at the Wright Center, saw the promise of the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir against the disease. Determined to do right by patients, he contacted its manufacturers at Gilead Sciences, Inc. to push for VCU Health to […]
COVID-19 survivor joins Wright Center’s clinical trial oversight committee
Kathy White, an early COVID-19 patient at Virginia Commonwealth University medical center, has joined an oversight committee designed to bring the best treatment options to VCU Health system and the Richmond community. The COVID-19 Clinical Trials Oversight Committee, formed in April, brings together experts from across the health system and university to evaluate and prioritize […]
Raising the Standard of Treatment: Wright Center joins community conversation about clinical trials and COVID-19
Lauren Harris, M.S., M.Ed., the Wright Center’s hub research capacity administrator, joined experts at VCU and VCU Health today to engage the community in Virginia Commonwealth University’s role as a clinical and translational science hub. Harris offered participants an overview of the importance of clinical trials in human health research. “They really show researchers what […]
Wright Center COVID trials expanded with the help of medical language services
adapted from a VCU Health news story Clara Dutari is bilingual, interpreting for Spanish-speaking patients at VCU Health. But she doesn’t just convert words, like a Spanish-English dictionary. She provides context, nuance and intuition to improve communication. One of six interpreters and translators at VCU Medical Center, Dutari sometimes sees patients nodding as their doctor […]
Four VCU faculty teams awarded Wright Center pilot grants
The Wright Center has awarded funding to four faculty research teams whose projects will use the center’s innovative imaging facilities. The pilot imaging fund supports clinical research that uses the Wright Center’s innovative Collaborative Advanced Research Imaging facility. The facility features 6,000 square feet of research space, including a research-dedicated MRI scanner, a mock scanner, […]
Zero to Sixty: The Wright Center’s rapid response to COVID-19
The Wright Center has been on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 since March. As Virginia Commonwealth University’s home for interdisciplinary human health research, the center is uniquely positioned to act as a bridge between the physicians, faculty, researchers and staff that are engaged in fighting the pandemic on multiple fronts. And it’s […]
“The more we share it, the better”: COVID-19 survivor shares her story as a patient and clinical trials participant
Kathy White lost some days. The Henrico County resident was admitted to Virginia Commonwealth University medical center on March 26 and wasn’t released until April 9. But it didn’t feel like 15 days. “I didn’t think I’d been there that long,” she says. “They all roll together.” White is just one of the 1.3 million […]
