Transplantation, HIV infection and immunosuppression: Wright Center scientists contribute to studies using national COVID-19 data
Organ 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 […]
VCU researchers develop COVID-19 testing method that is both accurate and fast
You 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) […]
Ten years later: How the KL2 Program at the Wright Center trained a generation of research leaders
More 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 […]
Little-known resources, public access policy and data management: Eight questions with VCU Librarian Nina Exner
Nina Exner, Ph.D., calls her job a ‘funny profession.’ Being a research data librarian means different things at different institutions, but for Exner it translates largely into data management. She helps VCU researchers comply – appropriately and ethically – with the data management plans required by the government or foundations who give them grants. The […]
Wright Center researchers co-author winning N3C poster on organ transplants and COVID-19
The Wright Center’s Amy Olex, M.S., and Evan French were co-authors on a poster that won top honors at a recent conference. The senior bioinformatics specialist and informatics system analyst, respectively, helped produce Covid-19 In Solid Organ Transplantation (SOT): Results of The National Covid Cohort Collaborative (N3C). The poster was accepted to the Cutting Edge of Transplantation […]
Highlighting the Work of Richmond’s Community Health Workers and Advocates
The health of our community plays a key role in our personal well-being, which is why the work that community health workers and advocates do is so impactful. Public health warriors are on the front lines serving Richmond City’s vulnerable populations by advocating and educating their communities about their health and helping them navigate to […]
Wright Center Director contributes to public health messaging on vaccines
As the nation gets closer to authorized COVID-19 vaccines, VCU Health is gearing up to be part of the unprecedented distribution in central Virginia. Wright Center Director F. Gerard Moeller, M.D., joined other researchers and health care providers to offer fact-based perspective on the safety and efficacy of vaccines for a story in VCU Health […]
NASH and pericarditis: Wright Center researchers co-author two NEJM articles
Two leaders at the Wright Center are co-authors on articles in the New England Journal of Medicine this month. Arun Sanyal, M.D., associate director for KL2 Career Development at the Wright Center, contributed to research showing the effects of semaglutide, a medication used to treat diabetes, on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a disease that affects millions […]
KL2 scholar proposes curbing pediatric tests and procedures in JAMA Pediatrics article
Wright Center KL2 Scholar Elizabeth Wolf, M.D., MPH, published an article in JAMA Pediatrics this month addressing concerns about negative health impacts from common, and often unnecessary, medical tests and procedures for young patients. Wolf, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the VCU School of Medicine, studies health care for vulnerable populations, […]
Wright Center researchers featured for Global Diversity Awareness Month
VCU Health featured two VCU researchers, both serving in community engagement roles at the Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, for October’s Global Diversity Awareness Month. “Diversity matters in health care because it drives innovation,” said Katherine Tossas, Ph.D., M.S., whose work is informed by bioinformatics and community-engaged research. Tossas, the director of catchment […]
