Marshall Magazine Autumn 2022

Ref lecting the success of this collaboration between the VA and Marshall, Sundaram was recently awarded the prestigious Senior Clinician Scientist Investigator VA Merit Award by the Department of Veterans Affairs to study inflam matory bowel disease, a common condition in veterans as well as West Virginians. The Marshall University College

of Science has a large research con centration in water resources and environmental science. Researchers in the College of Science are part nering with the U.S. Army to under stand how army bases are impacting wildlife — and how to minimize that impact. Members of the college are also studying river systems, trying to understand how to control, detect and prevent harmful algae blooms. The university’s Forensic Science Graduate Program, one of the foremost forensics master’s degree programs in the country, is conducting cutting-edge research in DNA analysis. “There’s a real advancement taking place in forensics for law enforcement, and our forensic center is at the forefront,” Maher said.

Dr. Lynn O’Connell and Amy Saunders (center) are both involved in behavioral and public health research and program development.

“We participated in a multicenter trial, and it certainly shows significance in terms of potentially reversing this problem,” Sundaram said. The Department of Clinical and Translational Science has another goal: to train the next genera tion of researchers. Dr. Sundaram and his fellow researchers work with students to study the landscape of health care disparities inWest Virginia and central Appalachia. They then focus on solving those inequi

ties through research. Sundaram said getting medical and graduate students involved in research that is important for the state of West Virginia adds to the level of care they provide. The goal is to get those students interested in the health care issues facing West Virginia so they can start to prepare mindful paths to solve those problems. Sundaram also noted that West Virginia and central Appalachia are home to a large number of veterans, and the Huntington VA Medical Center has the largest research facility in the region. “In the last several years we have made a concerted effort to collabora tively enhance research between the VA and Marshall,” said Sundaram, who takes care of patients as well as conducts research at the VA.

Dr. Maria Serrat is associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences where she heads research on childhood obesity.

20 A U T U M N 2 0 2 2