The West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI) is pleased to announce the naming of Ivan Martinez, Ph.D., to co-direct its Lab Technologies and Resources Core. Dr. Martinez will work with Dr. Karen Martin, core co-director, to head up lab-based initiatives and collaborations.
Martinez serves as associate professor in West Virginia University’s Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology and WVU Cancer Institute. He has been with WVU for 11 years.
WVCTSI’s Lab Technologies and Resources Core is home to research infrastructure essential for translating basic research to practices that improve the health of West Virginians. This core provides consultation between expert core personnel and investigators regarding project design. The core also includes the capacity to obtain human samples from across West Virginia, critical to supporting studies from Appalachian patients that are often underrepresented in national tissue banks.
Martinez succeeds Dr. Laura Gibson who retired from WVU in summer 2023.
“I am honored to help Dr. Sally Hodder and Dr. Martin with the Lab Technologies and Resources Core,” said Martinez. “WVCTSI researchers always need state-of-the-art technologies and resources in order to be competitive and to help the Appalachian patients with cutting edge discoveries.”
“We are thrilled that Dr. Martinez is joining our WVCTSI leadership team,” said Hodder, WVCTSI director, associate vice president for clinical and translational science and Preeminent Scholar Chair at West Virginia University. “The valuable insight and expertise that he brings will add a new dimension to the Lab Technology Core.”
This transition became fully implemented in August 2023.
WVCTSI Background
WVCTSI is funded by an IDeA Clinical and Translational grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U54GM104942) to support the mission of building clinical and translational research infrastructure and capacity to impact health disparities in West Virginia.