The West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI) is pleased to announce the naming of two leaders in clinical and translational research to direct two of its cores.
Dr. Karen Martin has been named WVCTSI’s Lab Technology Core co-director, and will work with Dr. Laura Gibson, core director, to head up lab-based initiatives and collaborations.
Dr. Martin currently serves as director of core resources for the Office of Research & Graduate Education at WVU Health Sciences Center, director of WVU Animal Models & Imaging Facility and service professor in WVU’s Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology. She has been with WVU for 14 years.
WVCTSI’s Lab Technology 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 is also engaged in the collection of samples critical to moving research projects from planning to implementation.
Martin succeeds Dr. Christopher Cuff who retired from WVU in early 2021.
“I am excited to join the WVCTSI team that has been so successful in addressing and improving the health disparities that exist in our state,” Dr. Martin said. “I look forward to supporting this effort as a leader in the technology core.”
Sijin Wen, Ph.D., has been named Clinical Research Design, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics Core (CRDEB) interim director. Dr. Wen serves as associate professor in the WVU School of Public Health and has been with WVU for nine years. Wen succeeds Dr. Tom Hulsey who passed away in January.
WVCTSI’s CRDEB Core provides services to clinical and translational researchers throughout the state of West Virginia. This core offers researchers a central means to receive support from a comprehensive group of scientists with extensive biostatistical and epidemiologic expertise. CRDEB Core scientists enhance clinical and translational research by utilizing existing methods and developing new methods in statistical data analysis and research design.
"We will continue to provide support of the research process, including study design, sample size calculations, data management and analysis,” Dr. Wen said. “I am looking forward to working with clinical and translational researchers throughout the state of West Virginia."
“We are thrilled that Dr. Martin and Dr. Wen are joining our WVCTSI team,” Sally Hodder, M.D., WVCTSI director and associate vice president for clinical and translational science at WVU said. “The valuable insight and vast experience that they bring will help us continue to support our research efforts to meet the needs of our communities.”
This transition became fully implemented in January 2021.
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.