Research Team in National Publication

A Fairmont State University research team was recently featured in an article appearing on the cover of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publication, the National Center for Research Resources Reporter.

The article, titled, "Critical Connections Enhance Research Capacity," takes a look at connecting universities to rural clinics as a means of enhancing research capacity. This collaboration is taking place in West Virginia through the NCRR's Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program, which is enabling connections among institutions and facilities and between mentors and students.

FSU is taking part in the NCRR-funded Appalachian Cardiovascular Research Network project, which focuses on heart disease. Statistics released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February show that West Virginia has the highest proportion of people with heart disease in the U.S. Researchers are currently trying to identify variations in genes involved in two common conditions leading to heart disease that seem to run in families.

These projects take advantage of the resources available at FSU, as well as Marshall University and West Liberty State University. Blood samples collected at clinics are sent to Marshall University where DNA is isolated from them. The DNA is then sent to FSU or WLSU to determine the nucleotide sequences of specific genes in each DNA sample. The sequence data are then analyzed at MU and West Virginia University where bioinformatics tools can be used to find associations between sequences and symptoms of heart disease. The NCRR article notes that Appalachia is well suited for studies such as this not only because of its high prevalence of heart disease, but because individuals tend to live close to other family members. The close proximity makes it relatively easy for researchers to obtain DNA samples from several related individuals within a family.

Mark Flood, FSU Professor of Biology, who is directing the familial combined hyperlipidemia study, notes that the collaboration among institutions provides FSU with research opportunities it would not have otherwise. The article states that IDeA funding was used to buy special equipment to use in the research at FSU and to hire FSU Assistant Professor Sarah Dodson to relieve Flood of some of his teaching duties in order for him to spend more time on research.

Flood said a key benefit of the IDeA funding is that his students are seeing for the first time the importance of their research to the health of the community. Another is that FSU now has established an Office of Research to help expand and support external funding for research, programmatic development and community service.

"We are seeing many more regional and national grants being submitted by our faculty; and Presidents Bradley and Montgomery have allocated monies specifically to support undergraduate research," Flood states in the article.

"Dr. Flood's research is an excellent example of the positive impact that externally funded research can have by creating new knowledge, providing undergraduates with exceptional learning opportunities and serving the regional community," said Dr. Phillip Mason, FSU Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies.