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Research MVP Awards

Research MVP Awards

A Narrative Timeline of COVID-19 Research

The Research MVP Awards recognize scholars who have done important COVID-19-related research. These individuals were identified by academic leaders across campus for conducting research that has contributed to our understanding of the virus and significantly impacted our ability to prevent its spread and lessen its adverse effects. Honorees include faculty, staff and students who contributed a wide range of scholarly activity and applied research since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MARCH 2020

As early as March 26, 2020, Clay Marsh, West Virginia University’s vice president and executive dean for Health Sciences, was tapped to be the state’s COVID-19/Coronavirus Czar.

APRIL 2020

WVU faculty members Timothy Nurkiewicz, Travis Goldsmith, Veronica Cyphert, Julie O’Neil , Robert Gerbo,Matthew Dietz, Kevin Engels, and Mark Tseytlin and scientists from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health developed two alternative face coverings for medical professionals that are as effective at blocking novel coronavirus as the highly-coveted N95 masks.

Gene Cilento led a team that produced custom face shields for medical and dental worker and surgical mask adaptations to improve the comfort for front-line personnel who had to wear masks for 12 hours at a stretch.

A group of social and behavioral scientists began to study the impact of COVID-19 on communities, including the spread of misinformation about the virus, political leaders leading anti-democratic policies, and how Russia creates and exploits the vulnerabilities of its neighbors. They include Daniel Totzkay, Shari Steinman, Jamison Conley, Megan Dillow, Alan Goodboy, Lynne Cossman (formerly Sociology and Anthropology), Matthew Jacobsmeier, Jay Krehbiel and Erik Herron.

Tina Antill Keener led the research team to assess the quality of life, resilience and needs of nursing students and faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social distancing requirements. Three additional faculty members –Ubolrat Piamjariyakul, Kesheng Wang and Tara Hulsey – and a former faculty member and current graduate student,Katherine Hall, were involved in the project.

In the spring of 2020, when the stay-at-home order related to the COVID-19 pandemic was in force, Angel Smothersworked with faculty and students to evaluate care practices of faith community nurses and faith leaders across the state of West Virginia. Two additional faculty members – Kesheng Wang and Ubolrat Piamjariyakul – and three graduate-level nursing students – Elizabeth Morrissey, Molly Beaver and Helen Melnick – participated in the project.

MAY 2020

Pediatric specialist Lisa Costello provided a refresher course on COVID-19, coronaviruses and pandemics; encouraged parents to continue regular child wellness visits as well as standard immunizations for common diseases; and helped to teach a group of public health investigators in West Virginia to assist with contact tracing efforts.

Gene Cilento led a dynamic team, including Josh Bintrim of the Evansdale Innovation Hub and Harley Hart of the Shared Research Facilities, to prototype and then mass produce testing swabs via 3D printing technology for WVU Medicine when testing supplies were scarce.

Virology expert Ivan Martinez, who has been studying the SARS-CoV-2 virus in his lab, became a spokesman and public advocate for the vaccine. He discussed all things RNA viruses. How long have they existed? Are they alive? How do we protect against them? What vaccines are being trialed, and are they safe?

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JUNE 2020

With the aid of a National Science Foundation RAPID award for nearly $200,000, Gloria Oporto and Rakesh Gupta and their team began developing and testing antimicrobial, renewable mask biofilters constructed of composite biomaterials.

Ivan Martinez, Peter Stoilov, Heath Damron, and Alex Horspool collaborated to create and validate a test to measure antibodies that recognize SARS-CoV-2 (antibody testing) in order to better understand the pandemic as well as facilitate vaccine development efforts.

The WVU Humanities Center awarded seven “Life in the Time of COVID-19” grants to support research projects addressing the pandemic from a humanistic perspective. Funded by the Center through an endowment from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, all of the projects offered a voice to those living in smaller towns and rural areas and addressed what might otherwise be substantial gaps in our understanding of the life experience in the Appalachian region during a global pandemic.

Cheryl McNeil used her expertise to give back to the community during the pandemic by developing the Cooperation Chart, a tool she began to develop years ago to promote positivity in her own household. It is based on her research with token economies in preschool classrooms. McNeil’s goal was to provide a program to support families as they juggle the challenges of virtual work, virtual schooling and/or lack of childcare or community resources due to the pandemic.

JULY 2020

The West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute funded 11 research projects related to enhancing understanding of the COVID-19 public health crisis. The Pop-Up COVID-19 funding opportunity provided up to $30,000 for projects that addressed urgent healthcare challenges, including prognostic and therapeutic studies, as well as the far-reaching impacts of the pandemic.

Elizabeth Shorrock activated students - senior William Whittaker and graduate research assistant Samantha Hale - in a mask-making project in the Fashion, Dress, and Merchandising program. The effort to make 10,000 face masks to be distributed to WVU Medicine, Charleston Area Medical Center and the United Way continued through the Spring 2021 semester with Whittaker working as a work-study student.

Chris Martin, Lisa Costello, Raskia Thondukolam, and Jaymie Brooks Dumproff designed and delivered a course to train a ready pool of public health investigators in West Virginia.

AUGUST 2020

Kym Scott designed and produced a special mask for singers so they could sing and perform safely during the pandemic. The masks are designed to help stop the spread of air particles but have an acoustical design for voices to still resonate. The novel design gained regional, national, and international recognition. Scott has since outsourced the manufacturing of the masks to keep up with demand.

Jennifer Mallow served as a co-investigator on a COVID-19 Policy Review through the School of Public Health and funded by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services Bureau for Medical Services. The purpose of this evaluation is to identify the impact of the Medicaid policy changes on health service utilization, quality of care, spending, and population health outcomes related to morbidity and mortality.

Globally, COVID-19 significantly impacts health services for chronic health diseases such as patients with cardiovascular problems. Trisha Petitte and Ubolrat Piamjariyakul conducted follow-up telephone calls to check on patients with advanced heart failure and their family caregivers to determine if they had any health-related issues and concerns. Another faculty member and current PhD student Stephanie Young and graduate student Saima Shafique were involved in the project.

SEPTEMBER 2020

Mikylah Myers, in collaboration with WVU Career Services and the Reed College of Media, presented the Pandemic-Proof Artist Series, a slate of webinars and workshops by four guest artists, performers and creative minds who stayed creatively active during the pandemic. Guests shared their experiences with students and the public, providing tips about how those in creative professions can set themselves up to be “pandemic-proof” and have resilient business practices during a shut-down of normal activities.

Sally Hodder and a team of researchers earned a $1.5 million federal grant to head a multi-state consortium for a centralized, national data resource. Hodder worked with Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and West Virginia to compile a large, granular dataset that can examine associations of improved outcomes with COVID-19 various treatments.

William Petros, Jeff Coben, Tara Hulsey, Fotinos Panagakos, Laura Gibson, Norman Ferrari , and MaryBeth Mandich teamed up for a live webcast to answer questions, hear concerns and offer guidance for the Health Sciences campus community in the “Mask Me Anything” virtual campus conversation.

Three members of the Reed College of Media’s Public Interest Communication Lab - Geah Pressgrove , Julia Fraustino and Daniel Totzkay - were awarded a contract with the West Virginia Center for Rural Health Development to perform messaging analysis to assure West Virginians receive timely, accurate and scientifically sound information related to the vaccine. The goal is to understand the myriad social and cultural components relevant to various audiences and ensure they have the information needed to make an informed decision about vaccination. As the vaccine becomes increasingly available to critical populations and the general public, the PIC Lab researchers continue to monitor and evaluate changing perceptions and behaviors and make recommendations about message strategies, channels and spokespersons.

OCTOBER 2020

The School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnered to conduct an eight-week mask observation study called MASCUP! to estimate the percent of WVU community member wearing masks properly. WVU’s Keith Zullig serves as the principal investigator for the study, and Randy Nett has been the WVU NIOSH partner on the study. Students participated as trained observers and recorded data at various locations across campus beginning in October 2020. The study was expanded past the initial six participating institutions to over 60 participating institutions in Spring 2021, and mask observing on the WVU campus was renewed in February 2021. Students participants included: Bethany Boback, Jordan Ceglar, Kaile Clark, Aidan Davis,Lakin Davis, Isabella Harrison, Jesse Hubbard, Zoya Khan, Jamya Minor, Lexus Pabst, Justin Quiles, Kyli Smith, and Anita Village.

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NOVEMBER 2020

Sally Hodder and members of the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute established strong partnerships with the State of West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, the West Virginia National Guard, the West Virginia Practice-Based Research Network, the West Virginia Primary Care Association, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, and the West Virginia Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition to increase COVID-19 testing in West Virginia with the support of a $4.78 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

DECEMBER 2020

Tim Driscoll, Gordon Smith, Brian Hendricks and Emily Garner teamed up on a campus wastewater testing project – a noninvasive, inexpensive method of using wastewater testing for early detection of COVID-19 outbreaks.

To address the challenges of COVID-19 testing shortages and lagging turnaround times, WVU and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources teamed up to create a new testing laboratory at the Health Sciences Center thanks to funding made possible by Gov. Jim Justice. Led by founding director Pete Perrotta, the WVU Rapid Development Lab is a collaboration of a number of WVU scientists and laboratory specialists, including Alexey Ivanov, Aaron Robart, Michael Hu, John Barnett and Dorian Williams.

Under the leadership Krista Capehart, West Virginia charted its own path to vaccine distribution. All 49 other states signed on with a federal program partnering with CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate long-term care and assisted living facilities. As those chain stores are less common in West Virginia, the state took charge of delivering its vaccine supply to 250 small, independent pharmacies. The results were stunning, as West Virginia was able to provide vaccinations to all facilities before all but a handful of states even began their efforts.

Gretchen Garofoli, Betsy Elswick and Ashleigh Barrickman led a team of faculty, students and residents who were among the first to vaccinate up to a dozen nursing homes in the region. Barrickman’s group also led efforts to train additional pharmacists and students for certification to deliver vaccines.

Elizabeth Scharman led the COVID-19 hotline for the state, which has answered over 50,000 calls from the public and health professionals since spring of last year. She also led efforts to set up COVID-19 monoclonal antibody infusion clinics in rural hospitals.

William Petros led the School of Pharmacy’s efforts to compound multiple gallons of hand sanitizer and donate much needed supplies for patient testing and personal protective equipment. Petros served as a source of information for the Health Sciences Center Leadership Committee — providing insight into the latest drugs used to treat the coronavirus and updates on vaccine development. When vaccines became available in West Virginia, Petros oversaw the logistics for establishing the WVU vaccination clinics for both employees and students. When the clinics are open, you can find him filling syringes to replenish the vaccine supply.

FEBRUARY 2021

Peter Stoilov, Peter Perrotta, Ryan Percifield and Ivan Martinez began pursuing a new diagnostic test that can recognize variants of the novel coronavirus in a nose-swab sample. The test works by detecting the RNA of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. RNA—a single strand of nucleic acid—contains all of the genetic instructions needed to create a SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Rachel Stein, Corey Colyer, Katie Corcoran, and Sara Guthrie are working with data from Amish and Mennonite settlements to understand the COVID-19-related beliefs and behaviors prevalent within their communities and how these behaviors and beliefs may put them at greater risk for the spread of infectious diseases and misinformation about public health.

MARCH 2021

Timothy Nurkiewicz and Karen Woodfork led efforts to determine the safest masking combination to better protect the wearer and others from COVID-19.