Department of Pediatrics

WVU Pediatric Research Institute

            Our research program has been careful to focus faculty efforts and resources on studies that have the potential to benefit the children of West Virginia.
            Pediatric research at West Virginia University includes a wide range of community and population health studies, many being carried out in cooperation with our statewide network of health providers, teachers, parents and community leaders; laboratory research focused on the early factors that lead to diseases later in life; and clinical and translational research efforts aimed at developing and testing new diagnostic tools, medicines and procedures.
Each of these types of research is crucial to improving the health of children here and around the world. There are overlaps and connections among the various research projects, and WVU has made it a priority to develop multidisciplinary teams that attack research problems from a variety of perspectives. 
            About 60% of the faculty members in the Department of Pediatrics are actively engaged in research. The research activities of the faculty have contributed to a sustained increase in external research funding over the past several years. The research activity recently reached the level where both faculty researchers and the School of Medicine have determined that there is a need for a centralized research facility where interaction among the varied research teams could be encouraged and supported.
            The WVU Pediatric Research Institute builds upon a strong history of pediatric research at WVU. Dr. Laura Gibson’s pediatric oncology group, for example, has earned competitive NIH research grants for 13 consecutive years. Research from this team is regularly published in the nation’s most respected journals. Dr. Bill Neal’s decade-long studies of the health status of West Virginia elementary school students have had direct effects on thousands of children and influences on state health policy.
Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, the department chair, has a long track record of NIH-funded research – a rarity in the chair of a clinical department in a medical school. He and other members of his pulmonary research group are regularly asked to participate in national and international conferences to share the results of their asthma and RSV studies.

Externally Funded Research and Service
Community and Population Research
Laboratory Based Investigations
Clinical and Translational Research
Research Publications