WVU Receives $1.8M for Kids’ Clinical Trials

The National Institutes of Health awarded West Virginia University a $1.8 million grant. According to a WVU news release, the grant will assist in building a pediatric clinical trials network across the state. 

WVU will partner with hospitals, medical practices and pediatric health programs across the state to make treatments available to severely ill children who live in rural communities. 

Patients seeking treatment from WVU Medicine Children’s often need to travel to Morgantown and stay overnight. The grant will give doctors throughout the state access to the same treatments that are available in Morgantown.

WVU Medicine Children’s offers 80 clinical trials that cover a variety of diseases, including cystic fibrosis and cancer. J. Philip Saul, executive vice president of WVU Medicine Children’s and the principle investigator of the program, believes the state will benefit from this funding. 

“Already we have a big impact,” Saul said. “But this grant will extend some of the existing trials throughout the state.” 

The grant to WVU is a part of a nationwide NIH initiative that focuses on how environmental factors affect the health of children.