Wyeth funds university cardio research

The University hopes to hire 15 scientists in heart and vascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, neurobiology and respiratory biology. The new researchers will be expected to work toward finding causes and cures of various diseases. The Wyeth Fund will enable the university to take immediate action in filling faculty positions called for in its long-term bioscience research plan.

University health researchers have identified six core areas of research, based in large part on the health needs of the state. The Wyeth funds will support basic research in three of the core areas: cardiovascular sciences, respiratory biology and diabetes/obesity.

“We have a very high incidence of obesity and diabetes in our adult population in West Virginia, especially in women,” said Dr Thomas Saba, the university’s associate vice president for health sciences research. “There is an unusually high incidence of diabetes in children, likely also linked to obesity. Respiratory mechanisms are significantly altered by obesity. We can use the Wyeth Research Fund to accomplish the University’s strategic goals in research, and honor the desire by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to strategically invest in these areas of research.

Wyeth agreed in 2000 to fund this research as part of an agreement that settled West Virginia diet drug litigation.