Latest news with #ClayMarsh
Dominion Post
09-08-2025
- Health
- Dominion Post
Medical student debt: A look at where WVU stands and what it means
dbeard@ MORGANTOWN – Out of 160 medical schools across the country, WVU's ranks 86th for the amount of average student debt among graduates, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges published in Becker's Hospital Review. WVU medical school's average debt load for students graduating in 2024 was $188,892. Marshall University's medical school ranked 113, with an average $161,652, according to the AAMC. Both schools fare better than the national average of $212,341. The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine confers D.O degrees rather than M.D. degrees and was not included in the list. The Dominion Post talked to Clay Marsh, chancellor and executive dean of WVU Health Sciences, about what the numbers mean. We'll take a closer look at the figures and then get marsh's perspective on them. According to AAMC, Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans had the highest average debt load, at $317,890. University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine in Texas had the lowest load, at $33,993. Seven schools had an average $0 debt load, for various reasons. Nationally, 71% of medical students carry some debt, with 56% carrying more than $200,000 worth. At WVU, 89% carry debt. For Marshall, it's 96%. Medical school costs can exceed doctoral training costs for other professions, and Marsh said there are several reasons for that. One is supply and demand. Last year, WVU had 6,500 applications for 115 slots. WVU, he said, prioritizes West Virginia resident students first, then non-residents with close West Virginia affiliations, and then out-of-state students with no state affiliations. Last year, 145 West Virginia students applied. 'We're proud of that,' he said. They want to have all qualified West Virginia students accepted into WVU or Marshall or the osteopathic school, and stay here and serve the state. Another factor contributing to costs is the instructors, he said. Many of them are physicians or healthcare workers who are well compensated. 'We don't want to see our students have any more debt than is necessary,' he said. Based on national figures, WVU's tuition is right on target for out-of-state students and a little below average for in-state students. 'But it's still very expensive and I do think that that's an important opportunity for us for the future, is to figure out how to make medical school or other professional schools more affordable.' Does medical student debt contribute to high healthcare costs? Marsh said U.S. spending on healthcare last year was $4.6 trillion – more than $14,000 per person, which is twiceas much as the average Western country, but we still have lower health outcomes. There are many factors contributing to those costs and the role of student debt isn't clear, he said. But debt can play a role in which area of practices students choose. Lower-paying specialties may make it harder to pay off debt – approximating a house mortgage without the house – and could lead them to decide not to serve in rural areas or not to go into lower-paying specialties. Becker's published an article on Doximity's Physician Compensation Report 2025 which includes a ranking of specialties by pay. Neurosurgery is at the top, at $749,140 per year. Pediatric endocrinology is at the bottom, at $230,426. But general pediatrics, family medicine and internal medicine are also in the bottom 20 – at $265,230, $318,959 and $326,116, respectively. The Becker's story raised a new issue that will play a role in student debt: the One Big Beautiful Bill recently passed by Congress. It includes federal loan caps of $200,000 staring in July 2026, and ends the federal Grad PLUS loan program, which allows students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance, including living expenses. Becker's speculates that this could lead some considering a medical career to choose another field, and contribute to the physician shortage. We asked Marsh if he thought the OBBB will play such a role, and he said, 'I think it's going to play a huge role.' Students will face a challenge without other sources of money, such as scholarships, parent contributions or schools offering tuition and fee reductions. Rural areas are a significant issue in healthcare, he said, and combining these loan measures with OBBB's changes to Medicaid, rural areas will face more challenges and pressures. 'That really is going to require us all to be creative and try to understand what may be additional measures to try to help students and others who want to enter the field of patient care.' We asked if WVU is considering some measures. He named a few. WVU has a MATTER track – the Mountaineer Accelerated Track to Enter Residency. Qualifying students who want to complete their specialty training residency in the state have the opportunity to finish medical school in three years instead of four. In MATTER's first year, he said, five participated. Last year, more than 20 applied. With the accelerated medical school program, students can save money and reduce their debt load. WVU and Marshall both have an accelerated track where a student applying for an undergraduate degree can also apply for medical school at the same time. They can complete their bachelor's in three years, and with MATTER could finish medical school in three years – a total of six instead of eight – thus reducing their debt. This is an option for a small number of the more extraordinary students. Another possibility is a student agreeing to some years of service in West Virginia in in exchange for tuition forgiveness or having some portion of the loans paid off. Marsh noted that students who do their residency training here are more likely to stay here – about 77% – compared to those who train for their specialty out of state and return, just 7%. 'We, like others, have actively worked to try to reduce student debt,' he said. The conversation ended on a positive note. The most recent federal jobs report, he said, shows healthcare jobs staying in equilibrium. This means healthcare is an area of tremendous growth for jobs and economic development. 'We see our role as being able to create pipelines for our health system and other health systems in the state so we can meet the needs of our citizens with the highest skilled professionals,' he said. It's WVU's responsibility to continue to perform at higher and higher levels, including finding ways to reduce student debt.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Your favorite pepperoni roll could be illegal under new food dye ban
CLARKSBURG, (WBOY) — Chips and soda may not be the only food impacted by West Virginia's new ban on certain food dye—most varieties of pepperoni and some other meats would also be considered 'adulterated' due to their use of butylated hydroxyanisole, commonly referred to as BHA, which was one of the nine chemicals listed in the bill. Butylated hydroxyanisole, or BHA, is commonly used as a preservative to extend the shelf life of certain foods. Clay Marsh, the Chancellor and Executive Dean of West Virginia University Health Sciences, explained to 12 News in an interview that BHA acts as a food 'stabilizer,' meaning it slows down the pace of food spoilage. However, Marsh says that in the medical community, a handful of studies have suggested BHA could be toxic in humans, similar to Red 3, and is commonly used in foods linked to obesity, pre-diabetes and high cholesterol. BHA is already banned in foods across Europe, and states like West Virginia and California adopting similar policies could foreshadow more bans here in the United States. 'I do think that this is something that's going to catch on more and more. California started but only had four on their list, we extended that to seven,' Marsh said. '[West Virginia has] now become I think the leading sort of state in the country that is spearheading this effort.' Because BHA is fat soluble, it is commonly used to preserve meats like pepperoni and salami, though 12 News also found it listed as an ingredient in Hungry Jack instant mashed potatoes. According to a National Toxicology Program (NTP) report on BHA, it is also sometimes used in animal feed, cosmetics, butter, cereals, vegetable oils and some snack foods, and 'is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity fromstudies in experimental animals.' What might be of particular interest to West Virginians, however, is BHA's use in pepperoni rolls. 12 News visited two grocery stores, Kroger and Walmart, and found that BHA is used in nearly all varieties of pepperoni. Brands and varieties of pepperoni that contain BHA include: Armour pepperoni Hormel Pepperoni Sugardale pepperoni Boar's Head pepperoni Kroger brand pepperoni Great Value pepperoni Prima Della pre-sliced pepperoni Prime Fresh Delicatessen pepperoni Armour turkey pepperoni Hormel turkey pepperoni Are pepperoni rolls really illegal outside West Virginia? By extension, many frozen pizza brands will also have to change the kind of pepperoni they use to top their pizza, including Digiorno Pizza and Red Baron. At the time of our visit, Walmart did not have any prepackaged pepperoni in stock that was BHA-free, though Kroger had a handful of options. If you want to find pepperoni or salami varieties that do not contain BHA, keep an eye out for words like 'uncured,' 'natural,' or 'organic.' You can find a handful of BHA varieties listed below: Galileo pepperoni Hormel Natural Choice pepperoni Kroger Private Selection pepperoni Although pepperoni will not be 'illegal' when House Bill 2354 goes into effect in 2028, it is worth noting that an overwhelming majority of pepperoni brands will have to change or be pulled from shelves. However, some local pepperoni roll brands already use BHA-free pepperoni: Tomaro's Bakery D'Annunzio's Chico Bakery (Julia's Original Pepperoni Roll) At the same time, others do not, and will need to change the kind of pepperoni they use in their recipe to comply before the Jan 1, 2028 deadline: Barney's Bakery, the official pepperoni roll of the West Virginia Mountaineers Roger's and Mazza's Abruzzino's Peperoni Rolls Home Industry Bakery House Bill 2354 also impacts what food schools can serve in their lunches; Kanawha County Schools has already said it will switch the pepperoni in its pepperoni rolls to comply with the school deadline of Aug. 1, 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
West Virginia University holds White Coat Ceremony for medical students
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — On Saturday West Virginia University held a White Coat Ceremony for the Class of 2027. The ceremony marks the transition of students learning mostly in the classroom to learning in clinical care. More than 100 second year students got their white coats, a symbol of the medical profession's ideals of professionalism and compassion. 12 News spoke to Phillip Englund, a student from Winfield West Virginia studying at WVU, about what he expects after receiving his white coat. 'I know there will be challenges of just learning how a hospital operates but I think it's going to be really exciting and a neat experience to start using all the stuff we learned over the past few years and seeing it, applying it, and helping the state of West Virginia.' Cheat Lake Volunteer Fire Department demonstrates life saving equipment 12 News also spoke with Dr. Clay Marsh, the Dean of the School of Medicine. When asked about the future of the medical field that these students will face, he invoked Dr. Francis Peabody, a celebrated teacher at the Harvard Medical School known for his work on polio and typhoid fever, saying, ''The secret in the care of the patient is caring for the patient,'' Dr. Marsh said. 'The details will change but those foundational elements of professionalism and humanism never will.' Along with studying, WVU ask that their medical students do 600 hours of volunteering to show their commitment to service. Furthermore, they had to get into medical school in the first place. WVU said this year 6,300 people applied to their medical school for 115 spots. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
West Virginia University and GATC Health Partner to Launch Strategic Program to Accelerate Academic Research into Market-Ready Therapies
The innovative program harnesses GATC's AI-powered platform to rapidly de-risk and optimize drug discovery and development, accelerating the transition to clinical trials. MORGANTOWN, Jan. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- West Virginia University (WVU), one of the top public research institutions in the nation, has formed a strategic partnership with GATC Health Corp, a leading tech-bio company leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to transform drug discovery. The collaborative agreement facilitates the combination of WVU's early-stage drug research and GATC's AI drug discovery platform to accelerate commercialization and create de-risked bio-tech investment opportunities. The program aims to de-risk and accelerate the commercialization of groundbreaking research conducted at WVU. Utilizing GATC Health's Multiomics Advanced Technology™ (MAT) AI, which simulates complex systems biology with approximately 90% accuracy, the program empowers researchers to simulate billions of biological interactions, enabling rapid, accurate target discovery, drug identification, and testing at the earliest stages of drug development. By predicting safety, efficacy, and off-target effects, GATC's platform reduces the risk, time, and cost of traditional drug discovery while simulating clinical trial outcomes before laboratory work begins. GATC's technology has contributed to significant discoveries in addiction, PTSD, diabetes, obesity, glioblastoma, and cognitive decline. The partnership not only advances academic research but also creates compelling investment opportunities by significantly reducing the risks traditionally associated with biopharma ventures. By leveraging GATC Health's AI, the program identifies high-potential projects early in the drug development process. This precision enables faster decision-making while de-risking university research as it progresses toward pre-clinical work, IND-enabling studies, and clinical trials. As the exclusive AI partner with Lloyd's of London syndicate Medical & Commercial International and in partnership with Acrisure Re Corporate Advisory & Solutions, the international financing and consulting firm responsible for program sales and distribution, GATC is supporting the underwriting of the first insurance-backed financial program to fund clinical trials, offering a secure and innovative funding source for joint ventures stemming from WVU and GATC collaborations. "This partnership highlights West Virginia University's dedication to driving innovation and transforming lives through groundbreaking research," said Dr. Clay Marsh, Chancellor & Executive Dean for Health Sciences at West Virginia University. "By joining forces with GATC Health and utilizing their cutting-edge AI technology, we are empowering our researchers to accelerate the path from academic discovery to life-changing therapies, ensuring WVU remains at the forefront of addressing critical healthcare challenges and delivering meaningful outcomes that benefit patients in West Virginia and across the globe." Traditional drug discovery and development is a notoriously risky, expensive, and time-consuming process, often requiring over a decade and billions of dollars to bring a single therapy to market. The high failure rate—nearly 90% of drug candidates fail during clinical trials—stems from challenges such as inaccurate target identification, unforeseen toxicity, poor efficacy, and lengthy preclinical and clinical trial processes. By applying GATC Health's AI across these critical stages, drug discovery is becoming faster, more efficient, and more likely to succeed. "We are thrilled to partner with WVU and launch our University Research Accelerator Program," said Tyrone Lam, Chief Business Officer of GATC Health Corp. "This collaboration highlights our commitment to empowering academic institutions with cutting-edge AI tools that bridge the gap between research and commercialization, enabling faster delivery of life-changing therapies." By focusing on high-probability projects and leveraging GATC's "fast-fail" AI analysis, WVU will not only enhance its research capacity but also generate revenue much earlier in the discovery process. This innovative approach establishes WVU as a leader in AI-driven research commercialization. GATC West Virginia, a subsidiary of GATC Health, is enhancing its AI-powered lab operations within the WVU Innovation Building, strategically located near West Virginia University's campus. The state-of-the-art lab facilitates rapid iteration between GATC's MAT AI and traditional lab experiments. Currently, it is focused on synthesizing drug compounds, a critical step in advancing preclinical testing for innovative treatments targeting conditions such as opioid use disorder, polysubstance use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, diabetes, glioblastoma, Alzheimer's and more. To support this growth, GATC West Virginia is expanding its preclinical capabilities by hiring additional scientists this year, reinforcing its commitment to innovation and scientific excellence. About West Virginia UniversityWest Virginia University, located in Morgantown, WV, is a leading public research institution dedicated to creating solutions that address the challenges of today and tomorrow. Through its world-class faculty and innovative research initiatives, WVU is driving advancements across a wide range of disciplines. About GATC Health CorpGATC Health Corp is a technology company revolutionizing drug discovery and development through its transformative AI platform and approach. The company's validated and proprietary Multiomics Advanced Technology™ (MAT) simulates human biochemistry's billions of interactions to rapidly create novel therapeutics, identify and confirm targets, accelerate development, and de-risk drug pipelines by predicting efficacy, safety, and off-target effects. For more information, visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE GATC Health Corp
