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State of Health Sciences 2026: Momentum, mission and the road ahead

State of Health Sciences 2026: Momentum, mission and the road ahead

Thank you for being with us this afternoon — in the room, watching remotely, or simply holding space in this community we are building together. If you were unable to join, I want to make sure you hear what was shared, because it belongs to all of us.

There is a quote I carry with me, attributed to Tagore: "I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service." That is what we do here. And right now, that service is being expressed at a scale and with a momentum that deserves to be recognized.

WVU Health Sciences is not simply a part of our university— it is one of the most powerful forces we have to improve the health, prosperity, and future of West Virginia.​

WVU Health Sciences – Positioned for Growth and Impact

Across the country, peer institutions are spending billions of dollars trying to create integrated academic health systems — places where education, research, and clinical care are connected in a way that allows each to make the others stronger. At WVU, we already have what others are working to build.

Over the past seven years, that foundation has grown stronger:

  • Revenues have increased from $234 to $363 million.
  • Faculty has grown from 1,156 to 1,872 — a 62% increase.
  • Support staff has grown from 1,166 to 1,562.
  • Enrollment has expanded to more than 4,000 students, including 685 residents and fellows — 250 more than in 2018.
  • Health Sciences research funding reached $129.7 million in 2025. (2025 Draft NSF HERD Survey)
  • In 2024, WVU Health Sciences generated $811.5 million in total economic impact for the state of West Virginia.

These numbers reflect something real: a health sciences center that is growing with intention, aligned to the workforce and health needs of our state, and delivering impact that extends far beyond our campuses.

Progress Across our Schools and Programs

One of the things I find most energizing about where we are is that the momentum is a collaborative effort across our five health schools, research and graduate education, and our clinical partners. Just a few notable achievements that were highlighted:

Dentistry completed $12.6 million in Phase One renovations and opened 61 new simulation stations, while achieving 100% placement of DDS and Dental Hygiene graduates. More than 640 students across Health Sciences have been trained through the Certified Tobacco Treatment Training Program — an integrated, cross-school effort that reflects exactly the kind of collaboration we aspire to.

Medicine expanded the MATTER track, earned national recognition for its work in nutrition education, and secured $30 million in state funding to support both MD class size expansion and new facility investment.

Medicine Health Professions Programs graduated its first class with a B.S. in Respiratory Therapy, launched a new MCAT preparation course, and established the Center for Academic Engagement — a dedicated resource for student success coaching, tutoring, and peer mentorship.

Nursing is expanding access across the state and beyond — through a Johns Hopkins partnership, a new LPN-BSN program in Keyser, an international collaboration with the Philippines, and strong NCLEX board results that reflect the quality of instruction our students receive every day.

Pharmacy earned full 8-year ACPE accreditation, its Class of 2025 ranked in the top 21st percentile nationally on boards, and its Rural Drug Take-Back program received the APhA Pinnacle Award — a national recognition of what is possible when science and service meet.

Public Health reimagined its academic portfolio from the ground up, achieved record first-time freshman admissions for Fall 2026, and deepened its partnership with the Monongalia County Health Department in ways that connect our academic mission directly to community health.

HSC Academics and Student Affairs provided 32,000 simulation encounters through WV STEPS — which earned a full, five-domain SSH accreditation with the addition of Human Simulation — and engaged nearly 1,900 learners through interprofessional education. The launch of the HSC Career Closet expanded advising resources, and the BeWell program reflects our commitment to supporting the whole student.

Research weathered a genuinely difficult national funding environment and sustained strong productivity. We launched Be$tMatch, an AI-powered platform that connects our investigators with the right funding opportunities and continued advancing the science and Center grant strategy that is building our path toward NCI designation.

Investing in What Comes Next

Healthcare represents nearly 18% of the U.S. economy and is projected to grow by more than 13% this decade. The workforce shortages ahead are significant. The need for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dental and public health professionals far outpace current supply. They represent real gaps in care that West Virginia families will feel, and that WVU Health Sciences is uniquely positioned to help address.

The next phase of our work is clear. We are planning a new Health Sciences Education Building — approximately $75 million — to expand how we educate, train, and serve. We have already secured $30 million in state support and are actively pursuing federal funding and private support to bring this project to life. WV STEPS will undergo a 6,000 square foot expansion. Interprofessional education will grow. Research will align with our university's boldest priorities — clean water, brain-computer interface innovation, and robotics for assistive living.

And threading through all of it is Operation Blue Sky — our institutional commitment to culture. To building an environment where faculty, staff, and students feel genuinely connected, supported, and valued. That work is not separate from our academic mission. It is inseparable from it. Because when people feel a true sense of belonging, that is when the best science happens, the best teaching happens, and the best care happens.

I often return to the root of the word health — heal, holy, holistic — which at its origin simply means whole. That is what an academic health sciences center, at its best, is meant to be. Not a collection of schools and programs operating in parallel, but a whole — integrated, purposeful, and greater than the sum of its parts.

I am proud of what we are building. And I am genuinely and deeply grateful for every one of you who makes it possible.