UVA Health’s Neeral Shah, MD, is one of 12 recipients of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s 2025 Outstanding Faculty Awards.

UVA Health’s Neeral Shah, MD, is one of 12 recipients of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s 2025 Outstanding Faculty Awards for faculty “who exemplify the highest standards of teaching, scholarship and service.”

Shah’s passion for learning and teaching came from his parents, who immigrated to the United States from India with just two suitcases and $8.

“Their philosophy was, ‘Knowledge is something that nobody can ever take from you,’ a belief they deeply instilled in me,” he said.

During his 15 years at the University of Virginia, where he serves as a professor of medicine in the gastrointestinal/hepatology division, Shah has used his knowledge and skills to care for patients, research ways to improve care and educate thousands of future physicians and healthcare providers.

As a gastroenterologist and digestive health specialist, Shah has performed thousands of colonoscopies and now specializes in liver disease, caring for patients with chronic liver disease and those in need of a liver transplant.

As a researcher, Shah helped develop a better way to care for patients with liver disease who experience bleeding problems. The innovative work by Shah and collaboration with biomedical engineers led to a National Institutes of Health grant and the eventual creation of the Quantra Hemosonics machine, widely adopted by anesthesiologists to best use blood products during patient care.

As an educator, Shah played a key role in creating the UVA School of Medicine’s NxGen pre-clerkship medical education curriculum, which prepares students to be lifelong learners who provide patient-centered, evidence-based medical care. He has won every major teaching award at UVA while also developing a series of medical education infographics now used in 98% of American medical schools and 70 countries around the world.

UVA School of Medicine graduate Katie Webb, MD, described Shah in a letter of recommendation as a teacher who was committed not only to providing excellent medical education but to connecting with his students and his patients.

“In a room of over 100 people, he took the time to make each of us feel valued. He asked us our names, inquired about our weekend activities, and got to know not only our academic interests but our interests outside of school as well,” Webb wrote. “During the final week of the [gastrointestinal coursework], we had the opportunity to see Dr. Shah interview one of his patients. … The patient praised Dr. Shah for the time he devoted to their care, explaining the disease process in terms they could understand, exploring treatment options in the broader context of the patient’s lifestyle and wishes and being compassionate yet straightforward in discussing outcome and prognosis. That patient interaction highlighted to me that Dr. Shah is not only an educator that would do anything for his students, he is also a clinician who would do anything for his patients.”

West Virginia has landed its second commitment out of the transfer portal, and its first on the offensive side of the ball.

Sunday evening, Eastern Michigan wide receiver transfer Oran Singleton Jr. announced his pledge to the Mountaineers.

This past season for the Eagles, Singleton caught a team-high 64 passes for 639 yards and two touchdowns. Prior to arriving at Eastern Michigan, Singleton played one year at Akron and then made the move to the junior college level to play for Hutchinson CC. There, he led the team in receptions (31) and was second in yards (419).

West Virginia will continue to add to the wide receiver room in the coming days and weeks as they look to replace the departure of Justin Robinson along with the potential departures of Traylon Ray Ric’Darious Farmer and Hudson Clement.

Singleton will have one year of eligibility remaining.

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No. 14 West Virginia Upset in Boulder Following Brutal Fourth Quarter

Still without Tucker DeVries, Sunday’s game against Mercyhurst would be West Virginia’s final opportunity to figure things out ahead of their holiday break, followed by the gauntlet that is the Big 12.

While the Mountaineers would ease past the Lakers, they couldn’t do it without suffering another injury. Starting center Amani Hansberry was injured in the opening minute and did not return as West Virginia beat Mercyhurst 67-46 at the WVU Coliseum to close non-conference play.

The Mountaineers persevered the early departure of Hansberry by getting inside on the Lakers. After a Jonathan Powell 3-pointer, eight of WVU’s next 13 points came at the rim as they took a 16-7 lead in the opening eight minutes of action.

While the Lakers would be able to keep the West Virginia lead in single digits, a late 11-3 run helped West Virginia into halftime with a 35-22 lead.

While West Virginia shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, the second half would have a much different feel to it.

West Virginia made only one basket, and that came on a score from Eduardo Andre just a minute into the second half. After that, though, West Virginia’s offense went silent, and it allowed the Lakers to get back into the game.

Mercyhurst went on an 8-0 run from the 17:23 mark until the 14:46 mark of the second half, as West Virginia’s lead was cut to 38-30. The Mountaineers would respond appropriately, though, going on a 16-0 run themselves, pushing the lead to 24 with 8:13 to play.

During the run, it was a plethora of players who got involved for the Mountaineers. Five different players scored during the run, including Javon Small, who scored on a fastbreak dunk after a steal from Joe Yesufu. The dunk would be Small’s 1,000th career point.

Mercyhurst countered with a 5-0 run, but that didn’t faze the Mountaineers in the slightest. West Virginia scored the next nine points as they continued to lock down on defense.

Mercyhurst would score only 11 points in the final 14:45 of the game, shooting 22 percent from the field in the second half and 28 percent from the field on the afternoon. West Virginia held Mercyhurst to shoot only 5-for-17 from beyond the arc.

The Mountaineers shot 48 percent from the field despite struggling mightly from three as they shot 5-for-19 from beyond the arc. Small led West Virginia with 19 points on the afternoon.

West Virginia now will be off until Dec. 31, when they open Big 12 play on the road against No. 8 Kansas.