West Virginia makes a $50 million commitment to WVU Cancer Institute

MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WDTV) – Last summer, West Virginia announced a $50 million commitment to the West Virginia University Cancer Institute. The institute is reorganizing its cancer prevention and control program with the funds. The department’s services will expand with more medical resources for training and cancer research.

These adjustments will help catapult WVU to the top of its field, with the hope of becoming the first NCI (National Cancer Institute) in the state. The Executive Chair and Director of the cancer institute, Dr. Hazard Jenkins, says the state’s promise opens up the door for the future of medical practice not just in West Virginia, but the entire world.

“When you build programs like this through NCI and others, you’re really setting up a pathway, setting up a structure that allows you to continually adapt and modify, based on the discoveries that are happening both in your own institution as well as across the country and the world,” Jenkins said.

For Dr. Hazard-Jenkins, it’s all about giving back.

“I’m from West Virginia and I was born here, literally in this building and I was educated here,” Jenkins said. “I went to medical school; I did my surgical residency. I’m very much committed to paying back what I was given in that respect. You know, the patients that walk through the door that humble you beyond belief that you walk out at the end of the day that you think ‘that’s exactly why I’m doing this.’”

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