Fostering Business Development by leveraging WLU’s intellectual, technological, and material resources.

The WLU-Research Corporation was founded to partner with people and businesses that want to develop ideas.

Potential clients for the WLU-RC can run the gamut:

• Faculty, students, and alumni exploring new ideas in areas such healthcare sciences, software development, energy, and many other areas.
• Entrepreneurs and start-up businesses that need facilities, technology, and business support to put their ideas to work.
• Corporations seeking advanced analytics to make sound strategic decisions for their future.
• If you have an idea, we’re here to help you make it work.

What the WLU-RC can do for you:

• Administrative Support: We can assist with proposal cultivation, grant management, subcontracting processes, and more.
• Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer:
  We can help protect and commercialize your ideas through patents, copyrights, trademarks, and licensing.
• Funding: We can help connect businesses with possible funding sources and potential joint venture opportunities.
• Imagination: Let us work with you to turn your questions into solutions.

The WLU Research Corporation exists to promote economic development by supporting researchers, innovators and other entrepreneurial activities with supportive services.

The leading scientific research at WLU includes work by West Liberty Dean of Sciences, Dr. Robert Kreisberg and study conducted by Jarrett S. Aguilar.

Dr. Kreisberg’s work, Mechanism of Action of Statins on Endothelial Cell Function, studies the buildup of fatty deposits in the walls of major arteries.  Atherosclerosis leads to stroke and heart attacks and contributes to the death of approximately 17 million people worldwide every year.  Until recently, it was believed the narrowing of the arteries (caused by fatty deposits) leading to the heart was the major cause of heart disease.  Scientists now know the rupturing of the plaque is the major cause of heart attack and stroke.  Inflammation (our bodies responding to the plaque as a foreign substance) is a major factor in the rupturing of the fatty deposits.  Dr. Kreisberg’s laboratory is studying factors that may decrease the bodies response to the plaque leading to a decreased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Dr. Aguilar is conducting noted study on Kinetic and Molecular Dynamics Correlations in Cytochrome P450 2C9 Mutants.  This grant-funded research involves drug interactions within a liver enzyme.  The effort is attempting to determine what portion of the enzyme is responsible for these interactions.  Discovery in this area of study would allow for more informed choices on drug combinations, improving the quality of care for liver patients worldwide.

Current Crayfish Research Projects:

• Conservation assessment and distributional survey of West Virginia’s Crayfishes
• Conservation assessment of all G1-G3 listed crayfish species in West Virginia
• Taxonomic revision of West Virginia’s members of the crayfish subgenus Puncticambarus
• Behavioral ecology of Cambarus dubius (Upland burrowing crayfish)
• Conservation assessment and survey of three Marietta River Relicts in West Virginia: Ambystoma texanum (Small mouthed salamander), Fallicambarus fodiens (Digger Crayfish), and Procambarus acutus (White River Crayfish)

From Zachary Loughman’s WLU Webpage:
“Research in my lab focuses on crayfish natural history, taxonomy, and conservation biology, with an emphasis on crayfishes that occur in West Virginia. To do this, myself and West Liberty University Biology and Environmental Science students travel the state surveying all of West Virginia to determine the conservation status of the states crayfishes. All of this research is performed with the ultimate goal of elucidating the natural history of these enigmatic animals. By understanding this aspect of crayfish biology, conservation recommendations and actions ultimately are will be more useful and efficient.  In addition to this work, we study the ecology of high elevation burrowing crayfishes, investigate the taxonomy of the crayfish subgenus Puncticambarus in West Virginia, and maintain the West Liberty University Astacology Collection which currently houses 3,500 catalogued crayfishes from over 600 collection sites in the Mid-Atlantic United States.”

Their mission is to develop and empower students from a wide variety of ethnic, economic and cultural backgrounds to become the next generation of entrepreneurs and technology leaders for the advancement of American Society.

Through a partnership with the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), WLU is hosting the on campus program that seeks to develop a diverse pool of young entrepreneurs who aspire to work in the field of technology commercialization and enhance the nation’s economy.

Students in the EMBL Program work as part of six member teams toward a final day series of technology commercialization presentations that are open to the public on Friday, June 25th from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. in the Choral Room in the WLU Hall of Fine Arts, followed by 2010 EMBL Graduation and Acknowledgements in the Student Union.

The EMBL student experience is in pursuit of its mission to develop and empower students from a wide variety of ethnic, economic and cultural backgrounds to become the next generation of entrepreneurs and technology leaders for the advancement of American Society.

“It has been a tremendous experience for West Liberty University to serve as host for the EMBL program,” said Chair of the WLU Department of Administrative Systems, Dr. Carrie White.  “We hope that we will have the opportunity to continue to provide future students with this unique educational opportunity.”

In 2010, the program included 65 college students from 12 states and 31 institutions.  The represented institutions included: University of California – Berkeley, Columbia University, City College of New York, Williams College, Syracuse University, Emory University, Morehouse College, and Ohio State University among others.

To be eligible for the program, participants are required to have reached their junior year of studies and have maintained a minimum 3.25 GPA.  The 65 attendees, chosen from applicants across the United States, will be in residence on West Liberty’s campus for the duration of the program.