Location & Access

When Location Matters - Make It Count

West Virginia lies in the center of the Appalachian region of the United States – a region with a history of health disparity along with heavy industry and its associated benefits and consequences. Our location, alone, offers WVU students a unique opportunity to study public health issues firsthand and gain cross-disciplinary exposure while in school.

The School of Public Health is housed within a comprehensive Health Sciences Center at WVU, which is among the few institutions nationwide that support medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy care, as well as advanced medical research and education. The campus includes J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital and other clinical facilities associated with WVU Medicine, all of which serve as teaching locations for students.

Our geographic location and institutional network allow the School of Public Health to build and maintain partnerships with local and state health departments and federal research institutes, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.

We are home to the West Virginia Prevention Research Center, one of only 26 Prevention Research Centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, the School is home to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the Office of Health Services Research and the only Occupational Medicine residency program in the Appalachian region. WVU Health Sciences Center also serves as the headquarters for the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health.