Through research, education, and health promotion, CAMC Institute for Academic Medicine aims to improve the health of our patients and community.

Summer Research Externship Program

Click here for information on the Summer Research Externship Program.

Commitment to Research

For more than 40 years, Charleston Area Medical Center has collaborated on research to improve the lives of the people living in our local and surrounding communities. The CAMC Institute for Academic Medicine not only provides continuing medical education to residents, students, and allied health professionals training at CAMC, it also provides research support to physicians and medical health professionals throughout West Virginia and the region.

Benefits of a Teaching Hospital

CAMC’s status as a teaching hospital helps the institution to remain at the forefront of top quality care and innovative research. Many of those in practice here are also faculty members of the West Virginia University Charleston Division School of Medicine. Patients benefit from provide excellence in care. Area physicians’ ability to provide care is enhanced by the educational and consulting services available, and new physicians are trained to provide outstanding, comprehensive health care while contributing to the scientific basis of medicine. The knowledge generated by research yields the groundwork for tomorrow's most promising clinical applications.

Research focuses on:

  • Preventative healthcare
  • Improving patient outcomes
  • Evaluating health services and quality of care 

Knowledge in patient care equals strength in research. Research includes clinical trials looking at new treatments as well as studies using hospital data to learn how to improve patient care. Research also includes the patient. Patients may be asked to complete forms or surveys to measure quality and satisfaction. 

Areas of focus

Currently, there are about 350 research studies being carried out by physicians, faculty, residents and students in these areas:

  • Cardiology
  • Vascular Diseases
  • Cancer
  • Hematology
  • Internal Medicine (Heart Disease, Osteoporosis, Geriatrics)
  • Nephrology (Kidney Disease)
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology (Women’s Health)
  • Pediatrics
  • Psychiatry/Psychology (Behavioral Health)
  • Pharmacy

Research partnerships

Partnerships with other research organizations contribute to the success of our research programs. CAMC joined West Virginia University Medicine; West Virginia University (including regional campuses in Charleston and Martinsburg); West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine; and Marshall University in forming the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (WVCTSI), to establish and provide the infrastructure and collaboration to improve the quality of clinical and translational research conducted in the region. Other partnerships include relationships with Cleveland Clinic, University of Charleston, Johns Hopkins University, University of Kentucky, Marshall University, and others.

Research conducted adheres to all federal regulations. It is locally regulated by the CAMC/WVU-Charleston Division Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (IRB) at the CAMC Institute for Academic Medicine.

Office for Human Research Protections Website