Office of the Vice President forResearch and Innovation

Located in the heart of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a premier urban public research university. VCU comprises two main campuses across 198 acres: the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) and Monroe Park, along with fourteen schools and three colleges, an academic medical center, and more than 50 institutes, centers, and core laboratories spread across these campuses. As one of Virginia's largest and most diverse universities, VCU’s student population exceeds 28,000 students enrolled in over 200 comprehensive certificate, undergraduate, graduate, professional, and doctoral programs. The university's Medical Center Campus is a hub of academic excellence, home to over 4,000 students across colleges of Health Professions, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. This makes VCU one of only 20 academic medical centers with a school in every health-related discipline, fostering an environment conducive to translational science and community engagement. 

VCU's status as a Carnegie Foundation R1 "very high research activity" institution reflects its commitment to academic and research excellence. Carnegie has also designated the university as a Community Engaged institution, a distinction shared with only 104 other public research universities that enjoy both this recognition and the R1 status. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has risen rapidly in national rankings, now standing at No. 72 among public universities and No. 139 overall, including both public and private institutions, according to the U.S. News & World Report. VCU has also been recognized through the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development Survey, ranking 47th in R&D expenditures among U.S. public institutions. In FY 2025, VCU’s sponsored program awards for research reached a record $567 million, reflecting a 109% increase since FY 2018. These achievements are proof that when we invest in our researchers, infrastructure, and research processes, we are able to achieve incredible outcomes. VCU's innovative research, addressing societal and scientific challenges, has led to significant advancements in areas ranging from health care and energy to addressing housing insecurity. 

VCU’s research infrastructure includes several research institutes, centers, and core facilities such as the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research (CCTR), the Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center (MCC), the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics (VIPBG), the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center, the Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies (IDAS), the Center for Rehabilitation Sciences and Engineering (CERSE), the Center on Society and Health, the Partnership for People with Disabilities (PPD), the Humanities Research Center (HRC), and the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment (ISEE). These centers and institutes of excellence support the university’s research mission and involve faculty from multiple disciplines in the arts, public policy, biotechnology, and health care discoveries. 

Ranked among the top 100 universities for patents by the National Academy of Inventors and named one of the top 20 most innovative public universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best Colleges, VCU continues to lead in fostering innovation and academic achievement. In FY 2025, VCU’s innovation ecosystem generated 106 invention disclosures, 166 patents filed, 27 patents issued, 13 licenses to start-ups, 8 new start-ups, and $3.7 million in licensing revenue, further solidifying its position as a cornerstone of Virginia’s educational landscape.

Our history:

Founded in 1838 as the Medical College of Hampden-Sydney, later known as the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), our institution has a rich and storied history that extends well beyond our formal establishment as Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 1968. This journey began with the inception of MCV, which later merged with the Richmond Professional Institute (RPI), a progressive institution founded in 1917. The fusion of these two historic institutions gave rise to VCU, marking a new era of educational excellence and innovation.

Over our 175-year history, VCU has been at the forefront of academic and research breakthroughs. Our university has distinguished itself through numerous "firsts," not only in Virginia but also on a national and international scale. These milestones include:

• Establishing the First School of Social Work in the South
• Launching the First American Campus in Qatar
• Constructing the First LEED Platinum Building in Virginia
• Receiving the First Major National Institutes of Health Grant in Virginia for Translational Research

Today, VCU is a dynamic urban university that encompasses two main campuses - MCV and Monroe Park - and houses seventeen colleges and schools. As we continue to grow and evolve, our rich history remains a guiding force, inspiring us to new heights of achievement and innovation.

VCU’s timeline

Our mission:

VCU's mission is to serve as a national urban public research institution dedicated to the success and well-being of its students, patients, faculty, staff, and community​​ through:

• Real-world learning that furthers civic engagement, inquiry, discovery, and innovation
• Research that expands the boundaries of new knowledge and creative expression and promotes translational applications to improve the quality of human life
• Interdisciplinary collaborations and community partnerships that advance innovation, enhance cultural and economic vitality, and solve society’s most complex challenges
• Health sciences that preserve and restore health for all people, seek the cause and cure of diseases through groundbreaking research, and educate those who serve humanity
• Deeply ingrained core values that provide a safe, trusting, and supportive environment to explore, create, learn, and serve

Our shared values:

• Accountability - Commit to the efficient and transparent stewardship of our resources to achieve institutional excellence
• Achievement - Pursue excellence in learning, research, and scholarly pursuits; service; and patient care
• Collaboration - Foster respect, collegiality, and cooperation to advance learning, entrepreneurship,p and inquiry
• Freedom - Strive for intellectual truth with responsibility and civility, respecting the dignity of all individuals
• Innovation - Cultivate discovery, creativity, originality, inventiveness, and talent
• Service - Engage in the application of learning and discovery to improve the human condition and support the public good at home and abroad
• Opportunity - Uphold a climate of mutual trust and respect where individuals of different backgrounds, identities, abilities and life experiences are embraced, engaged and empowered to drive excellence and success
• Integrity - Adhere to the highest standards of honesty, respect, and professional and scholarly ethics

 VCU’s history, mission, and values

One VCU Research Strategic Priorities Plan

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) embarked on a transformative six-year plan in 2021 to advance research and innovation. This initiative focuses on fostering a culture of collaboration, creativity, and adaptability within VCU's diverse scholarly pursuits. VCU seeks to make impactful transdisciplinary discoveries that benefit the global community. All One VCU Research strategic initiatives are fortified by our fundamental commitment to fostering a culture of collaboration by: 

Cultivating a Culture of Innovation and Collaboration: VCU aims to incentivize research efforts, reward innovation, and recruit eminent research faculty and staff. It seeks to enhance interactions within the VCU community.

Facilitating Research Collaborations: VCU plans to accelerate innovation through collaborations with industry partners and community organizations, addressing barriers to interdisciplinary research cooperation.

Promoting Diverse Training Programs: The university intends to expand research opportunities for undergraduate students by promoting a robust pipeline of diverse trainees through excellence in training programs.

Translating and Communicating Research: VCU strives to promote research dissemination and engagement with the community, collaborate with community partners to design effective strategies to change research into transformative outcomes and also create systems of continuous communication to ensure community needs inform research.

Strategic Initiatives:

One VCU Research is dedicated to nurturing a transdisciplinary culture, transcending the boundaries of our diverse campuses and disciplines to yield transformative innovations that make a lasting public impact. We champion collaboration and seek innovative solutions where others perceive barriers. The breadth of our scholarly pursuits, across various disciplines, allows us to address local challenges in partnership with community stakeholders, resulting in bold and pragmatic solutions with global significance.

The plan encompasses several strategic initiatives:

Enriching the Human Experience: VCU aims to enhance individuals' quality of life and social infrastructure by applying creative expression, critical analysis and advancements in knowledge and technology.

Advancing Societal Wellbeing:VCU is committed to advancing societal well-being by examining the factors that influence the well-being of individuals, communities, and society as a whole. As a strategic priority, advancing societal well-being involves a wide range of disciplines and stakeholders working together to address challenging social, economic, environmental, and cultural factors.

Optimizing Health:VCU uses trans-multi and interdisciplinary approaches at scales from molecules to populations in search of new ways to preserve and restore human health.

Supporting Sustainable Energy and Environments: VCU aims to advance renewable energy, clean resources, and environmental sustainability. The university also seeks to educate communities, inform positive environmental changes, and promote sustainable materials and practices through collaborations.

More information can be found in the link below.

The oneVCU research strategic plan

In 2022, VCU attained Minority Serving Institution (MSI) status and was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as eligible for the federal Title III and Title V MSI and Strengthening Institutions Programs (SIP), in part due to VCU’s enrollment of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students as a key demographic group under the qualifying metrics. This distinction acknowledges VCU's commitment to and success in serving minority students, low-income students, and fostering student success. With this new designation, VCU researchers are able to respond to opportunities that are specifically available to MSIs or include them among eligible institutions.

Link to our MSI status letter:

Read the letter from the U.S. Department of Education.

The unit of VCU Libraries (VCUL) has two main physical locations: the James Branch Cabell Library on the Monroe Park Campus, the Health Sciences Library on the MCV Campus, as well as auxiliary library operations including the VCUarts Qatar Library on VCU's Doha, Qatar, campus; and the VCU Medical Center Health and Wellness Library, operated by the VCU Libraries in partnership with the VCU Health System. The unit employs over a hundred professionals with annual expenditures exceeding $24 million. VCUL is a Resource Library in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, and a member of the Association of Research Libraries, the Coalition for Networked Information, the National Digital Stewardship Alliance, and several organizations committed to the open sharing of data and information. VCUL partners with the VCU Health and the VCU Medical Center Auxiliary to provide health and wellness information to the community through a physical location within VCU Medical Center and numerous outreach programs in the Richmond community.

Under the direction of the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, VCUL works to transform our communities by enriching scholarship, learning, creative endeavors, and clinical care through inclusive and equitable teaching, collections, and leadership.

VCU Libraries: Our collection and resources

Over 1.7 million electronic titles and 1.3 million physical titles are managed and readily available through VCU Libraries, with faculty committed to increasing and optimizing our collection for research in the health sciences and beyond. We provide access to over 500 databases, including several scientific databases such as PubMed (a free resource from the National Libraries of Medicine), Web of Science (a Clarivate product), and Embase (through the OVID platform). VCUL participates in the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA), a statewide networking consortium for shared access to electronic and print resources. Digital Commons and Omeka supplement the foundation of the VCU Libraries system architecture to enhance access to its collections and services. To further broaden access VCUL manages a robust and efficient interlibrary loan program, with turnaround times for articles averaging 2-14 business days. In addition to these resources, the Special Collections and Archives of VCUL house rare publications and primary source materials with faculty archivists and librarians supporting research into these rare collections.

VCUL maintains VCU Scholars Compass, an open access institutional repository, to provide stable access to research outputs of the University.  These efforts include: housing electronic dissertations and theses, obtaining digital object identifiers (DOIs) through Datacite, and curating collections, with user input, for archiving and dissemination.

VCU Libraries: Our faculty and staff

The most valuable asset of VCUL is the people. The faculty and staff of VCUL are trained information professionals who specialize in a wide variety of areas. There are nine full time faculty members from two VCUL departments, Research and Education and Academic Outreach, with dedicated STEM and health sciences research support roles. These include, but are not limited to: literature search development, citation management, research metrics investigation, systematic review coordination, and data management support. In addition to supporting individual faculty in these areas the library provides synchronous professional development opportunities and asynchronous resources for students at all levels, faculty, and staff to build their skill set and gain expertise (more detail below). The Scholarly Communications and Publishing (SCP) department enhances this support by focusing on researchers’ publishing goals, data management strategies, open access educational resource development, and more. The services available from VCUL are customizable for individual projects, departments, and schools at VCU. 

VCU Libraries: Professional Development Opportunities for Students, Faculty, and Staff

The faculty within VCUL offer scheduled and on-demand professional development. These sessions can be tailored to specific audiences and research areas depending on need and desired delivery method. Frequent topics include: research metrics, scientific database searching, citation management, grantsmanship, data management, reproducibility, and research dissemination. VCUL also offers content tailored to individuals in different career stages including: undergraduate researchers, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and early career faculty. VCUL collaborates with university units, such as the Graduate School, the Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, and the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, to complement our standalone offerings and increase the training opportunities available for scientific researchers at the university.

The VCU Global Education Office is dedicated to supporting the university in increasing the global impact of research, teaching and service and expanding the role of VCU on the world stage. The office seeks to support VCU’s internationalization goals by taking a holistic and integrated approach to high-impact global programming; by growing international student enrollment; and by enhancing international partnerships and collaborations to increase opportunities for students, faculty and staff. Through five specialized units, the Global Education Office offers knowledgeable guidance and support for all areas involving international students and scholars, global learning opportunities,  global partnerships, and global recruitment and outreach:   

English Language Program

The English Language Program (ELP) offers intensive English courses at all levels, from beginning to advance, for international students, permanent residents, refugees, and other language learners. It is fully accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA) and is designed to help students achieve their academic, professional, and personal goals. The program’s core curriculum prepares students for undergraduate and graduate study and facilitates the development of key language skills, including speaking and listening, reading, writing, grammar, and pronunciation. The program also offers several additional customized and specialized programs and language development pathways for community members and partner institutions.

Immigration Services

Immigration Services provides comprehensive U.S. visa services and compliance support to VCU international students, scholars, and employees and to university departments involved in visa sponsorship.

Global Learning

Global Learning expands access to transformative global education experiences for the university community. As the central hub for education abroad and global student engagement, Global Learning offers study abroad, virtual exchange, and campus- and community-based global learning programs such as Peace Corps Prep and VCU Globe. Global Learning intentionally brings international and domestic students together, advancing international student success while creating opportunities for all students to build cultural agility, mutual understanding, and global awareness. Guided by shared global learning outcomes, Global Learning supports advising, faculty collaboration, and co-curricular programming that prepares students to thrive across cultures and apply global knowledge in their academic, personal, and professional lives. 

Global Partnerships

The Global Partnerships unit is responsible for managing and supporting the university’s international collaborations and relationships. The university’s global priorities are supported by facilitating international institutional academic agreements, supporting international faculty development and student/scholar mobility programs, encouraging international research collaboration, and providing funding opportunities for global initiatives that support the university’s internationalization strategy. The unit also liaises with foreign embassies on behalf of the university community and supports international delegation and partner visits; all with a primary goal of advancing the university’s global reach.

Global Recruitment and Outreach

Global Recruitment and Outreach seeks to elevate the university’s global recognition as a premier, top-ranking research institution by building a strong international reputation and brand. The office is committed to increasing inbound student mobility, fostering sustainable growth, and diversifying the university’s international enrollment sources.

The College of Humanities and Sciences boilerplate language can be found on their website.

The VCU School of Education (SOE) has the resources associated with a research institution. With over $40 million in funded research, the SOE is among the top research schools in the U.S. and is ranked 16th best public graduate School of Education by US News & World Report (2024-2025). All faculty members have offices and appropriate technology (e.g.,computers, software) to conduct their work.

The VCU School of Education offers a variety of services to support faculty and graduate students. These include Business Services and The Office of Research and Faculty Development to assist faculty with grant development and post award management. The Office of Research and Faculty Development sponsors professional development activities (speakers, workshops, etc.) to benefit faculty and graduate students.In addition, the School of Education has dedicated instructional technology (IT) support provided by the Provost Office.

These IT efforts provide frontline support for faculty and students through a help desk ticket system, email, or walk up service. As well, these services include training and support on select hardware (such as personal response systems), software (such as Google Apps for Education) and other instructional technology related areas (such as online course design, virtual portfolios, and using mobile technologies). Other services include consulting in classroom technology integration and implementation, classroom video creation and conversion, new faculty computer set up, technology purchasing, and facility technology support and maintenance.

Select Appropriate Resources as Needed from Below

Center for Innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education (CISTEME):Cultivates a lifelong STEM passion among K-12 students in Central Virginia, with a mission to construct a brighter, more equitable world where opportunities are boundless.

Center for Teacher Leadership (CTL): Empowers learners at every level through the development, coaching, and ongoing support of effective, equity-minded educators through three key programs – the Metropolitan Educational Training Alliance, RTR Teacher Residency, and Virginia Adult Literacy Resource Center.

Child Development Center (CDC): Offers full-day, inclusive high-quality care and education for young children, in addition to serving as a learning lab for students, faculty research, and community outreach and education.

Family & Community Empowerment Center (FCEC): Provides mental health support through the provision of counseling, development of psycho-educational resources, and collaborative action with a goal to develop well-being and peace of mind, particularly with community members historically marginalized by society.

Institute for Collaborative Research and Evaluation (ICRE): Provides research and evaluation support for nonprofits, schools, government agencies, and higher education, using mixed-method approaches to inform decisions, enhance impact, and advance equity across diverse projects and sectors.

International Educational Studies Center (IESC): Supports research, practice and professional development through focused global partnerships and commitment to local and global communities, while encouraging dynamic intellectual dialogues among all stakeholders in educating individuals of all backgrounds.

Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium: In partnership with Richmond-area school divisions, MERC leads research on enduring and emerging issues in PK-12 education to inform policy, build the knowledge and skills of key stakeholders, contribute to scholarship, and ultimately impact outcomes relevant to students, schools and communities.

Partnership for People with Disabilities (PPD): Improves the lives of people with developmental disabilities by providing culturally competent and engaged research, education, direct services, and information sharing to ensure they and their families can live, learn, work and play together in their community.

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC): Advances knowledge, resources, and outcomes in transition, post-secondary education, and employment for youth and adults with disabilities through research, training, technical assistance, and direct service.

Research Labs and Faculty Programs

The Arts in Computer Education (ACE) Lab: Members of the lab conduct educational research on combining computer science and the arts. We create and implement innovative curriculum combining these fields and conduct rigorous research to understand the impact of these activities on K12, college, and adult learners.

BEST in CLASS: Provides intervention for PK-3 children who demonstrate challenging classroom behaviors, which places them at risk of developing social-emotional learning difficulties.

Centroid Lab: The mission of Centroid Applied Machine Learning Lab is to advance the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in the social sciences in a responsible and ethical manner. We believe that machine learning can play a vital role in improving our understanding of human behavior and societal trends, but only if it is used with care and caution.

Discourse & Learning: Examines how individual differences influence the classroom learning process, addressing topics such as language and social development in early children and motivation, engagement and learning in science.

Early Science Education: Advances STEM education and public policy by understanding early motivation, interest and educational experiences that influence scientific literacy, science achievement and persistence in science-related career fields, with a focus on underrepresented groups.

Family and Relationship Stress and Health (FReSH): Promotes health equity by understanding the influence of “how we love” on “those we love,” with an emphasis on mentorship as a key value.

Leadership Coaching Lab: Supports and provides coaching resources to Department of Educational Leadership graduates/alumni to continuously develop effective leaders in K12, higher education, and other organizational settings.

Leadership Hub: Supported by the School of Education Department of Educational Leadership, the Leadership Hub equips individuals and organizations with the skills to lead confidently in a rapidly evolving world. Through customized programs, graduate degrees, certifications, and professional development, we help leaders at all levels unlock their full potential. Our nationally recognized experts provide innovative, research-based solutions tailored to your unique challenges.

Motivation on Context Lab (site coming soon): Explores motivation, context and their interactions from elementary school through adulthood.

Multilingual Ambassador Program: The program serves rural, suburban and urban multilingual (English Language-ELL) students in middle and high schools with direct tutoring, on-campus events that include student panels and campus tours, and college and career access information.

Multilingual Learners in School: Studies literacy and language demands and opportunities in learning content areas for multilingual learners and teacher preparation.

Socially Transformative Applied Research (STAR Labs): Conducts socially transformative applied research that enhances the well-being and flourishing of historically underserved and marginalized communities through innovative, applied research.

Office of Graduate Studies: The Office of Graduate Studies is a dedicated resource to support graduate students as they matriculate. This office sponsors the Graduate Student Association that aims to expand professional and social networks to develop practicum and research skills and other professional development opportunities.

The VCU School of Social Work is among the top 30 graduate Schools of Social Work in the nation (ranked by U.S. News & World Report). Founded in 1917, it stands as the first school of its kind in the South, as well as one of two programs in Virginia (and only 56 nationwide) to offer undergraduate (BSW), graduate (MSW) and doctoral degrees in the discipline. Ours is one of the largest accredited, comprehensive social work programs in the U.S.  The mission of the School is to prepare professional social workers as practitioners, researchers, and leaders; to generate research and scholarship for advancing knowledge and practice; and to contribute to the local, state, national, international, and professional communities to improve quality of life for underserved and marginalized populations.

The School offers dual degree and certificate programs and has a number of exciting school-wide initiatives in macro practice, mental health and international social work. Further, the School shares VCU’s commitment to community-engaged research and the facilitation of collaborative projects between faculty, students, and community stakeholders. With 40+ faculty members and 500+ community partners, the School is committed to using collaborative approaches to building and disseminating knowledge through mutually-beneficial community partnerships. The faculty’s research activities address virtually every area of human services and social welfare and research in the school is funded through a variety of federal, state, and local sources, with faculty research focused on: conducting large-scale analyses of epidemiological data sets related to social determinants of health; preventing substance misuse; reducing food insecurity; improving emotional and social learning skills among youth; improving outcomes among justice-involved individuals with mental illnesses; reducing interpersonal violence; and ameliorating homelessness, housing instability and eviction. Additionally, the School has established formal research partnerships with universities across the U.S. and globe, more than four dozen agencies throughout Virginia, and with many interdisciplinary centers and institutes at VCU.

To facilitate research and collaborative endeavors, the School offers regular research seminars and presentations, provides faculty with support for research and dissemination efforts, and has an Office of Research that supports faculty and students in all aspects of the pre- and post-award process. The School is located in VCU’s Academic Learning Commons, a 102,000 square foot facility centrally located on the Monroe Park Campus, which opened in 2013 and provides technological capabilities for innovative work in training, research, and communication. This includes research suites for graduate research assistants and ample project office, meeting, and collaborative spaces for collaborative teams. School faculty maintain dedicated offices in the Academic Learning Commons equipped with all necessary computers, communications, and work space. The School has a computer-aided instruction classroom that provides easy access to numerous microcomputers. This equipment is supported by the VCU computing center, whose hardware, statistical packages and training facilities provide the computing infrastructure needed to support research at VCU.

VCU School of Social Work Office of Research

While Virginia Commonwealth University has a central Office of Research and Innovation (described above), the SSW has its own Office of Research, staffed by the Associate Dean for Research and a Senior Research Administrator, who provide assistance and oversight to grant submissions, post award management, regulatory and compliance issues, clinical research implementation, faculty mentoring, and other areas. 

The Office of Research and its research facilities are housed on the 3rd floor of the Academic Learning Commons. All researchers funded with R-level or equivalent grants are assigned offices for housing their research personnel, and there are multiple working areas and office suites for student assistants and research trainees.

The research project offices are designed for grant support staff and functions specific to research projects. All offices are equipped with multiple state-of-the-science desktop computers that interface with the secure servers, email services, and internet; they also include data management equipment to secure research files and appropriate furniture. Faculty and staff have well-equipped private offices with up-to-date individual computers replaced on a rotating and timely schedule. Graduate research assistants, and post-doc fellows also have office space and computers. With a long history of research support, the Office of Research is committed to developing early stage investigators and mid/senior-level faculty in all scholarship activities.

The VCU Center for Drug Discovery (C2D), as designated a university-level Research Institute or Center (RIC) since July 2024, pursues its mission as to design, discover, and develop therapeutic agents to treat diseases such as cancer, neurological, cardiovascular, infectious and other disease conditions leading to better human health for Virginians and beyond. Currently the center has forty members from Schools of Pharmacy, Medicine and Dentistry, and College of Humanities and Sciences, of ten departments, across both campuses, and has become a university wide research entity. 

The Center current construct is based on the members’ expertise to mirror the industry-standard drug development pipeline and it has become a true VCU-wide hub for translational research through mimicking the full continuum of drug development — from target identification, to molecular design, to preclinical studies and early-stage clinical trials. So far, we have formed eight Core Facilities: Proteomics, Protein production, Structural biology, Molecular design, Chemical synthesis, Biological screening, PK/ADME, Formulation. Meanwhile we also reformed nine Research Focus Groups. They are Biologics, Cancer, Cognitive disorders, Formulations,Heart/lung/blood, Imaging and diagnostic agents, Infectious diseases, Molecular design algorithms, and Substance use disorders.  The Center is open to all the faculty members at VCU to join and pursue drug discovery and development projects, to utilize the facility and expertise of the Center, and to support basic and translational research campaigns across the whole university.

The VCU Center on Society and Health (CSH), established in 2007 and housed in the VCU School of Public Health, is an academic research center that studies the health implications of social factors – such as education, income, neighborhood and community environmental conditions, and public policy. CSH is led by a team of experts in social epidemiology and other related disciplines, including public health, family medicine, sociology, geographic information systems, and strategic communication and design.

The mission of CSH is to raise awareness about the importance of factors outside of healthcare that shape health outcomes and to explore ways to improve population health and wellbeing. The values CSH brings to this work include a commitment to opening the doors of opportunity for all members of society and to partnerships that work across sectors to help stakeholders discover aligned incentives and together achieve meaningful impact. CSH brings a unique approach to its work by blending four ingredients for success: (1) actionable and policy-relevant research; (2) policy outreach; (3) stakeholder and community engagement; and (4)strategic communication that delivers accessible and engaging tools tailored to diverse audiences.

**NOTE: Add some or all these areas of expertise as appropriate for your grant and space allows: CSH is recognized nationally for its expertise in analytic methods for place-based determinants of health, such as census tract level life expectancy, and has developed widely used public facing resources, notably our nationally recognized life expectancy maps the Healthy Places Index (HPI) ─ a tool adopted by officials in the state of California and Metropolitan Washington D.C. to identify at-risk neighborhoods and prioritize investments, programs, and policy. 

CSH is a national leader in community-engaged research, creating new methods to involve communities in shaping research questions and creating action plans to address health-related topics. CSH also leads the community engagement core of the Wright Regional Center for Clinical and Translational Science and serves as a partner in a CDC-funded U01 grant establishing VCU as a national youth violence prevention center, where CSH leads community and partner engagement efforts.CSH collaborates with state agencies to develop innovative digital tools that inform policy and practice, including the Opioid Cost Data Tool (Virginia Department of Health) and the Virginia Wellbeing Dashboard (Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services).

VCU Center for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering (CERSE), founded in 2006, is led by Executive Director Ronald Seel, PhD. CERSE fosters transdisciplinary, rehabilitation research and training to improve the health, function, and life quality of persons with disability and generates innovative knowledge through independent, interconnected research programs across a wide range of disability and rehabilitation topics. CERSE faculty and staff collaborate with VA researchers and provide full research infrastructure on topics such as regenerative medicine, applied robotics, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. 

CERSE has developed and maintained affiliations with 142 researchers across three institutions with an emphasis on interdisciplinary grant application submissions including R-VAMC and SAI. CERSE leads or consults on 66 grants/contracts with Total Awards of $111M and CY2024 Awards of $19M. In 2021, the VCU Office of Vice-President of Research and Innovation formally designated CERSE as a VCU-wide center in recognition of its achievements in facilitating cross-campus, interdisciplinary rehabilitation research collaborations and funded grants. CERSE, in collaboration with the R-VAMC provides support with PI David Cifu, MD for the $116.7 million Long-term Impact of Military-relevant Brain Injury Consortium-Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium (LIMBIC-CENC) nationwide, combat exposures research program.

CERSE currently has 80 full- or part-time personnel including 40 faculty, 4 post-doctoral fellows, and 40 full-time research support staff including an Associate Director of Research Development, grants management and accounting specialists; research managers, coordinators, and assistants; data center, programmers, and call center; information technology; and knowledge translation and dissemination specialists. CERSE offices and computer resources are fully provided to conduct research, recruit, and collect data. All CERSE offices have laptops with internet connection, remote access, email accounts, online access to University Library Services, Microsoft Office software, and research software for data management and analysis, and reference management (REDCap, Qualtrics, SPSS, and Endnotes). VCU servers are firewall protected, and all laptops run Sophos anti-virus software with automatic updates. CERSE is also equipped with printers, scanners, digital cameras, photocopiers, office supplies, fax machines, telephones, TTY, and access to other VCU materials.

CERSE boilerplate language

(VCU) in 1974, became a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center in 1975, and has been continuously funded by an NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) since that time. Massey’s mission is to reduce the state cancer burden for all Virginians by addressing the confluence between biological, social, and policy drivers through high-impact, cutting-edge research; person-centered care across the continuum, from prevention through survivorship; community integration; and training the next generation of community-centric researchers and healthcare professionals.

Massey has 147 members representing more than 30 academic departments across seven VCU schools and colleges. Massey members are organized into three research programs. The Cancer Biology (CB) Research Program members unravel the mechanistic underpinnings of tumor pathogenesis and progression and identify key interactions between tumors and their microenvironment that could shed light on the intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms accounting for cancer progression. The Developmental Therapeutics (DT) Research Program members explore cancer therapeutics, identify molecular targets, assess the molecular genetic profiles of tumors, and translate these findings, along with those from the other two programs, into novel therapeutic strategies for treating cancer. The Cancer Prevention and Control  (CPC) Research Program members develop basic and applied research programs in behavioral, social, and population sciences to create or enhance interventions that reduce cancer risk, incidence, morbidity, and mortality and enhance quality of life.

Massey provides support for a variety of shared resources, including six that are CCSG-supported: Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSSR), Flow Cytometry Shared Resource (FCSR), Lipidomics and Metabolomics Shared Resource (LMSR), Microscopy Shared Resource (MSR), Tissue and Data Analysis and Acquisition Core/Shared Resource (TDAAC), and the Transgenic/Knockout Shared Resource (TGKO). Additionally, Massey has a comprehensive Clinical Trials Office (CTO) that provides administrative, regulatory, and nursing support for clinical trials conducted at the center; an Office of Community Outreach and Engagement; and an Office of Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination.

Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center boilerplate