MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sally Hodder, M.D., professor of Medicine at Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School, has been named director and principal investigator (PI) of the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI).
“Dr. Sally Hodder is exactly the right person to lead West Virginia’s largest research collaborative,” said Christopher C. Colenda, M.D., M.P.H., chancellor for West Virginia University Health Sciences and president and CEO of the West Virginia United Health System. “She’s an accomplished physician who has shown that she can improve the lives of patients through the integration of research and healthcare. We expect her to put that experience to work for people and communities across West Virginia.”
Both the University and the System have committed millions of dollars to support WVCTSI.
Dr. Hodder currently serves as the director for HIV Programs in the Department of Medicine and director of the Clinical Research Unit at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Hodder was selected following a national search and is expected to begin her new role in September. An interdisciplinary search committee made up of representatives from across the WVCTSI partner institutes (WVU, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, and WVU-Charleston/Charleston Area Medical Center Institute), led by WVCTSI Interim Director Glenn H. Dillon, Ph.D., chose Hodder to fill the post.
“Dr. Hodder will build upon the existing foundation at WVCTSI. Under her leadership, the Institute will continue to address the health disparities in West Virginia in innovative and collaborative ways. The search committee and those who met with Dr. Hodder were impressed with her work and her energy, and we are pleased that she will be leading the effort,” Dr. Dillon, who also serves as the vice president for research and graduate education at WVU Health Sciences, said.
“I am honored to be chosen as director of the CTSI and feel privileged to serve the people of West Virginia. The mission of the CTSI is quite extraordinary, and I am looking forward to working with investigators, research groups, and the superb senior leadership teams that exist at WVU and our partner institutions,” said Hodder.
In addition to her position with WVCTSI, Hodder will also be a professor in the WVU School of Medicine Section of Infectious Diseases.
Hodder received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine. After completing a medicine internship at the University of California, San Francisco, she completed her internal medicine residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland, subsequently serving as chief medical resident. After completing specialty training in infectious diseases at Case Western Reserve and University Hospitals, she joined the CWRU School of Medicine faculty and subsequently received a National Institutes of Health career development award (K award) in the area of tuberculosis.
From 2002 until 2005, Hodder served as vice president of virology medical affairs at Bristol-Myers Squibb. In that position, she was responsible for more than 100 domestic and international clinical trials relating to HIV and hepatitis.
She left Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2005 to return to academia and established an adult HIV clinical research program addressing HIV treatment as well as prevention for persons in Newark, N.J. She currently serves on the board of directors for the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Disease Society of America.
Hodder has served and continues to serve on numerous national committees, including the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Executive Committee and the HIV Prevention Trials Network HIV Prevention in Women Science Committee. She has authored many scientific papers and book chapters in the areas of infectious diseases and women’s health. She has received grant support from a variety of sources, including the New Jersey Department of Health, Division of HIV, STD, and TB Services; the National Institutes of Health; and the Health Resources and Services Administration, among several others.
WVCTSI Background
In August 2012, the WVCTSI was awarded a $19.6 million IDeA Clinical and Translational grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences titled “West Virginia IDeA CTR” [Institutional Development Award for Clinical and Translational Research, 1U54RR033567-02; Dillon (Principal Investigator)] to support WVCTSI’s mission of building clinical and translational research infrastructure and capacity to impact health disparities in West Virginia.
This grant was matched by a $33.5 million commitment from several West Virginia entities to create a total funding of $53.1 million to recruit 24 clinician scientists and provide infrastructure core support in biostatistics, bioinformatics, community engagement and outreach, clinical research education and mentoring, ethical and regulatory knowledge support, and pilot grants to grow clinical and translational research in the state.
