West Virginia’s U.S. Senators included $6 million for a major addition to the Fredric W. Smith Science Building on the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) campus in a federal appropriations bill approved recently by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine is rapidly adding innovative research and community engagement projects to its medical student experience,” said James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM president. “U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito – both serving on the Appropriations Committee – are helping us in a multitude of ways to enhance medical education and upgrade the skills of our students.”

The $6 million U.S. Department of Health and Human Services appropriation, if enacted, would help construct and equip a research addition to the existing science building on WVSOM’s Lewisburg campus. The current facility, built in 1991, will be modernized and expanded to offer adequate space for faculty and student research. The project will provide approximately 15,000 square feet of additional space on two floors for research labs, clinical and translational science, and support services. The project will support 110 construction jobs and 25 faculty and staff jobs.