William Lewis, M.D.
“When you walk through our hallway on research day you can feel the excitement in the air. The passion our students and trainees have for their hard work and for sharing what they’ve learned is infectious. Their desire to keep learning new things is what drives me every day.”
Born in Kingwood, West Virginia, William Lewis, M.D., has had a strong passion for studying science from a young age. Now through his role as an associate professor for the Department of Family Medicine Eastern Division, he is sharing that passion with the next generation of medical researchers through supporting research opportunities for medical students and trainees.
Dr. Lewis serves as a resource for student, resident and fellow researchers at the School of Medicine’s Eastern Campus by helping provide them with research materials, connecting them with faculty mentors and providing them with feedback and support. He also helps oversee the annual research symposium, which is held each spring and is open to all medical students, residents and fellows at the Eastern Campus.
“The research symposium is one of my favorite days of the year,” Lewis said. “When you walk through our hallway on research day you can feel the excitement in the air. The passion our students and trainees have for their hard work and for sharing what they’ve learned is infectious. Their desire to keep learning new things is what drives me every day.”
Many of the projects conducted by students and trainees at the Eastern Campus deal with local patients from the Eastern Panhandle and the surrounding region. Lewis emphasized the importance of working directly with the community for this research, as it helps shed light on an otherwise overlooked population.
“It’s really important for us to do this work right here in our own backyard where we can reach our patients directly. Many prominent studies have been conducted in high-population areas such as New York or Chicago, but they don’t always accurately represent our patient population in the Eastern Panhandle. Basing our research right here in rural West Virginia allows us to see firsthand how our patients are affected and lets us better address their needs,” Lewis said.
In addition to his role at the University, Lewis also serves as the co-director for the West Virginia Practice-Based Research Network through the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI). In this role, he’s helping build infrastructure that provides support for primary care research across the state and nation.
Through his role with WVCTSI, Lewis also serves as a team member for the newly formed research hub known as West Virginia Rural Roots to Research. He explained that this new program aims to bring clinical research into primary care settings to better represent underserved communities. He added that West Virginia was one of just three states selected to participate in this new National Institutes of Health initiative, which is titled the Communities Advancing Research Equity (CARE) for Health.
Lewis said he looks forward to being a part of this project, as well as continuing to provide support to medical students and trainees as they engage in various research projects focused on patients in rural West Virginia.
“Even though we are still early in the semester, there are already several projects underway by Eastern Campus students and trainees that I am very excited about,” he said. “I look forward to working with them as they conduct groundbreaking research right here in the Eastern Panhandle.”