Researcher joins WVU School of Pharmacy

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Erik A. Bey, Ph.D., has joined the WVU School of Pharmacy Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences as an assistant professor. He also has an assistant professor appointment with the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center.
 
Dr. Bey received his doctorate degree in regulatory biology from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland State University. He also completed advanced research fellowship training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
 
At WVU, Bey’s lab will focus on understanding the role of oxidative stress regulators —or molecules that counteract the imbalance of oxygen in cells—in lung cancer. He will also research the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer with therapies utilizing a certain class of organic compounds—or quinone therapies— by targeting enzymes that are specifically related to these cancer cells.
 
Approximately 85% of lung cancers diagnosed each year are classified as non-small-cell. Bey’s research will have significant impact on the citizens of West Virginia because the Mountain State has among the highest rates in the nation for lung cancer and lung cancer-related deaths.

                                                                     -WVU-