Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public American university located in Richmond, Virginia, USA. It operates the VCU School of Medicine. In the fall of 2004, VCU Medical School opened Virginia's only School of Public Health. VCU Medical School was formerly known as the Medical College of Virginia. VCU also operates a School of Nursing.

VCU is notable for its past and current relationships with the tobacco industry, and in recent years more specifically with cigarette maker Philip Morris, which is also located in Richmond, Virginia.

Tobacco industry documents reveal that VCU began taking grants from the Council for Tobacco Research as early as 1975. Academics from VCU's School of Pharmacy have studied nicotine binding in the rat brain, through a grant supported by CTR.

On January 17, 2006, VCU it was receiving a $2.2 million grant from Philip Morris for its Schools of Business and Engineering.

On May 22, 2008, the New York Times published an expose' describing secret research contracts between VCU and Philip Morris.

On July 8, 2008, Richmond.com, the online news portal for the greater Richmond area, published a detailed and extensive article describing VCU's relationship with the tobacco industry, and Philip Morris in particular. The article described VCU's secret "Operation Peat Moss," (the "P" and M" in "peat moss" stand for "Philip Morris"), an effort to convince PM to make a major research and development investment in Richmond's new biotech park. The article described a situation where academics at VCU were concerned about Philip Morris' extensive involvement with the University, but feared retribution for speaking out. The article states,

"At VCU, some faculty members were annoyed that their school had gotten involved with Philip Morris with no input from them. Concern spread to the point where 20 or so faculty, researchers and students gathered June 19 [20080 in a public meeting to discuss the issues raised by the contracts. Tipped off, Richmond.com attended meeting, but only on the condition that the attendees not be identified. Several said they were so worried about the consequences of speaking out that they used cell phones rather than their office phones to communicate."

Personnel

 * VCU's President is Dr. Eugene Trani.
 * PR/Media Relations contact is Pam Lepley.
 * Francis L. Macrina

Contact
Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia 23284 Phone: (804) 828-0100 Website: http://www.vcu.edu/

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Eugene Trani (VCU President)
 * Universal Corporation (Trani holds stock and sits on their board)
 * Philip Morris

External Articles

 * Alan Finder, "At One University, Tobacco Money Is a Secret", New York Times, May 22, 2008.
 * Cohen et al Institutional addiction to tobacco Commentary. Tobacco Control Journal 1999;8:70-74 (Spring)
 * Stanton Glantz Tobacco Money at the University of California American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Vol 171. pp. 1067-1069, (2005)
 * Barnes DE, Bero LA. Industry-funded research and conflict of interest: an analysis of research sponsored by the tobacco industry through the Center for Indoor Air Research. J Health Polit Policy Law 1996;21:515–542.
 * Norbert Hirschhorn, Stella Aguinaga Bialous, Stan Shatenstein Philip Morris' new scientific initiative: an analysis Industry Watch, Tobacco Control 2001;10:247-252 (Autumn)