Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC | Virginia Tech Health & Biomedical Research
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Oct. 20, 2026
Iron deficiency may explain psychiatric outcomes of a rare genetic condition
The image on Ryan Purcell’s monitor shows what looks like yellow sunbursts among threads of magenta and green. It’s a research image of a microscopic cluster of human neurons reaching for one another across the dark of a petri dish.
Together, this cluster of cells is called a brain organoid, and Purcell, an assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, uses them to study a question that brought him to the institute: Why do some people born with a rare genetic deletion develop serious psychiatric disorders, while others with the same variant do not?
With the support of a research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, Purcell is working to understand why 3q29 deletion syndrome can result in vastly different outcomes between individuals.
He suspects it may have something to do with iron.
Campus News
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FBRI scientists recognized for excellence, innovation , articleThe honorees — Read Montague, Carla Finkielstein, Steven Poelzing, Jennifer Munson, and Sora Shin — were recognized for achievements ranging from pioneering scientific discoveries and election to prestigious professional organizations to success in securing research funding.
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The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC is one of the nation’s fastest-growing academic biomedical research enterprises and a destination for world-class biomedical, behavioral, and computational researchers focused on advancing scientific understanding of human health through groundbreaking research in preventing, diagnosing, and treating the world’s leading causes of death and suffering.
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VIDEOS
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Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover—or a Cerebellum by Its Circuitry , homeNov. 6, 2026, 11 a.m. | Meike van der Heijden, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC | Center for Neurobiology Research Faculty Seminar
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2026 Cancer Research Center Symposium , redirectNov. 9-10, 2026 | Academic Building One, Alexandria, Virginia |
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Special Seminar: Recent Developments in Hierarchical Gaussian Filtering , homeNov. 11, 2026, 10 a.m. | Chris Mathys, Ph.D., Professor of Cognitive Science, Aaarhus University | Special Seminar
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Special Seminar: Sex-specific Effects of Endothelial Pannexin1 in the Cerebral Vasculature in Health and Disease , homeNov. 19, 2026, 11 a.m. | Miranda Good, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, Investigator, Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Tufts University School of Medicine | Special Seminar
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Presenting Therapeutic Peptides Using Synthetic Polymers , homeNov. 20, 2026, 11:00 a.m. | Rachel A. Letteri, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Departments of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the Center for Vascular and Heart Research
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Three Lessons About the Brain from the Neuroscience of Emotion , homeDec. 10, 2026, 5:30 p.m. (Reception at 5 p.m.) | Lisa Feldman Barrett, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor, Northeastern University and Massachusetts General Hospital | Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture
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