Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC | Virginia Tech Health & Biomedical Research
Featured Story
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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New faculty fellow supports experiential biomedical research , articleMeike van der Heijden has been named the inaugural faculty fellow for the Integrated Health Sciences and Research experience at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.
Creating a healthier future. For everyone.
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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In the News
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VIDEOS
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Mapping Different Excitatory and Inhibitory Input Types onto Single Cortical Pyramidal Neurons , homeOct. 30, 2026, 11:00 a.m. | Elly Nedivi, Ph.D., William R. (1964) & Linda R. Young Professor of Neuroscience, The Picower Institute for Learning & Memory, Departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the Center for Neurobiology Research
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Special Seminar: Neural circuits at the Intersection of Social Behavior and Physiological Homeostasis , homeNov. 3, 2026, 10 a.m. | Adam Nelson, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Neuroscience, University of Wyoming | Special Seminar
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Special Seminar: Ephaptic Cleft Potentials in Cardiac Cell Pairs: Computational Modeling and Experimental Validation , homeNov. 5, 2026, 1 p.m. | Marina Vannucci, Graduate Student, Cardiovascular Engineering, University of Bern, Gourdie Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC | Special Seminar
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Drug Discovery in the Next Decade: From Genome Medicine to Clinical Trial in a Dish , homeNov. 5, 2026, 5:30 p.m. (Reception at 5 p.m.) | Joseph Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Director, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine | Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture
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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 |
Giving to the Research Institute
Your generous support of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's rigorous biomedical research enterprise makes a difference for our faculty, students, and patients. Every donation helps accelerate the pace of new discoveries to help patients with cancer, neurological disorders, heart disease, and even rare genetic disorders. Private donations fast-track our progress.