Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC | Virginia Tech Health & Biomedical Research

_{April 13, 2026}

Graduate course brings federal health experts into the classroom

When scientists want the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval for a new treatment for cancers that start in the bone marrow, they reach out to Kelly Norsworthy.

Norsworthy is the director of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies I in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. She will visit Virginia Tech's laboratories in Washington, D.C., on April 23 to share insights on the regulation of targeted therapies for patients with myeloid malignancies. 

As part of the visit, Norsworthy will offer graduate students an inside look into careers with the FDA. They also will have an opportunity to participate in a case study based on the approval of one targeted drug for acute myeloid leukemia. Her guest lecture is part of the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program’s (TBMH) first course taught in Washington, D.C.

Laura Dillon, research associate professor, studies acute myeloid leukemia in the institute’s Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C., and designed the course in Translational Cancer Genomics.