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From Lab to Life: Translating Heart Cell Discoveries into Therapy

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Robert Gourdie, Ph.D. headshot

Robert Gourdie, Ph.D., FAHA, AIMBE

Heywood Fralin Professor and Director
Center for Vascular and Heart Research
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
Virginia Tech College of Engineering

Elected Member, National Academy of Inventors
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Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture

From Lab to Life: Translating Heart Cell Discoveries into Therapy

Date: Sept. 18, 2025

Time: 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.  (Reception and hors d'oeuvres at 5 p.m.)

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About this Seminar

Dr. Robert Gourdie’s Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture will take the audience on a journey from the basics of how heart cells talk to each other, all the way to new treatments that can improve lives. He will explain how his team’s discoveries about cell-to-cell connections—tiny structures called gap junctions and the perinexus—have changed the way scientists think about how heartbeats are coordinated and how irregular heart rhythms start. Gourdie will show how this understanding inspired his team to develop specialized molecules, which are now being tested to help heal wounds, protect the heart after injury, and even fight cancer. He will share real-life stories about how basic science from the lab grew into biotechnology companies and treatments. He will also describe how turning research into real-world health solutions benefits everyone — especially when supported by public funding.

Additional Details

This is a free event hosted by Dr. Michael Friedlander and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. For more information, please call 540-526-2059.

About Maury Strauss

Maury Strauss was a longtime community benefactor and businessman who supported biomedical research with the goal of energizing the local economy and improving quality of life in our neighborhoods and around the world. In order to ensure the continued success of Roanoke’s biomedical research enterprise, as well as the free public seminars, Mr. Strauss made a generous gift to the series. He passed away in June 2024 at age 99. 

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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. 

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