Home
Featured Story

April 22, 2025
AI-backed saliva test shows promise for flagging chemotherapy risk, early results indicate
Early results from a new study suggest that a simple saliva test with powerful artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms could help doctors identify cancer patients at high risk for severe side effects from a widely used chemotherapy drug.
The drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), has been in use since the 1950s, making it one of the oldest chemotherapy agents still used today. It remains a cornerstone of cancer treatment, used in nearly a third of chemotherapy treatments for colorectal, breast, head and neck, pancreatic, and stomach cancers.
5-FU disrupts how cells make and use DNA. Cancer cells divide rapidly and need to copy their DNA continuously. The drug mimics DNA building blocks and jams the process, halting cancer cell growth. But some patients carry genetic differences that prevent their bodies from breaking down the drug properly. In those cases, 5-FU can build up to toxic levels, causing serious and sometimes life-threatening complications.
Campus News
Upcoming
-
Home ItemA Novel Bispecific Antibody to Target the Brain Tumor Microenvironment , home
May 2, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Khuson Yun, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Houston Methodist Chair, Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center – Roanoke
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 researchers. The institute’s Virginia Tech scientists focus on diseases that are the leading causes of death and suffering in the United States, including brain disorders, heart disease, and cancer. Since its founding in 2010, the research institute has experienced unprecedented growth: doubling its enterprise and lab facilities in Roanoke, while also investing in brand-new laboratories on the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C.
NEWS
In the News
-
Redirect ItemNature: Analysis signals the beginnings of a US science brain drain , redirect Date: Apr 22, 2025 -
-
Redirect Item
-
Redirect ItemCardinal News: Tech Town! Part Four: ‘Stepping stone’ to ‘Staying’ , redirect Date: Mar 11, 2025 -
-
Redirect ItemWDBJ7: Fralin Biomedical Research Institute touts brain research , redirect Date: Mar 10, 2025 -
VIDEOS
-
Home ItemA Novel Bispecific Antibody to Target the Brain Tumor Microenvironment , home
May 2, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Khuson Yun, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Houston Methodist Chair, Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center – Roanoke
-
Home ItemDissertation Defense: Recovery Outcomes and Temporal Correlates in Individuals with Polysubstance Use , home
May 6, 2025, 9:30 a.m. | Fatima Quddos | Graduate Student Dissertation Defense
-
Home ItemVirulence (Harmfulness) — A Matchless Web of Dynamic Interactions Between Microbes and Host Cells , home
May 6, 2025, 5:30 p.m. (Reception and hors d'oeuvres at 5 p.m.) | John C. Alverdy, Sarah and Harold Lincoln Thompson Professor, Executive Vice Chair and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine | Timothy A. Johnson Medical Scholar Lecture Series
-
Home ItemTransformation of Information from the External World by Cortical Circuits During Learning , home
May 9, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Alison Barth, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University | Co-Sponsored by the Center for Neurobiology Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
-
Home ItemThe Role of Exercise in Memory Function , home
May 23, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Henriette van Praag, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Science, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University | Co-Sponsored by the Center for Exercise Medicine Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
-
Home ItemPathways and Regulation of Cardiac Nav1.5 Channel Trafficking in Adult Myocytes , home
May 30, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Gea-Ny Tseng, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Vascular and Heart Research
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.