Fralin Commercialization Fellows Program

By the end of the Fralin Health Sciences and Technology Commercialization Fellowship Program, Fellows demonstrate their knowledge by identifying a commercial idea, researching it with the support of a mentor, and pitch preliminary findings about the idea’s value proposition and market potential to a panel of entrepreneurs. Applicants are not required to have a commercial idea related to their research at the time of application. 

The Fellowship program is closely linked to the Roanoke-based Regional Acceleration and Mentoring Program (RAMP) in-residence program for high-potential startups. Fellows will participate in the same boot camp program as individuals from RAMP accelerator companies. 

• To learn more about the Fellows Program, you can register here for a virtual information session with former participants from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.
• Before applying, talk to your supervisor to ensure that they agree to your participation in the fellowship program, and please note their approval on your application.
• Complete your application online before 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024.

2023

• Naimat Bari, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Associate, Virginia Tech   Dr. Bari is a researcher working in the lab of Dr. Bahareh Behkam in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Naimat was mentored by Marty Rosendale, Founder and CEO of Selnova LLC and former CEO of the Maryland Tech Council. Naimat’s goal, based on research from Dr. Behkam, is commercialization of an innovative idea - Fibrous Engineered Living Material (F-ELM) technology - for early infection detection in chronic wounds.
• Kayla Farrell, Ph.D., Virginia Tech   Dr. Farrell recently completed her Ph.D. in Neuroscience/Animal Sciences after working in the lab of Dr. Timothy Jarome. Her mentor was Bud Thompson, former CEO of Techulon and prior to that, CEO of General Genetics Corporation.  Kayla proposed the establishment of a contract research organization (CRO) focused on behavioral testing, drug validation, and toxicology in pigs with “customizable" models for Alzheimer’s disease and other memory and cognitive-related disorders. Update – Dr. Farrell currently works for Revivicor.
• Meghan Sedovy, Ph.D. candidate, Virginia Tech   Megan, mentored by Kevin Kallmes, CEO of Nested Knowledge and Founder of Superior Medical Experts, is a Ph.D. candidate in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program. Meghan works in the lab of Scott Johnstone, Ph.D., who patented a peptide to dramatically reduce the rates of coronary stent failure. Meghan’s commercial idea revolves around establishing a company to take the peptide to market.
• Alexia Stettinius, Ph.D. candidate, Virginia Tech   Alexia is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, working in the lab of Dr. Eli Vlaisavljevich. She was mentored by Amy Ankrum, former President, CEO, and Co-Owner of Qualtrax, Inc. and current co-chair of Verge. Alexia’s commercial idea provides a portable platform, based on work she’s done in the Vlaisavljevich lab, to complete genomic sample preparation in one simple step.

2022

• Naciye Atay, Ph.D. candidate, Virginia Tech   Naciye participated as a graduate candidate in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, working in the Dr. Jenny Munson Lab. She was mentored by Dr. Tricia Wilson Nguyen, CEO of Thistle Threads and CEO of Fabric Works, who combines her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering with her talent with embroidery to create electronic textiles. Naciye’s commercial idea was the development of a cheap and effective wellness device to reliably identify user risk for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
• Anna Nichenko, Ph.D., Virginia Tech   Dr. Nichenko worked in the lab of Josh Drake, Ph.D., while she participated in the program. Greg Feldmann, former CEO of Verge and President of Skyline Capital Strategies, LLC, served as Anna’s mentor. Anna’s commercial idea was to develop a blood-based early detection diagnostic for Alzheimer’s disease and small molecule treatment for the disease. Update: Anna currently works as a Recombinant Proteins Technical Sales Specialist with Thermo Fisher Scientific.

2021

• Josie Duncan, Ph.D., Virgnia Tech   Josie, mentored by Steve Turner, CEO of CytoRecovery, participated as a graduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Josie's commercialization idea was a standardized benchtop microfluidics platform that is universally compatible with a variety of microdevices. Update: Dr. Duncan is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Davalos Lab at Georgia Tech.
• Kijana George, Ph.D., Virginia Tech    Kijana, mentored by Kevin Kallmes, CEO of Nested Knowledge and Founder of Superior Medical Experts, participated as a student in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program. Kijana's project centered around an automated citation checker, which enabled verification of source material supporting the claims of scientific grants and manuscripts.  Update: Dr. George currently works in industry.
• Eli Mejia, Ph.D. candidate, Virginia Tech   Eli, mentored by Ken Farrris, President of Brookewood Management Advisors, participated as a graduate student in Virginia Tech's Department of Electrical Engineering. Eli's commercialization idea was to develop a bio-interfacing platform and biosensing chip to facilitate genetic engineering projects. Update: Eli continues his doctoral studies and research in the lab of Dr. Wei Zhou.
• Azin Pourkhalili, Ph.D., Virginia Tech   Azin, mentored by Dr. Mary Miller, Director of RAMP, participated as a graduate student in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise. Azin's project was to develop a nutrition education program for older adults. Update: Dr. Pourkhalili finished her doctoral program and now serves as a research assistant.
• Ruhit Sinha, Ph.D. candidate, Virginia Tech  Ruhit, mentored by Dr. John Robertson, CEO of DialySensors, Inc., participated as a graduate student in the Virginia Tech Department of Biomechanical Engineering and Mechanics. Ruhit's commercialization idea was a stage-specific treatment for chronic kidney disease patients with the most suitable hemodialyzer.  Update: Ruhit continues his doctoral studies and research in the lab of Dr. Anne Staples.

2020

• Allison Bouslog (Gallucci), Ph.D., Virginia Tech  Allison participated as a graduate student in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program, working in both the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Sontheimer Lab,  and the Campbell Lab in Animal and Poultry Sciences, College of Agriculture.  She proposed the development of a CRISPR kit for microbiome knockdown in rodent models. Her mentor, Rich Juelis, now deceased, co-chaired the Life Science Committee for the Bay Area angel investing group, Band of Angels. Rich was a retired financial executive of several pharmaceutical companies. He provided significant help to several Fralin Fellows who valued his advice. Update: Dr. Gallucci currently works as a Senior Scientist for OmniAb, Inc.
• Katherine Degen, Ph.D., Virginia Tech   Katie's idea built on her doctoral research on neural networks. Her commercialization goal was to implement a clinical decision support model to assist surgeons in breast reconstruction that could improve patient outcomes, resulting in additional revenue and minimized liability for the hospital system. Katie did not have a mentor, but chose to reach out to several of the individuals she met through the program, including Rich Juelis. Update: Dr. Degen currently works as a Research Scientist in Dr. Jenny Munson’s lab at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.
• Maruf Hoque, Ph.D., Virginia Tech   Maruf participated as a student in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program. His research home was the Chappell Lab in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. His commercialization goal, based on ongoing work in the Chappell Lab, was to develop a diagnostic tool that uses PDGFRb (a protein associated with pericytes, a cell that wraps smaller blood vessels such as capillaries) as a diagnostic marker to detect kidney cancer. His mentor was Douglas Grider, M.D., President and Managing Partner of Dominion Pathology, as well as an associate professor and vice chair for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine's department of basic science education. Update: Dr. Hoque currently works as Scientific Advisor at the intellectual property law firm of Johnson, Marcou, Isaacs & Nix, LLC.

2019

• Amnah Eltahir, Ph.D., Virginia Tech   Amnah participated as a graduate student in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Montague Lab in the final year of her doctoral program in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics. Amnah’s commercialization interest was a software to provide a physician friendly readout of chemical analyte concentrations over time from chronically implanted electrodes during epilepsy monitoring. Her mentor was Anne Brown, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Health Science Informatics, and co-founder of DESA. Update: Dr. Eltahir is Data Scientist for the digital biomarker company Koneksa.
• Matt Kocher, Ph.D., Virginia Tech   Matt participated as a student in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program working in the Good Lab in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise. Matt’s commercialization interest focused on improved bacterial DNA purification from drinking water and groundwater samples. His mentor was Matt Hull, Ph.D., president and owner of NanoSafe, Inc. and program manager for Nano-Bio Interface and Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Virginia Tech's Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS). Update: Dr. Kocher is a Research Scientist with Florida State University.
• Joelle Martin, Ph.D., Virginia Tech  Joelle participated as a student in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program working in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Sontheimer Lab. Her commercialization idea was a hospital inventory management system to reduce waste. Her mentor was Cynthia Lawrence, owner of PerformanceLink and Design Marketing, and director of Carilion Clinic's Office of Workforce Development. Update: Dr. Martin is Associate Director, Medical Affairs for Alimera Sciences.
• Demisha Porter, Ph.D., Virginia Tech  Demisha participated as a student in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program working in the Morton Lab in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine's Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology Department. Her goal was to commercialize antimicrobial contact lenses with cutting-edge nanotechnology for postoperative care. Her mentor was Mark Van Dyke, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research in the University of Arizona College of Engineering. Update: Dr. Porter is a Clinical Science & Innovations Academy Fellow at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR).
• Kevin Pridham, Ph.D., Virginia Tech  Kevin participated while working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Sheng Lab. His commercialization goal was based on work from the Sheng Lab to develop a new therapeutic drug for treating glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and most deadly form of brain cancer. His mentor was Jeff Strovel, Ph.D., CEO of VERALOX Therapeutics. Update: Dr. Pridham is a Scientist III – Field Applications with Thermo Fisher Scientific.
• Rachana Somaiya, Ph.D., Virginia Tech  Rachana participated as a student in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program working in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Fox Lab. Her idea was to develop a web-based platform to match up students knowledgeable in lab techniques with students who would be willing to pay to learn those techniques. Rachana did not have a mentor, but received advice and guidance from numerous Virginia Tech faculty. Update: Dr. Somaiya is a Postdoctoral Scholar at University of California, Berkeley.

2018

(Open at that time only to graduate students and postdocs at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC)

• Harsh Deshpande, Ph.D., Virginia Tech  Harsh participated as a graduate student in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s LaConte Lab in the final year of his doctoral program in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics.  He focused on neuromarketing in his Fellowship. His mentor was Geoff McCarty, founding partner at Growth Solutions, and former vice president for marketing at Luna Innovations. Update: Dr. Deshpande is a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School.
• Daniel Hoagland, Ph.D., Virginia Tech  Daniel participated as a postdoctoral researcher from the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Gourdie Lab. Daniel focused on a novel conduction associated arrhythmia prevention drug. His mentor was Ashu Jain, founder of Blue Ridge Innovation Management Advisors. Update: Dr. Hoagland is a Scientist II at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
• Ryan King, Ph.D., Virginia Tech   Ryan participated as a student in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program working in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Poelzing Lab. He developed an idea for a web-based matching platform for postdocs and job opportunities. His mentor was Russ Ellis, president of gNext Labs, and president of Common Wealth Growth. Update: Dr. King is Innovation Manager for Carilion Clinic Innovation.