The Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute has been named a recipient of a generous grant from the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation.

The $200,000 grant will fund collaborative studies on a treatment that halves the time it takes for diabetic foot ulcers to heal. The Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, the University of Virginia, and FirstString Research, Inc. will work to further develop the treatment Robert Gourdie, a professor at the institute, and his team discovered while studying something seemingly unrelated.

Gourdie is the director of the institute's Center for Heart and Regenerative Medicine Research.