Summer undergraduate research fellows at the Health Sciences and Technology campus reached new heights during a sunrise hike to McAfee Knob — a popular destination along the Appalachian Trail. 

Each summer, the Roanoke campus hosts a select number of university students from across the United States for 10 weeks of interdisciplinary training in biomedical research. Fellows commit 40 hours each week to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. On the morning of the hike, several SURF students committed an additional eight miles.  

Group of hikers wearing head lights in the dark
Photo courtesy of Dustin Eshelman, Health Sciences and Technology Coordinator of Experiential Learning

Home to five summer programs in the biomedical sciences, Virginia Tech’s Health Sciences and Technology campus is a short drive to Roanoke County’s McAfee Knob.

two students standing on McAfee Knob during sunrise
Photo courtesy of Dustin Eshelman, Health Sciences and Technology Coordinator of Experiential Learning