Dear friends and colleagues,
This month marks an important milestone for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC: Virginia Tech's cancer research laboratories on the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C. have officially opened where our newest Fralin Biomedical Research Institute faculty member, Dr. Jia-Ray Yu, has launched his research program.
As part of this milestone, last week I had the honor of meeting with leaders from Children's National Hospital, Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JLABS @ Washington DC, and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at the new campus to share Virginia Tech’s and the research institute’s vision for this innovative partnership to accelerate children's health research. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech also broke ground on the university's new Innovation Campus in D.C. earlier this month.
After several pandemic-induced delays, on Oct. 12 we will finally get to celebrate the grand opening of our Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Addition - a 139,000-square-foot expansion of our research facilities in Roanoke. The official ribbon cutting ceremony will include leaders from state and local government, Virginia Tech, and Carilion Clinic. The keynote speech will be delivered by the director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at NIH, Dr. Walter Koroshetz, and we will also hear from one of the research institute’s graduate students in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health (TBMH) program.
The building houses new state-of-the-art facilities, including the newest human magnetic resonance scanner for MRI-guided focused ultrasound brain and cancer research; a high-field MRI system with in-line positron emission tomography (PET) for brain, cardiac, and cancer research; whole room calorimeters for obesity and metabolism research; surgical, medical, and radiation oncology services for veterinary cancer care and research; and multiple next generation laser-based microscopes for visualizing life at unparalleled resolution.
Each of these investments contributes to positioning Virginia Tech as a leading biomedical and health science research institution. In conjunction with the outstanding first wave of researchers already positioned in the new building, as we enter the research institute’s second decade, we are poised for transformative discoveries and innovations to advance one health for all.
In the spirit of Ut Prosim,
Michael J. Friedlander, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Vice President for Health Sciences and Technology, Virginia Tech
|
|
Ivy Foundation grant aids Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientist’s search for treatment for deadly brain cancer
Jennifer Munson will use the $500,000 award to study whether existing drugs for other diseases can be used to target a protein involved in the invasion and progression of glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Read More
|
|
|
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute spinoff Tiny Cargo Co. among Washington, DC Health Innovation QuickFire Challenge awardees
Tiny Cargo Co., a biotech startup founded by Rob Gourdie, is among five companies to receive a Washington, DC Health Innovation QuickFire Challenge award. Spencer Marsh, a postdoctoral researcher in Gourdie’s laboratory, presented the pitch that awarded the company $50,000, and mentorship from experts at the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies. Read More
|
|
|
Virginia Cooperative Extension agents to be trusted messengers for COVID-19 vaccine information
Researchers at Virginia Tech and Virginia State University will use grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to target low vaccination rates in southern central and southwest Virginia. Read More
|
|
|
Neuroscience major, autism advocate Saket Bikmal awarded 2021 Goldwater Scholarship
Saket Bikmal, an undergraduate student working in Brittany Howell's laboratory, is helping the lab adapt optically pumped magnetometry headsets to measure brain signals between a mother and her infant. Read More
|
|
|
New high-powered MRI installed in focused ultrasound facility
With the help of a large crane, workers installed a new 3-Tesla Siemens Prisma MRI in the new addition of the research institute in Roanoke earlier this month. The new MRI will guide Insightec Exablate Focused Ultrasound technology, delivering focused sound waves to small regions deep within the brain.
|
|
|
Making transformative discoveries to build a healthier future for all
Virginia Tech and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute are providing rapid COVID-19 sample analysis to help control the pandemic in support of our local community, the Commonwealth, and frontline responders. Private support is critical to continue these efforts. Here are some ways that you can support the research institute right now, in light of COVID-19:
|
|
|
|
|
|
