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News from the Office of the Executive Director:
January, 2022

Dear friends and colleagues,

As we enter 2022, the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC continues its growth in its primary focus areas – brain and behavior health, cardiovascular and metabolic health, children’s health, and cancer. After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are learning more about longer-term consequences.  For example, over 9 million people are estimated to have missed regular cancer screenings, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology. Moreover, many surgeries and procedures have been postponed.  In addition to these indirect impacts on cancer, we are learning more about other direct impacts of the virus, such as cardiac inflammation.
 
The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and Virginia Tech address these challenges in several ways:
  • We are in the process of recruiting our second pediatric brain cancer research team to our facility at the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C.;
  • The VT Cancer Research Alliance has its first formal retreat planned to bring together cancer scientists and physicians from across Virginia Tech, Carilion Clinic, Children’s National Hospital, and teams from other collaborating institutions including those from UVA and Wake Forest University cancer centers;
  • The FBRI has partnered with the Focused Ultrasound Foundation and UVA to further develop our new MR-guided focused ultrasound facility located in the new addition for research and treatment of a variety of conditions including several cancers;
  • A cancer research team led by Dr. Zhi Sheng, in collaboration with Dr. Rob Gourdie, published a major new study in Oncogenesis that identifies a mechanism for potentially re-sensitizing malignant brain tumors to treatment with a standard therapeutic that otherwise loses its effectiveness over time;
  • Our Roanoke clinical partner, Carilion Clinic announced plans to build a new cancer center with facilities for clinical care and trials;
  • The biological safety level 3 facility in the new addition has received additional support to study the development of viral myocarditis resulting from SARS CoV-2 infection.
We are in the process of recruiting additional research teams in developmental neuroscience and in metabolism and obesity. These international searches have identified leading candidates who should be on-site in Roanoke by the summer of 2022.

The research institute continues its public outreach activities, including the Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture Series. If you were not able to attend the latest presentation by Dr. Sharon Peacock, who leads the U.K.'s COVID-19 Genomic Consortium, I highly recommend watching the archived lecture. Dr. Peacock shared in a very clear manner the most up-to-date information on the global pandemic and where we are headed in her presentation, "SARS-CoV-2 Variants - Past, Present, and Future."

Our next public lecture will be delivered at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 10. Robert M. Wachter, M.D., the Distinguished Professor in Science and Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine and member of the National Academy of Medicine will present, “The Digital Transformation of Healthcare: (Finally) a Time for Optimism.”
 
Yours truly 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
Senior Dean for Research, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
RECENT NEWS 
 
Scientists develop new strategy for brain cancer treatment

In a new study published in Oncogenesis, Zhi Sheng, Ph.D., and Rob Gourdie, Ph.D., describe how two protein-targeting drugs – when combined with chemotherapy – yield synergistic cytotoxicity to treatment-resistant glioblastoma.   Read News Release        Watch Video
 
How we view the future may hold key to recovery from alcohol use disorder

Warren Bickel, Ph.D., and postdoctoral associate Liqa Athamneh, Ph.D., studied how decision-making in people with alcohol use disorder is affected by how far they can imagine and integrate the future into their present choices. Read More
Researchers awarded grant to examine under-studied fat tissue disease

Jennifer Munson, Ph.D., and Temple University's Evangelia Bellas, Ph.D., were awarded $250,000 by the Lipedema Foundation to study fluid flow and lipedema. Read More
International leader presented Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture on COVID-19 variants

Sharon Peacock, Ph.D., leads the United Kingdom’s genetic analysis of SARS-CoV2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – an effort that has sequenced more than a million genomes of the virus, helped identify variants of concern, and aided vaccine developers. Tune into Dr. Peacock's archived lecture. Read More
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Addition receives LEED certification as model for sustainable building

The 139,000-square-foot building on the Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke achieved the internationally recognized status from the U.S. Green Building Council. Read More
UPCOMING PUBLIC EVENTS
Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture (In-Person)
Feb. 10: The Digital Transformation of Healthcare: (Finally) a Time for Optimism
Speaker: Robert M. Wachter, M.D.
Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture (Virtual)
Feb. 24: Role of Telomeres in Genome Stability, Cancer, and Aging (Tentative Title)
Speaker: Carol Greider, Ph.D.
*Recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture (In-Person)
April 14: Improving Accessibility and Affordability of Hearing Healthcare
Speaker: Debara L. Tucci, M.D., M.S., MBA
International Brain Awareness Week
Save the Date for our 9th Annual Brain School: March 14 - 18, 2022
View Past Brain School Lectures On Demand
Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture (In-Person)
April 14: Dynamic Brain Mapping and Brain-Computer Interfaces
Speaker: Bin He, Ph.D.
View Full Event Calendar
HOW YOU CAN HELP

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:
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