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News from the Office of the Executive Director:
January 2023
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The next few weeks will be a whirlwind, another sign of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s growth.

In December, we hosted three candidates for a new faculty position in exercise medicine research. Six more faculty candidates are scheduled to visit the Roanoke campus through February – another candidate for exercise medicine research, three in developmental neurobiology, and two for a biomaterials and body-devices faculty position. Another candidate for that position, a collaborative partnership with Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering, is yet to be scheduled.

In Washington, D.C., we anticipate interviewing several brain cancer research candidates in February and March. The successful applicant will join our faculty at the Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus as part of the growing partnership between Virginia Tech and Children’s National Hospital.
 
This activity comes amidst recognition of the need for investment in biomedical research. The omnibus spending bill Congress passed in late December includes a 5.6 percent budget increase, to $47.5 billion, for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a 50 percent increase, to $1.5 billion, for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which supports high-risk, cutting-edge biomedical research. It’s a positive step that recognizes the importance of our nation’s scientific workforce in advancing human health. Fralin Biomedical Research Institute teams will be in the thick of the competition for additional support for their innovative work.

We are also grateful for the private gifts from contributors who invested in our students, faculty, and research in 2022. Thanks in part to philanthropy, for instance, Sora Shin discovered a link between early life trauma and binge eating. Her findings, detailed in the story below, provide a foundation for potential therapeutic strategies for the disorder.

I look forward to sharing more good news with you in 2023 and introducing members of our growing team.

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
Professor, Biological Sciences, Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and Affiliated Faculty, School of Biomedical Engineering and Science
NEWS 
Virginia Tech scientist uncovers possible link between early life trauma and binge-eating disorder
The discovery by Sora Shin, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, may lead to therapeutic targets for binge eating and obesity. Read More
Biomedical innovations take center stage during 'Shark Tank'-style pitch competition
Students from the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health graduate program selected intellectual property and created business plans to develop and commercialize biomedical discoveries. Read More
$1 million grant provides advanced microscope to tackle challenges in health research
Once fully installed, scientists will be able to access the Leica Stellaris 8 equipment delivered to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in December. Read More
Learn about the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's Green Labs Program
The goal of the program is to create a culture of sustainability by sharing best practices and explore ways to reduced the environmental impact of our research. Watch the Video
UPCOMING EVENTS
Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture
5:30 p.m. Jan 19: Francesca Dominici, Harvard University, Tackling the Health Consequences of Climate Change with Data Science
 
Second half of the Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series begins Jan. 13
Speakers will share leading discoveries in substance use, neuroscience, pancreatic cancer, child health and more. Read More
View Full Event Calendar
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