Fralin Biomedical Research Institute expanding facility with a $90 million addition

ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC is expanding by adding a 139,000 square-foot addition to its building.

This $90 million addition will be located at 4 Riverside Circle in Roanoke and accommodate 400 additional researchers, students, and support staff.

“This expansion will keep Virginia Tech researchers at the forefront of biomedical discovery,” said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. “The extraordinary growth of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC is expanding our capacity to improve human health, educate the next generation of leading scientists, create new jobs in STEM-related fields, and serve as a catalyst for economic growth in the commonwealth.”

This new state-of-the-art facility will be the home of wet laboratories, meeting spaces, and offices. In addition, it will be the home to:

• Virginia Tech’s Molecular Diagnostics Lab, used to process more than 160,000 COVID-19 tests since April, 2020.
• Five new faculty-led research teams studying cardiovascular disease and cancer.
• MRI-guided focused ultrasound facility.
• The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Cancer Care and Research Center.
• 3D- and bio-printing laboratories.
• Human metabolism research facilities, including whole-room calorimeters.
• Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Health Sciences and Technology library.
• New high resolution imaging core facilities, including a scanning block face electron microscope, a spinning disk confocal microscope, and multiple MRI, PET, and CT imaging devices for visualizing living tissues.
• Virginia Tech Center for Biostatistics Health Data Science.
• Classrooms for Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic.

“This state-of-the-art new facility, equipped with the most advanced technology and spaces for research on some of the most pressing health challenges facing us today, demonstrates the commitment of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Carilion Clinic to discovery and translation in the service of the nation’s health, and points to the even greater potential that lies before us,” said Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology.

The institute employs more than 400 researchers, staff, and trainees. There have been 37-faculty led research teams, which have published more than 1,000 discoveries in scientific journals. The institute was founded in 2010.