Munson Lab
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Jenny Munson, Ph.D. , homeProfessor, Director, Cancer Research Center – Roanoke
Led by principal investigator Jenny Munson, Ph.D., director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center in Roanoke, the Munson Lab studies the tumor microenvironment in cancers, including glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer. The lab's research focuses on the emerging research area of fluid flow. Cancer’s invasion of the brain follows distinctive routes that correlate with interstitial and bulk flow pathways. In brain cancer, fluid flow increases between cells within the tissue, specifically across the invasive edge of the tumor where cells are prone to both interact with the surrounding brain tissue and to evade localized, transport-limited therapies. Munson and her team believe fluid flow can alter how a tumor responds to drug therapies. Not only is fluid flow important in cancer, but also is a contributor to normal function in tissues and other diseases. The lab is translating many of its methods and hypotheses to understand the role of fluid flow in immunity, aging, and women's health.
The lab's methods combine in vivo imaging methodology with in vitro tissue engineered models to examine the role of interstitial fluid flow and the cellular components of the microenvironment in cancer progression and treatment. The lab uses patient-derived cells to create personalized models of disease to test hypotheses related to fluid and tissue transport in tumors and the brain and to identify new drug targets and treatment approaches.
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Raffae Ahmad, Ph.D. , bioPostdoctoral Associate
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Jessica Cunningham, Ph.D. , bioResearch Scientist
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Skylar Davis , bioResearch Associate
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Nicole DeFoor , bioGraduate Student, Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health
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Katherine Degen, Ph.D. , bioResearch Scientist
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Fariba Delavarbahr , bioResearch Assistant
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Zixuan Gong , bioGraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering
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Jennifer Hammel , bioGraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering
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Daniel Howell , bioProject Engineer
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Samantha Howerton , bioGraduate Student, Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health
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Peng Jin, Ph.D. , bioSenior Research Associate
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Rhea John , bioGraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
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Lincoln Kartchner , bioMedical Student, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine '26
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Yanping Liang , bioResearch Associate
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Sharon K. Michelhaugh, Ph.D. , bioSenior Research Scientist / Lab Manager
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Caleb Stine, Ph.D. , bioSenior Research Associate
Collaborators
- Naciye Atay
- Savieay Esparza
- Malisa Sarntinoranont, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida
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Article ItemGo behind the scenes of brain research at the 12th annual Brain School , article
Scientists will present their research through an interactive expo and panel discussion on focused ultrasound when the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC opens its doors for Brain School on March 10.
Date: Mar 05, 2025 - -
Article Item'Pocket Science' podcast: Why don't I slosh when I walk? , article
Human beings are mostly water, and about a fifth of that water is interstitial fluid, flowing in the spaces between our cells. Jenny Munson tells us how understanding that fluid flow can be harnessed to better treat cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases.
Date: Feb 26, 2025 - -
Article ItemGraduate student’s research goal: Improve outcomes for brain cancer patients , article
A Jeanine L. Matte Fellowship will help advance Samantha Howerton’s doctoral research into personalized therapies for glioblastoma.
Date: Jan 29, 2025 - -
Article ItemVirginia Tech award supports innovation in brain cancer treatment , article
Cairina Inc. co-founder Caleb Stine received a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship Award that puts the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute spinoff a step closer to making its research available to surgeons and oncologists.
Date: Sep 25, 2024 - -
Article ItemTeam of scientists awarded prize for biomedical research innovation , article
A multi-university team including Jennifer Munson of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute earned a Complement Animal Research in Experimentation Challenge prize with a proposal for a novel platform for studying and treating neuro-immune infections including the flu, COVID-19, potential biothreats, and conditions such as Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and brain cancer.
Date: Aug 28, 2024 - -
Article ItemDirector named for Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Cancer Research Center , article
An accomplished biomedical engineer who studies the biophysical setting of brain cancer has been named director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Cancer Research Center in Roanoke
Date: Jul 10, 2024 - -
Article ItemFralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and Virginia Tech shine as innovations receive TechNite acclaim , article
The Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council’s TechNite awards turned a spotlight on translational research taking place at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and throughout the region.
Date: May 15, 2024 - -
Article ItemJennifer Munson to be inducted into American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows , article
Munson, a biomedical engineer and associate professor of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, joins a group of the nation’s top biological and medical engineers.
Date: Mar 20, 2024 - -
Article ItemRare Disease Day brings worldwide attention to more than 7,000 rare diseases , article
Virginia Tech research into rare diseases — those that individually affect 200,000 or fewer but collectively touch 1 in 10 people in the U.S. — provides hope in identifying, treating, and supporting patients.
Date: Feb 28, 2024 - -
Article ItemData visualization aids Virginia Tech cancer researcher’s quest for better brain tumor treatment , article
Jennifer Munson, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, shared her data on fluid flow in brain tumors with Virginia Tech’s Visionarium, which created 3D visualizations that allow new insights by Munson and her team.
Date: Feb 09, 2024 - -
Article ItemVirginia Tech faculty inducted as Biomedical Engineering Society fellows , article
Fellows are nominated by their peers and selected by a panel based on their professional achievements and contributions to the biomedical engineering community.
Date: Dec 06, 2023 - -
Article ItemFralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC: Growth of an innovator , article
Since its founding in 2010, the research institute has become a focal point for biomedical research across Virginia Tech. It now has more than 450 faculty, staff, and students in Roanoke and Washington, D.C., supporting research fueled by $173.7 million in external grants.
Date: Aug 29, 2023 - -
Article ItemFralin Biomedical Research Institute spinoff Cairina Inc. translates science into improved cancer treatments , article
The company recently received support from Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties to help commercialize better tools for surgeons and oncologists.
Date: Jul 17, 2023 - -
Article ItemProof-of-Concept Program funds 12 research projects , article
In its fourth year, LINK + LICENSE + LAUNCH’s program has funded 12 teams led by Virginia Tech researchers with a total of $600,000 in funding.
Date: Jun 02, 2023 - -
Article ItemCancer researchers team up against deadliest brain tumors in children , article
Virginia Tech Cancer Research Alliance innovators with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the College of Engineering have joined a Children’s National Hospital-led effort to treat deadly brain tumors with ultrahigh frequency sound waves.
Date: May 19, 2023 - -
Article ItemFralin Biomedical Research Institute scientist to chair premier cancer conference , article
Jennifer Munson, a biomedical engineer and cancer researcher, was elected by her peers to co-chair the Physical Science of Cancer Gordon Research Conference in Galveston, Texas, Feb. 5 to 10
Date: Feb 03, 2023 - -
Article ItemNew study may inform chemotherapy approaches for breast cancer , article
In a first-of-its-kind finding, Virginia Tech researchers have found platinum-based chemotherapy drugs may activate a breast cancer patient’s lymphatic system and affect how tumor cells spread. But the drugs might be made more effective if the changes to the lymphatic system can be blocked or even reversed by an additional therapy.
Date: Aug 08, 2022 - -
Article ItemVirginia Tech researcher’s 3D model of brain tumor environment could aid personalized treatment , article
Scientists have developed a novel 3D tissue-engineered model of the glioblastoma tumor microenvironment that can be used to learn why the tumors return and what treatments will be most effective at eradicating them – right down to a patient-specific level.
Date: Aug 02, 2022 - -
Article ItemRare disease research gives families hope, ‘vital’ to advancing medicine , article
Rare diseases afflict 300 million people worldwide. Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC researchers are bridging a gap in scientific knowledge by studying some of the diseases that together add up to a formidable public health challenge. Feb. 28 marks the 14th international Rare Disease Day.
Date: Feb 28, 2022 - -
Article ItemVirginia Tech, Temple University scientists awarded grant to research lipedema, an under-studied disease of fat tissues , article
Jennifer Munson, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, and Evangelia Bellas, assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Temple University, were recently awarded $250,000 by the Lipedema Foundation to research causes and treatments for lipedema, an often painful disease characterized by a build-up of fat tissue in the limbs.
Date: Jan 12, 2022 - -
Article ItemIvy Foundation grant aids Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientist’s search for treatment for deadly brain cancer , article
Jennifer Munson, an associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, an expert in interstitial fluid flow - the movement of liquid within and around living tissues - will use the $500,000 award to further her study of patient-specific therapies for deadly brain tumors.
Date: Sep 21, 2021 - -
Article ItemVirginia Tech scientists see fluid flow as potential key to fight Alzheimer's disease , article
The National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded Jennifer Munson, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, and a team of Virginia Tech scientists $3.57 million to test the impact of fluid flow in the brain on development of Alzheimer's disease.
Date: May 18, 2021 - -
Article ItemScientists from Virginia Tech, City of Hope aim to improve therapy for deadly brain cancer , article
Researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and City of Hope believe the complex way fluid flows through glioblastoma tumors holds the key to improving the success of CAR-T cell therapy in treating the cancer and helping more patients survive.
Date: Apr 28, 2021 - -
Article ItemTracking fluid flow in tumors, tissues drives new Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC scientist , article
Jennifer Munson is a biomedical engineer and one of a handful of scientists examining how interstitial flow – the flow of fluids in the spaces surrounding cells within human tissues – can aggravate cancers, accelerate Alzheimer’s disease, and effectively deliver drugs. She joined the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s primary faculty team this summer.
Date: Jan 01, 2021 - -
Article ItemVirginia Tech scientists, engineers to talk about steps to stop cancer in virtual public session , article
A year ago, Virginia Tech united its biomedical and technical expertise into a Cancer Research Alliance to take on the second leading cause of death in the United States. Now, scientists and engineers will talk about some leading-edge projects in breast cancer, brain cancer, and noninvasive cancer treatments in a public Zoom discussion at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Date: Nov 02, 2020 - -
Article ItemFluid flow in the brain: Sorting the good and the bad , article
Ian Kimbrough, an assistant professor in the School of Neuroscience, and Jennifer Munson, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, are taking research learned from brain tumors to help fight Alzheimer’s.
Date: Sep 23, 2020 - -
Article ItemResearcher receives NIH grant to study noninvasive treatment for metastatic breast tumors , article
The aim of this project is to develop a novel, noninvasive method that combines nanoparticles with ultrasound to selectively target and kill cancerous cells in the breast tissue.
Date: Aug 27, 2020 - -
Article ItemNew drug application stops spread of brain cancer cells caused by clinical treatment approach , article
This work is part of a five-year research grant project across multiple universities, examining the role of interstitial fluid flow in the spread of brain cancer cells.
Date: Nov 19, 2018 - -
Article ItemCollaborative grant takes on brain cancer cell invasion , article
A relatively unexplored area of cancer research, interstitial fluid flow, or the movement of fluid around and through the three-dimensional space surrounding cells, has been shown to lead to an increase in cancer cell invasion. However, the mechanisms of how and why that happens, particularly in cases of brain cancer, are still unknown.
Date: Feb 01, 2018 - -
Article ItemDoctoral student receives international NSF award to study blood vessels’ role in oxygen delivery , article
Cora Esparza, a third-year doctoral student in biomedical engineering, is driven by work that fills a need, and she does this in her research. She has received a National Science Foundation IIE-Graduate International Research Experience award to pursue her research abroad.
Date: Aug 20, 2021 -