From healthy development to cancer treatments, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists aim for impact

The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC announced nine new Seale Innovation Fund research grants to address health challenges in Virginia and the United States.

With the support, Virginia Tech scientists will work on laboratory research that can be translated into health care solutions. 

Established with support from Virginia Tech alumni Carol Seale and Bill Seale, the innovation fund supports investment in high-impact biomedical research now in return for future dividends.

“From understanding human development disorders, improving cancer treatments, and addressing Type 2 diabetes, these projects aim to make a real impact toward better health,” said Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and Virginia Tech vice president for health sciences and technology. “They're also exploring ways to use artificial intelligence for obesity interventions and studying epilepsy therapies. The Seale Innovation Fund supports translational research toward practical innovations.”

The Seale grants supply funding to Fralin Biomedical Research Institute teams to pursue bold ideas in science and gather preliminary data needed to apply for larger, multiple year research grants. To date, $525,000 in inaugural award funding has generated $9.4 million in additional support and resulted in nine national or international scientific presentations and two patent applications.

The latest projects include

Molecular insights from placental vasculature to promote life-long health: Led by principal investigator John Chappell, researchers will investigate how activation of oxygen-sensing pathways in the placenta, using environmental and genetic methods, increases a protein related to blood vessel formation during embryonic development. Researchers suspect that over-activating this pathway may lead to abnormally higher protein production, potentially impacting pregnancy and early life health. Collaborators include Yassine Sassi, Jordan Darden, and Hirenkumar Patel.

Cell-based therapies: Using macrophages to deliver exosome-therapeutics to sites of vascular tissue damage: Led by principal investigator Scott Johnstone, researchers will examine a major complication following vascular surgeries – damage to blood vessel walls. The team’s objective is to develop a novel cell-based therapeutic delivery system that would use a patient’s own cells to address inflammation, make repairs, and control infections.

Spatial characterization and targeting of tumorigenic connexin43 in human colon tumors: Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of death in the U.S., especially in advanced stages. Principal investigator Samy Lamouille has identified connexin43 as a protein involved in cancer progression and is leading studies to spatially localize connexin43 within human colon tumors and block its oncogenic functions with a novel peptide drug.

Novel method for identifying tumor neoantigens: Kathleen Mulvaney, principal investigator at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's Cancer Research Center located at Children’s National Research & Innovation campus, is leading research to identify both pediatric and adult cancer treatment targets using genetic data from patient tumors. Investigating PRMT5, a protein that affects mRNA, researchers will explore how it influences the presentation of cancer cell peptides, potentially making them more easily recognizable by the immune system.

Insulin receptor re-sensitization for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes: Led by principal investigator Jessica Pfleger, the project involves Type 2 diabetes, a disease in which the body doesn't respond well to insulin. Current treatments have limited effectiveness and can have unwanted effects. The researchers are developing a new approach: using a peptide that targets the insulin receptor to improve insulin sensitivity in Type 2 diabetes.

Dissecting the hypothalamic enkephalin circuit mediating cravings for palatable foods: Emotional overeating and consuming comfort foods due to negative emotions is often triggered by life-threatening events. Led by principal investigator Sora Shin, this research aims to uncover the endogenous enkephalin-expressing brain circuits involved in emotional overeating after threats, potentially leading to new therapies for eating disorders. 

Using artificial intelligence to increase the scalability, reach, and efficacy of episodic future thinking interventions in the treatment of obesity: Episodic future thinking — imagining one's future — can help reduce the tendency to devalue future fitness goals in favor of short-term eating gratification. With limited treatment options, researchers led by principal investigators Jeff Stein, Ed Fox, and Allison Tegge, propose developing and testing an artificial intelligence-based method to enhance episodic future thinking to address obesity and related issues such as Type 2 diabetes.

Serotonin modulation of thalamus excitability in a Dravet syndrome mouse model: Led by principal investigator Sharon Swanger, with co-investigator Matthew Weston, researchers will study serotonin's impact on seizures in Dravet syndrome, a genetic form of epilepsy that appears in infancy. Understanding serotonin's role in Dravet syndrome can uncover how seizures are generated in the brain, promote safer drug development, and support future research to advance epilepsy therapies in people.

Mapping the functional pathways in euchromatin-disrupted human developmental disorders: Jia-Ray Yu, principal investigator at the  Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's Cancer Research Center located at Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus, is leading a project to study imbalances in the genetic material of cells that can lead to developmental disorders. Using advanced techniques and with collaborator Wei Li, the researchers aim to understand how these genetic imbalances lead to different health problems and find ways to develop desperately needed therapies.