Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and Virginia Tech shine as innovations receive TechNite acclaim

Biotechnology leaders connected with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and Virginia Tech were center stage at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council’s TechNite 2024 at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center.

“It is rewarding to see the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council recognize the remarkable achievements of innovators, biotechnology, and emerging business leaders from throughout the region, including those associated with Virginia Tech and with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC,” said Michael Friedlander, executive director of the research institute and Virginia Tech vice president for health sciences and technology. “They each exemplify ingenuity, dedication, and entrepreneurship, not being satisfied only to make discoveries and innovations in the laboratory, but also to bring their work to the community to better serve humankind.

"From uncovering fundamental mechanisms of how the brain processes information and emotions, to revolutionizing safer more effective cancer treatment, to bringing behavioral tools to the clinic to help health care providers and their patients to  creating new energy solutions, they are driving positive change for the greater public good,” he said.

• Read Montague, professor and director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s Center for Human Neuroscience Research, was recognized as the region’s Innovator of the Year for “doing something new or different, and doing it well” with a significant technological breakthrough in their field or industry. For example, recently in Nature Human Behavior, Montague published a study in which an international team of scientists examined decision-making in Parkinson's disease patients who were undergoing brain surgery. The researchers created new techniques to reveal a previously unknown neurochemical mechanism that underlies human decision-making. 
• The Hart of the Entrepreneur Impact Award recipient was The Tiny Cargo Co., a Fralin Biomedical Research Institute spinoff company by Professor Rob Gourdie and his postdoctoral fellow Spencer Marsh. They were recognized for their innovation to develop protection for safer radiation treatment for cancer patients. The award is named in memory of leading regional entrepreneur and mentor Bonz Hart. Gourdie is a professor and director of the research institute’s Center for Vascular and Heart Research.
• Spinoff company BEAM Diagnostics and its Chief Executive Officer Sarah Snider, formerly a postdoctoral fellow in Warren Bickel’s lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s Addiction Recovery Research Center, were recognized with the Rising Star in Biotechnology award for advancing laboratory discoveries to better identify and mitigate patients’ unhealthy behaviors into clinical applications. The award emphasizes the importance of small firms to the region’s technology economy.
• Hal Irvin, associate vice president for outreach for Health Sciences and Technology at Virginia Tech, received the Ruby Award for his overall contributions and service to the regional entrepreneurship and commercialization ecosystem. Irvin serves on the board of the Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program, or RAMP, among other leadership positions.
• In addition, two other faculty members from the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, Samy Lamouille and Jennifer Munson, were finalists for the Innovator and Entrepreneur awards – for their biotech startup companies Acomhal and Cairina, respectively.