2025 Seale Innovation Fund grants fuel health innovation

Heart failure. Type 2 diabetes. Problems with memory. Mental health and brain development.

These are among the health challenges scientists are tackling with help from $275,000 in Seale Innovation Fund grants. The funds support five projects led by six faculty research team leaders with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke.

The awards, established in 2022 with support from Virginia Tech alumni Carol Seale and Bill Seale, represent an investment in biomedical research projects that show strong potential to translate into transformative therapies.

The grants help researchers gather proof-of-concept data needed to apply for larger, multiyear research grants. Since its inception, $1.75 million in Seale funding has generated more than $14 million in additional support for biomedical research. Researchers have shared work supported by the Seale Innovation Fund in more than a dozen scientific presentations in the U.S. and abroad, published findings in more than 15 peer-reviewed scientific journals, and filed two patent applications.

“The Seale Innovation Fund enables our scientists to take bold steps in developing new approaches to major health challenges that may be pushing boundaries in a research field while traditional federally funded grant support often favors more conservative, stepwise approaches,” said Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and Virginia Tech vice president for health sciences and technology. “Since the fund’s inception, the initial seed money has helped some research teams secure support from multiple major federal grants, further advancing these promising discoveries. This investment fuels innovative ideas with the potential to transform lives.”

The projects supported in 2025 include:

• Seeking new therapies for failing hearts: Nearly 6.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from heart failure, with approximately half diagnosed with systolic dysfunction, a condition in which the heart struggles to pump blood effectively due to impaired contractility and energy metabolism. Junco Warren’s lab is developing translational approaches to advance effective treatments for heart failure with systolic dysfunction in a preclinical model.
  
• Learning how sugar-sweetened drinks change our brains and our health: Up to 80 percent of U.S. adults consume sugar-sweetened drinks daily, leading to profound public health consequences such as weight gain and increased risk of Type 2 diabetes. Alexandra DiFeliceantonio is analyzing the metabolic health effects of sugar and artificial sweetener consumption and the brain signals behind preference and choice.
• Probing disrupted behavioral mimicry for improved mental health: Mimicry in humans and other animals plays a pivotal role in social interactions, such as adapting to stressful situations. Alexei Morozov is identifying therapeutic targets to address disrupted behavioral mimicry, findings that could have significant implications for a variety of mental health conditions.
• Decoding the mechanisms of a rare genetic disorder: Working together, Ryan Purcell and Meike van der Heijden are following cerebellar development in 3q29 deletion syndrome, a rare genetic disorder associated with a high risk for neurodevelopmental delays and neuropsychiatric disorders. They are working to uncover the mechanisms of dysfunction in this important brain area.
• Using sound to boost memory function: Wynn Legon is deploying a novel protocol using noninvasive low-intensity focused ultrasound neuromodulation as a tool for memory enhancement in humans. Memory dysfunction is a major public health issue impacting millions worldwide due to neurodegenerative diseases, strokes, head trauma, and aging.

Learn more about the Seale Innovation Fund and how to support innovation.