The brain is an essential and highly complex part of most living organisms, including humans, orchestrating processes critical to survival. This complexity also creates opportunities for errors that can lead to neurotransmitter imbalances, abnormal patterns of electrical activity, tumor development, and other irregularities that can appear as behavioral disorders.

Scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC are exploring ways to advance how to understand normal brain function and how it gives rise to behaviors as well as to prevent, diagnose, and treat disorders of the brain and behavior. Some of their research, particularly on a new technology for treating brain disorders, will be featured at the institute's 12th annual Brain School, which begins at 5 p.m. Monday, March 10.

Every March, the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute invites the public to learn about the brain through interactive demonstrations, talks, and expositions. This year’s Brain School will focus on the therapeutic use of focused ultrasound, a technology that concentrates ultrasound energy to modify the activity of circumscribed areas on the brain on specific targets in order to effect therapeutic outcomes while avoiding nearby tissue.

The program features a panel discussion with three Fralin Biomedical Research Institute faculty investigators who use focused ultrasound in their research: Assistant Professor Wynn Legon, Professor Jennifer Munson, and Assistant Professor Cheng-Chia “Fred” Wu. Through their research, they are exploring specialized technology that could allow:

  • Treatment of chronic pain or depression with fewer side effects than oral drug delivery
  • Transient opening of the blood-brain barrier for delivery of brain cancer drugs to children and adults with brain tumors
  • Noninvasive treatment options to address Alzheimer’s disease

Other researchers across Virginia Tech use focused ultrasound in their work, including Joanne Tuohy from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, who treats bone cancer, or osteosarcoma, in dogs, and Eli Vlaisavljevich from the College of Engineering, who is developing new approaches using histotripsy to ablate various tumors in dogs and humans.

The significance of their work has earned Virginia Tech recognition as one of only 14 Focused Ultrasound Centers of Excellence worldwide. In addition, another research partner, Carilion Clinic neurosurgeon Mark Witcher, is using focused ultrasound to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as essential tremor.

“Mitigating much of the risk carried by conventional neurosurgical approaches that require invading the skull, focused ultrasound remains a promising avenue for delivering therapies across a range of brain disorders,” said Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and chairman of Virginia Tech’s Focused Ultrasound Center of Excellence program. “This year’s Brain School presents an opportunity to engage with emerging neuro-technologies with leaders in biomedical innovation for treating a range of brain disorders.”  

The Brain School program will also feature:

  • Tours of the institute’s research facilities
  • Brain-healthy food
  • A focused ultrasound demonstration by Jason Raymond, research assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
  • A brain anatomy station run by Kristofer Rau, assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
  • An overview of how brain scans work with small animals by Maosen Wang, research assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
  • Expositions from the labs of Fralin Biomedical Research Institute investigators Wynn Legon, Stephanie DeLuca, Ryan Purcell, Meike van der Heijden, and Albert Pan

The event is free to the public and appropriate for all ages. To help in planning, participants are asked to register to attend. It is part of Brain Awareness Week, a global observance to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science. 

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