A graduate program for future biomedical research leaders
This fall’s entering class is one of the largest for the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program.
For most of her life, Reese Dunkenberger’s world revolved around the pool.
Growing up in Elliston, she spent countless hours commuting to nearby Roanoke for swim practice and competitions. The sport would carry her to Tulane University in Louisiana, where she studied anthropology and cognitive studies and swam competitively all four years.
The sport also became the unlikely catalyst for her current research focus.
As a young athlete, she was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which threatened both her swimming career and quality of life. POTS causes a significant heart rate increase when moving from sitting or lying down to standing, which can cause dizziness, fainting, and fatigue, among other symptoms. Years of medical appointments and treatments eventually stabilized her condition, allowing her to continue competing through college and sparking an interest in biomedical research.
Now, Dunkenberger joins Virginia Tech as part of the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program’s entering class of 29 students, including 24 doctoral and five master’s degree students.
The program also is expanding its geographic footprint, with two courses being offered in the greater Washington, D.C., area in spring 2026. A course on the foundations of cancer and another on tissue engineering and reparative medicine will complement an ongoing partnership between Virginia Tech and Children’s National Hospital as the program prepares to welcome its first full-time, D.C.-based cohort next fall.
Path to the lab
Initially, Dunkenberger was torn between a clinical career and a scientific one.
“I've been the patient. I've been the person on the other side of the medicine,” Dunkenberger said. “The whole goal is to improve quality of life and help develop better and better medical interventions, but there are a lot of paths you can take to do that.”
The decision between medical school and a research doctorate remained unresolved until her senior year at Tulane, when she spent the summer as a research fellow at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.
Dunkenberger said her summer project — which involved researching blood vessel development and formation in the developing brain, as well as processes that are critical for long-term neurological health — reminded her of her journey trying to understand her own heart condition. She worked in the lab of John Chappell, associate professor at the institute and director of the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health (TBMH) Graduate Program.
She said the lab experience prompted her to pursue a career researching understudied chronic conditions in hopes of one day helping “another 12-year-old who's going through the same thing and doesn't know what's wrong.”
“During Reese’s summer fellowship, it was inspiring to see firsthand her excitement for research ignite and flourish,” said Chappell, who also holds an appointment with the College of Engineering's Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics. “It is exactly this passion for scientific research that embodies the heart of the TBMH graduate program and reflects the notable energy of this year’s entering cohort.”
Dunkenberger has watched Virginia Tech’s Roanoke presence develop over the years, including through her sister’s earlier work in the Chappell lab. Now, she sees the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program as a chance to contribute to a growing research community in her hometown region.
“A big part of what the directors push here is the cohort model, which is such a blessing, because we do so much group work and collaboration with all of our peers,” Dunkenberger said. “Each of us has a different background within the translational medicine spectrum, so I get to learn from other people's perspectives while approaching different problems in class.”
About the cohort
Members of the current class comes from a mix of academic backgrounds, including biology, chemistry, bioinformatics, cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, and exercise psychology. Their prior training is equally broad.
They come from institutions such as Case Western Reserve, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Georgetown, and others.
Courses are taught by members of the Faculty of Health Sciences, a group of approximately 250 Virginia Tech faculty members whose expertise spans the graduate program’s six focus areas: cancer, tissue engineering and reparative medicine, public health and implementation sciences, immunity and infectious disease, metabolic and cardiovascular science, and neuroscience.
“This unique blend of backgrounds allows students to train and become comfortable in communicating across disciplines and integrating various perspectives to inspire novel solutions,” Chappell said. “This skill is not only critical in the classroom, but also in translating their graduate research into cutting-edge health solutions.”
