Research presentations span infant sleep to cancer therapy

How does sleep shape the infant brain? How can research inform addiction-related public policy? What makes us who we are?

These and other topics are part of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s 2026-27 Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series. Eighteen leading scientists will share the latest discoveries on topics spanning neuroscience, cardiovascular science, cancer biology, exercise medicine, metabolism, and health policy.

The series reflects the institute’s scientific reach and aligns with its focus on disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment and increased healthspan.

The series begins Sept. 18 with Kristin I. Stanford, professor of surgery and the William D. and Jacquelyn L. Wells Chair of the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Stanford specializes in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism. The lecture will focus on brown adipose tissue — a type of fat that regulates body temperature, burns calories, and stores energy — and its role in cardiovascular health.

Also this fall, Keith N. Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, will draw from his experience at the White House, Congress, Canadian and U.K. parliaments, and state legislatures to share what scientists can do to better inform legislative policy related to addiction. 

Other highlights include artificial intelligence and cancer immunity, therapeutic peptides, and alcohol's impact on smell and taste.

The lectures are at 4 Riverside Circle on the Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke, Virginia, and the institute’s Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C., on the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus. All lectures begin at 11 a.m. on Fridays.

Hosted by the institute’s specialized research centers, the talks highlight collaborations across disciplines:

• Sept. 18: Brown Adipose Tissue as a Mediator of Cardiovascular Health, Kristin I. Stanford,  Fellow of the American Heart Association, William D. and Jacquelyn L. Wells Chair at the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Professor, Department of Surgery, General and Gastrointestinal Surgery and Internal Medicine, Endocrinology Associate Director, Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute
• Sept. 25: mTor Signaling in Pulmonary Vascular Disease: Bench to Bedside and Back, Elena Goncharova, Fellow of the American Heart Association, Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, professor and director of the Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program, University of California Davis School of Medicine 
• Oct. 2: How Can Research Inform Better Public Policy Toward Addiction?, Keith N. Humphreys, Esther Ting Memorial Professor of Psychiatry Standford University 
• Oct. 16, Washington, D.C.: Data-Driven Discovery of Secreted Proteins as Cancer Immunotherapies, Peng Jiang, senior investigator, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
• Oct. 30: Mapping Different Excitatory and Inhibitory Input Types onto Single Cortical Pyramidal Neurons, Elly Nedivi, William R. & Linda R. Young Professor of Neuroscience, Picower Institute for Learning & Memory, Departments of Brain & Cognitive Sciences and Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Nov. 13: Presenting Therapeutic Peptides Using Synthetic Polymers, Rachel A. Letteri, associate professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia
• Dec. 11: The Bitter Truth: Alcohol Use and Its Effects on Chemosensory Function, Paule V. Joseph, Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, NIH Distinguished Scholar Acting Chief, Section of Sensory Science and Metabolism Unit (SenSMet), Co-Director of the National Smell and Taste Center, NIDCD
• Jan. 15, 2027: Understanding How Gut Microbiota Amplify Crosstalk Between Distant Tissues and Tumors to Instigate Tumor Metastasis, Melanie Rutkowski, associate professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia Health Science Center
• Jan. 29, 2027: Learning and Memory in the Infant Brain, Nick B. Turk-Browne, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema Professor of Psychology Director, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University
• Feb. 12, 2027: How Sleep Shapes the Infant Brain, Mark Blumberg, Distinguished Chair, Department Chair, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa
• Feb. 26, 2027: The Science of Individuality: What Makes Us Who We Are?, Terry Jernigan, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science, Psychiatry, and Radiology, UC San Diego 
• March 12, 2027: Latent Cause Inference and Mental Health, Yael Niv, professor of psychology and neuroscience, Princeton University 
• March 26, 2027: Molecular, Anatomic, and Functional Diversity of Midbrain Dopamine Neurons, Raj Awatramani, Sir John Eccles Professor of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University 
• April 9, 2027: Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B Inhibition Rescues Metabolic Dysfunction-Induced Cardiomyopathy and HFpEF, Maria Kontaridis, Gordon K. Moe Professor and Chair of Biomedical Research and Translational Medicine, executive director, director of research, Masonic Medical Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• April 23, 2027: AMPK, Ancient Energy Sensing Kinase That Restores Metabolic Homeostasis During Bad Times, Reuben Shaw, professor, Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory and Director, National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
• May 7, 2027: Exploring Cell-cell Interactions in the Tumor Ecosystem: Insights from Computational Modeling, Stacey Finley, Nicole A. and Thuan Q. Pham Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California
• May 21, 2027: The Role of Catecholamine Systems in Cognitive Aging, Anne S. Berry, associate professor of psychology, Volen National Center for Complex Systems Neuroscience Program, Brandeis University
• June 4, 2027: Lysine Acetylation as a Critical Regulator of GLUT4-Mediated Glucose Uptake in Skeletal Muscle, Simon Schenk, professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine

All seminars are free and open to the public and may be attended in person or via livestream. The year-long series can be viewed in full at this link.