‘Milestone’ discovery may unlock the true biomedical might of exosomes

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 12:30:00 -0400

Researchers identified a freeze-drying process to produce, warehouse, and deliver a wound-healing medicine for cancer patients, military troops, and industrial workers exposed to radiation.

Virginia Tech researcher earns fellowship to explore how obesity increases the risk for heart disease

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 12:00:00 -0400

Mark Renton, a postdoctoral associate with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, will use the American Heart Association fellowship to investigate how the pannexin-1 protein regulates blood flow in an obesity-induced heart condition.

Fellowship helps doctoral student get to the heart of cardiac disease

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 08:00:00 -0500

Abigail Doku will use a Ray A. Gaskins graduate fellowship to continue her doctoral research into heart failure, the world’s leading cause of death, at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.

Virginia Tech cardiovascular scientist identifies potential new treatment for failing hearts

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 08:00:00 -0400

In a new study in mice, Junco Warren, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, offers findings that show a key protein positively impacted both muscle weakness and cellular energy production in the heart, pointing to a potential therapy for systolic heart failure.

NIH award funds Virginia Tech scientist’s study of link between diet, diabetes, and heart disease

Thu, 16 May 2024 14:21:00 -0400

Jessica Pfleger, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, is exploring the role of a certain protein in heart cells becoming insulin resistant, doubling the risk of heart disease and death in Type 2 diabetes.

Unveiling a hidden threat: Researchers show viral infections pose early heart risks

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 11:36:00 -0500

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists challenge traditional assumptions and open a new window to help people with cardiac infections.

Medical student’s research investigates the heart of the matter

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 11:53:00 -0400

When Katie Hardin was considering medical schools, it was the extensive research focus of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine that won her heart. Her research into calcium deposits in the cardiac intercalated disk may be a step toward preventing lethal arrhythmias in the future.

Cardiovascular scientists to explore viral infection that can lead to sudden death

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 09:56:00 -0500

James Smyth, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, has been awarded a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to discover why viruses that normally infect our lungs can turn deadly when they infect the heart.

Cardiovascular scientists to explore viral infection that can lead to sudden death

Veterinary college researchers to study most common heart disease in cats

Sun, 31 Jul 2022 14:32:00 -0400

Researchers at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine will investigate the most common form of heart disease in cats and the devastating blood clotting complications associated with it.

Scientists detect deadly arrhythmia trifecta: Salt, swelling, and leaky sodium channels

Tue, 24 May 2022 08:47:00 -0400

Cardiovascular researchers led by Steven Poelzing at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have published a new study describing how deadly arrhythmias arise from elevated sodium levels, heart tissue irritation and swelling, and sodium channel abnormalities associated with Long QT syndrome.

New data revealed about the origin of the circulatory system during development

Tue, 17 May 2022 10:15:00 -0400

Researchers are closer to understanding the earliest beginnings of the circulatory system during embryonic development. The discovery could lead to ways to repair damage in the human body after a stroke or heart attack.

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC researcher is Virginia Tech’s first NIH Outstanding Investigator Award recipient

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 10:33:00 -0500

Robert Gourdie, the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund Eminent Scholar in Heart Reparative Medicine Research and director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Vascular and Heart Research, received a $6.4 million R35 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

From pasture to patient: Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists distill cow’s milk into nano-capsules for drug delivery

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 14:24:00 -0400

Rob Gourdie, professor and director of the Center for Vascular and Heart Research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, and his lab team developed a scalable method to harvest nano-sized biological capsules called exosomes from unpasteurized cow’s milk. Exosomes are a promising candidate for drug delivery in humans.

New scientists bring American Heart Association-funded research to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 10:36:00 -0400

Jessica Pfleger and Yassine Sassi, who joined Virginia Tech this summer, brought with them American Heart Associated-funded research projects. Pfleger studies insulin resistance in the heart, and Sassi studies pulmonary arterial hypertension.

New Fralin Biomedical Research Institute investigator seeks molecular causes for deadly lung, heart diseases

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 10:47:00 -0400

Yassine Sassi will join the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC on Aug. 1 as an assistant professor, where he will continue his research into pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary fibrosis.

New Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientist seeks to reduce heart failure

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 09:33:00 -0400

Junco Warren will focus on metabolic changes in the failing heart, particularly the pivotal moment when a heart moves from being impaired but functioning to struggling to do its job.

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute researchers discover link between blood chemistry and deadly heart arrhythmias

In a new study, a cardiovascular research team led by Steven Poelzing, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, describes how subtle changes in potassium, calcium, and sodium levels regulate heartbeats. Poelzing said the results could help researchers and physicians understand the nuances of cardiac arrhythmias, as well as a group of genetic disorders that impact sodium channel function, such as Brugada syndrome.

Mind the gap: Heart cells cozy up to prevent deadly arrhythmias, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute researchers find

Mon, 03 May 2021 15:56:00 -0400

Steven Poelzing, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, leads a team of cardiovascular scientists studying electrical conduction in the heart. Poelzing’s lab recently published a study that showed increasing sodium and calcium levels in the bloodstream helps keep dangerous heart rhythms, triggered by potassium overdose, at bay.

We asked our faculty: Why did you become a health scientist?

From art and medicine, to zoology and playing cricket - four faculty members at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC open up about the memories and moments that sparked their scientific curiosity and passion for health research.

Step Inside the New Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Expansion in Roanoke

We welcome you to take a virtual tour through the new Fralin Biomedical Research Institute expansion. Michael Friedlander, Ph.D., Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology, and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s founding executive director, will walk you through each wing, describing some of the latest instrumentation and research projects along the way.

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute expansion melds world-class research and sustainable architecture

From its meadow garden green roof to its underground rainwater cistern, the new research expansion located at 4 Riverside Circle in Roanoke is a model for smart green design. The building is currently being evaluated from the U.S. Green Building Council for a LEED Version 4 Rating.

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute expansion building moving forward

Take a peek inside the new VTC Biomedical Research Addition, a 139,000-square-foot building slated for a grand opening in fall 2020 at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke. The state-of-the-art facility will be home to at least 25 new teams of Virginia Tech biomedical researchers specializing in cardiovascular research, obesity and metabolism, body-device interfaces, cancer, and more. The building will also feature a green roof, classrooms, wet and dry lab space, offices, and a LINAC particle accelerator to help pets with cancer. Stay tuned for more updates as construction nears completion this spring!

New compound could help improve heart attack recovery

Robert Gourdie, a professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, is working on a way to limit the damage of hypoxic ischemic injury, allowing the nearby heart muscle cells to remain intact.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Study

The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech is seeking healthy Cavalier King Charles Spaniels for a long-term study using specialized software and 3D echocardiogram to try to predict future onset and severity of mitral valve disease.

Welcome to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC is an exciting place to research, train, and work. Established in 2010, the research institute is doubling in size and is actively recruiting 20-25 new core research teams to join the Virginia Tech Health Sciences Campus in Roanoke, Virginia. For more information about the research institute and employment opportunities, please visit: www.research.vtc.vt.edu

Tags

‘Milestone’ discovery may unlock the true biomedical might of exosomes

Virginia Tech researcher earns fellowship to explore how obesity increases the risk for heart disease

Fellowship helps doctoral student get to the heart of cardiac disease

Virginia Tech cardiovascular scientist identifies potential new treatment for failing hearts

NIH award funds Virginia Tech scientist’s study of link between diet, diabetes, and heart disease

Unveiling a hidden threat: Researchers show viral infections pose early heart risks

Medical student’s research investigates the heart of the matter

Cardiovascular scientists to explore viral infection that can lead to sudden death

Cardiovascular scientists to explore viral infection that can lead to sudden death

Veterinary college researchers to study most common heart disease in cats

Scientists detect deadly arrhythmia trifecta: Salt, swelling, and leaky sodium channels

New data revealed about the origin of the circulatory system during development

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC researcher is Virginia Tech’s first NIH Outstanding Investigator Award recipient

From pasture to patient: Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists distill cow’s milk into nano-capsules for drug delivery

New scientists bring American Heart Association-funded research to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

New Fralin Biomedical Research Institute investigator seeks molecular causes for deadly lung, heart diseases

New Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientist seeks to reduce heart failure

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute researchers discover link between blood chemistry and deadly heart arrhythmias

Mind the gap: Heart cells cozy up to prevent deadly arrhythmias, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute researchers find

We asked our faculty: Why did you become a health scientist?

Step Inside the New Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Expansion in Roanoke

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute expansion melds world-class research and sustainable architecture

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute expansion building moving forward

New compound could help improve heart attack recovery

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Study

Welcome to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute