Here are some of the top things happening along the Roanoke Innovation Corridor this week (#roanokeinnovates):
- Role of Virginia Tech’s assistant vice president for health sciences education, Leanna Blevins, expanded to coordinate student support services at the health sciences and technology campus in Roanoke. LEARN MORE.
- Neuroscientists at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke have shown that observing peers making sound decisions may help young people play it safe. LEARN MORE
- Azziza “Kemi” Bankole, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and geriatric psychiatrist for Carilion Clinic, will serve the medical school in a new role as chief diversity officer. LEARN MORE.
- The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine has seen a 48 percent increase in applications for the class of 2025 compared to last year. The medical school is located adjacent to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. It is also co-located with Carilion Clinic outpatient centers and the health system’s Level 1 Trauma Center, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, all within walking distance. Students complete their clinical rotations in Carilion facilities. LEARN MORE.
- A doctoral candidate conducting research at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC was named to Forbes Magazine’s 2020 list of the 30 young innovators in science with potential to make it big. Ubadah Sabbagh, a fifth-year student in Virginia Tech’s translational biology, medicine, and health program, performs National Institutes of Health-funded research mapping the architecture of underexplored circuits of the visual brain. He’s also a writer and voice for underrepresented groups in science. LEARN MORE.
- Roanoke-based Luna Innovations acquired OptaSense Holdings, Ltd. (“OptaSense”), a QinetiQ company (LON: QQ), for 29 million British Pounds in cash. OptaSense is a recognized market leader in fiber optic distributed monitoring solutions for pipelines, oilfield services, security, highway monitoring and railway monitoring, and power and utilities monitoring systems. The combination is expected to create the world’s largest fiber optic sensing company. LEARN MORE.
- Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Cancer Care & Research Center opens at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute along the Roanoke Innovation Corridor. “This center will develop and deploy novel modalities for treating a variety of cancers. We are grateful for the outstanding faculty, staff, and partners of this center that fuel its far-reaching impact,” said M. Daniel Givens, dean of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. “This exciting new initiative creates the opportunity for advanced, integrated cancer treatment for dogs and cats in our region and transformative, translational research that will advance cancer treatment in pets and people alike.” LEARN MORE.