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August 2025 Inside the Institute Newsletter

A Message from Rob McCarley
Executive Director, The Fralin Life Sciences Institute
 

Excellence noun showing how it is spelled phonetically.

While recently advising a graduate student about course selections, the topic of building reputational excellence came up. Planning “for the long haul” takes time and discernment, as well as reflecting on cumulative successes, the criteria for deeming them as such, and how they came to be.

Moreover, identifying key elements of excellence and communicating them clearly are crucial to growing a prominent reputation. Furthermore, collaborating with new, outstanding team members can yield incredible synergistic outcomes and a big boost in reputational excellence.

As such, we are honored to welcome the Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII) to the FLSI. Its 70+ affiliates and the 350+ FLSI affiliates will help further our efforts as we pursue our vision of providing pathways that lead to new destinations and unprecedented knowledge at the interfaces of the life and molecular sciences.

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Let's go Hokies, and let’s go FLSI!
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Around the Institute and Affiliated Centers

Media Research Highlight

On a quest to gain more knowledge about the Mediterranean white shark, the SeaQL at Virginia Tech Lab is collaborating with the nonprofit organization International SeaKeepers Society and Virginia Tech’s Genomics Sequencing Center to leverage environmental DNA, known as eDNA, in the hunt.
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Unlocking The Mystery Of Mediterranean White Sharks Through Citizen Science

To fill in the gaps about these sharks, a team at Virginia Tech’s SeaQL Lab is teaming up with the nonprofit International SeaKeepers Society and Virginia Tech’s Genomics Sequencing Center, using a novel biomarker called environmental DNA, or eDNA.

Video Highlights

Around the Research Facilities

New Faces

Clay Hagy

Clay Hagy
Computer Support Specialist
Clay joins FLSI with a background in IT support at Virginia Tech. He will be helping out with typical helpdesk tasks like troubleshooting hardware and software issues, event setups, and supporting day-to-day technology needs across the Institute.

Parkeswaran Suseendrangy

Parkeswaran Suseendrangy
Sequencing Specialist
Parkesh received his Ph.D in plant pathology from Virginia Tech. He joins the Genomic Sequencing Center, where he will support cutting-edge DNA sequencing services to users and help guide users in submitting samples and troubleshooting results.