July 2026 Inside the Institute Newsletter

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Virginia Tech, the Fralin Life Sciences Instiute, and the Institute’s predecessors have a long and rich history of supporting research, education, and outreach in the context of the mission of a land-grant university, which is demonstrated by the successes of investigators at the university. 

Fueled by those achievements, while keeping in mind the philosophies and approaches of Professors Charlie Engel and Ed Moore, and University Distinguished Professor Peg Haldeman Moore, founders of the Departments of Biochemistry and Nutrition, and Anaerobic Microbiology, the Institute focuses on making investments that:

• Foster and propel transformative, interdisciplinary research (Overarching Aim 1 – OA1);
• Advance learning and professional development of aspiring and established scientists (OA2); and
• Influence and guide communities positively (OA3).

To those ends, the Institute enacts its Mission of improving the human condition by helping advance life sciences at Virginia Tech. Like Engel, Moore, and Haldeman, we recognize that being successful in this arena is predicated on: 

• Helping investigators whose activities lead them beyond disciplinary boundaries, 
• Providing infrastructure and ecosystems that culture and catalyze such transdisciplinary activities, 
• Working with a diverse group of stakeholders to offer new opportunities, and; 
• Supporting the programs and people who can make it all come together and yield synergistic outcomes of benefit locally and across the globe.

In ourJune 2026 newsletter, we learned the FLSI aspires to attain our Aims through democratized access to and implementation of our Four Priority Investment Areas. The latter are Research Opportunities, People, Research Ecosystems, and Research Backbone. 

In this month’s newsletter, we will learn more about how those investments have in part impacted the Institute, Virginia Tech, and broader communities by advancing life sciences.

Importantly, the vignettes below give insight into outcomes from our investments directed at Aim 2: Develop, Grow, and Promote Next Leaders. Another way of viewing approaches to this Aim is that Institute prioritizes investments in or those that directly impact people. 

Much like Engel, who succeeded with building an interdisciplinary life sciences program through joint unit faculty hires, the Institute is focused on investigator successes with research, education, and engagement by bringing together and supporting folks from all walks of life and expertise. 

Finally, the three stories on Communicating Impact of Investments and Priorities and the Video Highlight are like ice cream on a piece of hot blackberry cobbler, in that these communiqués provide that “little extra” to celebrate successes of our investigators and collaborators across the Institute.

In closing, for a glimpse of anticipated outcomes from the outstanding FLSI community, I hope you can spare the time to look back at the January newsletter and then envision opportunities that may lead Virginia Tech toward Global Distinction and achieve success with the Virginia Tech Advantage initiative.

Let’s go Hokies, and let’s go FLSI!

P.S. To learn more about Moore and University Distinguished Professor Haldeman (and Tracy Wilkins, founder of the Fralin Biotechnology Center), I invite you to examine Strother’s book “From VPI to State University: President T. Marshall Hahn, Jr. and the transformation of Virginia Tech.”