September 2023 Inside the Institute Newsletter

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

Everyone I have been talking to since the start of the semester (was it really just a month ago?) has the same take on things. They are excited, busy, and looking forward to what comes next. Part of that enthusiasm stems from planning for future possibilities, while reflecting on accomplishments.
 
On the latter, I had the distinct pleasure of presenting achievements to our Institute stakeholder board last week. From those discussions, it is clear the entire FLSI community is celebrating a bountiful harvest while organizing “seeds” to plant new ideas and initiatives.
 
Building on those celebrations are upcoming campus events and announcements headlining FLSI-affiliated faculty achievements, successful team proposals, cool symposia, and distinguished public lectures. In addition, the Institute will continue its monthly series on engaging with you all through our Fralin Fridays activities, thereby continuing with our promise to inform you about and gain your input on how to best serve you from a research backbone perspective. 
 
Of course, none of this would be possible without your support and that of the university and its dedicated leadership team, as well as your hard work and constant drive to help gain knowledge at the frontiers of life sciences situated at the interfaces of numerous disciplines. In parallel are crucial contributions you all make with educating others via laboratory and classroom venues, and through public engagement activities. 

Let’s go Hokies, and let’s go FLSI!

I invite you to take a peek at the latest edition of "McCarley's Musings and Inspirations", my reflections blog featuring Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead and a recent archaeological find in Norway. 

Around the Institute and Affiliated Centers

Around the Research Facilities

Mass Spectrometry Incubator

Interested in a proteomics or metabolomics tutorial? The Virginia Tech Mass Spectrometry Incubator staff are more than happy to help! Contact Rich Helm, helmrf@vt.edu, for more information.

GlycoMIP

Did you know that GlycoMIP provides surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and microscale thermophoresis (MST) instrumentation? If you are interested in binding studies, e-mail us at: info@glycomip.org.

New Roles

Dustin Covey is in a new role as IT manager for the Fralin Life Sciences Institute, with his office now in Steger Hall. He will be responsible for operational oversight of the desktop support personnel and helpdesk function in supporting Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.