December 2024 Inside the Institute Newsletter

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

On behalf of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute, I thank you for all you have done, continue to do, and plan to do to help the Institute serve the Virginia Tech life sciences community! Your daily impact on the students, postdoctoral associates, staff, and faculty affiliated with the Institute, and importantly your colleagues, is significant and lasting. 

As we approach the winter solstice—the day I dislike most due to having the least amount of daylight (9 hours and 36 minutes here in Blacksburg)—I encourage you to take the time for discernment and think about all the great things that lay ahead in your personal and professional lives. Those anticipated accomplishments are built on your commitment and amazing efforts, whose impact is sometimes not readily visible to each of us. 

Like footprints in the snow, it is important that we take the time in the coming weeks to turn around and assess what each of has done in 2024. While occasionally we do not see our own set of prints in the snow, it is valuable to recognize the footprints of those who have helped carry us during challenging times and how we greatly benefit from everyone’s impactful and continuous efforts to make Virginia Tech and the Institute a great destination.

Speaking of destinations, our Institute affiliates have really taken us to some fantastic ones recently and throughout the year. Whether it is the Amazon Rainforest for the amazing XPRIZE team winners, Virginia Tech's s own Kentland Farm aimed at sustainable food networks, or the many other destinations in 2024 reflected by the stories below, the folks in the Institute are transporting us to headline destinations and frontiers through their collective efforts aimed at impactful research, education, and engagement activities.

Best wishes to you and yours in the upcoming holiday season,