Cancer Research Center — D.C. | Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC | Virginia Tech

Cancer Research Center — D.C. | Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC | Virginia Tech
Cancer Research Center — D.C.
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CANCER RESEARCH CENTER — D.C.
Engineering Cancer Solutions
Faculty Labs
Recent News
Location and Facilities
Upcoming Events
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Christopher Hourigan, DM, DPhil, FRCP
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Professor, Director, Cancer Research Center – D.C.
About the Cancer Research Center — D.C.
The Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C., brings together basic, translational, and computational researchers of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in the nation’s capital to focus on the shared aim of
engineering cancer solutions
. Current research efforts involve diverse teams and national and international collaborations, and are motivated by the opportunity to apply world-leading scientific innovation and ingenuity to make measurable progress on the hardest problems.
The center is led by
Chris Hourigan DM, DPhil., FRCP
, an oncologist focusing on precision cancer medicine.
CANCER RESEARCH CENTER — D.C. FACULTY MEMBER LABS
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Hourigan Lab
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The Hourigan Lab is focused on bringing precision medicine approaches to the care of
patients suffering from the rare, highly-fatal, blood cancer Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
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Mei Lab
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The Mei Lab uses computational biology techniques to study the mechanisms of tumor microenvironment remodeling and regulation during metastasis.
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Mulvaney Lab
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The Mulvaney Lab studies cellular signaling pathways and how changes in these pathways contribute to cancer with the goal of translating these findings into meaningful clinical improvements for patient care.
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Ye Lab
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The Ye lab uses advanced mouse glioma models, multi-omics technologies, cross-species data analysis, and high-resolution imaging to study lab how tumor-associated astrocytes regulate blood vessel function and lipid metabolism within the tumor environment.
RECENT NEWS
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Blood cancer researcher aims to stop the disease before it starts
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Apr 13, 2026
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Graduate course brings federal health experts into the classroom
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Apr 13, 2026
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Testing for residual leukemia
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Date:
Apr 03, 2026
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Researchers drill down on genetics to guide treatment for leukemia patients
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Cancer researchers are making strides in efforts to use genetic profiles to develop a better understanding of how people respond to treatment for a rare but aggressive blood cancer.
Date:
Mar 06, 2026
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Seeing brain tumors through a neuroscience lens
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Cancer researcher Qi Ye investigates how brain tumors can hijack other cell systems to promote their own progression.
Date:
Feb 19, 2026
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High school student takes on pediatric cancer
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Through the Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s Global Internship Program, Mason Liu is tackling pediatric cancer research in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s D.C. labs.
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Oct 01, 2025
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Researcher advances new approach to blood cancer treatment
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Christopher Hourigan, a physician-scientist, is leading nationwide efforts to develop advanced techniques to better identify residual disease and tailor treatment for each patient with acute myeloid leukemia, a highly fatal blood cancer.
Date:
Sep 30, 2025
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Immunotherapy for leukemia may change the bone marrow environment, cancer researchers find
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Scientists studying a hard-to-treat form of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia have found that a type of treatment — immunotherapy — may help change the environment where cancer cells live, possibly helping the immune system respond more effectively.
Date:
Jul 31, 2025
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Hard-to-treat cancers respond to combination therapy using a new class of drugs
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In a powerful new approach, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists use advanced gene editing to study potential dual therapy for lung, brain, and pancreatic cancers.
Date:
Jul 25, 2025
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Scientists uncover immune cells that help prostate cancer resist treatment and a way to stop them
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Scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute identified a subtype of immune cells that helps advanced prostate cancer evade the body’s defenses, suggesting a new approach for treatment.
Date:
Jul 10, 2025
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‘Every time we wait, we lose someone who might have made it’
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For every careful step forward in cancer research, there is a patient waiting — a family holding its breath in the middle of the night. That reality was clear at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s Cancer Research Symposium.
Date:
Jun 27, 2025
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New study aims to improve treatment for pediatric brain cancer
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With grant support from The Children’s Cancer Foundation Inc., a nonprofit that serves the Baltimore-Washington region, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists are focused on ending an glioblastoma.
Date:
Jun 09, 2025
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Finding community and focus in interdisciplinary cancer research
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Doctoral student Blanka Bordas had not planned to work in Washington, D.C., as she earned her degree, but opted to do so for the chance to work with an outstanding mentor on cancer research
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Apr 11, 2025
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Graduate students share work at inaugural research showcase at Academic Building One
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Graduate students from programs across the greater Washington, D.C,. metro area shared their work at the Graduate Education Week Research Showcase in Alexandria.
Date:
Apr 03, 2025
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Children’s National Hospital, Virginia Tech expand research partnership to advance pediatric health
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The partnership brings together Children’s National, ranked among the nation’s top pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, and Virginia Tech, a leading academic research institution.
Date:
Feb 04, 2025
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New Virginia Tech cancer researcher seeks to understand and predict deadly tumor metastasis
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Shenglin Mei, the newest principal investigator of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C., applies computational biology, genetics, and immunology to study cancer’s spread away from the primary tumor.
Date:
Dec 17, 2024
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Leading oncologist to share how understanding DNA helps diagnose and treat cancer
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Physician-scientist Luis Diaz Jr., a member of the National Academy of Medicine, will deliver the next Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC on Thursday, Nov. 21.
Date:
Nov 15, 2024
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Virginia Tech, Children’s National Hospital, and industry experts explore the impact of AI on health care
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While exploring the potential of artificial intelligence, old fashioned networking and human relationships held the floor.
Date:
Sep 24, 2024
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Scientist awarded National Institutes of Health grant to examine cancer-related enzyme
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Kathleen Mulvaney, assistant professor with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s Cancer Research Center — D.C., will investigate the basic biology of PRMT5, an enzyme that can be found in 15 percent of human cancers.
Date:
Sep 10, 2024
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Physician-scientist to spearhead focused ultrasound research for pediatric brain tumors at Virginia Tech
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Cheng-Chia "Fred" Wu joins forces with Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and Children’s National Brain Tumor Institute to help children with cancer.
Date:
Jul 31, 2024
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Federal leaders take center stage at Engineering Cancer Solutions mini-symposium
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Three federal leaders – one each from the White House, the National Cancer Institute, and the Food and Drug Administration – mixed with Virginia Tech students, early career researchers, and leadership at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C.
Date:
Jul 12, 2024
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Testing for residual cancer cells before blood cell transplant therapy is important and practical, new study finds
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Patients in remission after battling blood cancer are likely to have better outcomes if no trace of the cancer is detectable before the patients receive donor blood cells. The finding in JAMA Oncology emphasizes the importance of testing for lingering cancer cells in the body after people receive apparently successful chemotherapy treatment.
Date:
May 02, 2024
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Virginia Tech professor to be inducted into prestigious American Society for Clinical Investigation
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Christopher Hourigan, director of the Cancer Research Center – D.C., has been inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation, a historic membership for a faculty member of Virginia Tech.
Date:
Apr 04, 2024
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Eminent cancer physician-scientist joins Virginia Tech to lead research in Washington, D.C.
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A National Institutes of Health senior investigator who studies and treats blood cancer, Christopher Hourigan is joining Virginia Tech to lead cancer research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Washington, D.C.
Date:
Apr 01, 2024
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Rare Disease Day brings worldwide attention to more than 7,000 rare diseases
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Virginia Tech research into rare diseases — those that individually affect 200,000 or fewer but collectively touch 1 in 10 people in the U.S. — provides hope in identifying, treating, and supporting patients.
Date:
Feb 28, 2024
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From healthy development to cancer treatments, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists aim for impact
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New Seale Innovation Fund projects fuel a broad spectrum of research focused on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, stress, brain development, and more.
Date:
Jan 29, 2024
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2023 marks a year of firsts for Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program
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The interdisciplinary program saw its first student assigned full-time to a Fralin Biomedical Research Institute lab in Washington, D.C., its first students from Nepal and Ghana in an internationally diverse incoming cohort, and its first student to be awarded a prestigious grant for future physician-scientists.
Date:
Dec 15, 2023
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New cancer drug shows promise in targeting genetic weakness in tumors, Virginia Tech expert says
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In an invited review article in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, Kathleen Mulvaney, assistant professor with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, talks about the potential of a new drug that has shown early promise in clinical trials for solid tumors by killing cancer cells that lack specific genes.
Date:
Nov 01, 2023
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Common challenge, different strategies: Virginia Tech Cancer Research Alliance gathers broad mix of researchers and clinicians
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The second annual Virginia Tech Cancer Research Alliance retreat, hosted this year on the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus, brought together scientists and physicians on the leading edge of developing innovative therapy types, fresh biological targets, and new technologies to take on cancer.
Date:
Jun 21, 2023
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‘We have a very rich resource here’
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Scientist  Jia-Ray Yu and collaborators tackle pediatric brain cancer in Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s growing presence in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area.
Date:
Jun 20, 2023
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Philanthropy supports pilot projects to take on health challenges such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stress, and chronic pain
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Giving Day contributions to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have double the impact, unlocking $20,000 to the Seale Innovation Fund to accelerate innovation
Date:
Feb 15, 2023
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New cancer biologist targets ‘Achilles heel’ in deadly brain cancers
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Cancer biologist Kathleen Mulvaney joins the faculty of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC on Oct. 1. Her lab will be in Washington, D.C., on the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus as part of a partnership between Virginia Tech and Children’s National.
Date:
Sep 27, 2022
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Rare disease research gives families hope, ‘vital’ to advancing medicine
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Rare diseases afflict 300 million people worldwide. Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC researchers are bridging a gap in scientific knowledge by studying some of the diseases that together add up to a formidable public health challenge. Feb. 28 marks the 14th international Rare Disease Day.
Date:
Feb 28, 2022
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Cancer biologist to join Fralin Biomedical Research Institute faculty, launch research lab in Washington, D.C.
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Jia-Ray Yu will be the first Virginia Tech faculty member to move into the university’s new research facilities on the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus. Yu will be a member of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, and an assistant professor in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine starting Sept. 1.
Date:
Jul 02, 2021
Recent Media Coverage
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The Virginian Review: Researchers Drill Down On Genetics to Guide Treatment for Leukemia Patients
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Mar 19, 2026
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Oncology Learning Network: The Expanding Role of Minimal Residual Disease Testing in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
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Mar 13, 2026
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The Roanoke Star: VA Tech Study Finds DNA Test May Predict Leukemia Relapse Risk
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Date:
Mar 09, 2026
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Health Medicine Network: How Researchers drill down on genetic profiles to guide treatment for leukemia patients
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Feb 23, 2026
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News Medical: Researchers pinpoint PRMT5 as a promising target for cancer drugs
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Jul 26, 2025
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Ma Clinique (France): Researchers identify PRMT5 as a promising target for cancer drugs
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Date:
Jul 26, 2025
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eCancer: ‘Powerful new approach’: New drug combination strategy shows promise against hard-to-treat cancers
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Date:
Jul 25, 2025
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Technology Networks: Genetic Screening Reveals Drug Combination for Hard-To-Treat Cancers
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Date:
Jul 25, 2025
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Drug Target Review: New drug combo targets PRMT5 to fight deadly cancers
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Date:
Jul 31, 2025
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Inside Higher Ed: Advice to a Younger Scientist
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Date:
Nov 21, 2025
Page 1 of 7 | 68 Results
UPCOMING
SEMINARS
Presented by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and co-hosted by the Cancer Research Center (DC)
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Special Seminar: Regulation of Targeted Therapies for Patients with Myeloid Malignancies
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April 23, 2026, 2 p.m., Cancer Research Center — D.C. | Kelly Norsworthy, M.D., Acting Director, Division of Hematologic Malignancies I, Office of Oncologic Diseases, Office of New Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration | Special Seminar