A globally recognized physician-scientist who studies and treats blood cancer is joining Virginia Tech to lead cancer research in Washington, D.C., said Michael Friedlander, Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology and executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.
Christopher Hourigan, a senior investigator and chief of the Laboratory of Myeloid Malignancies at the National Institutes of Health, will join Virginia Tech as a professor with the institute and director of its Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C.
“Dr. Hourigan exemplifies the prototype of a physician-scientist, integrating insights from his patient interactions directly into his fundamental and translational laboratory research,” Friedlander said. “We are extremely enthusiastic to have him join Virginia Tech and become a member of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute team to take on this important new leadership role for our growing cancer research programs in Washington, D.C., and to further strengthen our collaborations with Carilion Clinic, Children’s National Hospital, and other health systems and universities.
The focus of the research effort, known as Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center – D.C., is to bring basic, translational, clinical, and computational researchers together in the nation’s capital to focus on the shared aim of engineering cancer solutions.
“Convening top talent like Dr. Hourigan and developing deep and diverse partnerships are key to solving our most complex global challenges,” said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. “It’s exciting to see our vision for the university advancing across the commonwealth and in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area.”
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