Michael Friedlander is the Vice President for Health Sciences and Technology at Virginia Tech and the founding executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. He also serves as the Senior Dean for Research at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and is a Professor of Biological Sciences and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Florida State University and a Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics from the University of Illinois. He began his career as a faculty member at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s medical center, where he started a neuroscience program and became founding chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Director of the Civitan International Research Center for Developmental Disabilities. From there, he became head of the Department of Neuroscience at the Baylor College of Medicine and Director of Neuroscience Initiatives in Houston, Texas. Since 2010, he has worked at Virginia Tech and helped launch the Virginia Tech Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke as well as the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.

1. What is your proudest accomplishment over the course of your career?

I'm most proud of the people and the enterprise that have emerged in the last 14 years at Virginia Tech. It was very exciting to be part of launching an entirely new program in biomedical and health science research and seeing it grow and flourish has been rewarding. It has been especially gratifying for myself and my best recruiting partner, my wife, Sandra, to have been able to be part of this growth and to have been so warmly embraced by the Roanoke community.

2. What is your favorite part of your job as executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC?

My favorite part of my job is helping, in any way I can, early career scientists grow and become successful. My role as a leader is to share resources with them, remove barriers, and connect them to other people and programs. I love seeing these scientists make important discoveries and go on to have national and international impact.

3. What projects are you currently working on at the research institute and at the Virginia Tech Carilion Health Sciences and Technology campus?

We are starting a new patient research center that will be located in our partner Carilion Clinic’s new Cancer Center building in Roanoke. With this new project, we will be taking discoveries and translating them into patient populations. I’m also excited about Virginia Tech’s partnership with the Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C. We have a strong partnership with that organization as well, and we have scientists there working on cancer research, including those that impact children. We are continuing to grow our partnership with the hospital by building out space and hiring new scientists to work there.

4. What are some of the lessons you have learned serving on the GO Virginia Region 2 Council?

The programs supported by GO Virginia include a lot of partnerships with institutions of higher learning, city and county governments, and private industry, and I've learned a lot about the exciting things going on in the New River Valley, Lynchburg, and Roanoke-Alleghany regions. I've learned how important it is to effectively partner with organizations, community groups, businesses, government, and universities in the area to launch truly collaborative projects. Serving on the council has taught me lessons on how to more successfully pull together teams across disciplines and organizations to effectively deliver projects for the greater good of the communities they serve.

I've also learned how sometimes a small financial investment can multiply and bring about successful outcomes. I’ve seen several projects the council has supported where modest investments take off and pay back in many ways.

5. What do you look forward to seeing GO Virginia Region 2 do more of in the future?

There are enormous opportunities in Region 2 to parlay the strengths we have in health and biomedical sciences, research, and healthcare. There's a lot of talent in the area and good training programs and facilities that provide wonderful healthcare and are constantly innovating. We have opportunities in Southwest Virginia and across Region 2 to excel. In the future, I hope to see GO Virginia entertaining more proposals that address issues around discovery, innovation, translation, and implementation in the health sciences.

6. What is the best advice you have ever received?

The best advice I've ever received is trust your instincts. Having spent many years in leadership positions, I've learned to develop a strong sense of people and opportunities. While analytical thinking is needed, allowing your first impressions and instincts to enter into the decision-making process as well is good advice that I've received from several mentors along the way.

7. What is the most memorable place you have ever visited?

I got to spend a year living and working in Australia, and I have very fond memories, not only of my work experiences, but of the people and the environment in the country. I especially enjoyed getting to visit the Australian Outback, the beaches, and the Great Barrier Reef.

8. What is a book you read recently that you would recommend?

One of the books I've recently read is called Breath from Salt by Bijal Trivedi. It's a fascinating account of the history of a disease called cystic fibrosis. When I worked at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, people were doing research on the underlying biology and genetics of cystic fibrosis, so I already knew something about the story. This book talks about the history of the patients and the advances made in genetic medicine; today, 90 or 95% of everybody with cystic fibrosis can be effectively treated. The book also focused on how the O’Donnell family raised hundreds of millions of dollars to bring together small biotech startups and the scientific community to put a full court press on trying to understand the disease, the genetic mutations, and how to develop therapies. This research comprises some of the earliest studies in precision medicine and gene therapy and has opened up a whole new landscape in medicine. It also puts a human face on the stories of the families who have been impacted by this disease and helps one as a scientist appreciate what it’s really all about – patients, their families, and science in the service of all humankind.