Health Care | Biotech | Pharmaceuticals 2025: MICHAEL J. FRIEDLANDER

As founder and head of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Friedlander leads 40 research teams with more than 450 faculty, staff and students working together to solve major health challenges, including brain disorders, heart disease and cancer.

Under his leadership, the institute, which was founded in 2010, had been awarded more than $379 million in grants and contracts as of September 2024, including two $50 million gifts.

In June 2024, the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, a Charlottesville-based nonprofit that promotes the use of ultrasonic energy to target tissue deep in the body, designated Virginia Tech a Focused Ultrasound Center of Excellence, making it the sixth such center in the United States and one of only 12 in the world. Friedlander chairs the center.

The Roanoke Blacksburg Innovation Alliance, Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic are spearheading the region’s efforts within a statewide project to make Virginia a biotechnology leader. Virginia Tech announced in February the region’s $4.9 million GO Virginia grant.

A neuroscientist, Friedlander also leads academic programs for medical, doctoral, graduate and undergraduate students at Virginia Tech. At the medical school, he coordinates research curriculum and opportunities for students.

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