Virginia Tech to receive grant for medical device to treat brain tumors

Virginia Tech is receiving a $1.1 million state grant to support a medical device that will use low-energy electric fields to treat brain tumors.

The award is part of the first round of funding from the Virginia Research Investment Fund (VRIF), a new state program to support commercialization of promising technologies at Virginia universities.

Virginia Tech has lined up $1.2 million in additional funding as a condition of the grant award.

The Virginia Research Investment Committee approved three grants as part of the first VRIF round of funding. The $4 million round focused on life sciences and cybersecurity projects.

In December, the committee approved two other projects:

• An artificial pancreas that uses smart phones, insulin pumps and the online cloud to reduce blood-sugar variation in people with diabetes (University of Virginia): $255,855.
• Two product lines based on patented algorithms that use machine learning to improve the safety and security of wireless communications from cyberattacks (Virginia Tech): $1,181,030.

The General Assembly designated $12 million for the research fund and $29 million in bonding authority to support the purchase of research equipment or laboratory renovations associated with researcher-incentive packages and the translation of research into commercial use.