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Leadership

The Faculty of Health Sciences is led by the vice president for health sciences and technology, who is appointed by and reports directly to the senior vice president and provost. The vice president for health sciences and technology's responsibilities include expanding interdisciplinary graduate programs in biomedical and health sciences, establishing and chairing the Executive Advisory Committee, advising the senior leadership on new strategic directions and promising funding opportunities, overseeing the appointment process, and leading and facilitating coordination of biomedical, translational, clinical research, and educational collaborations both internally and with external institutions.

 

Vice President for Health Sciences and Technology

The vice president for health sciences and technology is Michael Friedlander, PhD. A neuroscientist, Friedlander also serves as executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, senior dean for research at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and professor of biological sciences and of biomedical engineering and sciences at Virginia Tech.

Friedlander joined Virginia Tech in 2010 following five years as the Robertson Professor of Neuroscience, chairman of the Department of Neuroscience, and director of neuroscience initiatives at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Prior to that, he served for 25 years at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, where he was professor and founding chair of the Department of Neurobiology, founding director of the Neurobiology Research Center, director of the Mental Retardation Research Center, director of the Civitan International Research Center for Intellectual Disabilities, and the first Evelyn McKnight Professor of Learning and Memory in Aging. 

Friedlander received his bachelor’s of science from Florida State University and his doctorate from the University of Illinois. He did postdoctoral training at the University of Virginia and at State University of New York in Stony Brook. His research programs on how the brain develops and responds to experience have been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health for 30 years. 

 

Executive Advisory Committee

Michael J. Friedlander, PhD (Chair)
Vice President for Health Sciences and Technology, Virginia Tech
Executive Director, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
Professor of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech
Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Virginia Tech
Senior Dean for Research, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

 

Dr. Michael Friedlander

Robert W. Gourdie, PhD
Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
FBRI Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund Eminent Scholar in Heart Regenerative Medicine Research
Director, FBRI Center for Vascular and Heart Health
Director, Carilion Clinic Emergency Medicine Research Program
 

Robert Gourdie, Ph.D., FAHA, AIMBE

X.J. Meng, MD, PhD
University Distinguished Professor, Virginia Tech
Professor of Molecular Virology
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology
Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine


 

XJ Meng, Ph.D.

Sharon Ramey, PhD
Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
Research Professor, Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech
Distinguished Research Scholar of Human Development, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
 

Sharon Ramey, Ph.D.

Karen Roberto, Ph.D.
University Distinguished Professor, Virginia Tech
Director, Center for Gerontology
Director, Institute for Society, Culture and Environment
Virginia Tech



 

Karen Roberto, Ph.D.

Leadership

Vice President for Health Sciences and Technology

Michael J. Friedlander, PhD
2 Riverside Circle
Roanoke, VA 24016
friedlan@vt.edu
540-526-2013

Faculty of Health Sciences Program Coordinator

Billi Hutchings, M.Ed. 
2 Riverside Circle
Roanoke, VA 24016
billi09@vtc.vt.edu
540-526-2289

Graduate Programs in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health

TBMH Program Director

John C. Chappell, PhD
2 Riverside Circle
Roanoke, VA 24016
jchappell@vtc.vt.edu
540-526-2108

Visit the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health site