Zeta Beta Tau alumni gift fuels brain cancer research
Nicole DeFoor, a graduate student working at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, is examining glioma cell lines with a goal of stopping brain tumor invasion. By Leigh Anne Kelley 11 Dec 2025 Approximately a 3 minute read Doctoral student Nicole DeFoor (at left) designed an educational program for elementary students, whose handprints represented neurons. A Zeta Beta Tau fellowship will support her brain cancer research. Photo by Spencer Coppage for Virginia Tech.
National Cancer Institute grants support study of fluid flow in deadly brain tumors
Jennifer Munson will use the National Institutes of Health awards to build a novel map of fluid flow in the whole brain and use focused ultrasound to study the effectiveness of drug delivery to glioblastoma tumors. By Matt Chittum 1 Dec 2025 Approximately a 4 minute read Jennifer Munson was awarded two grants by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health to further her investigation interstitial fluid flow in the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma. Photo
Unraveling the secrets of ‘chemo brain’
A new study by Jennifer Munson and Monet Roberts suggests memory problems and inability to concentrate following chemotherapy could result from poor lymphatic-system drainage in response to the cancer drugs. By Matt Chittum 13 Oct 2025 Approximately a 4 minute read Jennifer Hammel (at left) and Monet Roberts conduct research in the Munson Lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC on the impacts of chemotherapy drugs on cognitive function, a phenomenon called chem
Predicting where a deadly brain cancer might go next
Jennifer Munson, a cancer researcher at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, describes a novel method for identifying where glioblastoma is likely to recur based on fluid moving through and near the tumor. By Matt Chittum 9 Sep 2025 Approximately a 4 minute read In a new paper published in npj Biomedical Innovations, Jennifer Munson and her team describe new ways to identify invading glioblastoma tumor cells hiding in the brain so surgeons and radiation oncologist
‘Every time we wait, we lose someone who might have made it’
Cancer researchers spurred to move faster, stay mindful of the families behind the data at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Symposium. By John Pastor 27 Jun 2025 Approximately a 6 minute read Siqi Jia (at right), a graduate student who conducts research in Professor Carla Finkelstein's lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, presents her findings during a lightning talk at the institute's Cancer Research Symposium. Attendees packed the