Children's National Hospital - Virginia Tech Initiatives

Children's National Hospital and Virginia Tech have launched a research partnership to revolutionize pediatric health with discoveries and innovations targeting pediatric cancers and other rare diseases.

By leveraging the talents of both research organizations, we will combine our novel technologies and therapies to deliver breakthroughs for preventing and treating childhood diseases through new diagnostic tools, advanced analytics and innovative therapies.

The partnership also focuses on enhancing the training of the next generation of physicians, scientists, and physician-scientists. Together, we aim to accelerate innovation and improve child health outcomes.

Virginia Tech Faculty at the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus

The partnership catalyzes researchers from both institutions working together to advance novel treatments for pediatric diseases, particularly cancer.

The labs of Jia-Ray Yu, Ph.D., and Kathleen Mulvaney, Ph.D., are two of the research groups that are part of Virginia Tech’s FBRI Cancer Research Center – DC, focusing on understanding the mechanisms of oncogenesis and cellular signaling pathways in cancer, respectively. In addition, the joint recruitment of Fred Wu, M.D., Ph.D., from Columbia University represents a unique partnership that integrates research on low-intensity focused ultrasound for brain tumors from preclinical models to clinical trials.

Kathleen Mulvaney, PhD

Assistant Professor

Kathleen Mulvaney, PhD

Research Centers

Center for Cancer & Immunology Research

Biography

Kathleen Mulvaney's, PhD, long-standing research focus is understanding and disrupting protein-protein interactions and protein modifications in cancer, and translating that knowledge into meaningful clinical improvements for patient care. Some enzymes show altered gene expression or activity in cancer or become a genetic requirement/dependency that the tumor relies on for survival. Dr. Mulvaney seeks to identify and characterize these dependencies in cancers of the pancreas and pediatric and adult brain cancers. Understanding what a tumor requires to survive may provide a pathway to killing it.

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Cheng-Chia "Fred" Wu, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Cheng-Chia "Fred" Wu, MD, PhD

Research Centers

Center for Cancer & Immunology Research

Biography

The childhood brain cancer diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and diffuse midline glioma (DMG) are rare but aggressive cancers, and physicians lack an effective systemic therapy for them. Cheng-Chia "Fred" Wu, MD, PhD, researches novel technologies to develop a precision-medicine based approach for drug delivery to treat these tumors. Focused ultrasound (FUS), used in combination with new and existing drug therapies as well as radiation, holds promise for improved treatments in these and other cancers. With labs at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke and the institute's Cancer Research Center — D.C. on the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus, Dr. Wu aims to leverage technological advances from Virginia Tech and patient trial expertise at Children's National to advance cancer care for children and others.

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Jia-Ray Yu, PhD

Assistant Professor

Jia-Ray Yu, PhD

Research Centers

Center for Cancer & Immunology Research

Biography

Jia-Ray Yu, PhD, studies the regulations of gene expression at the chromatin level. As chromatin is a highly compartmentalized structure, the temporo-spatial regulations of the chromatin-associated factors are crucial for their collective functions in shaping the epigenome. These natural principles are, however, often dysregulated in human diseases such as congenital developmental syndromes and a variety types of cancer.

Brain Tumor Institute

The Brain Tumor Institute at Children’s National Hospital is home to internationally recognized experts dedicated to providing your child with a better quality of life after a brain tumor diagnosis. Our researchers are pushing the scientific boundaries of pediatric brain tumor care, providing the latest, most promising diagnosis and treatment options to our patients. Our research has been recognized around the world.

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