Children’s National Hospital and Virginia Tech are expanding their research partnership, building on a successful collaboration established in 2019. This partnership will advance pediatric health through innovative discoveries and therapies with an initial focus on pediatric cancers, including brain tumors.
The partnership brings together Children’s National, ranked among the nation’s top pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, and Virginia Tech, a leading academic research institution. Together, they aim to deliver transformative advancements to enhance outcomes for children facing devastating diagnoses.
“Over the years, our partnership with Virginia Tech has demonstrated the power of combining top-tier research expertise with a shared commitment to improving pediatric health,” said Catherine Bollard, senior vice president and chief research officer and director of the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research. “This expansion underscores our belief that by working together, we can accelerate discoveries and develop life-changing therapies for children with cancer and other rare diseases.”
The goals of the research-focused partnership include:
- Accelerating the understanding of the biology, improvements in prevention, and treatment of pediatric cancers and other childhood diseases
- Developing new diagnostic and therapeutic tools to improve care for children
- Training the next generation of scientists and physician-scientists
“Children’s National Hospital has been an important partner for us in biomedical research and innovation,” said Michael Friedlander, Virginia Tech vice president for health sciences and technology. “Our collaboration deepened with the launch of Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C., and now, as our partnership grows even stronger, we’re poised together to take on some of the biggest challenges in cancer research to contribute to the health of children and adults. The timing of this major step with our Children’s National partners couldn’t be better as Virginia Tech opens its new academic building in nearby Alexandria, providing additional opportunities for collaborative research emphasizing artificial intelligence and data analytics.”
The initial focus of the collaboration is pediatric cancers, including brain tumors — among the most challenging childhood diagnoses. By combining Virginia Tech’s leading-edge technology and research infrastructure with Children’s National’s expertise in pediatric care, the organizations aim to make significant strides in understanding these diseases.
“Partnering with Children’s National connects us to a world-class clinical trial institute that has been a pioneer in treating brain tumors with focused ultrasound technology, and this presents a unique opportunity to help children and families struggling with cancer,” said Cheng-Chia “Fred” Wu, a member of the Children’s National Brain Tumor Research Institute and a principal investigator in cancer research and faculty member at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke and in the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. “I can’t wait to see where this takes us.”
An interdisciplinary approach is at the heart of the strategy.
“Cancer is a challenge that transcends disciplines, and our first recruit during my tenure — a computational biologist — reflects our commitment to thinking broadly about the expertise and teams needed to make an impact,” said Chris Hourigan, director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C.
The collaboration began with the launch of a 12,000-square-foot Virginia Tech biomedical research facility within the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus, which opened in 2020. Located on a 12-acre portion of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the campus was the nation’s first innovation hub focused exclusively on pediatric research.
“We welcome this opportunity to expand our partnership with Children’s National and deploy our multidisciplinary expertise to fight pediatric cancer,” said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. “It reflects our university’s land-grant mission to take on challenges, work collaboratively, learn by experience, and seek solutions that make an impact.”
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