The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Postdoctoral Excellence Awards, established through the generosity of Mary Denton Roberts and David Lyerly, recognize exceptional research potential and professional development. The most recent recipients are Ignacio Aiello, Xiaobo Wu, and Mark Renton.
The awards recognize the potential for impactful individual scientific contributions. Recipients are selected based on the likelihood that their research proposal will lead to novel contributions as well as their mentors' ability to enhance their professional development.
Roberts taught microbiology and immunology at Radford University from 1980 to 2006.
Lyerly is a co-founder and chief science officer of the Blacksburg-based medical diagnostics company TechLab Inc. He and colleague Tracy Wilkins founded the company in 1989, based on discoveries from their research on Clostridium difficile, the major cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea and colitis.
