Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute professor Pearl Chiu has been awarded $1.125 million from the National Institute of Mental Health to continue her research. Here is a press release from Virginia Tech:

Pearl Chiu, assistant professor with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, has received $1.125 million National Institute of Mental Health BRAINS awards – Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists — to study depression and substance abuse.

She will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study why depression and substance abuse occur together so often, and to quantify the conditions as disorders on a continuum of motivation difficulties. Formal title of the five-year project is “Neuroimaging major depression and nicotine dependence on axes of valuation.” Read more »

LeClairRyan labor attorneys Mark B. Goodwin and Clinton S. Morse have published a book to help employers maintain good employee relations and stay in compliance with employment law. Here is a press release from LeClairRyan:

LeClairRyan and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce are pleased to announce the release of Maintaining Non-Union Status – The Big Picture and the Nuts and Bolts, the latest addition to the Virginia Legal Reference Series published by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.  Written by veteran LeClairRyan labor attorneys Mark B. Goodwin and Clinton S. Morse, the book focuses on how employers can maintain positive employee relations and also stay in strict compliance with employment laws across the entire depth of an organization. Read more »

One team of interprofessionalism students started the project "Kicks for Kids" to collect shoes for Refugee and Immigration Services in Roanoke.

Students from the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Jefferson College of Health Sciences Students from the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine are creating community service projects as part of a joint leadership class. Here is a press release from Virginia Tech:

(http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2011/01/index.html) and Jefferson College of Health Sciences (JCHS) (http://www.jchs.edu/) in Roanoke, Va., are giving back to the community as part of an innovative interprofessionalism curriculum.

Interprofessionalism (http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2011/01/interprofessionalism-curriculum.html) is one of four value domains at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. This domain emphasizes service learning and team building activities that are focused on professionalism and ethics, roles of the health professions, community service, public health, acute and chronic disease, and patient safety. While some medical schools offer a limited amount of interprofessional education, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine puts a unique focus on it and integrates it across the four year curriculum. Read more »

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is accepting nominations in 17 categories for this year’s Transportation Safety Awards. Applications are due Feb. 25. Here is a press release from the DMV:

The outstanding efforts made by individuals and organizations to change the behaviors of Virginia’s motorists leading to crash, injury and fatality reduction, may be nominated for the 2011 Virginia Governor’s Transportation Safety Awards. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is accepting nominations through February 25, 2011 for 17 different transportation safety categories.

The Virginia Board of Transportation Safety, comprising citizens appointed by the Governor, will review submissions and approve final selections. Entries will be judged on creativity, imagination, uniqueness, the impact on the community, and the use of volunteers and private sector resources. Read more »

Warren Bickel

Warren Bickel will be the head of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine’s new substance abuse center. Here is a press release from Virginia Tech:

Warren Bickel, a leading researcher on brain processes that affect human decision-making including addiction, has been named director of the newly established Center for Substance Abuse at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

Bickel, who has been the Wilbur D. Mills Chair of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Prevention and director of the Center for Addiction Research and the Center for the Study of Tobacco Addiction at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, becomes a Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute (http://www.vtc.vt.edu/research/index.html) professor on Feb. 1. He will also be a professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech. Read more »

Advance Auto Parts, Delta Dental, Member One Federal Credit Union and Freedom First Credit Union have all been named great places to work by Virginia Business magazine. Here is the story from our senior reporter Brian Kelley:

Four Roanoke-based companies are on a first-time list of the “Best Places to Work in Virginia,” published in the February issue of Virginia Business magazine and online at www.virginiabusiness.com.

Advance Auto Parts, the only Fortune 500 firm based in Roanoke, is one of 20 “Best Places” in the large employers division. It has 48,000 employees nationwide and 3,800 in Virginia (including 1,600 in Roanoke). Three Roanoke companies made the list for mid-size employers: Delta Dental of Virginia, with 239 employees; Member One Federal Credit Union, with 192 employees; and Freedom First Credit Union, with 124 employees. Read more »

Wu Feng

Virginia Tech computer science professor Wu Feng has been named to HPCWire magazine’s “People to Watch” list for the second time. Here is a press release from Tech:

Wu Feng (http://www.cs.vt.edu/user/32), associate professor of computer science (http://www.cs.vt.edu/) and electrical and computer engineering (http://www.ece.vt.edu/) at Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering, has been named to “HPCWire” magazine’s “People to Watch List” for 2011. It is the second such honor for Feng, who was named to the same list in 2004.

The list comprises individuals who are seen as influential in the high-performance computing community, according to magazine editors. Honorees are selected from a pool of potential candidates in academia, government, industrial end-user and vendor communities, and are believed to be “thought leaders.” Read more »

Montgomery County has launched a new website to list commercial real estate properties available in the area. Here are the details from the county’s economic development department:

The Montgomery County Economic Development Department is pleased to announce the launching of its newly designed multiple listing website for commercial real estate in Montgomery County-Blacksburg-Christiansburg, Virginia.  The purpose of CRE.YesMontgomeryVA.org is to connect prospective and existing Montgomery County businesses with the sites and/or buildings they need to locate and grow in the community.

Read more at www.yesmontgomeryva.org/content/121/231/1327/1362.aspx.

Recently we reported that the Greenbriar resort in West Virginia had been recognized as a Five Diamond establishment by AAA for the 35th consecutive year. Today, Four and Five Diamond honors will be awarded to hotels and restaurants in Virginia, including the The Oaks Victorian Hotel in Christiansburg. Here is a press release from AAA:

Today, AAA Mid-Atlantic salutes properties in the Central and Western Virginia regions that are a cut above the competition in service and quality during its 2011 Diamond Awards luncheon. The event is being held a noon at the Westin Richmond.

The Five and Four Diamond Awards are among the most coveted symbols of excellence for lodgings and restaurants in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The awards are presented to only those establishments that consistently delivers a truly memorable experience, complete with superior personal service, quality amenities, and an unforgettable ambiance. Read more »

American Electric Power’s Energy Efficiency Advisory Council is supporting a proposed agreement that will set new energy efficiency standards for home appliances. The agreement will also extend and update a tax credit for manufacturers who produce those appliances. Here is a press release from AEP:

Today, members of American Electric Power’s (NYSE: AEP) external Energy Efficiency Advisory Council sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) urging adoption of the proposed Energy Efficient and Smart Appliance Agreement of 2010, which would set new minimum energy efficiency standards for home appliances, extend and update tax credits for the development and manufacturing of smart appliances, and include smart grid readiness as a feature of future ENERGY STAR qualified appliances.

The Energy Efficiency Advisory Council, made up of 13 manufacturing, trade, technology, environmental and policy experts, was created in June 2010 to help AEP achieve its energy efficiency and conservation goals and to drive national awareness to change behaviors, support new technologies and standards, and influence public policy. Read more »