BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Virginia Tech has established a new Center for Drug Discovery to work on research that could lead to new treatments for cancer, cardiovascular disease and other illnesses.

Professor David Kingston will be the center's director, and faculty members working in the fields of drug discovery and delivery also will be affiliated with the center.

Virginia Tech says it hopes the center's research will be integral to developing drugs that will reach the investigational stage in the pharmaceutical industry.

Kingston says that universities' role in drug discovery research is becoming more important at a time when major drug companies are laying off discovery scientists.

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Online:

Virginia Tech Center for Drug Discovery: http://www.fralin.vt.edu/virginia-tech-center-drug-discovery/about-us