Veterinary neurosurgeon John Rossmeisl earns National Academy of Inventors recognition
By Andrew Mann
Dogs are the only mammals besides humans that commonly develop spontaneous brain tumors. John Rossmeisl has spent nearly three decades at Virginia Tech turning that grim coincidence into something useful — for his canine patients and for the humans facing the same disease.
The National Academy of Inventors has named Rossmeisl, the Dr. and Mrs. Dorsey Taylor Mahin Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, an NAI Senior Member, a distinction honoring inventors whose work has demonstrated real impact on public welfare. He holds 21 U.S. patents related to diseases of the brain — 16 of them licensed for use in veterinary and human medicine.
One of those patents led to a molecularly targeted drug — designed to seek out proteins found only on glioma cells, sparing healthy brain tissue — that has moved from canine clinical trials toward a Phase 1 human trial at Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, backed by a $3.8 million NIH grant.
Others involve irreversible electroporation, a technology that destroys cancer cells with brief, intense electrical pulses rather than radiation or heat. The device is already FDA-cleared for soft-tissue ablation and is used to treat prostate, pancreatic and liver cancers in humans. Rossmeisl is adapting it for the brain.
"Dr. Rossmeisl is an innovator creating advancements that have real-world impact on patients with aggressive disease,” said Dean Givens, dean of the veterinary college. “His work is a clear embodiment of our college's mission, which is fueled by a passion to improve health and focused on innovation and education."
Getting past the blood-brain barrier
The central problem in brain cancer treatment is access. The blood-brain barrier—a biological shield that protects the brain from toxins—also blocks nearly all cancer drugs from reaching tumors. Rossmeisl's patents attack that problem from multiple angles.
Through the Veterinary and Comparative Neuro-oncology Laboratory, which he leads, Rossmeisl and his collaborators have developed methods to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier using brief, controlled electrical pulses, allowing cancer drugs delivered through the bloodstream to reach tumors they would otherwise never reach.
They have also developed specialized catheters that infuse drugs directly into brain tissue, bypassing the barrier entirely. Both approaches have been paired with targeted cancer drugs that Rossmeisl developed with Waldemar Debinski at Wake Forest School of Medicine, a partnership that began in the early 2000s and has now advanced to early-stage clinical trials for human brain cancer.
"It is an extreme honor for me to be associated with this prestigious academy; this recognition provides additional motivation and encouragement to further advance and refine my inventions for the benefit of patients," said Rossmeisl.
Rossmeisl's most recent work brings focused ultrasound to bear on brain cancer — both to destroy tumors and to open the blood-brain barrier for drug delivery. With Virginia Tech biomedical engineer Eli Vlaisavljevich, he led the first clinical trial of histotripsy for naturally occurring brain tumors in dogs, published in 2024. The trial demonstrated that focused ultrasound could safely and precisely destroy brain tumor tissue.
The long-term goal is to develop a completely noninvasive treatment delivered through handheld ultrasound equipment already found in most veterinary practices — making brain tumor treatment accessible far beyond academic medical centers.
"I chose to focus my career on brain cancer in dogs because veterinary neurologists see it all the time, and there aren't great standards of care for it,” Rossmeisl said. “Being a veterinarian and comparative neuro-oncologist has provided me with unparalleled opportunities to help my own patients, generate data that is informative to my veterinary colleagues who also manage these complex cases, and work with a team of extremely talented and devoted individuals across numerous biomedical disciplines.
"This effort has improved diagnostics and treatments for animals with brain cancer, with the additional benefit of identifying shared molecular and cellular features of brain cancers in dogs and humans."
Rooted in Blacksburg
Rossmeisl arrived at Virginia Tech in 1998 as a resident in small animal internal medicine. He never left.
Over nearly three decades, he rose from clinical instructor to professor and associate department head in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, earning dual board certifications in neurology and small animal internal medicine along the way. He also serves on the steering committee of the National Cancer Institute's Comparative Brain Tumor Consortium.
The NAI distinction arrives on the heels of Virginia's highest faculty honor. In January 2025, Rossmeisl received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and Dominion Energy, recognizing exceptional teaching, scholarship and service. He previously received the Zoetis Award for Research Excellence in 2014 and Virginia Tech's Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award in 2022.
"John's scope and breadth of innovation and impact have grown immensely over the years,” Givens said. “Consequently, the international reputation of our college and university has moved to the forefront in advancements in treating brain diseases due to the groundbreaking impact of the work done by John and the strong collaborative team that surrounds him."
Faculty interested in the patent and commercialization process can work with the university’s Innovation and Partnerships office. Learn more about Rossmeisl’s research at the Veterinary and Comparative Neuro-oncology Laboratory.
