Science

Frederick National Laboratory Advisory Committee Welcomes New FNL, NCI Leaders

The Frederick National Laboratory Advisory Committee recently met to discuss the future of several high-profile Frederick National Lab initiatives in a meeting that included a chance to meet the new NCI and FNLCR leaders. Here is a look at a few of the highlights from the last of the 2017 FNLAC meetings.

Second RAS Symposium Brings Together World’s Leading RAS Scientists

From December 6–8, the Advanced Technology Research Facility of the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research was abuzz with conversation and collaboration as nearly 450 scientists, academics, and industry partners gathered for the Second RAS Initiative Symposium. Attendees hailed from 14 nations, dozens of institutions, and diverse scientific backgrounds, but they shared a common purpose: to present and discuss their research on RAS genes and cancer.

NCI Helps Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to Identify and Treat New Target in Pediatric Cancer

There may be a new, more effective method for treating high-risk neuroblastoma, according to scientists at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and collaborators in the Cancer and Inflammation Program at NCI at Frederick. Together, the groups published a study describing a previously unrecognized protein on neuroblastoma cells, called GPC2, as well as the creation of a novel antibody-drug conjugate, a combination of a human antibody and a naturally occurring anticancer drug, that locates and binds to GPC2 in a highly efficient way.

NIH–Lacks Family Partnership Gives Henrietta Lacks’ Descendants a Seat at the Table

The NIH Bethesda campus recently welcomed several special guests for a presentation titled Given a Voice: Update on the NIH–Lacks Family Partnership. Henrietta Lacks’ grandchildren Jeri Lacks-Whye (who is also the Lacks family spokesperson) and David Lacks, Jr. came to speak with NIH Director Francis S. Collins, Ph.D., M.D. about the importance of protecting patients and their families.

NCI Scientists Create New Assay, Identify Novel Therapeutic Compounds, and Take Places on Front Lines of Cancer Research

A team of scientists and specialists from NCI at Frederick, NCI at Bethesda, the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, and Data Management Services, Inc., has developed the first method for identifying natural products that could increase the effectiveness of camptothecin-based cancer treatments.

NCI, FNLCR Help Launch Pediatric MATCH Precision Medicine Trial

The National Cancer Institute and Children’s Oncology Group recently opened enrollment for a new Phase II trial of personalized precision cancer therapies. Called the Pediatric Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (Pediatric MATCH), the trial seeks to treat children and adolescents aged 1­–21 whose solid tumors have failed to respond to or re-emerged after traditional cancer treatments.

Inaugural Technology Showcase Draws Hundreds

Before a crowded auditorium of science and business professionals at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research’s Advanced Technology Research Facility, Joost Oppenheim, M.D., had just finished his presentation about a compound with the potential to expand the impact of a promising category of cancer therapeutics when he fielded a question from Stephan Stern, Ph.D.