New Drop-In Format for Take Your Child to Work Day Let Kids Set the Pace and Focus on Interests

NCI Frederick and FNLCR have an excellent OSHA safety record built on prevention, education, and rapid response. Behind that success is a dedicated network of professionals. One of those individuals is Tina Watts, BSN, RN, MD-WCCM, occupational health nurse and workers’ compensation case manager, whose steady guidance and compassionate approach have become well known across campus.

Squeals of delight and excited laughter carried through the halls as you approached the former NCI Frederick Scientific Library on June 23. The space was once again filled with scientific inquiry—but not the quiet, contemplative kind. Instead, it played host to this year’s Take Your Child to Work Day. This year, the planning committee held most activities in Building 549, with only a few satellite activities in labs around campus, in a drop-in format rather than specific time slots. Participants reported appreciating the convenience of the new event structure.

Scientists have found a powerful, precise chemical “off switch” for an enzyme involved in neurodegenerative diseases and cancers. A team of researchers from NCI’s Center for Cancer Research and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, in a paper published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, identified a potent and specific inhibitor for the enzyme PREP.

Antibody-drug conjugate. This complex vocabulary masks a straightforward idea: Tether a cancer-killing drug to an antibody, then administer it to a cancer patient for a two-in-one strike on their tumors. Martin Schnermann, Ph.D., and his team in the Chemical Biology Laboratory are trying to improve these conjugates. To do so, they’ve focused on neither antibodies nor drugs but rather the molecules that tether the two together.

A team of scientists from NCI, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, and industry has created a new basis for classifying cervical cancers based on their genetic mutations. With it, they’ve proposed and tested a potent approach for treating one subtype of cervical tumors.