The next Biotech Connector will explore advances in protein production happening in the Frederick, Md., area with talks from three experts working in the field. It is set for 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 31, at the Frederick National Laboratory’s Advanced Technology Research Facility in Frederick.

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in Maryland, spread by bacteria found in the bite of black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks. Though it’s common, the disease can be difficult to diagnose, sometimes resulting in debilitating symptoms that may have been prevented with proper, timely diagnosis and a simple course of antibiotics.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, before vaccines were available and while SARS-CoV-2 was wreaking havoc worldwide, Barry O’Keefe, Ph.D., and longtime collaborators in Brazil and Spain pooled their knowledge and resources to study cyanovirin-N (CV-N), a protein from cyanobacteria, photosynthetic bacteria commonly known as blue-green algae. O’Keefe had a hunch it could be developed to fight the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Former Werner H. Kirsten (WHK) Student Intern Program participant Lea Jih-Vieira followed a narrow path of interest and discovered a plethora of possibilities.

In the vermilion-gold light of a humid June morning, groups of visitors fanned out across the NCI Frederick campus. Most weren’t scientists—not yet, at least. Still, they entered laboratories and work areas, though it quickly became apparent that some were barely tall enough to see over the lab countertops. That didn’t stop them from trying.