A Paradox and Alan Rein: Distinguished Retrovirologist Retires from the HIV DRP

NCI at Frederick employees have a unique opportunity to contribute directly to cancer and AIDS research by donating blood, saliva, and other samples through the Research Donor Program (RDP). Donors are compensated for their time, which is typically between 10 and 30 minutes. The RDP, which is administered by Occupational Health Services (OHS), Leidos Biomedical Research, provides samples from healthy donors for use in in vitro research conducted at NCI at Frederick and Fort Detrick. Samples are provided anonymously to researchers.

Members of the Eighth Joint National Committee recently released new standards for treating hypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure (BP). The new standards do not recommend treatment changes for individuals under 60 years of age. However, treatment changes were recommended for people over the age of 60 who do not have conditions such as diabetes or chronic kidney disease (CKD), but whose BP numbers are 150/90 or higher. This BP threshold is up from the previously recommended threshold of 140/90.

You don’t really know something until you can teach it to someone. Raul Cachau said he believes this is not only true in academia, but in research laboratories as well. He said that being a mentor means rediscovering things long taken for granted. “It really forces you to rethink some of the things you do,” said Cachau, Ph.D., principal scientist, Advanced Biomedical Computing Center (ABCC). “It brings focus to many of the things that happen on a daily basis … There’s a positive impact to taking a fresh look at something.”

Scientists throughout NCI gathered at the 2016 Intramural Scientific Investigators Retreat on Jan. 12, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, to discuss the results of their research with fellow investigators. Several researchers who have made significant advances toward the goal of eliminating the threat of cancer spoke to a packed auditorium of like-minded experts. Speaker topics included the role genetics play in the risk of breast cancer, using fiberglass to determine the functions of RNAs, targeted radiation delivery, and transcription factors in early T-cell development.

An herbal extract used for centuries to prevent heart disease has now been shown to be effective against colorectal cancer when tested in laboratory cell cultures. Scientists from NCI at Frederick found that the natural extract cryptotanshinone (CPT) stops the uncontrolled cell growth characteristic of cancer by interfering with a protein that has been implicated in several cancers, including those of the colon and rectum. The results appear in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.