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

On October 10, U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski and Congressman Chris Van Hollen, both from Maryland, toured the Advanced Technology Research Facility, accompanied by NCI Director Harold Varmus, Chief Technology Officer Atsuo Kuki, and other FNL leaders. Mikulski toured several Maryland scientific and biotechnology organizations recently, and the ATRF was on her list of places to visit.

Robert Blumenthal, Ph.D., is a nanotechnology and cell membrane expert at Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL)—just as you would imagine someone with more than 40 years of experience in biomedical research would be. Blumenthal started his career as a principal investigator at NCI in Bethesda, but since 1997, he has called FNL (formerly NCI-Frederick) his home.

Forty years ago, a single act by former President Richard Nixon created what we now know as the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL) at Fort Detrick. What began as a small facility with a staff of about 20 people in the early 1970s grew into the multi-facility, nationally distinguished laboratory for cancer research that it is today.

Behind each tall, black computer rack in the data center at the Advanced Technology Research Facility is something both strangely familiar and oddly out of place: It looks like a radiator. The back door of each cabinet is gridded with the coils of the Liebert cooling system, which circulates chilled water to remove heat generated by the high-speed, high-capacity, fault-tolerant equipment.

The physical proximity of the SAIC-Frederick Intellectual Property (IP) Office to the NCI Technology Transfer Center is one of the many benefits of being at the Advanced Technology Research Facility, according to Courtney Silverthorn, Ph.D. Being in one location “has increased the effectiveness of both informal communication and formal meetings. We have already brainstormed solutions for several issues in the hallway during an informal chat,” said Silverthorn, an SAIC-Frederick IP specialist.