NCI Frederick Postbac Fellows Committee Celebrates ‘Graduating’ Postbacs with Fellows Sendoff Potluck

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.

Behind a table laden with a mix of food platters, chips bags, drinks, and slow cookers, a large map of the U.S. presided over a gathering for the NCI Frederick postbaccalaureate and postdoctoral fellows finishing their assignments.  The map, speckled with colored spots that indicated where fellows were heading next, was a focal point of the afternoon. The celebration was the second annual Fellows Sendoff Potluck...