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

In 1953, a teenaged Alan Rein read about what James Watson and Francis Crick famously called “the secret of life”—the double-helix structure of DNA, which had just been published in Nature. Captivated, Rein decided at that moment that he wanted to be a biochemist. Rein’s biochemistry aspirations shifted to virology during college, leading him to a 60-year career in the field, the last 45 years of which were spent at NCI Frederick, studying how retroviruses like murine leukemia virus and HIV assemble themselves and infect host cells while somehow evading the immune response.
By Lisa Simpson, staff writer
01.14.2025
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In the News

Outreach | Career and Technology Center Guides Students in Real-Life Careers

Frederick County Public School students have a unique opportunity—a chance to get a real-world, hands-on experience in biomedical science and biotechnology before they even graduate from high school, thanks to the Frederick County Career and Technology Center (CTC). Several years ago, the CTC established its biomedical sciences program with a curriculum from Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit, nationwide developer of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in elementary, middle, and high schools.
Carolynne Keenan 02.09.2015
Outreach February 2015

Awards | NCI at Frederick Employees Honored at NCI Director’s Awards Program

Nineteen staff members affiliated with NCI at Frederick or the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) were recognized at the 2014 NCI Director’s Award Ceremony for their outstanding contributions to advancing cancer research. The ceremony, held Dec. 1, took place at the NIH Natcher Conference Center, on the main campus in Bethesda.
Nancy Parrish 02.02.2015
Awards People February 2015

Students | Writing My Way to My Future

“The future depends on what you do today.” Those wise words were spoken by Mahatma Gandhi. Before I started my Werner H. Kirsten (WHK) student internship, I did not know what I know now. I only knew what each of Gandhi’s words meant individually. I now understand the full meaning of the phrase. To me, Gandhi’s words mean that nothing in life is handed to you. You have to work hard today to get the results you want tomorrow.
Nathalie Walker 02.02.2015
Students Outreach February 2015

Science & Technology | How Asking a Very Basic Research Question Led Us to a Model for at Least Three Diseases

When I started this project, it was not my objective to develop a model for any specific disease, nor did I even suspect that the ultimate result would be some insight into autoimmune disease. The basic research question I was asking was why there are sequences in the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of the interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) mRNA that are more highly conserved than in the coding region of the gene.
Howard Young 01.30.2015
Science & Technology January 2015

Technology Transfer | Success of Breast Cancer Startup Challenge Inspires Second Challenge

Sixty-one teams have been accepted into, and are now competing in, the Neuro Startup Challenge, a new collaboration established by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) and Heritage Provider Network, Inc.
Thomas Stackhouse, Joseph Conrad, and Michele Newton, Rosemarie Truman 01.30.2015
Technology Transfer January 2015