Genomic Data Commons 2.0: A Valuable Tool for Cancer Researchers

The NCI at Frederick Employee Diversity Team (EDT) has made some changes for 2014. With the help of Data Management Services (DMS) staff, the EDT website has been revamped to have a more streamlined look and act as a “one-stop shop” for anything related to the EDT.

For the third year in a row, Jim Stull’s chili recipe was the winner at the annual Protective Services Chili Cookoff, now in its 11th year. And for the third year, Stull, an animal care supervisor in the Laboratory Animal Sciences Program, brought a brand new recipe to the competition—Hawaiian Chili.

Nearly 700 researchers, scientists, and laboratory technicians convened in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC, for the 2014 NCI Intramural Scientific Investigators Retreat on Jan. 14. The event featured presentations and posters exploring topics in cancer research from KRAS signaling to animal care. One of the highlights of the event was a presentation made by Valerie Beral, Ph.D., from University of Oxford, discussing “Rosalind Franklin and Cancer in Women.”

When Larry Keefer, Ph.D., first arrived at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) more than 40 years ago, he didn’t have a physical lab to call his own. Not immediately, anyway, due to a glitch in the construction schedule, he explained. So he spent his first few years in Bethesda doing administrative work, like reviewing proposals and serving as a project officer on contracts.

Whether in a research laboratory or an operations environment, past performance is frequently reviewed to plan for future improvements. Such was the case last year when management recognized the need to change the policy on the minimum set of personal protective equipment to be worn in the laboratories to reduce both the number and consequence of injuries at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research.