NCI and FNL Researchers Turn Lessons Learned into Stepping Stones

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer recently awarded the Frederick National Laboratory and National Cancer Institute Technology Showcase a 2021 State and Local Economic Development Award. The FLC is a nationwide network of more than 300 federal laboratories, agencies, and research centers that promotes federal technology transfer.

Researchers in the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR) and the Frederick National Laboratory’s Basic Science Program have discovered molecules that could keep the body from working against a cancer treatment.

Unsurprisingly, the new Basic Research Program at the Frederick Cancer Research Center took some time to gain momentum despite the preparations that had been made. Margaret Kripke, Ph.D., head of the program’s Immunobiology of Physical and Chemical Carcinogenesis Section at the time, recalls that her first year was dedicated to setting up her new laboratory, hiring staff, moving around, and finishing projects she had started in her former laboratory at University of Utah.

The Scientific Library recently hosted its first virtual discussion of 2021, featuring Yvonne A. Evrard, Ph.D., operations manager for the NCI Patient-Derived Models Repository at NCI at Frederick and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research. These virtual discussions are one way the Library uses its position as a research information hub to engage scientific researchers through collaboration, interaction, and discussion.

By early 1974, the concept of the first investigator-initiated research program in Frederick was firmly approved. The idea had passed through the necessary channels, and the National Cancer Institute and the Frederick Cancer Research Center set about making it a reality.