Celebrating Achievement and Fostering Collaboration at the Spring Research Festival

By Chris Worthington, Staff Writer; photos by Richard Frederickson, Staff Photographer
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Spring Research Festival posters.

128 posters were presented across two poster sessions at this year’s Spring Research Festival.

The 20th annual Spring Research Festival (SRF) took place at Fort Detrick on May 3 and 4. The event included two seminar sessions, a keynote speaker, a Poster Blitz, and two poster sessions.

During the event, scientific staff, including students, technical support staff, postdoctoral fellows, and principal investigators, had the opportunity to present their research to the joint scientific communities.

This year, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (MRMC) organized and ran the SRF for the first time. The keynote speaker, Col. Stephen J. Thomas, M.D., gave a talk titled “Developing Medical Countermeasures Against Emerging Infectious Diseases.”

Approximately 1,000 people attended the SRF tent show, on par with last year’s turnout.

Meanwhile, the poster presentations saw strong participation from the entire scientific community. There were 128 posters presented, including 93 from NCI, that were reviewed by 40 poster judges. The Poster Blitz featured 13 presenters, 8 of whom were from NCI. Finally, the scientific symposium featured six presenters, all from NCI.

On Friday, June 24, a number of participants received awards at the Community Activities Center for their outstanding posters and presentations during the SRF:

Outstanding Presentation at the Scientific Symposium

Matthew Anderson and Ranu Sinniah, NCI at Frederick

Outstanding Posters by Category

Applied Environmental Biology
William Bruckart, USDA-ARS

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Smruti Haripraka, NCI at Frederick (Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern)

Biosafety and Biosecurity
Paul Landon, NBACC

Cancer Biology
Tomas Vilimus, NCI at Frederick

Detection and Diagnostics
Diana Sherman, USDA-ARS

Emerging Technologies
Thomas Bocan, USAMRIID

Gene Therapy, Genome Editing, and Genetics
Alaina Fedors, USAMRIID

Immunology
Christina Bergamaschi, NCI at Frederick

Infectious Pathogens and Epidemiology
Maya Swiderski, NCI at Frederick (Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern)

Informatics
Sarah Keasey, USAMRIID

Other
Emily Burnett, NCI at Frederick (Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern)

Scientific Core Services
Yongmei Zhao, NCI at Frederick

Structural Biology and Chemistry
David Hymel, NCI at Frederick

Therapeutics, Vaccines, and Drug Delivery
Jules Chabot, NCI at Frederick (Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern)

Associate Director Craig Reynolds, Ph.D., NCI, presents at the Spring Research Festival awards ceremony. Col. Stephen J. Thomas, M.D., gave the keynote speech, “Developing Medical Countermeasures Against Emerging Infectious Diseases.” Lt. Col. Felicia Langel, Medical Research and Materiel Command, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, presents at the Spring Research Festival awards ceremony. Ranu Sinniah receives his award for Outstanding Presentation at the Scientific Symposium from NCI Associate Director Craig Reynolds, Ph.D. Tomas Vilimus receives his award for an Outstanding Poster from NCI Associate Director Craig Reynolds, Ph.D. Matthew Anderson receives his award for Outstanding Presentation at the Scientific Symposium from NCI Associate Director Craig Reynolds, Ph.D. Christina Bergamaschi receives her award for an Outstanding Poster from NCI Associate Director Craig Reynolds, Ph.D. Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern Maya Swiderski receives her award for an Outstanding Poster from NCI Associate Director Craig Reynolds, Ph.D. Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern Emily Burnett receives her award for an Outstanding Poster from NCI Associate Director Craig Reynolds, Ph.D. This year’s festival was organized and run by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. The Spring Research Festival is a chance for scientists, citizens, and students to become more familiar with the research taking place at NCI at Frederick.

Tags