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...

NCI Frederick researchers and colleagues are improving therapies that modify and equip a patient’s own immune cells to target their solid tumors. Their modification, while still at an early stage of development, can potentially minimize the risk that the armed cells will be therapeutically rejected.

The Frederick Postbac Committee, comprising NCI Frederick postbaccalaureate fellows, held their second annual Frederick Postbac Poster Day in March. The event, organized by the Committee and collaborating staff, showcased postbac research over the past year and gave postbacs an opportunity to practice sharing their science with an audience of their peers. All NCI employees were invited to attend, and the Frederick Postbac Committee was pleased with the turnout, which included postbacs, postdocs, and senior scientists alike.

Tools developed by chemists at NCI Frederick have at last made it possible to see how some of the most common molecules affect cells’ behavior in cancer and disease. Studying these molecules, glycans, because they can’t directly be sequenced, has been challenging. New research from NCI Frederick’s Chemical Biology Laboratory (CBL) may make it easier.

The CCR-FYI Colloquium, planned and coordinated almost entirely by fellows, is a two-day scientific meeting devoted to giving early-career scientists a chance to share their work and learn new skills. This year’s theme is The NIH Advantage: Where High Risk Meets High Reward. Registration and abstract submissions to present a poster at the 26th Center for Cancer Research Fellows and Young Investigators Colloquium, NCI’s headline conference for early-career scientists, close April 1. Registration to attend closes May 1. Presenters and attendees can register on the event website.