The Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Signaling (LCDS) recently welcomed John Brognard, Ph.D., as the new Earl-Stadtman Investigator. While Brognard is new to this role, he is not new to NCI at Frederick. In high school, Brognard was a Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern in what was formerly known as the ABL research program, where he worked under Bob Moschel, Ph.D., senior investigator, and Gary Pauly, Ph.D., currently a staff scientist in the Chemical Biology Laboratory.

By day, Ross Smith is the compliance and security officer for Data Management Services, Inc., assigned to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Frederick. His role is to ensure the secure operation of in-house computer systems, servers, and network connections. But in his spare time, Smith is also a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT).

Earlier this summer, NCI at Frederick lost a friend and colleague, Charles Shive, to cancer. Mr. Shive, better known to most as Charlie, was a systems architect and information technology manager for the Data Science and Information Technology Program, focused on the re-engineering initiative of the Clinical Trials Reporting System.

Jeffrey Strathern, Ph.D., has hung up his lab coat and donned a sailor’s cap after 32 years of advancing science in areas such as genetics and genomics, chromosome biology, molecular biology, and biochemistry.

Wafting cumin through the building, 15 slow cookers full of chili lined an L-shaped conference room at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Advanced Technology Research Facility (ATRF), as voters strolled past “No electioneering” signs and the tasting began Feb. 29. Chili No. 13 came out of the gate with a spicy authority. “My tongue’s still tingling,” said one taster. “Just looking at it, you can tell how spicy it is,” said another judge. Thick with ground beef, with a smoky, peppery aroma, it was layered with black beans and corn, and it had a back-of-the-throat burn no other contestant’s offering could match.