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.
As the winter of 1973 turned to spring, the Frederick Cancer Research Center (FCRC), the forerunner to the Frederick National Laboratory and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Frederick that exist today, neared the one-year mark since its opening. The more than 250 employees had made sound progress, given the challenges of converting the old Fort Detrick biowarfare facilities into a fledgling cancer center. Their efforts had drawn some attention, too.
As the pandemic has forced many people to work from home or cancel their plans, the Werner H. Kirsten (WHK) interns have been no exception. Every year, NCI at Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory welcome a new group of high school seniors as interns through the WHK Student Intern Program. The students participate in a yearlong internship under the wing of a mentor in either a research area or administrative area in support of research.
National Cancer Institute Director Norman “Ned” Sharpless, M.D., had a message for NCI staff on Monday as he welcomed them to an unorthodox installment of the annual NCI Director’s Awards via video from a bedroom-turned-office inside his house. “The show must go on because you have made sure that the work of the NCI continued and even flourished during a difficult time for our nation and our world,” he said.
The Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern Program has been a fixture at NCI at Frederick for 31 years, a respected and beloved tradition that has given more than 1,200 high school seniors a unique learning opportunity. This summer, it even received one of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from the National Science Foundation. So when the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to break the three-decade streak this school year, dedicated staff and scientists stepped up to ensure the tradition would continue.
A new advance in our understanding of HIV comes from what Steve Hughes, Ph.D., calls “an odd observation.” Certain people living with HIV had only partially suppressed levels of virus in their blood despite being on effective antiretroviral therapy (drugs used to manage HIV). At first, an explanation seemed like it would be simple—but it wasn’t.
COVID-19 has paused or postponed many traditions this year, but it didn’t stop the National Institutes of Health from awarding NIH Director’s Awards to 660 employees and contractors. The ceremony, usually held in Bethesda, Maryland, went virtual. Several NCI at Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory employees were among this year’s recipients.
The Scientific Library recently hosted a discussion panel on electron microscopy services at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL), its third panel of 2020. This Electron Microscopy Discussion Panel brought together specialists from the Electron Microscopy Laboratory, the Center for Molecular Microscopy, and the National Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility.
The Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, in partnership with NCI and the NIH Clinical Center, recently began asymptomatic COVID-19 testing for government and Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., staff. This program is voluntary but encouraged for those currently working on-site.
Science is an interrogation of reality: “putting Nature through a thorough inquisition,” as poet W. H. Auden once wrote. It’s the search for what’s real. But sometimes traditional practices get in the way. What to do when reality itself slows the search?
