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The future of brilliant scientific curiosity and discovery was on full display in August when 12 student interns presented their work during the NCI Frederick Werner H. Kirsten Summer Intern Research Symposium.

Susan Lea, D.Phil., and her team of microscopists at NCI Frederick have a mountain of data on their hands. It would be unwieldy if it weren’t for a partnership with the Enterprise Information Technology Directorate at Frederick National Laboratory. Thanks to their support, Lea and her team in the Center for Structural Biology have all the capacity they need to manage the data in-house.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Especially in the medical world, it’s far more effective and, often, more convenient to avoid an ailment entirely rather than to treat it. Occupational Health Services at Frederick National Laboratory has long championed this ideology, but the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 posed new challenges for prevention, especially for employees traveling.

Magic shows are a staple of children’s party entertainment. The sudden appearance of a cute bunny pulled from a hat or a flick of a card appearing at the top of the deck is enough to make any crowd go wild. However, for Andy Byrd, Ph.D., the thrill came from visiting his grandfather’s chemistry laboratory.

The National Cancer Institute and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research will hold the annual Technology Showcase on Wednesday, Sept. 7 in a hybrid format to welcome in-person attendees as well as remote participants from around the United States and the world. The event is scheduled from noon to 5:30 pm ET at the FNL’s Advanced Technology Research Facility in Frederick, Md.

At the ripe old age of six, Vihaan Patel is a committed environmentalist. So it’s no surprise that he participated in—and won—the Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Directorate’s Paint the Drain competition earlier this year.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is a hot topic in healthcare. Successfully used to treat certain aggressive blood cancers for about a decade now, CAR T cell therapy is capturing the growing interest of oncologists who would like to harness its power to use against other cancer types. At Frederick National Laboratory, the Biopharmaceutical Development Program—a specialized team manufacturing experimental biotherapeutics for NCI—is at the center of an effort to develop CAR T therapies that will expand cancer treatment options, particularly for pediatric malignancies.

One of the annual rites of spring at the National Cancer Institute at Frederick returned in April, when hundreds of members of the Ft. Detrick and Frederick National Laboratory community participated in the virtual Spring Research Festival. The event was co-sponsored by the United States Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) and the Military & Health Research Foundation (MHRF). 

Look at your fingernails. What comes to mind? Now look at the veins in your arms. What about them? Odds are the words “critical” and “historic” aren’t your first thoughts, but they’d be an apt description. At NCI at Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory, nail clippings and blood specimens are two ways to make a difference in scientific research.

Joost “Joe” Oppenheim, M.D., senior investigator and head of the Cellular Immunology Section in the Cancer Innovation Laboratory, passed away in May. He was one of the longest-tenured scientists at NCI at Frederick. Among his many accomplishments, he has been called “the Father of Cytokines” for his pioneering role in establishing the field of cytokine research in immunology.