Late last year, some of the world’s top leaders in the field came together to discuss the progress of artificial intelligence applications in cancer research and clinical care at a scientific symposium hosted by Hood College and Frederick National Laboratory. It was one of several large scientific gatherings in Frederick in 2022 with implications for the new year and beyond.
In September, around 300 attendees participated in the sixth annual Technology Showcase, a unique event that brings together entrepreneurs, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry representatives, development organizations, and scientists. Some attended from their laptops while others donned their business suits and enjoyed Caribbean-style food as they networked and listened to the presentations in person at the Frederick National Laboratory’s Advanced Technology Research Facility.
’Tis the season for traditions and familiar customs. At NCI Frederick—and within the federal government at large—you’ll find one that isn’t mixed in with decorations but more likely nestled somewhere in your email inbox. This tradition is the Combined Federal Campaign, the government’s official nonprofit charity initiative, held from September to January every year.
The bureaucracy of Fort Detrick had transitioned from death to life. So said the Washington Post in October 1971, when President Richard M. Nixon converted the Army base’s old biowarfare laboratories into a center for life-saving cancer research. Many observers agreed it was an ambitious, hopeful vision. But what they didn’t know is that representatives from the Department of Defense and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare had been working on the transition for months.
NCI’s new director, Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., will be holding her first town hall meeting Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 11:00 a.m. If you want to be there in person, please register by Wednesday, Dec. 7.
At the height of the pandemic in March 2020, employees from across the National Cancer Institute at Frederick and the Frederick National Laboratory joined in the mass exodus from workplaces across the country, going to work from their homes in an effort to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Many FNL employees had never worked remotely, however. They had to rely on the expertise—and patience—of the Enterprise Information Technology (EIT) Directorate to help them transition from working on-site to working from home.
Four young trees will soon have a home on the NCI Frederick campus, thanks to the NCI Frederick Green Team. The group is hosting an event to plant them on Tuesday, November 15, as part of an initiative to beautify the workplace and increase its ecological health. All employees are invited to attend and help.
NCI Frederick has a new reigning trivia champion. Alison Murphy, a third-year student at University of Maryland, took first place in the 15th Annual Scientific Library Student Jeopardy! Tournament.
NCI Frederick’s Werner H. Kirsten Student Internship Program (WHK SIP) was recognized in May by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science Foundation with a 2020 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM).
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.
