December 2014

Two NCI scientists received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement. The award was announced by President Obama in October. The honorees, John Schiller, Ph.D., Laboratory of Cellular Oncology (LCO), Center for Cancer Research, NCI, and Douglas Lowy, M.D., also from LCO and NCI deputy director, received their medals at a White House ceremony on Nov. 20.

By Carolynne Keenan, Contributing Writer

If you are still looking for the “perfect” gift, mark your calendar for the Holiday Market.

The December Holiday Market is set for Tuesday, Dec. 23, in Building 549, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or until vendors sell out).

By Anne Arthur, Guest Writer

The Third Annual David Derse Memorial Lecture and Award presentation was held on Nov. 18 at NCI at Frederick to honor the outstanding research accomplishments of David Derse, Ph.D., and to stimulate the exchange of innovative ideas that Derse was well known for promoting throughout his scientific career.

This annual event is sponsored by the HIV Drug Resistance Program, with support from Hye Kyung Chung-Derse, Ph.D., NCI, the Foundation for NIH, and colleagues and friends of Derse who contributed to the memorial fund in his honor.

Platinum Publications are selected from articles by NCI at Frederick scientists published in 42 prestigious science journals. This list represents articles published during the time period shown above, as generated from PubMed.

Articles designated as Platinum Highlights are noteworthy articles selected by Dr. Craig Reynolds, associate director, National Cancer Institute, from among the most recently published Platinum Publications.

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer

The family of proteins known as ephrins plays a critical role in a variety of biological processes. In a recent article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Hee Jun Cho, Ph.D., and colleagues report on the interaction between proteins CNK1 and ephrinB1 that promotes cell movement. Their findings may have an important implication in developing new therapeutics for reducing metastases in certain cancers.

“Eph and ephrin signaling has become an area of intense interest due to the influence these molecules exert on the control of cell adhesion and cell movement,” Cho said. “This signaling affects the formation of tissues during development and has been shown to play an instructive role in angiogenesis, as well as tumor cell invasion.”

By Marsha Nelson-Duncan, Guest Writer, and Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer

Did you know that volunteers in the Elementary Outreach Program (EOP) just might be happier than their coworkers who don’t volunteer?

By Ashley DeVine, Staff Writer

After being down by a point in the morning, NCI reclaimed the Defelice Cup trophy from Leidos Biomedical Research, with a final score of 12 ½ to 11 ½, at the ninth annual Ronald H. Defelice Golf Tournament, held Oct. 13.

“The tightest matches in the nine-year history of this cup competition resulted in a narrow victory for NCI and allowed NCI to take a 5–4 victory total,” said Denny Dougherty, one of the team captains for Leidos Biomed and a retired senior subcontracts advisor at what was formerly SAIC-Frederick.