With all the talk around COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, it's easy to forget there's another infectious respiratory disease already looming: influenza. Flu season is going to look a little different this year, according to Sarah Hooper, nurse practitioner (CRNP), RN, manager of the Frederick National Laboratory Occupational Health Services.

Across the world, conferencing software flicked open on computer screens. It was 8 a.m. in San Francisco, 11 a.m. in Frederick, 5 p.m. in Madrid, 11 p.m. in Hong Kong. The first day of the Third National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative Symposium was about to begin. Time zones notwithstanding, scientists and onlookers were tuning in from offices, studies, and living rooms to watch the livestream of the virtual event.

Block off the afternoon of September 1, 2021, in your calendar because the Technology Showcase is returning for its fifth year. The event will be fully virtual and, as always, feature exciting biomedical technologies, panels on important topics for industry stakeholders, and various poster pitches. New this year is an increased focus on the patient’s voice.

The Spring Research Festival came to Fort Detrick this year without its signature massive tent, the home of a sprawling equipment expo with dozens of booths. It came without audiences in auditoriums or gatherings around scientific posters. The community didn’t circulate between buildings for events. On the surface, it may have seemed that the festival didn’t come at all. But after being cancelled last year due to the pandemic, the annual two-day event did indeed return in a virtual format.

The 2020 Technology Showcase welcomed more than 300 viewers for half a day of presentations and panels on technology commercialization and collaboration. The annual event once again highlighted the capabilities of the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, and greater Frederick region—but this year, with its novel virtual format, it reached new audiences.