For many people, libraries conjure up images of hushed voices, using the Dewey Decimal System to search the card catalog, and perusing the shelves for a favorite author. But as is true in so many aspects of our daily lives, technology is changing the way we find and use information. That’s why Deanna West, who assumed the role of director of the NCI Frederick Scientific Library in September, is rethinking how the library serves its patrons.
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.
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.
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.
With Memorial Day and the 78th anniversary of D-Day on the horizon, please take a moment to locate the small memorial dedicated to nine local individuals who gave the ultimate sacrifice as part of the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
In 1972, soon after then-President Richard Nixon’s newly established Frederick Cancer Research Center hired its first employees, 24-year-old Kunio Nagashima put on a suit and tie and boarded a Boeing 747 at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport. An electron microscopist from Kyoto University, Nagashima had a one-way ticket in his hand, bound for the United States and ready to take a new job—sight unseen.
Women Scientists Advisors (WSA) was established in 1993 and comprises elected representatives from each NIH Institute or Center who volunteer their time to support other female scientists on issues ranging from pay equity to work/family balance and leadership opportunities.
When the pandemic shutdown began in March 2020, offices across NCI at Frederick and the Frederick National Laboratory quickly became ghost towns, as employees packed up and decamped to their newly set-up home offices. But for those engaged in scientific research—including efforts to combat COVID-19 itself—the need to safely work on-site became more critical than ever.
