When the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infects a cell, the virus inserts a copy of its genetic material into the host cell’s DNA. The inserted genetic material, which is also called a provirus, is used to produce new viruses. Because the viral DNA can be inserted at many sites in the host cell DNA, the site of integration marks each infected cell.

When Amy Stull, a 2000 graduate of Walkersville High School, began working in a laboratory at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Frederick, she likely did not know the role NCI would play in her career. Stull started at NCI as a Werner H. Kirsten (WHK) student intern after her junior year of high school, working in a lab as she prepared for a career in chemical engineering. The student intern program pairs rising high school seniors with laboratory scientists to encourage the students to pursue careers in both science and health care fields.

Start-up companies are instrumental in bringing the fruits of scientific research to market. Recognizing an opportunity to bring entrepreneurial minds to bear on the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, the Avon Foundation for Women partnered with NCI and the Center for Advancing Innovation to launch the Breast Cancer Startup Challenge.

Earlier this year, Alan Rein, Ph.D., and Zhi-Ming (Thomas) Zheng, M.D., Ph.D., were elected to fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology, the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology. They were among 88 microbiologists who were elected to the academy “through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology,” according to the society’s website.

Fifty-six people joined the facility in January, February, and March 2014.