Robert Blumenthal, Ph.D., is a nanotechnology and cell membrane expert at Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL)—just as you would imagine someone with more than 40 years of experience in biomedical research would be. Blumenthal started his career as a principal investigator at NCI in Bethesda, but since 1997, he has called FNL (formerly NCI-Frederick) his home.

One morning in early January, Amar Klar sat down at his computer and found an e-mail with a curious message from a colleague. While reading a bestselling novel, The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, his colleague, a professor at Princeton University, found a description of research on yeast genetics that was surprisingly similar to Klar’s early research. Even the laboratory in the novel was reminiscent of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where Klar had conducted his research.

Can you imagine working for the same company for 50 years? Nathaniel “Ned” Greenberg has accomplished just that, having recently received his 50-year service award from NIH, and he has no immediate plans for retirement. “I don’t look upon my job as a chore, it’s more of an avocation than a vocation,” said Greenberg, a chemist in the Biological Testing Branch, under Branch Chief Melinda Hollingshead, DVM, Ph.D. “I am lucky that I found something that I enjoy doing.”

Producing viral vectors for in vitro and in vivo studies, evaluating new technologies, organizing outreach and internal events and special programs, preparing site visit reports, helping make newcomers feel comfortable, collaborating on statistics and other projects—these are just some of the ways that the women of the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research go about their everyday work lives—and in the process, make history.

Did you know that what most people call the Carpentry Shop at Facilities Maintenance and Engineering (FME) is actually made up of the three crafts, woodcrafting, painting, and locksmithing? On any given day, throughout the Frederick National Laboratory campus, you may find shop staff utilizing an assortment of tools and a wide range of skills on projects ranging from simple maintenance to complete renovations.