People

NCI at Frederick Employees Honored at NCI Director’s Awards Program

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer

Nineteen staff members affiliated with NCI at Frederick or the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) were recognized at the 2014 NCI Director’s Award Ceremony for their outstanding contributions to advancing cancer research. The ceremony, held Dec. 1, took place at the NIH Natcher Conference Center, on the main campus in Bethesda.

NCI Scientists Awarded National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Obama

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.

Kashlev Named First Deputy Chief, GRCBL

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer

Editor’s note: The text for this article was adapted from an e-mail announcement to the Center for Cancer Research community from Robert Wiltrout, Ph.D., on September 8, 2014.

Robert Wiltrout, Ph.D., director, NCI Center for Cancer Research (CCR), recently announced the appointment of Mikhail Kashlev, Ph.D., to deputy chief of the Gene Regulation and Chromosome Biology Laboratory (GRCBL). The first deputy chief to be named in the GRCBL, Kashlev joins Jeff Strathern, Ph.D., GRCBL chief, in leading the laboratory in an active research environment that focuses on chromosome dynamics (recombination, chromosome segregation, and transposable elements) and regulation (transcription, silencing, and cell cycle control).

Postdocs Attend Special Events during Postdoc Appreciation Week

NCI at Frederick postdocs were treated to special events by the Fellows and Young Investigators Committee during National Postdoc Appreciation Week, September 15–19. At the first Frederick fellows seminar of the fall on September 17, postdocs were invited to hear their colleagues present highlights of their research and stay for pizza and ice cream, compliments of the committee. Postdocs are also invited to a special networking event at Barley and Hops on September 24.

Eric Freed Named Deputy Director of HIV Drug Resistance Program

Editor’s note: The text for this article was adapted from an e-mail announcement to the Center for Cancer Research community from Robert Wiltrout, Ph.D., on September 8, 2014.

Robert Wiltrout, Ph.D., director, NCI Center for Cancer Research (CCR), recently announced the appointment of Eric Freed, Ph.D., as deputy director of the HIV Drug Resistance Program (HIV DRP). Freed will join Stephen Hughes, Ph.D., director of HIV DRP, in leading this CCR program that focuses on understanding HIV replication and pathogenesis, with the goal of developing more effective strategies for treating HIV infections, and also builds on the existing strength of HIV and retrovirus research within NCI.

Returning Winners Victorious Again in Jeopardy Tournament

By Robin Meckley, Contributing Writer                                          

Every year for the past three years, student interns Madelyne Xiao and Nikhil Gowda have competed in the Scientific Library’s Student Science Jeopardy Tournament, the annual science event for students that mirrors the popular TV show “Jeopardy.” And every year, for the past three years, Xiao and Gowda, who work with Randall Johnson, Ph.D. bioinformatics analyst, Basic Science Program Center for Cancer Research (CCR) Genetics Core, have finished in one of the top three positions.

TYCTWD Programs Strive to Make Science Educational and Fun

By Carolynne Keenan, Contributing Writer

Joseph Barchi, Jr, Ph.D., calls teaching “the noblest and most important profession.” So it makes sense that Barchi, senior scientist and head of the Glycoconjugate and NMR Section, Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, NCI at Frederick, would encourage his lab to offer a fun, educational program at Take Your Child to Work Day (TYCTWD).

HIV Integration at Certain Sites in Host DNA Is Linked to the Expansion and Persistence of Infected Cells

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on the Center for Cancer Research website.

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. Patients infected with HIV are currently treated with combined antiretroviral therapy (cART), which prevents viral replication in the majority of treated patients. When cART is initiated, most HIV-infected cells die in one or two days, and more of the infected cells die over a period of weeks to months. However there are some long-lived infected cells that do not die, which prevents patients from being cured.

Former Intern: Amy Stull Returns to Her Roots

By Carolynne Keenan, Contributing Writer

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.