At the 2016 Science Skills Boot Camp (SSBC), a one-day training program designed for NIH summer interns with little or no prior research experience, students gathered to learn about basic research and laboratory skills. The boot camp provided a unique opportunity for interns to expand their knowledge of simple bench techniques, scientific papers, and ways to communicate their research.

The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) presented an Excellence in Technology Transfer award to the group that collaborated to bring Unituxin (dinutuximab, also known as ch14.18), an immunotherapy for neuroblastoma, to licensure.

The 20th annual Spring Research Festival (SRF) took place at Fort Detrick on May 3 and 4. The event included two seminar sessions, a keynote speaker, a Poster Blitz, and two poster sessions. During the event, scientific staff, including students, technical support staff, postdoctoral fellows, and principal investigators, had the opportunity to present their research to the joint scientific communities.

Three Werner H. Kirsten student interns claimed awards at the 35th Annual Frederick County Science and Engineering Fair—and got a shot at the national competition—for imaginative projects that reached out to the rings of Saturn and down to the details of advanced cancer diagnostics.

The Frederick National Lab has begun to assist several major pharmaceutical companies in adopting nanotechnologies in early stage drug development, when the approach is most efficient and cost-effective.