The curtain has officially dropped on the Spring Research Festival for another year. With its signature vendor show, poster display, and bevy of lectures, the hybrid event looked much as it did in pre-pandemic times. Yet among the participants, there was an unmistakable impression of eagerness, a recognition of opportunity.

Dogs and humans have been companions throughout recorded history. Our four-legged friends appear in early written tales and are mentioned by name in ancient Egyptian inscriptions. They’ve been with us through thick and thin, and we have truly benefited from this. Recently, that companionship entered a new arena, with dogs becoming humans’ partners in cancer research—and at Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, scientists and engineers have built and deployed a tool to help the medical community maximize canines’ contributions to oncology.

New research by Frederick National Laboratory (FNL) researchers and their colleagues takes an important step toward explaining complex mutations in a gene called NF1 that is known to cause a disorder known as neurofibromatosis type 1. The study also has potential implications in research against several cancers.

Frederick National Laboratory’s Academic Summer Trainees Program provides graduate and undergraduate students with the chance to work with and learn from some of the nation’s leading scientists. The program now includes students from several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and offers them increased access to advanced research and training, along with experience in biomedical programs, cancer research, and state-of-the-art technologies at FNL.

The future of brilliant scientific curiosity and discovery was on full display in August when 12 student interns presented their work during the NCI Frederick Werner H. Kirsten Summer Intern Research Symposium.