The Spring Research Festival, Fort Detrick’s annual scientific showcase, is seeking participants. NCI Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory staff (including those located at the Advanced Technology Research Facility) are encouraged to participate in one or more of the festival’s functions. Registration for participants, namely presenters and judges, is open until April 5.
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.
Spring is upon us again, and the Spring Research Festival is following quickly on its heels. However, by both pandemic and pre-pandemic standards, this won’t be an ordinary year. It’s the festival’s first in a hybrid format. That means for the first time since May 2019, participants will be able to attend events in person if they desire.
One of the annual rites of spring at the National Cancer Institute at Frederick returned in April, when hundreds of members of the Ft. Detrick and Frederick National Laboratory community participated in the virtual Spring Research Festival. The event was co-sponsored by the United States Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) and the Military & Health Research Foundation (MHRF).
Spring has arrived in Frederick, and with it comes a beloved scientific tradition: the Spring Research Festival. Now in its 25th year, the festival brings together scientists, students, support staff, and spectators from across Fort Detrick, NCI at Frederick, and the larger Frederick community. Participants can expect two days of scientific excellence.
The Spring Research Festival came to Fort Detrick this year without its signature massive tent, the home of a sprawling equipment expo with dozens of booths. It came without audiences in auditoriums or gatherings around scientific posters. The community didn’t circulate between buildings for events. On the surface, it may have seemed that the festival didn’t come at all. But after being cancelled last year due to the pandemic, the annual two-day event did indeed return in a virtual format.
Every year, an event in Frederick attracts people from all over the county. Amid its semi-festive atmosphere, attendees promenade through displays showcasing collaborative projects while speakers tell true stories of impressive feats and judges award prizes for outstanding handiwork. But it’s not the Great Frederick Fair—it’s the Fort Detrick Spring Research Festival.
In a ceremony held in the Building 1520 auditorium on June 28, Col. Michael Sauer, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Operations, distributed the awards for outstanding presentations and posters at the 2018 Spring Research Festival.
Rainy weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of visitors to the 2018 Spring Research Festival, which brought together scientists from the Frederick National Laboratory (FNL), NCI at Frederick, and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) and showcased the important research that takes place every day at Fort Detrick.
This year’s annual Spring Research Festival, scheduled for May 9 and 10, is nearly here. As usual, it is free and open to the public and promises to offer a forum for sharing scientific research and celebrating collaboration at Fort Detrick and NCI at Frederick.
