 |
| ... |
Skip
navigation links             | ... | Human Frontier Science Program Grant
In 2012, Alan Rein was awarded a three-year Program Grant from the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) to support his international collaboration with Bogdan Dragnea, Dmitri Svergun, and Paul Van der Schoot on "Physical Principles in the Self-Assembly of Immature HIV-1 Particles." These highly competitive grants are awarded by HFSP to support innovative projects involving extensive collaboration among teams of independent scientists working in different countries and in different disciplines. Travel Awards, HIV Drug Resistance Program Think Tank Meeting
Hyun Yu (KewalRamani lab) received a travel award for one of the two most meritorious postdoctoral presentations at the 2012 Think Tank Meeting. Recipients of travel awards at previous Think Tank Meetings include Kayoko Waki (Freed lab) in 2011 and Muthukumar Balasubramaniam (Freed lab) and Michal Legiewicz (Le Grice lab) in 2010. These $1000 stipends were provided by the Center of Excellence in HIV/AIDS & Cancer Virology, Center for Cancer Research, NCI.
2012 NIH Postbaccalaureate Poster Day Award
The poster presentation by Tiffany Tanzosh scored in the top 20% of all presentations at the 2012 NIH Postbaccalaureate Poster Day. Moreover, she was ranked among the top 15 presenters in this highly competitive event, and was one of only two NCI postbaccalaureate fellows among the top 15 presenters. Scholarship Awards, Keystone Symposia on HIV KyeongEun Lee was awarded a travel
scholarship and her abstract was selected for oral presentation at the 2012 Keystone Symposia on Frontiers in HIV Pathogenesis, Therapy and Eradication; Dr. Lee was also awarded a travel scholarship to present her research findings at the 2006 Keystone
Symposia on HIV Pathogenesis. Avon Foundation for Women Research Grant
Alan Rein received a two-year Breast Cancer Research Program grant in 2011 from the Avon Foundation for Women to support a collaborative project on "Testing for MMTV and Related Retroviruses in Breast Cancer" with Edward Gabrielson, M.D., at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution. 2011 Norman P. Salzman Memorial Award in Virology
Tobias Paprotka won the 2011 Norman P. Salzman Memorial Award in Virology for his work on XMRV. This annual NIH-wide award is given to only one postdoctoral fellow per year to recognize outstanding research in the field of virology under the mentorship of an NIH, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, or SAIC scientist. Postdoctoral fellows from all NIH campuses, including Bethesda and Frederick, can apply for the award. Dr. Paprotka will present his research at the Thirteenth Annual Norman P. Salzman Memorial Symposium in Virology on November 10, 2011 and will receive a plaque and a cash award for his achievement. As Dr. Paprotka's mentor, Vinay K. Pathak (Head of the Viral Mutation Section, HIV Drug Resistance Program, National Cancer Institute) will also receive a plaque at the Symposium. NIH Fellows Awards for Research Excellence
The NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) acknowledges outstanding
scientific research performed by intramural postdoctoral fellows. The award
is sponsored by the NIH Fellows Committee, the Scientific Directors, the NIH Office
of Research on Women's Health, and the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education,
and is funded by the Scientific Directors and the Office of Research on Women's
Health. Awards are based on scientific merit, originality, experimental
design, and overall quality/presentation of the abstracts.
Kari Dilley The following DRP Fellows were FARE awardees in 2006-2011: Helene Mens (2011) 
Shown
from left to right: Patricia Henry, Galina Nikolenko, Joyce Rudick (Director
of Programs and Management, NIH Office of Research on Women's Health), Michael
Gottesman (NIH Deputy Director for Intramural Research), and Yeshitila Friew. Poster Awards, NCI-Frederick Spring Research Festival
Tobias Paprotka and Nishani Kuruppu won poster awards for their presentations at the 2011 NCI-Frederick Spring Research Festival. Michal
Legiewicz (2008) 2011 Intramural AIDS Research Fellowships In 2011, the following Visiting Fellows in the HIV Drug Resistance Program received Intramural AIDS Research Fellowship (IARF) awards from the Office of AIDS Research, Office of Intramural Research, and Office of Intramural Research & Training in the National Institutes of Health to support their proposed research projects:
Lillian Kuo (Freed lab): "Characterizing the Role of HIV-1 p6-Alix Binding in HIV-1 Cell-to-Cell Infectivity"
IARF awards include full stipend support to successful candidates who demonstrate outstanding scientific potential through both an imaginative and thoughtful research plan and a well thought out career development plan.
2010 NCI Mentor of Merit Award
Eric Freed was selected as an NCI Mentor of Merit in 2010 for excellence in mentoring and guiding the careers of trainees in cancer research. Dr. Freed was nominated by present and past trainees who view his mentorship as outstanding. NCI Director Harold Varmus presented the Mentor of Merit citation to him at the NCI Director's Awards ceremony in November 2010.
2010 Multi-Investigator Award Sponsored by Center for Cancer Research (CCR) and Office of AIDS Research (OAR)
In 2010, Eric Freed and Vineet KewalRamani of the HIV Drug Resistance Program, NCI-Frederick, and Sriram Subramaniam of the Laboratory of Cell Biology, NCI-Bethesda, successfully competed for a $150,000 CCR/OAR-sponsored multi-investigator award with their research proposal "Catching HIV in the act: Structural studies of HIV transport from antigen-presenting cells into the T-cell nucleus." In total, four CCR/OAR-sponsored awards were made to 11 investigators within and between the Frederick and Bethesda campuses of the National Cancer Institute.
NCI Director's Intramural Innovation Awards
2009 and 2007 NCI Mentor of Merit Awards In
2009 and 2007, Stuart Le Grice was nominated for the NCI Outstanding
Mentor Award and was selected as a Mentor of Merit. Dr. Le Grice received
one of the highest rankings in a competitive review in which nominees were "judged
on their records as mentors; their accessibility to trainees; their ability to
communicate and provide instruction and constructive feedback; their capacity
to provide an environment conducive to science and learning; their propensity
to give credit to trainees and promote visibility of their work; and their attention
to the career development needs of those they mentor." NCI Director John
Niederhuber presented Dr. Le Grice with the Mentor of Merit citation at the
NCI Director's Awards ceremony in October 2009. 2009 NCI-Frederick Student Science Jeopardy Tournament Brittany Ashe and David Kaiser-Jones won the 3rd Annual NCI-Frederick Scientific Library Student Science Jeopardy Tournament in 2009, competing against 11 other 2-student teams in the traditional Jeopardy "answer and question" format. Brittany and David are students working in Stuart Le Grice's group with mentors Jason Rausch and Michal Legiewicz, respectively.  Shown
from left to right: Jason Rausch, Brittany Ashe, 2009 NIH Merit Award
Stuart Le Grice (HIV Drug Resistance Program, NCI) was nominated
and selected to receive a 2009 NIH Merit Award with Robert Yarchoan (HIV and AIDS
Malignancy Branch, NCI). Robert Wiltrout, Director of the Center for Cancer
Research, NCI, nominated Drs. Le Grice and Yarchoan for this Group Award, titled
HIV/AIDS and HIV Malignancy Leadership Group, for leadership in promoting and
supporting research in HIV/AIDS and HIV-associated malignancies in the NCI. Young Investigator Award, 2008 International Feline Retrovirus Research Symposium Benjamin
Luttge was awarded the Young Investigator Award for his oral presentation
at the 2008 International Feline Retrovirus Research Symposium in Vienna, Austria. Award for Excellence in Graduate Research, Catholic University of America Mary
Kearney was awarded the Benedict T. DeCicco Award for Excellence in Graduate
Research in 2008 by the Biology Faculty of the Catholic University of America. Travel Award, 2008 Spring Research Festival Symposium
Benjamin Luttge won a travel award for the best oral presentation
at the 2008 Howard Temin Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00)
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Taichiro Takemura was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from
2007 to 2009 by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The fellowship
program sponsored by this society supports meritorious biomedical research projects
undertaken in NIH laboratories by Japanese postdoctoral researchers. Fellowships
are awarded after a competitive review of research proposals. Scholarship Award, International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention
Mario Chin was awarded a scholarship to present his findings
at the 2007 IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Sydney,
Australia. Travel Scholarship, International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop Mary
Kearney was awarded a travel scholarship in 2007 to present her research
findings at the International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop. Scholarship Awards, 2007 American Society for Virology Meeting Nancy
Chung and Alok Mulky were awarded travel scholarships
and their abstracts were selected for oral presentation at the 2007 American Society
for Virology Meeting. Young Investigator Awards, Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections Zandrea
Ambrose won Young Investigator Awards in 2006 and 2007 and Catherine
Adamson won a Young Investigator Award in 2007 to present their research
findings at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Travel Fellowships Awarded by HIV & Cancer Virology Faculty, NCI In 2006, Jean L. Mbisa and Catherine Adamson won two of the three available travel fellowships awarded by the HIV & Cancer Virology Faculty, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute. Last modified: 2 May 2012 | ... |
In
2011, Sabrina Lusvarghi (Le Grice lab) received a $10,000 NCI Director's Intramural
Innovation Award for her application entitled "Incorporation of Crosslinkable Unnatural Amino Acids for Identifying Binding Partners for XMRV Proteins." Site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins is a growing area of chemical biology and biochemistry, and the availability of unnatural amino acids with novel biophysical properties is constantly widening the scope of these strategies. The goal of Dr. Lusvarghi’s proposal involves incorporating photo-crosslinkable unnatural amino acids into viable viruses, an approach that is currently unprecedented. The novelty of this strategy is that the photo-crosslinkable viruses can be used to study protein-protein interactions in their most-biologically relevant context. Moreover, previously unknown binding partners identified using this approach could serve as targets for novel antiviral therapies. Finally, success in this initial investigation will likely spawn parallel studies to identify and characterize binding partners of other XMRV proteins or proteins in related retroviruses of public health significance. 
In 2010, Michal Legiewicz (Le Grice lab) received a $10,000 NCI Director's Intramural
Innovation Award for his research proposal entitled "Structural Responses in Tumor
Suppressor Messenger RNAs Induced by micro-RNA miR-21 in Breast Cancer."
Dr. Legiewicz initiated this project to investigate how the structure of messenger
RNA responds to downregulation by microRNA. While down- regulation by miR-21
and its binding to target mRNAs have
In
2009, Jason Rausch (Le Grice lab) received a $10,000 NCI Director's Intramural
Innovation Award for his application entitled "Incorporating Unnatural Amino Acids
into the Pol V Mutasome for Photocrosslinking and Single-Molecule FRET."
Dr. Rausch's innovation entails the expression, purification, and utilization
of proteins containing unnatural amino acids to explore structural and mechanistic
aspects of DNA repair in unprecedented ways and using state-of-the-art technologies.
These technologies can be applied to a wide variety of experimental systems, including
those used for drug screening, in which the presence of numerous or catalytically
critical cysteines otherwise prohibits conventional protein labeling. This
award is the second that Dr. Rausch has received through the NCI Director's Intramural
Innovation Award Program (see the text below for a description of his first award). 
Michal
Legiewicz (Le Grice lab) and Arti Santhanam (Colburn lab)
were awarded $10,000 from the NCI Director's Intramural
Innovation Award Program in 2008 for their proposal "Structural Determinants Within
the 5'-UTR of Cancer-Relevant mRNAs Regulated at the Level of Translation."
The NCI Director's Intramural Innovation Award Program is designed to support
the development of highly innovative approaches and technology aimed at significant
cancer-related problems. Deregulation of protein synthesis is an early event
in cancer progression. In recent years, considerable effort has been focused
on translation as a molecular target for both cancer prevention and therapy.
The novel tumor suppressor PDCD4 functions by inhibiting the RNA helicase activity
of the eukaryotic initiation factor eIF4A and hence the efficient translation
of specific oncoproteins. Applying the innovative RNA mapping technology
SHAPE to determine structural signatures within the 5'-UTR of various mRNAs will
explain why only select mRNAs are targets of PDCD4. In high throughput,
SHAPE will allow examination of multiple RNAs simultaneously or the same RNA under
various conditions. This unique feature makes it possible to monitor minor
RNA structural response to the presence/activity of protein factors at different
concentrations and test the significance of other co-factors that are important
for RNA structure (e.g., divalent cations) or for protein enzymatic function (e.g.,
ATP). No other technology offers this unusual combination of sensitivity,
flexibility for applied conditions, and high throughput. High-throughput
identification of structural signatures defining oncogenic mRNAs will have tremendous
potential in the discovery and design of novel, powerful anticancer drugs. 
In 2007, Chandravanu (CV) Dash successfully competed for a Howard
Temin Pathway to Independence (PI) Award (K99/R00) from the National Institute
on Drug Abuse for his proposal "Role of Nucleic Acid Structure in HIV-1 Replication."
The award provides up to five years of support consisting of two phases.
The initial phase will provide one to two years of mentored support (up to $90,000)
for highly promising postdoctoral research scientists. This phase will be
followed by up to three years of independent support (up to $249,000) contingent
on securing an independent research position. The primary goal of the PI
Award Program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented
NIH-supported independent investigators. 
