2024 NCI Principal Investigators Retreat
, by Jennifer K. Loukissas, M.P.P.
The 2024 NCI Principal Investigators Retreat gathered principal investigators from the two intramural divisions of NCI: DCEG and the Center for Cancer Research. The retreat was held at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, on October 15, 2024.
Meredith Shiels (left) presents the 21st Annual NCI Rosalind E. Franklin Award to Julie Buring (right).
DCEG Director Stephen J. Chanock, M.D. opened the meeting with an overview of DCEG. Meredith Shiels, Ph.D., M.S., senior investigator in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch, discussed her investigation into cancer incidence and mortality trends in earlier ages.
Dr. Julie Buring, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and senior epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, both in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received the 21st Annual NCI Rosalind E. Franklin Award. She gave a truly engaging talk entitled “Large Primary Prevention Trials of Cancer in Women: One Investigator’s Perspective.” She began by speaking about her experience as an external reviewer of the NCI intramural research program and praising the unique research groups conducting science that could only be done within the IRP. She went on to share lessons she has learned over her career. She highlighted the increasing complexity and interdisciplinary nature of research studies; the challenges of working as part of a team, particularly in the context of promotions; the importance of communications for translating findings to the media, the public, research colleagues, and others; and the value of flexibility to address emerging research questions in the ever-changing scientific landscape. Dr. Buring spent the next day visiting with DCEG investigators and fellows in a series of roundtable discussions.
Newly tenured investigators from DCEG also presented their research. Mitchel Machiela, Sc.D., in the Integrative Tumor Epidemiology Branch, spoke about mosaic loss of sex chromosomes, and Rena Jones, Ph.D., M.S., in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, presented on her investigations into environmental causes of cancer, in particular exposures due to air pollution.
Throughout the day participants had time for poster presentations and informal conversations at lunch and at an evening reception. The afternoon also featured a lecture by the 27th Annual Alfred G. Knudson Award winner, Dr. Kevan Shokat, professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at University of California (UC), San Francisco, and professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley. His lecture was titled, "Overcoming the Undruggable Nature of the Most Common Oncogene K-Ras."
Sharon Savage (right) receives WSA Mentoring Award from Marie-Josèphe Horner (left).
The retreat concluded with the conferral of the annual Women Scientist Advisors Mentoring Award which was given to Sharon A. Savage, M.D., clinical director and director of the Clinical Genetics Branch. The award aims to recognize scientists who have shown strong support, scientific leadership, and/or direct mentoring to women scientists that has led to their professional, scientific and career achievement. Among the many worthy nominations, Dr. Savage's nomination stood out for her commitment to mentoring women scientists in many career paths, supporting and modeling of work/life balance, and identifying and encouraging opportunities for advancement and training.