NCI Director's Awards Ceremony Scheduled in October
The NCI Director's Awards ceremony will honor NCI staff for their outstanding contributions over the past year on October 25 at 11:00 a.m. in the Natcher Auditorium on the NIH campus. A reception will follow in the Natcher Atrium.

Awardees will be announced in the following categories: NIH merit (group and individual); leading diversity (group and individual); length of service (30 and 40 years); outstanding mentor; mentors of merit; and Commissioned Corps' Public Health Service citation, outstanding service medal, and commendation medal.

The ceremony will be videocast at http://videocast.nih.gov.

Save the Date for AIDS Malignancy Program Conference
The International Conference on Malignancies in AIDS and Other Acquired Immunodeficiencies - supported by NCI's Office of AIDS Malignancy Program and the Office of International Affairs, with help from the NCI Office of Women's Health - will be held October 16-17 at the Bethesda North Marriott Conference Center in Bethesda, Md.

The conference will bring together scientists, physicians, health care workers, and community and patient advocates to focus on the viral oncology, immunology, genetics, epidemiology, pathogenesis, early diagnosis, and clinical investigation of malignant diseases associated with AIDS and other acquired immune-deficiency states. The event's objective is to facilitate the exchange of information between laboratory and clinical researchers to accelerate the translation of basic scientific discoveries into clinical applications.

The conference is free, but registration is required by October 9. For more information, go to http://www.palladianpartners.com/aidsmalignancy/index.htm.

FARE 2007 Winners Are Awarded
The Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) Poster and Awards Day was held September 25 in the Lipsett Amphitheater at NIH. Following the ceremony, FARE winners presented their abstracts in a poster section.

The annual NIH-wide FARE competition - 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 - provides recognition for outstanding scientific research performed by intramural postdoctoral fellows.

This year's FARE awardees include 91 fellows from NCI's CCR, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and DCP. They also receive a certificate and $1,000 in support to attend a scientific conference of their choice, and are asked to serve as judges for the following year's competition.

To apply, each April, fellows submit abstracts of their research, which are then peer reviewed by a jury of scientists whose work received awards in previous years. Visit http://felcom.nih.gov/FARE for more details.

SBIR Program Announces New Contract Funding Opportunities
On August 8, NCI's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program announced 13 new funding opportunities for small businesses in a range of novel technology areas. Funding is available to support research and development of anticancer agents, biomarkers, nanotechnology, proteomics, pharmacodynamics, and other areas. The deadline for receipt of proposals is November 6. Additional information about the new contract funding opportunities and applicant eligibility is available at http://sbir.cancer.gov/funding/contracts/ or by e-mailing ncisbir@mail.nih.gov.