Frederick National Laboratory and Purdue University Establish Biomedical Research Collaboration

FREDERICK, Md. – Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research has launched a partnership with Purdue University that aims to enhance and accelerate research initiatives, technological innovation, and workforce development in the biomedical sciences.

The two-year memorandum of understanding between Frederick National Laboratory (FNL) and Purdue University Center for Cancer Research, a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, will establish a framework for collaborative partnership that includes appointment and exchange of scientific staff, sabbatical opportunities, student training and internships, and postdoctoral fellowships. 

Specifically, the two institutions will focus on research and development in predictive modeling, a process that uses statistics to predict outcomes, and its biological applications, improving the use of emerging technologies for cancer research and data analysis, expanding efforts to include data science capabilities in education and community development, and workforce development through the exchange of personnel and technical expertise. 

In addition, FNL and Purdue will work together in developing existing and future consortium and partnership opportunities, and the two institutions will conduct cooperative research and development in the areas of protein crystallization in microgravity.

“The Purdue University Center for Cancer Research is honored to enter into a partnership with the Frederick National Laboratory to enhance and accelerate educational and research activities in the field of computational biology and predictive modeling, said Timothy Ratliff, Ph.D., distinguished professor of comparative pathobiology and Robert Wallace Miller Director of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research. “Working with the outstanding investigators at Frederick National Laboratory will benefit our students and faculty and will enable us to have a greater impact on the field.” 

“Purdue University Center for Cancer Research conducts world class basic research that has led to decisive advances in the field,” said Ethan Dmitrovsky, M.D., director of the Frederick National Laboratory and president of Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., signer of the agreement. “This mutually beneficial partnership will allow some of the best minds in cancer research to come together to accelerate research discoveries that will ultimately benefit patients.”  

Frederick National Laboratory’s partnership with Purdue follows memoranda of understanding signed with Georgetown University, Howard University, Hood College, Mount St. Mary’s University, and National Cancer Institute of Mexico.

By Max Cole, staff writer

Image: Purdue University. Photo by David Mark from Pixabay.