Spotlight on…

Larry O. Arthur, PhD

Spotlight Archive

Dr. Larry Arthur is a principal investigator (PI) in two dimensions of the term: Principal Investigator for the Operations and Technical Support (OTS) Contract, and Principal Investigator for the AIDS Vaccine Program. In addition, he serves as president of SAIC-Frederick, Inc., which holds the contract. “At SAIC-Frederick, the only thing we do is run the OTS contract; everyone is totally dedicated to it,” Dr. Arthur said in a recent interview for this column.

With so many responsibilities as Principal Investigator for the OTS contract and as president of SAIC-Frederick, Inc., Dr. Arthur has found laboratory time very limited. However, he says, “A general understanding of the science is certainly imperative for this position. I think without the laboratory involvement, I possibly couldn’t do the other part. It gives me a much needed outlet.”

Sometimes there’s a little confusion about the term principal investigator. The NCI defines a principal investigator in the laboratory as one who is scientifically competent and creative enough to conduct independent research and to be granted independence in budget utilization.

The contract language, or Statement of Work, for the basic research is broad enough to allow a PI to follow research instinct in a particular direction. However, the PI must demonstrate the depth of his or her productivity and creativity in the chosen research path during a quadrennial review (those dreaded site visits!) by an outside entity, the Board of Scientific Counselors.

Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Director of the NCI, encourages what he calls the “Three D’s”—Discovery, Development, and Delivery. Dr. Arthur notes that the AIDS Vaccine Program, for example, has done a lot of “discovery” and “development” in its groundbreaking research, and is on track eventually to “deliver” some of that research. Scientists in basic research have identified many functions of a nucleocapsid protein found in HIV, the AIDS virus. “Understanding how that protein is involved in the life cycle of the virus and properties of the protein has allowed us to develop chemicals to inactivate that protein and consequently inactivate infectivity of the virus. An understanding of the chemical properties of the nucleocapsid protein and the viral surface proteins has allowed us to devise virus inactivation procedures which retain the structure and function of the viral surface proteins.”

Dr. Arthur continues, “This lets us produce very native-type immunogens to be tested in a vaccine mode. In fact, we’re currently looking at the possibility of using it as a therapeutic vaccine. But it also will allow us to look at ‘proof of principle’ for particle recombinant vaccines, as well. It’s incredibly exciting, and you can see why I like to get back to the lab.”

While a laboratory PI focuses on independent research, the Principal Investigator for the OTS contract is defined somewhat differently, possibly a carryover from research contract terminology: The head of a grant is known as its principal investigator. Dr. Arthur is quick to point out that although he is the PI for the OTS contract, “It involves no scientific research at all.”

Dr. Arthur believes his extensive laboratory research experience and understanding of science give him a better perspective for decisions he makes as PI for the OTS contract. “I really like to apply my instinct and expertise from the scientific arena,” he says.

When Dr. Arthur was appointed PI of the OTS contract, he made “a number of strategic changes to the management structure prior to the contract being rebid. We were successful in competing for the contract; in 2001, we won a five-year contract with one two-year extension. It’s a delight to work with the people that we have here at NCI,” Dr. Arthur adds.

Dr. Arthur says that working with Drs. Wiltrout and Reynolds is easy because “We all have the same agenda: To make Frederick a better place for science.” He says that they would like to minimize the scientists’ distractions and provide them with resources and support as efficiently as possible. “Let them concentrate on doing the science; they don’t have to worry about anything else.”

Dr. Arthur is very proud of the growth and maturity that have occurred in a number of programs since he became president of SAIC-Frederick, Inc., explaining that “We have enhanced the quality of many support functions… that were [already] very good,” such as Environment, Health, and Safety; Occupational Health Services; and have improved the professionalism in support groups such as Scientific Publications, Graphics & Media (formerly, the Publications Department); Human Resources; and Contracts. “And now,” he says, “much of the effort that we’ve applied to FME [will come] come to fruition as well. We’ve put in some real good people and processes,” and he expects many improvements in the coming year.

Dr. Arthur notes that the support functions’ improvements “are really important to allow science to progress, but in particular, I do appreciate how well we’ve done in science programs … One of the areas that I’m particularly proud of, since it started from almost nothing, is the one that [Dr.] Joe Kates has put together. He’s recruited world-class scientists for the Research Technology Program. And they have moved rapidly, shown their capabilities in everything from molecular biology, protein expression and protein purification and analysis, to the point that that program is actually the focus for any new activities that might be brought to Frederick.”

Meeting the Needs of the NCI

SAIC-Frederick, Inc., interacts with the NCI in many ways to fulfill OTS contract needs. “We have specific tasks that are covered in the contract and are fairly well described. But we also get new initiatives, usually through a division director,” Dr. Arthur explains. The initiatives are then routed to Dr. Robert Wiltrout, Associate Director, NCI-Frederick; and Dr. Craig Reynolds, Director of Scientific Operations, NCI-Frederick (see the Spotlight archives for October 2002 and February 2003 ). Then, the directorate assigned to the work determines how best to accomplish the task and whether additional labs, researchers, or support personnel will be needed.

Dr. Arthur emphasizes the importance of communication and teamwork in meeting the NCI’s goals. To enhance that communication, “We encourage an iterative process between the requestor and what we’re doing, to be sure that we can both understand what’s to be done. It requires a lot of discussion back and forth, to make sure we understand what they want us to do, and that they understand how we’re going to do it. And usually, that enhances the team. In many of these things, [the work is] highly team-oriented. Almost everything that has been highly successful has had some team component associated with it, just as SAIC teams with NCI,” Dr. Arthur says.

Dr. Arthur began his career at NCI-Frederick in 1973 as a basic research scientist and worked on mouse mammary tumor virus research for a number of years before concentrating on Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus 1 (HTLV-1), and then in 1984, on HIV.

He feels that his longevity and experience give him insight into ways to help NCI-Frederick operate more efficiently. For example, he set up a new management structure involving the current 9 directorates, using a matrix management system, in which specific science and work areas were dedicated to specific directorates. He says that “One of the reasons it’s worked out well is that I have highly professional people that run all my directorates. And I can’t say enough positive things about the directors. I try to manage in a ‘hands-off’ style … I hired them for their capabilities and their brains and management capabilities and let them do that and try to get in to congratulate them on what they’ve done, or to provide assistance whenever there’s problems. I try to keep them fairly independent… You may suffer a bit from that style [laissez-faire] because sometimes people go down the wrong path a little longer than you want them to. You also benefit greatly from it.

“ We’re only as good as the people who work for SAIC-Frederick, and my goal is to bring in the best possible people and provide them with the appropriate tools and independence to allow them to accomplish their work. And, basically, everything we’ve done and accomplished has been through the people that work here at Frederick, from the directors to the people that are actually doing the work out there…We can talk about management, management structure, communication, but without the work force, you’re not going to get the job accomplished.

“ The directors meet periodically, but the day-to-day activities of how we should do things, or how they’re accomplished, the nuts and bolts of things, are done by the OTS Operating Committee. And that has always been my philosophy: that the people who are doing the work should be the ones to decide how best the work should be done.”

Written by Maritta Grau
Photography by Martha Welch
Scientific Publications, Graphics & Media
SAIC-Frederick, Inc.

Web Graphics and Development by Jim Miller
Computer & Statistical Services
National Cancer Institute at Frederick