In Brief

William O. Weigle, 1927 - 2001
Professor Emeritus William O. Weigle, one of the founders of TSRI, died on August 11. He was 74.

Weigle was one of the immunologists who came from Pittsburgh in 1961 to establish the Division of Experimental Pathology of the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla. The work of this group attracted others and the research program flourished and diversified into biochemistry and microbiology, virology, studies of blood coagulation, and cancer research, forming the basis of modern-day TSRI.

Weigle, who earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, contributed hundreds of papers to his field. One of his achievements was showing how the body can turn against itself by producing antibodies that impair the immune system, a response that can be triggered by infection or other injury. His insights helped spawn drugs that help patients tolerate skin and kidney grafts.

Weigle's honors include a National Institutes of Health Research Career Award, a Parke-Davis Award of the American Society for Experimental Pathology, and a McLaughlin Visiting Professorship at the University of Texas.

As Richard Ulevitch, chair of TSRI's Department of Immunology, commented in 1998 upon Weigle's retirement, "Bill Weigle, as he is known to his colleagues, leaves a permanent legacy in the many dozens of trainees who benefited from his mentoring, in the hundreds of publications in the scientific literature, and in his continuous efforts to ensure that the Department of Immunology and TSRI remain at the forefront of science."

A memorial service, open to all members of the TSRI community, will be held on Thursday, August 30, at 5 PM, in The Neurosciences Institute auditorium.


TSRI Paper Ranks Tenth on Most-Requested List
A paper by TSRI Professor Carlos Barbas ranks tenth on a recent list of most-requested chemistry documents posted on Chemical Abstracts Service's new website, Science Spotlight. The paper, "Amino Acid Catalyzed Direct Asymmetric Aldol Reactions: A Bioorganic Approach to Catalytic Asymmetric Carbon-Carbon Bond-Forming Reactions," by Kandasamy Sakthivel, Wolfgang Notz, Tommy Bui, and Barbas, was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (2001), 123(22), 5260-5267


Faculty Lecture Committee Announces 2001-2002 Speakers
The Faculty Lecture Committee, chaired by Professor Charles Cochrane, announces the program for the 2001-2002 TSRI Faculty Lecture Series. Lectures will be held at 5:00 PM in the Timken Amphitheater, Scripps Clinic, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road.

  • Wednesday, September 12: Professor Kim Janda, Department of Chemistry, "Biocatalysis, Combinatorial Chemistry and Immunopharmacotherapy";

  • Wednesday, November 14: Professor Reza Ghadiri, Departments of Chemistry and Molecular Biology and the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, title to be announced;

  • Wednesday, December 12: Professor Paul Russell, Department of Molecular Biology, "Travels on the Road to Mitosis: DNA Damage and Replication Checkpoints";

  • Wednesday, February 13: Associate Professor Jane Dyson, Department of Molecular Biology, title to be announced;

  • Wednesday, March 13: Professor Peter Vogt, Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, title to be announced;

  • Wednesday, April 10: Professor Bruce Beutler, Department of Immunology, "Genetic Dissection of Innate Immunity";

  • Wednesday, May 8: TSRI President Richard A. Lerner, title to be announced.



TB Screenings, Hepatitis B Immunizations, and Serum Draws
On Monday, September 17, Wednesday, September 19, and Friday, September 21, personnel from Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group will be on-site to conduct TB screenings, Hepatitis B immunizations, and serum draws. The clinics will be conducted at the Administrative Offices (3301 North Torrey Pines Court) on the P1 level from 11 AM to 2 PM. No appointments are necessary.

TB screening requires a 48 to 72 hour follow-up. Individuals receiving the TB screen on Monday will need to return on Wednesday; individuals screened on Wednesday, will need to return on Friday. Initiation of the TB screening process will not be available on Friday, but Hepatitis B immunization and serum draws will be. To learn more about these programs, see the Human Resources Occupational Medicine web page, which includes a map and patient information sheets.


Look for next News&Views September 10
Look for the next issue of News&Views Monday, September 10. The deadline for submissions to News&Views, which is published weekly during the academic year and every other week during the summer, is Wednesday at noon for the following Monday's publication.