In Brief

Peter Vogt Named Albert Einstein Professor by Chinese Academy of Sciences

Peter Vogt, executive vice president and chief scientific officer of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has been named 2013 Albert Einstein Professor by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). As part of the award, he will spend two to three weeks visiting several Chinese academic institutions and delivering lectures and seminars at two major Chinese universities.

Vogt says he sees the award as a unique opportunity to initiate and strengthen personal and institutional relationships involving TSRI and top-level Chinese science. His principal host institutions for this professorship are the CAS Institute of Biophysics in Beijing and the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, which also belongs to CAS.

CAS awards 20 of these high-profile professorships every year. The recipients are selected on the basis of a worldwide competition that extends to all disciplines of science, engineering and mathematics. The other US awardees for 2013 include Alexis Bell (Chemical Engineering, UC Berkeley), Peter Meszaros (Astrophysics, Penn State), James L. Manley (Molecular Biology, Columbia University), Mark Harrison (Earth Sciences, UCLA) and Tony Hunter (Cell Signaling, Salk Institute).

Leopold Kong Receives Fellowship for AIDS Research

Leopold Kong, research associate in The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) Wilson lab, is one of four recipients nationwide in the sixth round of Mathilde Krim Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Research awards from amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. The award supports Kong’s research on a unique approach toward developing an HIV/AIDS vaccine, targeting the protective coating of sugar-like molecules that surround the HIV/AIDS virus.

Ethics Training Course Scheduled to Begin January 21

TSRI has scheduled a seven-session Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) program, approved by the National Institutes of Health, for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students on both the California and Florida campuses. The two-hour sessions will be held on January 21, 28, 29, 30 and 31 and February 1 and 4, from 3 to 5 PM, local time, on both campuses.

Michael Kalichman, director of research ethics at the University of California, San Diego, (UCSD) will conduct the Florida campus course via live video-streaming to room A 116. Frederick Bonkovsky, professor of medical ethics at UCSD, will lead the California campus sessions at 3377 Torrey Pines Court, Room 205.

Space is limited and priority is given on a first-come, first-served basis to trainees who have received fellowships, are on training grants, or are in the TSRI Postdoctoral Training Program for Skaggs-funded scholars. The course is available on a pass/fail basis. A full description of course topics can be found at http://sdrec.ucsd.edu/courses/tsri. Advance registration for the course is required at http://hris.scripps.edu/training/course/11.

Information on other RCR training options, including additional proposed courses at TSRI, is available on the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office website. For additional details on resources offered by the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, visit the department’s website or contact Ryan Wheeler, x4-9740, or Mike Matrone, x4-9391.

Career Workshop Series: Transitioning and Interviewing

Two upcoming workshops will offer California postdoctoral fellows and graduate students tips on seeking and securing jobs.

Career Transitions Workshop
This three-session workshop will explore how individual participants’ values, interests, skills and goals can aid in clarifying career options. Formatted in a confidential small-group environment, the sessions will cover four topics:

Identifying transferable skills developed during graduate and postdoctoral studies
Examining personal values, interests and decision-making styles
Discerning career options to match personal skills and personalities
Articulating short- and long-term career goals

Ryan Wheeler, manager of the Career & Postdoctoral Services Office, and Daphne Lurie, director of the Counseling and Psychological Services Office, will co-facilitate the workshop. Sessions will be held on Wednesday, January 16, 23 and 30, from 3 to 5 PM, at 3377 North Torrey Pines Court, third floor, Graduate Office conference room. Reservations are required and can be made on the Career and Postdoctoral Services website.

Videotaped Practice Interview Session
Best-practice job interviewing skills will be offered in a videotaped mock interview/feedback session scheduled for Thursday, January 17, from 3 to 4:30 PM, at 3377 North Torrey Pines Court, third floor, Graduate Office conference room.

In a small-group setting, participants will each be videotaped as they answer standard Human Resources screening questions. The session facilitator and peers will provide constructive comments about participants’ verbal responses and body language. Registration is required; sign up on the Career and Postdoctoral Services website.

Editors Council Offers Manuscript Peer Review

Providing copyediting and peer-review services, the TSRI Council of Scientific Editors is available to help graduate students and postdoctoral fellows produce high-quality, high-impact manuscripts. The volunteer editor panel spans all TSRI scientific departments on both California and Florida campuses, according to Mike Matrone, program coordinator for the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office.

The council is intended to supplement, not supplant, mentoring provided by graduate student and research fellow advisors. “The services formalize an additional review option benefitting both the volunteer peer reviewers and researchers,” said Matrone.

Editing requests are matched to the relevant scientific area and reviewer availability. Submissions are kept confidential and require advisor approval. Editing request forms are available on the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office website.

Postdoctoral fellows and senior graduate students are also encouraged to serve as volunteer council reviewers. Volunteers are expected to provide general to specific manuscript feedback, depending on time availability and each document’s requirements. To volunteer or for further details on the Council of Scientific Editors, contact Matrone, matrone@scripps.edu.

FL SRF Elects New Executive Committee

The Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows (SRF) has installed a 2013 Executive Committee. Members include:

President: Sietse Jonkman, Kenny lab
Vice president/secretary/treasurer: Brent Lyda, Kamenecka lab
Research Fest Vendor Show chairs: Rachel Tanos, Burris lab, and Sarah Iqbal, LoGrasso lab
Research Fest Scientific Symposium chair: Maria Mavrikaki, Butler lab
Social chairs: Alice Asteian, Kamanecka lab, and Celine Ullrich, Smith lab
Distinguished Lecture Series chairs: Brian Lee, Kenny lab, and Silvia Licciulli, Kissil lab
Web design/IT tech: Reji Nair, Bannister lab

The first SRF general meeting of 2013 is scheduled for Thursday, January 17, noon, in Room B159.

CA SOF Soccer League Begins 2013 Season

Openings remain for experienced and novice players on the Society of Fellows (SOF) Soccer League on the California campus. Team and individual registration for the six-week league season is due Monday, January 13.

Open to any TSRI employee, the indoor soccer league will play Sundays from 6 to 10 PM, January 20 through March 31 at the Magdalena Ecke YMCA in Encinitas. Each team plays a six-versus-six, one-hour game per week. The 15-member maximum team roster must include one female; three female members are recommended. To increase new player participation, one team spot has been reserved for a team comprised of individuals (free agents) or a team with a majority of players who did not participate in the 2012 season.

Teams will be registered on a first-come, first-served basis following payment of the $480 per-team league fee. Interested participants may contact Lauren Ariniello, laurenariniello@gmail.com. For further registration details, email Sheena Saayman, SOF president, at sheena@scripps.edu.

Additional information on other SOF activities, including the group’s upcoming annual ski trip, is available on the SOF website.

New Group Helps Build Healthy Relationships

A new monthly support group designed to help build and enhance vital couple relationships will begin Tuesday, January 22.

“During the year-long program, members will develop skills designed to increase relationship awareness and satisfaction,” said Daphne Lurie, director of TSRI’s Counseling and Psychological Services Office. Lurie and her colleague Jan Hill, licensed clinical therapist, will facilitate the group.

Meeting on the fourth Tuesday of every month, the group will draw on tenets presented in The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by research psychologist John Gottman and Nan Silver. Reading one chapter of the book each month, members will work individually on developing specific skills, discussing lessons learned at the group meeting. Chapter topics include "Overcoming Gridlock," "Solve Your Solvable Problems" and "Create Shared Meaning."

Group members are asked to commit for the program’s full year; once filled, the group will be closed to new members. An orientation meeting will be held at noon, Tuesday, January 15, in the third-floor conference room, building 3377. Sign up with Holly Wheeler, hollyw@scripps.edu or x4-7297.

Additional information on Gottman and his research can be found on his website. New and used paperback copies of The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work are available on Amazon.com for $10 to $15. For further details on The Healthy Relationships Group and other resources offered by the Counseling and Psychological Services Office, visit the department’s website.

Onsite Immunization Clinic Changes Location

The California campus onsite occupational medicine immunization clinics have changed location for 2013. Offered monthly, except March and November, the clinics will be conducted in Building 3366, room 240 (one floor down from the 2012 clinic location). Clinic hours remain from 9:30 to 11:30 AM.

The next immunization clinics are scheduled on Monday, January 21, and Wednesday, January 23.

Conducted by Sharp Rees-Stealy staff, the clinics provide hepatitis B vaccination free of charge to all TSRI employees. Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Occupational Medicine must pre-authorize all other procedures based on the employee's working conditions. These procedures include:

Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap) vaccines
A new one-visit Quantiferon tuberculosis test (for information on this test, read the Centers for Disease Control TB Fact Sheet )
Other tests, including titers, immunizations, and procedures according to job function

After EH&S pre-authorization, individuals who cannot attend the onsite clinic may visit the Sharp Rees-Stealy occupational medicine clinic by calling (858) 526-6150. The clinic is located at 10243 Genetic Center Drive, off Mira Mesa Boulevard. For further details, contact Sunny Gold Schmidt, gschmidt@scripps.edu or x4-9299.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

Brightening the Holidays for Palm Beach County Children
toys
Over the hollidays, the Scripps Florida campus once again participated in the Toys for Tots campaign, sponsored by the United States Marine Corps Reserve. The national Toys for Tots program has distributed toys, books and other gifts to more than 210 million needy children since the campaign began in 1947. (Photo by Jeremy Pyle.)

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