In Brief

Daniel Murin, Ruben Martinez and Greg Solis Win NSF Fellowships

Daniel Murin of the Ward and Ollmann-Saphire labs, Ruben Martinez of the Baran lab, and Greg Solis of the Petrascheck/Kelly labs at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have received National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships.

The highly competitive fellowships—13,000 submitted applications for 2,000 awards in 2013—recognize and support outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. Fellows receive three years of support as well as international research and professional development opportunities.

Murin’s fellowship project, “Detailing Ebola Virus Entry by Electron Microscopy,” aims to shed light on key steps of viral entry at the molecular level. Martinez’s fellowship was awarded for his research on the “Total synthesis of Pallambins A-D.” Solis’s research is focused on using small molecules that extend lifespan in C. elegans as probes to investigate the molecular connection between aging and age-related diseases.

Additionally, Alexander Krois of the Wright lab and Matthew Villaume of the Baran lab received honorable mentions in the NSF fellowship competition.

ScrippsAssists Recognizes Volunteers and Accomplishments

ScrippsAssists recently celebrated the past year’s community service efforts at a luncheon held March 22 at the Faculty Club. More than 140 Scripps California volunteers and contributors supported ScrippAssists’ 15 ongoing and single-event projects last year, according to Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn, co-chair of the employee volunteer group.

“Our supporters included TSRI staff, administrators, postdocs, graduate students, family, friends and several PIs. More than 25 ScrippsAssists volunteers donated their time 10 or more times during 2012,” said McClanahan-Shinn.

ScrippsAssists projects provide assistance to needy families, seniors, the homeless, cancer research, overseas U.S. military, environment protection efforts and animal rescue groups with such activities as food drives, holiday adopt-a-family programs, back-to-school backpack collections, monthly meal services, twice-monthly food distribution packaging, beach and park cleanups, and fundraising event support.

A new ScrippsAssists project is an on-campus blood drive held in coordination with the San Diego Blood Bank. In the first drive, 26 units of blood were donated at the Bloodmobile, parked in the Building 3377 parking lot, according to Leslie Madden, project coordinator. The next blood drive is planned tentatively for May.

Details on each ScrippsAssists project are available at the group’s website.

Patrick Griffin to Speak at April 10 Faculty Lecture Series

Patrick Griffin, chairman of the TSRI Department of Molecular Therapeutics, will provide the next Faculty Lecture Series presentation, Wednesday, April 10. His topic is “Mechanism of Action of Novel Insulin Sensitizers.” The lecture will begin at 5 PM in the Timkin Amphitheater in the Green Hospital, La Jolla, CA. A reception will follow in the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Building, first floor. For further information, see Griffin’s Faculty Lecture Series webpage.

Career Workshops: Interviews, Posters, Manuscripts

The Career and Postdoctoral Services Office offers three upcoming workshops in its professional career training programs on the California campus.

Videotaped Practice Interviews

Designed to ease job-interview jitters for postdocs and graduate students, the Videotaped Practice Interview Session will be held Thursday, April 18, from 3:30 to 4:30 PM in the graduate office conference room, third floor in the 3377 Building.

During the small group session, participants are videotaped in a mock interview, answering standard human resources questions. Facilitator Ryan Wheeler, manager of the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, and fellow participants provide constructive evaluations of each person’s verbal responses and body language. Online registration is required.

Convey Your Science with Posters

How to create and design effective and attention-grabbing posters will be taught in this session, scheduled Monday, April 15, 3:30 to 5 PM in the Human Resources training room, #205 in the 3377 Building.

Mike Matrone, program coordinator in the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, will lead the workshop, which will cover rules for textual content, poster layout to emphasize content and best practices in data and graphics display. Workshop participants who would like an evaluation of an existing or draft poster during the workshop may submit an electronic copy to Matrone at matrone@scripps.edu. Online workshop registration is required.

Writing and Publishing Scientific Manuscripts

This session, which aims to demystify the scientific writing process, will be held Monday, April 22, 3:30 to 5 PM in the Human Resources training room, #205 in the 3377 Building. Conducted by Mike Matrone, program coordinator in the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, the session will focus on reader-friendly writing styles, common writing errors, the submission and review process, how to respond to reviews and best practices in scientific manuscript preparation. Online reservation is required.

Green Teams Plan Earth Day Activities on FL and CA Campuses

In celebration of Earth Day (officially April 22), the TSRI Green Teams on Florida and California campuses have planned ecology awareness-raising events during the month.

Florida campus

Faculty and staff are invited to help tidy up the nearby environment as part of the Great American Cleanup event, Saturday, April 13, 9 AM to noon. Volunteers will meet in the B Building lobby at 8:45 AM. Tools, water, gloves, event T-shirts and instructions will be provided. The group will walk to the clean-up site to remove litter along a section of Central Boulevard and Donald Ross Road that includes two large storm water ponds. Long pants and closed-toe shoes are recommended. Employee family members may attend, but must be supervised. For further details, contact Pete Norris, director of Environmental Health & Safety and Green Team chair, at (561) 228-2041 or pnorris@scripps.edu.

Members of campus are also encouraged to forsake fuel-consuming vehicles for a Bike-to-Work Day, Monday, April 22. The day will launch an ongoing effort to increase cycling as alternative transportation. According to Sheri Resnick, human resources analyst and the project coordinator, cyclists will track their carbon-emissions-saving metrics on a dedicated website. For additional information, contact Resnick at (561) 228-2064 or sresnick@scripps.edu.

California campus

A presentation on “California-Friendly Landscaping” will be held Monday, April 22, from noon to 1 PM in the Beckman Building’s Keck Auditorium. Curtis Brooks and Scott Couch of Brickman Landscape, a national landscape service provider founded in 1939, will offer advice and recommendations on maintaining lawns and gardens that are responsive to San Diego’s natural environment. Topics include water conservation, recycled water, smart controllers, low-water-use plants and alternatives to grass. Brickman Landscape will provide a complimentary succulent plant to each attendee.

The presentation will also feature the announcement of the winner of the 2013 Keith McKeown Memorial Green Feat Award. Named after the late TSRI vice president of communications and public relations and founding chair of the institute's Green Initiative, the annual award recognizes ecological leadership on the California campus.

Other Earth Day-related activities include the Green Team’s annual E-Waste Recycle Day, scheduled for Wednesday, April 24, from 8 AM to 2 PM at the Center for Integrative Molecular Biosciences (CIMBio) building.

TSRI staff and faculty can drop off personal home office electronic waste, including computer devices (terminals, monitors, keyboards, wires, etc.), laptops (batteries included), scanners, printers, fax machines, radios and stereo equipment, VCRs and DVD players, TVs and cell phones (batteries included).

One of the fastest-growing segments of the nation's waste stream, e-waste often contains recoverable materials, including metals for recycling. Additionally, some electronic devices contain high levels of such harmful materials as lead. Further information on the e-waste event is available on the Green Team’s website.

The Green Team will also repeat the Soles4Souls collection at the e-waste event. The nonprofit agency will clean and ship donated new and gently used shoes to underprivileged populations throughout the world.

CA Biosafety Committee May Meeting Materials Due

The TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, May 8, in the Faculty Club Tennis Court Room. To receive committee consideration, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety via email to rachellv@scripps.edu by Monday, April 22.

News&Views Breaks for Spring

News&Views will not be published next week to accommodate Spring Break. Regular publication will resume Monday, April 22.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

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