In Brief

Brian Paegel Wins Prestigious NSF Career Award

Brian M. Paegel, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The CAREER award is the NSF’s most prestigious award, supporting junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of their organization’s mission, according to the NSF.

The Paegel lab, based on the Florida campus, conducts highly parallel chemical and biological experiments at the ultra-small volume scales of emulsions and bilayer vesicles. As part of his CAREER project, Paegel will investigate the controlled synthesis and characterization of vesicular compartments assembled from various amphiphiles, molecules that harbor both hydrophilic and hydrophobic character. The project will open new collaborative ties, from studies of membrane permeability with colleagues in California to cutting-edge electron microscopy membrane imaging with the neighboring Max Planck Florida Institute.

The CAREER grant will also fund a new quantitative imaging and microscopy-based professional development workshop for Palm Beach County, Florida, high school science teachers.

Katja Lamia Named Kimmel Scholar for Cancer Research

Katja Lamia, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Physiology at TSRI, has been named a 2013 Kimmel Scholar by the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research. Lamia is one of just 15 award recipients from a national pool of 150 applicants.

The Kimmel Scholar program aims to advance the careers of gifted young scientists involved in cancer research. Recipients must be in the early stages of their research career, demonstrate the greatest promise and innovation in their work and have not progressed far enough to have received major grants from the National Cancer Institute or other funding sources.

Lamia’s lab is investigating the molecular basis for the circadian control of metabolism to enable novel therapies to treat metabolic disease. The two-year Kimmel Scholar grant will support her project,

“Circadian transcriptional repressors Cry1 and Cry2 modulate cell growth and transformation.”

Nicolas Grillet Selected as Finalist in GE Image Competition

An image depicting the sensory cells of the inner ear created by Nicolas Grillet, senior postdoctoral fellow in the Mueller lab, was a finalist in the GE Healthcare 2012 Cell Imaging Competition. The image is featured in the competition’s 2013-2014 calendar, providing an illustration for the month of October.

The competition showcases the beauty of cells and the inspiring research conducted by cellular biologists around the world, according to GE Healthcare. The illustrations were created using GE imaging systems. An expert scientific panel of five judges chose a shortlist from the more than 100 international entries, which then were put to an online public vote.

Grillet, who will join Stanford University’s School of Medicine next year as an assistant professor in the Otolaryngology Department, created the image for his research on how the inner ear is sensitive to sound and head motions. Grillet is optimizing the use of transgenic animals to remove genes of interest specifically in the mechanosensitive cells of the inner ear. In the image, titled “Visualization of the sensory cells of the inner ear detecting angular acceleration,” a mouse ampulla was stained for actin (green) and the hair cells were genetically stained with TdTomato (red).

grillet

Florida Distinguished Lecturer Series Features Neuroscientist Eric Nestler

The next Distinguished Lecture Series presentation sponsored by Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows (SRF) will feature Eric Nestler of Mount Sinai School of Medicine discussing “Transcriptional and Epigenetic Mechanisms of Addiction.” The lecture will be held on Friday, June 21, 4 to 5 PM in the Rodney B. Fink Education Pavilion, Building B.

Nestler is the Nash Family Professor and chair in neuroscience, professor in psychiatry, pharmacology and systems therapeutics and the director of the Friedman Brain Institute at Mount Sinai. His lab focuses on the genetic and epigenetic modification of neuropsychiatric diseases. His research employs such experimental approaches as viral-mediated gene transfer, molecular biology, optogenetics and electrophysiology.

Earning PhD and MD degrees at Yale University, Nestler completed his graduate work with Nobel Laureate Paul Greengard. Nestler has been elected to the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Questions for Nestler can be emailed in advance to event organizer Brian Lee, blee@scripps.edu, or Silvia Licciulli, slicciulli@scripps.edu.

Career Workshop Series: Setting Goals and Taking Next Steps

Two career training workshops for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students on the California campus will be offered in upcoming weeks by the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office.

Move Your Career Forward
This new two-hour workshop will help participants take charge of and effectively plan their careers. The session is scheduled for Friday, June 21, from 12:30 to 2:30 PM in the Human Resources conference room, suite 205, in the 3377 Building.

The training will employ a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory instrument and an online Individual Development Plan, myIDP, to set individual participants’ short- and long-term professional goals. In addition, the session will feature hands-on exercises and interaction activities. Participants will develop goals for gaining new scientific and professional skills, understand characteristics of Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-limited (SMART) goal-setting and be able to explain and defend their career plan.

Reservations are required.

Career Transitions
This three-session, small-group workshop is designed to help postdoctoral fellows and graduate students explore career options. Sessions will be held Wednesdays, 3 to 5 PM, July 10, 17 and 24 in the Graduate Office conference room. Facilitated by Daphne Lurie, director of TSRI’s Counseling and Psychological Services, and Ryan Wheeler, manager of the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, the sessions will focus on participants’ values, interests, skills and goals in a confidential setting.

Reservations are required. Participants are asked to attend all three workshop sessions.

For more information on these and other upcoming career-related events, contact Wheeler at x4-9740, rwheeler@scripps.edu, Mike Matrone at x4-9391, matrone@scripps.edu or visit the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office website.

Healthcare Spending Account Claims Deadline June 30

TSRI employees who participated in the Healthcare Spending Account (HCSA) and still carry a balance in their 2012 HCSA must submit reimbursement forms by June 30 to UMR for claims incurred during the 2012 plan year (up to March 15, 2013).

Participants in the Dependent Care Spending Account (DCSA) during the 2012 plan year must also submit 2012 DCSA claims to UMR by June 30.

UMR claim forms are available on the TSRI benefits website. For further information, contact TSRI Benefits Administration at (858) 784-8487 or via email, benefits@scripps.edu.

Lunch & Learn: Overcoming Shyness

The sweaty-palm awkwardness and anxiety created by shyness in social situations can seem insurmountable. The next Lunch & Learn program, scheduled for Wednesday, June 19, noon to 1 PM in the Beckman Building’s Keck Amphitheater on the California campus, will explore the nature of shyness and offer tips on managing or conquering this often-inhibiting behavior.

“Breaking Out of Your Shell; How to Overcome Shyness” will be presented by Daphne Lurie, director of the TSRI Office of Counseling and Psychological Services, which sponsors the Lunch & Learn series. A California-licensed psychologist and a therapist for nearly 20 years, Lurie’s specialty interests are relationship issues, health-related issues, multicultural concerns and identity/adjustment issues.

For further information on this Lunch & Learn session and other programs offered by Counseling and Psychological Services, visit the department’s website.

CA Biosafety Meeting Materials Due June 28

The TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, July 10, 3:30 to 4:30 PM in the Faculty Club Tennis Court Room. To receive committee consideration, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health & Safety via email to rachellv@scripps.edu by Friday, June 28.

CA Golf Tournament Reservations Due July 1

Reservations for the California campus’s 18^th Annual Golf Tournament and Dinner close Monday, July 1. The traditionally informal annual event is scheduled for Tuesday, July 16, from 1 to 8 PM at the Riverwalk Golf Club on Fashion Valley Road in San Diego.

The $65 per-person tournament fee includes green fees, warm-up/driving range balls, dinner and “swag,” according to event organizer Todd Maxwell, safety officer with Environmental Health & Safety.

Thirty-six four-person teams will play in the scramble-format tournament. Team slots are available on a first-paid, first-play basis and are open to family or friends, but must include at least two TSRI employees. Less-than-full foursomes and single players may be matched to complete a team.

Additional details and a reservation form are available at http://intranet.scripps.edu/california/sports/. For further information, contact Maxwell at x4-9566 or toddmax@scripps.edu.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

Scripps Florida chemist Brian Paegel has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award, which supports faulty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars. (Photo by James McEntee.)

Scripps Florida Philanthropy Hosts Luau by the Lake

The event, held to express appreciation for donors, featured a traditional Hawaiian dance troupe. See more photos. (Photo by Lauren Lieberman/LILA PHOTO.)

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