In Brief


Chisari Elected to American Academy of Microbiology
Francis V. Chisari, professor in TSRI's Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine and director of the General Clinical Research Center, has been elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in recognition of "excellence, originality, and creativity in the microbiological sciences." He joins fellow TSRI investigators James Hoch, Michael Oldstone, and Eng Tan as a recipient of this honor.

Chisari is known for his work on hepatitis B and C virus infections and carcinogenesis. He is widely recognized for a series of discoveries that defined the immunological basis for HBV clearance, persistence and disease; demonstrated that the immune response can terminate HBV replication without killing infected cells; established the basis of hepatocarcinogenesis during chronic HBV infection; and laid the foundation for the development of therapeutic vaccines to cure chronic hepatitis, the leading cause of liver cancer throughout the world.

Chisari was born in New York, NY and graduated in 1968 from the Cornell University Medical College. He completed postdoctoral training at Cornell, Dartmouth, NIH, the Mayo Clinic and the Pasteur Institute. Chisari has been on the faculty at Scripps since 1973, and serves as adjunct professor in the Department of Pathology, University of California School of Medicine. Recently named a member of the National Academy of Sciences, he is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the 1999 Rous-Whipple Award and the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine.


Technology Review Names Cravatt "One of World's Top Young Innovators"
The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) Associate Professor Benjamin Cravatt (TSRI class of '97) has been named one of the "TR100," the world's top young innovators according to Technology Review magazine, whose editorial focus includes information technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. The TR100 is a group of 100 creative individuals under age 35 drawn from a broad spectrum of fields, whose research the magazine predicts will shape how we live and work in the future.

According to Technology Review, "chemical biologist Benjamin Cravatt is developing tools to illuminate the roles of proteins and enzymes in humans and animals. Cravatt and colleagues have synthesized dozens of fluorescent probes that chemically bind to enzymes in laboratory samples of healthy and diseased tissues, then light up when excited by a laser scanner. The technique can show which enzymes are more or less active in cancerous cells, which could herald a breakthrough for proteomics—the attempt to identify the structures and functions of human proteins. Cravatt's protein-activity-based approach represents an advance over methods that merely infer protein function by comparing the abundance of proteins in samples...." For more information, see the Technology Review web site.


Jane Dyson to Speak as Part of Faculty Lecture Series
Professor Jane Dyson will be speaking on "Unfolded Proteins: A New Frontier in Structural Biology" on Wednesday, June 12 as part of the Faculty Lecture Series. The lecture will be held at 5 PM in the Timken Amphitheater, Scripps Clinic, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road.

 

American Cancer Society to Hold 24-Hour Walk-a-Thon Fundraiser
The American Cancer Society invites you to participate in its Relay for Life, Saturday, June 22 through Sunday, June 23 at the RIMAC Arena at the University of California, San Diego. The 24-hour, volunteer-driven walk-a-thon and community camp-out raises funds for cancer research, treatment, education, and patient services and is one of ten events that will take place in various communities throughout San Diego County. For more information on forming a team or volunteering, call (619) 682-7453 or visit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life web page.


TB Screenings, Hepatitis B Immunizations, and Serum Draws
On Monday, June 10, Wednesday, June 12, and Friday, June 14, 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 Environmental Health & Safety Occupational Medicine web page, which includes a map and patient information sheets.

 

Look for next News&Views June 14
The next issue of News&Views, which is published every other week throughout the summer, will be posted on Monday, June 14. The deadline for announcement and calendar submissions is Wednesday at noon for the following Monday's publication.

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