In Brief

Patrick Griffin and Paul Kenny Awarded Grant to Create National Anti-Addiction Network
Scripps Research Institute investigators Patrick Griffin, chair of the Department of Molecular Therapeutics and director of the Translational Research Institute, and Paul Kenny, associate professor, have been awarded $125,000 to complete the first stage of the multistage cooperative National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to create a national public-private network that will work to combat the nation's lingering addiction to tobacco.

The new NIH program will eventually become a broad collaborative effort between academia, the pharmaceutical industry, and charitable organizations to deliver new anti-smoking medicines—in essence the first large-scale federally sponsored tobacco addiction research and drug development center in the United States. The projects completed at Scripps Florida during the first phase could influence the team's chances of being chosen as the national center's managing partner.

Over the next year, Griffin, who is the program's project director, and Kenny, the grant's principal investigator, will host a major international scientific symposium on tobacco addiction. The team will also create a Web portal, available to public, which will include a vast range of tobacco addiction data. In addition, the researchers will conduct an extensive review of the science of tobacco addiction, which will summarize the data from the new website, outcomes from the symposium, and other findings.

Rebek Lab Paper Featured in Science 'Editor's Choice'
A paper by Scripps Research Professor Julius Rebek and colleagues was featured in Science magazine's "Editor's Choice" section. The article, "Switchable Catalysis with a Light-Responsive Cavitand," (DOI: 10.1002.2001105374) was published online September 8, 2011, by the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Jlenia Monfregola Named American Heart Association Fellow
Jlenia Monfregola, research associate in the Catz Lab, has been awarded an American Heart Association (AHA) fellowship for her work in vesicular trafficking in neutrophils.

According to the organization, AHA fellowships recognize individual scientific and professional accomplishments, and volunteer leadership and service in the area of cardiovascular and stroke research. Monfregola's research targets an understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying vesicular trafficking and regulated secretion in neutrophils, which can lead to effective strategies in treating inflammatory processes, including vascular inflammatory diseases and sepsis.

Ming Chen Receives Graduate Student Innovation Award
Scripps Research Kellogg School of Science and Technology graduate student Ming Chen has been awarded a 2011 Aldrich Graduate Student Innovation Award (GSIA), sponsored by Sigma-Aldrich, a global company that provides chemical and biochemical products used in scientific research.

Presented to 10 recipients this year, the Aldrich award recognizes individual student contributions to research in synthetic organic chemistry, according to the company announcement. A member of the Roush lab, Chen's research focuses on development of functionalized chiral allylboranes and applications in natural product syntheses.

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