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In Brief


Matt Disney Receives the ACS Carbohydrate Division’s David Y. Gin Award

Scripps Research Associate Professor Matt Disney has been named the 2012 David Y. Gin Award recipient by the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Carbohydrate Division. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to research in carbohydrate chemistry by scientists in their first independent faculty position.

Disney’s research develops rational methods to target RNA with small molecules. As part of the ACS award, he will be a featured speaker at the Carbohydrate Division symposium March 26, held in conjunction with the ACS 2012 national meeting in San Diego.

Formerly known as the ACS division’s New Investigator Award, the recognition was renamed in honor of the late David Gin, professor of molecular pharmacology and chemistry at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College, who passed away in May at 44 years of age.



Alexander Price Wins Tony B. Academic Travel Award

Alexander Price, research associate in the Paegel lab, has received a Tony B. Academic Travel Award from the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS). One of 39 award recipients from throughout the world, Price is invited to attend and present at the First Annual SLAS Conference & Exhibition, February 4 to 8 in San Diego.

The SLAS travel award program is designed to “support young scientists and encourage them to explore their futures in the laboratory science and technology field,” according to the award announcement. The award honors the late Tony Beugelsdijk, group leader of Chemical Diagnostics and Engineering at the Los Alamos High-Throughput Laboratory and a pioneer in laboratory robotics.



Society of Research Fellows Plans Distinguished Lecturer Presentation December 5

The Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows’ (SRF) next Distinguished Lecturer Series presentation will feature Suzanne Pfeffer, professor of biochemistry at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The lecture is scheduled for 11 AM to noon, Monday, December 5, in the Rodney B. Fink Auditorium.

Pfeffer’s topic is “How the Golgi Works and How Cells Get Enough Cholesterol.”

Pfeffer’s laboratory investigates how human cells put receptors in the right place, research important to understanding diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, neurological disorders, and stroke. Specifically, Pfeffer research focuses on the Golgi complex, a processing station for all proteins secreted by cells. In addition, her lab studies the NPC1 protein, key to cholesterol regulation in lysosomes. Pfeffer also currently serves as president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

For further details on the Scripps Florida SRF Distinguished Lecturer series, contact program chair Xin (Cindy) Qi, senior staff scientist in the Kodadek lab.



Scripps California Places First in Alternative Commuting Challenge

The Scripps California has captured top honors in the 2011 Rideshare Challenge, a month-long iCommute corporate program to promote work-commute alternatives to driving alone. The win follows the institute’s first-place finish in the iCommute Bike-to-Work Challenge in May.

Thirty-eight San Diego county companies and agencies participated in the Rideshare Corporate Challenge, representing more than 78,000 employees. The Scripps Research effort, sponsored by Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI), the Green Team, and the Human Resources Department, won in the Macro Company category. Participants tracked their alternative work commutes—any combination of carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking, using public transit, or teleworking—on the iCommute website throughout October. According to iCommute, the institute’s Rideshare statistics included:

  • 1,406 eligible alternative commute trips logged on iCommute’s TripTracker
  • 14,817 vehicle miles not traveled
  • 439 gallons of gasoline not used
  • 9,330 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions avoided

“I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Rideshare Challenge here at Scripps Research this October,” said Jamal Malik, graduate student in the Fokin lab and SSI leader. “Winning both the Bike-to-Work Month and Rideshare Challenge in our categories has established us as an institution that values our community as well as our exemplary science. I hope we continue to represent Scripps well in upcoming transit events.”

Pete Herold, vice-president of facility services and Green Team leader, added, “On behalf of the Green Team, I would like to thank all participants in the Rideshare and Bike-to-Work challenges for their efforts towards reducing Scripps Research’s carbon footprint.”



Director of EH&S Recommends ‘Safety First’

Carolyn Keierleber, director of the Scripps Research Environmental Health and Safety Department, recommends a recent article in UCLA Magazine, “Safety First,” about a laboratory accident in which a worker was fatally injured in a chemical accident while not wearing a lab coat.

“The incident has galvanized university administrators around the world to strengthen their safety programs and has encouraged EH&S departments, including our own, to improve training and education about the appropriate protective equipment for laboratory work and about chemical safety issues,” said Keierleber. “At Scripps Research, I am proud to say that our chemists are quite diligent about wearing their fire retardant lab coats and other protective equipment, due in part to the support from the chemistry faculty and department chair.”



CA Campus SOF Elects New Officers

The California campus Society of Fellows (SOF) has elected its 2011-2012 executive committee. New officers include:

  • President – Jack Scatizzi, research associate in the Kono lab
  • Vice-President – Sheena Saayman, research associate in the Morris lab
  • Treasurer – Sanja Arandjelovic, research associate in the Mowen lab
  • Career Development Co-Chairs – Lin-Chien Huang, research associate in the Cline lab, and Brian Yeagy, research associate in the Cherqui lab.
  • Distinguished Lecture Series Chair – Yi Ting Koh, research associate in the Kono lab
  • Vendor Show Co-Chairs – Mike Matrone, research associate in the Vogt lab, and Devin Sok, graduate student in the Burton lab
  • Website Manager – Gareth Morgan, research associate in the Kelly lab

For information about SOF activities, including meetings, seminars, social events, and 5@5 Happy Hour events, visit the group’s website.



Meet the Alumni: Jovana Grbić, Creative Director, ScriptPhD.com

Scripps Research slumna Jovana J. Grbić has created a career building a communications bridge between science and technology and the entertainment, media, and pop culture communities. She will describe that career journey in the next Meet the Alumni presentation, scheduled for Tuesday, December 6, from 4 to 5 PM in the Faculty Club on the California campus.

A graduate of Northwestern University with a B.A. in physical chemistry, Grbić arrived at Scripps Research to earn a Ph.D. in biological chemistry, studying in the Schultz lab where she used functional genomics tools to address cellular biology diseases. Simultaneously, she pursued a research internship in science and technology policy at the University of California, San Diego. Grbić also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Grbić founded ScriptPhD.com in 2009,a consulting company and blog that, she describes, “seeks to entertain and educate an audience hungry for sophisticated mainstream science content… an online interface for the scientific, entertainment and media communities—a place to gain insight into each other’s worlds while interacting on an accessible platform.”

Each Meet the Alumni event features a different guest speaker from the growing Scripps Research network. Attendees can get to know the alumni in a casual setting to learn about specific career options and seek career transition advice, according to Ryan Wheeler, manager the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, which sponsors the series.

Reservations are required and can be made through the Career and Postdoctoral Services website.



News&Views Celebrates Turkey Day

News&Views will take a Thanksgiving holiday break next week. Regular weekly publication will resume Monday, December 5.

 

 

 

 






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