Tom Kodadek Named Cancer Biology Chair

Professor Tom Kodadek has been named chair of the Department of Cancer Biology, in addition to his continuing responsibilities as vice-chair of the Department of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), Florida campus.

"John Cleveland built a terrific department as the founding chair of the Department of Cancer Biology,” said Kodadek. “I am honored to serve the faculty in this position until a permanent chair is recruited.”

Erica Ollmann Saphire Receives Young Investigator Award

TSRI Professor Erica Ollmann Saphire has won the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s (ASBMB) 2015 Young Investigator Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to biochemistry and molecular biology by a researcher with no more than 15 years’ experience after earning a PhD.

Saphire will receive her award and present a lecture at the ASBMB Annual Meeting next spring in Boston. Established in 1906 and currently serving 12,000 members worldwide, the ASBMB seeks to advance the science of biochemistry and molecular biology through publications, meetings, advocacy for research funding and education and promotion of scientific workforce diversity.

Saphire and her lab members study viruses with compact genomes, with particular interest in viral hemorrhagic fevers, such as the Ebola and Lassa viruses. Their findings have provided insights into how viruses assault human health and inform potential therapeutic strategies. For further information on Saphire’s research, see her lab website or the News&Views article, Outsmarting Viruses, A Profile of Erica Ollmann Saphire.

Hollis Cline Elected President of Society for Neuroscience

Hollis Cline, Hahn Professor of Neuroscience and member of the Dorris Neuroscience Center, has been voted president-elect of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), an international, 40,000-member organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system.

Cline will begin her term as president at the SfN annual meeting, Neuroscience 2014, to be held in Washington, DC in November. She has served in several SfN leadership positions, including secretary and chair of the Committee on Committees.

Cline’s research focuses on the mechanisms by which sensory experience affects the development of brain structures and function.

Advisory Committee Membership Updated

The list of trustees, administration and faculty members of the advisory committee recently announced by Chairman of the TSRI Board Richard Gephardt has been updated. Membership is now as follows:

TRUSTEES
Dick Gephardt, Chair of the Board and the Committee
Marshall Criser
Dick Elkus
Marjorie Fink
Tom Insley
Bill Molloie
Lynn Schenk
Horacio Valeiras

ADMINISTRATION
Michael Marletta
Scott Forrest
Donna Weston

FACULTY
Dennis Burton
Velia Fowler
Jerry Joyce
Tom Kodadek
William Roush
Erica Ollmann Saphire
Jim Paulson
Ian Wilson

According to Gephardt, “The Board of Trustees of The Scripps Research Institute and Faculty Members of the Institute agree that it is important for all key stakeholders of Scripps to analyze and discuss the strategic future we want for Scripps, and to regularly review a broad range of thoughtful alternatives to ensure we choose the best path forward for this storied institution… [The committee will] facilitate our ongoing holistic review of all possible opportunities.”

Carlos Barbas III Memorial Symposium: August 15

A memorial symposium honoring Carlos Barbas III, the late TSRI Professor in Chemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology and Integrative Structural & Computational Biology, Janet and Keith Kellogg II Chair in Molecular Biology and member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, will be held Friday, August 15, from 1 to 5 PM, at The Auditorium at TSRI on the Scripps California campus, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, San Diego.

The symposium will celebrate Barbas’s accomplishments as a gifted scientist, mentor and colleague. TSRI Professors Phil Baran and Dale Boger will provide an introduction and a remembrance. Other TSRI speakers will include Richard Lerner, Institute Professor and Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Immunochemistry; Chi-Huey Wong, the Ernest W. Hahn Professor of Chemistry; and Christoph Rader, associate professor in the Department of Cancer Biology.

Also on the program will be former Barbas lab postdoctoral fellows Doron Shabat, professor of chemistry at Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and David Segal, associate director of genomics at the University of California, Davis, Genome Center and associate professor in the university’s MIND Institute.

Barbas, who passed away on June 24 after battling a rare form of medullary thyroid cancer, worked at the intersection of biology and chemistry to tackle broad-ranging biomedical questions and lay the foundation for new therapies. (See In Memoriam, http://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/e_20140630/barbas.html).

A reception will follow the symposium in the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Building first-floor galleria. For further information, contact Taylor Cohen at taycoh@scripps.edu or x4-7370 or Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn at mshinn@scripps.edu or x4-2738.

Send Your Experiments to the Space Station

A presentation explaining how to send scientific experiments, free of charge, to the International Space Station (ISS) National Lab will be held Wednesday, July 16, from 1:30 to 3:30 PM, in the Beckman building’s Keck Auditorium on the Scripps California campus.

Scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) will outline possible space station projects and, during the session’s second hour, brainstorm with TSRI researchers on tailoring individual experiments to the space station environment. Descriptions of other free services offered by CASIS, the nonprofit responsible for managing the ISS National Lab, also will be provided. The average cost of conducting a single experiment in space is $7.4 million; CASIS provides this service for selected U.S. research projects without charge.

NASA and CASIS have been working with pharmaceutical and biotech organizations to create projects that exploit the microgravity, vacuum, temperature extreme and radiation conditions that exist on the ISS. Experiments with the biggest benefit from these conditions are focused on aging, osteoporosis, muscle wasting, cell biology, fluids and flows, protein crystallization, virulence and immune response.

UCSD Crystallography Services Now Open to TSRI Labs

Scripps California researchers can now take advantage of unlimited access to the University of California (UC), San Diego’s Crystallography Facility at no cost to the labs.

Under an arrangement based on a model first negotiated by Professor Phil Baran, TSRI will pay UC San Diego an annual fee for an unlimited number of small molecule structure determinations. TSRI lab eligibility for the service is confirmed at the request stage. Orders must include email addresses of the requestor and PI for receipt of a monthly usage report.

“Our thanks to Scot Huddle in Procurement for negotiating the pricing, Emily Holmes for her establishment and organization of the core program and Peter Vogt for supporting the program,” said Dale Boger, chair of the TSRI Department of Chemistry, in announcing the arrangement.

Interested researchers can contact Boger or Baran lab members for additional details on arranging the service.

TSRI Co-Hosts Graduate Career Consortium

The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the University of California at San Diego and Irvine recently hosted the 26^th annual meeting of the Graduate Career Consortium (GCC), a national organization of research institution career and professional development officers.

Sally Rockey, deputy director for extramural research at the National Institutes of Health, was a featured speaker at the meeting, presenting findings and implementations of the agency’s influential 2012 Biomedical Research Workforce Initiative.

Drawing more than 100 participants, the three-day GCC conference covered a variety of topics, including career counseling strategies, job search issues for international scholars and PhD career outcome data collection and reporting, according to Ryan Wheeler, director of TSRI’s Career and Postdoctoral Services Office.

A session featuring speakers from Harvard and MIT highlighted the rapidly growing field of data science and related career options for PhD scholars. Conference attendees also shared innovative career services programs, including LinkedIn workshops, collaborations among alumni relations offices and effective methods to promote Individual Development Plans.

Sally Rockey, NIH deputy director for extramural research, provided career advice to a group of TSRI postdoctoral fellows and graduates students, including (left to right) Christopher Thompson, Jie Zhu, Lin-Chien Huang, Robyn Leary, Rockey, Elena Federzoni, Anne Kornahrens, John Tat and Kathleen Fisch. (Photo by Cindy Brauer.)

Career Workshops: Interview Skills, LinkedIn Photos, Planning the Next Step

A variety of career workshops and resources, sponsored by the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, is available to California postdoctoral fellows and graduate students during July.

Interviewing for Industry Jobs
The last of three workshops on science industry careers will be held Tuesday, July 15, from 2 to 3 PM in the Committee Lecture Hall in the Skaggs/MMB building. Barbara Preston, an executive recruiter specializing in chemists and biologists with advanced degrees, will conduct the session, covering interview hurdles such as phone screens, multiple interviews at a single company and the scientific seminar. RSVP is required.

LinkedIn Photo Day
To help enhance LinkedIn profiles, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students can have their personal photos professionally taken Thursday, July 17, from 10 AM to noon, in the Graduate Office, 3377 building, suite 300. Business-like attire (shirt or blouse) is recommended. RSVP is required.

Individual Development Plans
A three-hour workshop offering guidance in setting an Individual Development Plan (IDP), a valuable career tool, is scheduled for Friday, July 18, 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM, in the Human Resources training room, 3377 building, suite 205. Participants will use personalized Myers-Briggs career reports, online myIDP resources, goal-setting exercises and feedback from faculty, peers, and career advisors to determine next-step career plans. Registration is required. For additional information on IDP activities, visit the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office website.

Meet the Alumni: Matt Cross of Allegan
Matt Cross, associate medical scientific manager at Allergan, will share his career experiences during the next Meet the Alumni gathering, to be held Tuesday, July 22, from 4 to 5 PM in the Faculty Club Library. An American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Boger lab from 2012 to 2013, Cross was a member of the TSRI Society of Fellows executive committee. Cross holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of South Florida.

Set in a relaxed environment, Meet the Alumni events feature discussions with guest speakers from the growing TSRI network. RSVP is required.

10 Tips: Coping with Grief and Loss

The Counseling and Psychological Services Office has provided a “10 Tips” resource for coping with grief and loss. Authored by Daphne Lurie, director of the Counseling and Psychological Services Office, the 10 Tips include being patient in responding to loss, learning about the grieving process, creatively expressing feelings of loss and seeking the support of others.

The 10 Tips resource is available on the TSRI counseling services website.

SF-SRF to Host Beach Barbeque

Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows (SF-SRF) will host its next social event, a summer beach barbeque for members, graduate students and their families, on Saturday, July 26, 1 PM, at Carlin Park in Jupiter.

“The SRF will grill the meat, and we are asking everyone to bring their own beverages and a side dish or dessert to share,” said event coordinator Cullen Schmid, research associate in the Bohn lab.

Entrance to Carlin Park is at 400 S. S.R. A1A. Information on other SF-SRF activities and resources is available on the group’s website.

CA ScrippsAssists Annual Backpack Drive Now Under Way

The ScrippsAssists annual Back-to-School Backpack Drive—held with community partner Home Start—is under way now through Friday, August 1. Scripps California faculty and staff are encouraged to donate new, unused backpacks and essential school supplies, such as notebooks, pencils, pens, rulers, erasers, etc., for children in at-risk San Diego families struggling to make ends meet.

ScrippsAssists will fill donated backpacks with donated supplies to complete a backpack kit. A filled backpack kit can cost $30 to $35. A list of needed items is available under the backpack project description on the group’s website. Cash or gift card donations are also accepted.

Donated items can be dropped off at three campus locations: Human Resources front desk; lab 526, office 522 in the Beckman building; or Science Park 3030, North Lobby (box next to elevator). For additional information, contact project lead Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn at x4-2738 or mshinn@scripps.edu.

Onsite Clinic Scheduled for July 16 on CA Campus

The next onsite immunization clinic on the California campus will be held Wednesday, July 16, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM, in building 3366, room 150. Appointments are not needed.

Conducted by Sharp Rees-Stealy staff, the clinic will provide hepatitis B vaccination free of charge to all TSRI employees. Environmental Health & Safety Occupational Medicine must pre-authorize all other procedures based on the employee's working conditions. These procedures include tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) vaccines and other titers, immunizations and procedures.

CA Biosafety Committee Meeting Materials Due

The TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee is scheduled to meet on August 13, from 3:30 to 4:30 PM, in the DAR Conference Room. To receive committee consideration, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety via email to rachellv@scripps.edu by August 1.

At the Auditorium: Summer Festival Piano Concerts

The Athenaeum Music and Arts Library’s four-concert Summer Festival with pianist Gustavo Romero continues on Sundays, July 20 and 27, at 4 PM. A San Diego native, Romero graduated from the Julliard School of Music and was the 1989 winner of the prestigious Clara Haskil Piano Competition. Romero will perform piano sonatas by Beethoven including “Moonlight” and “Appassionata” on July 20 and “Pathétique” on July 27. Additional program and ticket information is available on the library’s website.

The Auditorium at TSRI is located at 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, San Diego, 92121. Directions and parking information are located on the auditorium’s website.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

• CONNECT
  • Scientific Events
  • Press Room
  • Procurement
  • Accounts Payable
  • ScrippsAssists
  • CA - Auditorium at TSRI
  • CA - Gluck Child Care
  • Contact Us

• VISIT
  • CA Campus:
  • • Maps & Directions
  • • Parking
  • FL Campus:
  • • Maps & Directions
  • • Parking

• RESEARCH
  • Faculty Directory
  • Scientific Departments
  • Faculty Interests
  • Cores & Shared Services
  • Technology Development
  • FCOI Compliance
  • TSRI’s Anti-Bribery Policy

• LEARN
  • Career Services
  • Community Outreach
  • Alumni
  • Society of Fellows
  • Society of
    Research Fellows

• WORK
  • Careers
  • CA - Outlook Web Access
  • FL - Outlook Web Access
  • International Office
  • Counseling Services
  • Anonymous Reporting

• CHALLENGE
  • Cancer
  • Diabetes and Obesity
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Deafness
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Addiction
  • Mental Illness

• 
  • Heart Disease
  • Alzheimer's Disease
  • Blindness
  • Arthritis
  • Cystic Fibrosis
  • More >>