In Brief

6th Annual CELLebrate Science Day to Highlight Scripps Florida Research

From exploding hydrogen bubbles to 3D robots, The Scripps Research Institute’s (TSRI) 6^th Annual CELLebrate Science Day will introduce the local Palm Beach County community to the Scripps Florida's biomedical research. Open to the public, the science festival will be held Saturday, January 31, 10 AM to 3 PM, at the Gardens Mall, lower level, in Palm Beach Gardens.

The event aims to make science relevant and fun through a variety of hands-on activities, special presentations and displays booths for children and adults. Visitors will meet some of Scripps Florida’s world-class scientists, who are working to understand the basic biology of disease and to discover potential therapies for such diseases as cancer, diabetes, autism, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Booths at CELLebrate Science 2015 will include interactive chemistry and biology demonstrations, a full-size “puzzle” model of the human brain, views of the “invisible” world through microscopes and large-scale models of friendly and not-so-friendly viruses and bacteria. New this year will be a look at 3D printing and its increasingly common use in biomedical research.

Additional information is available on the CELLebrate Scripps Florida Science website.

Scripps Florida Research Fellows Select New Executive Committee

The Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows (SF-SRF) has selected a new executive committee, headed by President Darci Trader, research associate in the Kodadek lab. Other new executive committee members, all research fellows, are:

Vice president, treasurer and secretary – Cullen Schmid of the Bohn lab.
Communications officer and website manager – Kimberly Lovell of the Bohn lab.
Career development committee chair – Briana Weiser of the Tellinghuisen lab.
Distinguished Lecture Series chair – Nicolette Ross of the Bohn lab.
Vendor Show chair – Sherri Briggs of the Miller lab
Scientific Symposium chair – Stephanie Sillivan of the Miller lab.
Events/Activities co-chairs – Jenny Morgenweck of the Bohn lab and Christelle Doebelin of TRI Medicinal Chemistry.

Career opportunities are an important focus for the new group. “With an ever increasing competitive job market, one main goal for the SRF this year is to provide resources to Scripps postdocs that will aid in the pursuit of their next careers,” said Trader. SRF career resources include a Career Symposium, (sponsored in conjunction with the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and TSRI’s Career and Postdoc Services) and a new postdoc-to-postdoc grant writing/review club.

The group sponsors Research Fest, the Distinguished Lecture series, the SRF-Faculty Lecture series, annual travel grants and social events including monthly happy hours and an annual International Party.

SF-SRF meetings are held the third Thursday of every month at noon; a pizza lunch is provided. Additional information on the group’s activities and resources is available on the SF-SRF website.

Scripps California: Prepare for I-5/Genesee Construction

Rush-hour traffic around Scripps California promises to become more challenging as Caltrans expects to begin construction of the I-5 freeway/Genesee Avenue Interchange Project in February.

Planned in five stages over the next three years, the $105.2-million project’s key features include:

Widening and lengthening the Genesee/I-5 bridge from six lanes to 10 lanes: three through-traffic lanes and two dedicated I-5 on-ramp lanes for north and south.
Improving east-west traffic flow on Genesee Ave.
Constructing a separate bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing. On the west side, the overcrossing will connect the Sorrento Valley train station and the University of California, San Diego. Cyclists will be able travel separated from vehicles in both directions from Roselle Street to Voigt Drive.

A public workshop to present project details and to address questions and concerns will be held Wednesday, January 21, from 5 to 6:30 PM, at La Jolla Country Day School, 9490 Genesee Avenue, La Jolla, CA 92037.

During construction, Caltrans says commuters on Genesee Ave. can expect regular, but slower, traffic operations (east-west, off/on ramps), lane closures occurring primarily at night and bike access maintained on the I-5 shoulder. Access to nearby hospitals also will be maintained throughout construction.

“When finished, the construction will make a big improvement to traveling on and off the mesa; during construction, however, it will require patience,” said Pete Herold, TSRI vice president of facilities.

Complete details on the entire project are described in a Caltrans publication. To receive email construction updates, sign up on the Transnet website.

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The three-year I-5/Genesee interchange improvement project will widen the Genesee bridge to 10 lanes and construct a bicycle/pedestrian overcrossing west of the bridge. (Simulation courtesy of Caltrans.)

NWiS Event to Honor Female Faculty

The Scripps California Network for Women in Science (NWiS) will toast female faculty members at a special Happy Hour, Thursday, January 29, 4 PM in the Faculty Club tennis room. Food and beverages will be served; a drawing for raffle prizes will also be held.

The event is open to all faculty, students and staff. For additional information, contact NWiS president Danielle Grotjahn, graduate student in the Encalada and Lander labs, at grotjahn@scripps.edu. NWiS works to promote, support, guide and provide opportunities for female scientists at TSRI. Details on other NWiS activities and resources are available on the group’s website or Facebook page.

New English-as-a-Second-Language Class to Begin

A new English-as-a-Second-Language class will begin Tuesday, January 20. This class, taught by instructor Cassandra Wadkins, will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 PM every Tuesday in the Immunology Building West Conference Room. The price for three months (12 classes) is $60. Each intermediate-level English class is divided into speaking and listening, idioms and vocabulary, and reading and writing. If you would like to improve your English communications skills and your understanding of friends and colleagues, movies, television shows and the news, this class is for you. The instructor uses movies, games, television programs, grammar books, songs, drawing and novels to teach standard American English. Have fun and learn English at the same time. For more information, leave a message at x4-2176.

Spring 2015 English Language Clinic Offered

A new 11-week session of the American English Pronunciation and Communication Clinic will begin February 2 on the Scripps California campus. The clinic is a joint program of TSRI Career and Postdoctoral Services and California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM).

Under direct supervision of university faculty, CSUSM graduate students in the Masters in Education, Communicative Sciences and Disorders program will provide speech language services to TSRI graduate students and research associates.

The clinic provides one-on-one help to improve American English oral and written communications skills. Individual goals will be developed for clinic participants focusing on:

Acquisition of an American accent.
Remediation of existing speech errors (e.g., lisp, stuttering).
Public speaking and presentations.
Social conversation skills.
Executive-function strategies for planning, organizing and producing written text.
Public presentation of written materials.

Sessions will be offered in early afternoon time slots on the following dates:

February 2, 9, 23.
March 2, 9, 16, 23.
April 6, 13, 20, 27.

To schedule an appointment, contact CSUSM’s Marianne Miller at mamiller@csusm.edu. Sessions are provided on a first-come, first-served basis, with preference to wait-listed and new clients.

CA Biosafety Committee Meeting Materials Due January 28

The TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, February 11, from 3:30 to 4:30 PM, in Building 3301, P2 conference room. To receive committee consideration, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety via email to rachellv@scripps.edu by Wednesday, January 28.

At the Auditorium: Chopin and Debussy

The La Jolla Music Society (LJMS) opens its 46^th Discovery Series season with pianist Jiayan Sun, first-prize winner at the 2010 Toronto International Piano Competition, on Sunday, January 25, 3 PM. Sun will perform works by Chopin—Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Opus 45 and 24 Preludes, Opus 28—and Debussy—12 Preludes and Book II. The San Diego Youth Symphony will perform a musical prelude at 2 PM. Additional program details and ticket information are available on the LJMS website.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

Students Savor Science Saturday
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Some 250 high school and junior high students recently attended the second Science Saturday event at Scripps California. Following a presentation by TSRI Associate Professor Ryan Shenvi, the visiting students, including two boys from Lighthouse Christian Academy (above) donned lab coats and safety glasses to observe lab demos. (Photo by Amy Arita.)

Architects Revisit ‘Masterpiece’
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When the Hazen campus buildings at Scripps California were completed in 1995, they were lauded by architecture critics as “magnificent.” Above, Tod Williams (left) and Billie Tsien, architects of the award-winning project, recently revisited the complex, delighted by how its distinctive design has stood the test of time. (Photo by Cindy Brauer.)

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