In Brief

Faculty Promotions: Lisa Stowers, Anton Maximov

As announced at a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), institute faculty members Lisa Stowers and Anton Maximov have received promotions.

Stowers is now professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. Her lab studies how cues in the environment are detected and transformed into electrical activity in the brain to generate behavior; her work is determining the rules that generate the information coding of neuronal networks. For more information, see the Stowers lab website.

Maximov has been promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. The Maximov lab combines genetic, biochemical, optical and electrophysiological methods to study synapse development and function in the central nervous system, leading to a better understanding of factors implicated in a broad spectrum of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, autism spectrum disorders, biopolar disorder and schizophrenia. Additional information is available on the Maximov lab website.

Courtney Miller Honored at White House

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TSRI Associate Professor Courtney Miller (front row, second from right) poses in the East Room of the White House with fellow recipients of the 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), selected for innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and commitment to community service. President Barack Obama (second row, center) congratulated the winners, who recently spent two days in Washington, D.C., meeting with the administration and sharing insights into their work. (Official White House photo by Lawrence Jackson.)

Raymond Pauszek Receives NIH Research Award

Raymond Pauszek, postdoctoral fellow in the Millar lab, has received a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a fellowship supporting promising postdoctoral candidates who have the potential to become productive, independent investigators in scientific health-related research fields.

Pauszek’s research, titled “Single-molecule conformational dynamics of DNA polymerase,” studies the coordination of multiple spatially separated functional domains of polymerase to gain a detailed molecular description of the replication process and an understanding of why this process sometimes fails, leading to mutations and diseases such as cancer.

CA Meet the Alumni: Matt Wheeler, Patent Agent

Matt Wheeler, patent agent at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, is the featured guest at the next Scripps California Meet the Alumni event, scheduled for Wednesday, June 8, from 4 to 5 PM.

Wheeler was a postdoctoral fellow in the Balch lab, then staff scientist, (2006-2014) at TSRI before joining Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a legal advisor to technology, life sciences, and other growth enterprises. He is also working on a JD in intellectual property law at the University of San Diego School of Law.

Sponsored by the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, Meet the Alumni events feature guest speakers from the growing TSRI network of alumni, presented in a relaxed, informal setting. Speakers discuss career-influencing decisions and options, offering advice on career transitions. Reservations are required.

FL Academic Career Roundtables: NIH Awards, Undergraduate Institutions

Two academic career roundtables will be held for Scripps Florida postdoctoral fellows and graduate students in June.

Thursday, June 9: K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award

Three TSRI recipients of the NIH Pathway to Independence Award—Assistant Professor Seth Tomchik, Senior Research Associate Aditi Gurkar of the Niedernhofer lab and Research Associate Stephanie Sillivan of the Miller lab—will discuss the award’s application, review process and implementation. The panel discussion will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 PM in room B159.

Friday, June 17: Applications to Teaching-Intensive, Primarily Undergraduate Institutes

Crystal Young-Erdos, assistant professor of biochemistry at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, will lead a discussion on developing successful applications to teaching-intensive, primarily undergraduate institutions from noon to 1 PM in room B252. Lunch will be provided; RSVP required.

Reservations for both roundtables, sponsored by TSRI’s Career and Postdoctoral Services, can be made on the department’s website.

Funding Fest: Fellowship Opportunities from Non-Federal Sources

The 2016 Funding Fest in San Diego concludes with three workshops in June on fellowship opportunities from non-federal sources. Open to postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, the workshops will be held from 1 to 2 PM in the TSRI Graduate Office, first floor, the Hazen Theory building.

Representatives from funding agencies will share their organization’s current funding priorities, grant/fellowship opportunities, grant review processes and grant-writing tips:

Tuesday, June 7: American Cancer Society
Thursday, June 16: Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America
Monday, June 20: National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Reservations are required. The Funding Fest is sponsored by the Torrey Pines Training Consortium, a collaboration of TSRI, the Salk Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and UC San Diego.

ScrippsAssists Volunteers to Support San Diego Burn Institute Expo

ScrippsAssists volunteer shifts are still available to help staff the San Diego Burn Institute’s 26^th annual Fire & Safety Expo and Firefighter Demolition Derby at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Saturday, June 4.

Three shifts are available: 9:30 AM to 2 PM, 1 to 6 PM and 10 AM to 6:30 PM (all day). Admission to the fair and parking passes will be provided. Comfortable clothing and shoes and sunscreen or a hat are recommended.

The expo includes “live” firefighting demonstrations, a fire- and burn-prevention pavilion, safety demos, firefighter obstacle course for the kids, live music and the popular demolition derby. To volunteer, contact ScrippsAssists Project Lead Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn at mshinn@scripps.edu.

CA Lunch & Learn: Happy, Healthy Relationships

Aspects of developing and maintaining strong, healthy relationships will be explored in the next Scripps California Lunch & Learn presentation, “The Art of the Dance: Balance and Connection in Intimate Relationships,” on Thursday, June 9, noon to 1 PM, in the Beckman building’s Keck amphitheater.

Daphne Lurie, director of TSRI’s Office of Counseling and Psychological Services, will conduct the seminar, which will cover key elements in healthy relationships and ways to maintain balance when partners are out of step.

For information on the resources offered by Counseling and Psychological Services, visit the department’s website.

FL Biosafety Meeting: June 7

The next meeting of the Scripps Florida Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) will be held on Tuesday, June 7, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM, in the Building B Founders room. RSVP required to Galina Judge, gjudge@scripps.edu.

CA Onsite Clinic: June 8

The next onsite immunization clinic on the California campus will be held Wednesday, June 8, from 9:30 to 11 AM, in the Hazen Theory building, rooms 203/205. 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 May 27

To receive consideration at the next TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety by Friday, May 27, via email to rachellv@scripps.edu. The meeting will be held Wednesday, June 8, 2:30 to 3:30 PM, in Building 3301, P2 conference room.

News&Views Observes Memorial Day

News&Views will not be published Monday, May 30, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. The publication will begin its summer biweekly publishing schedule with the June 6 issue.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

Lisa Stowers has been promoted to professor. (Photo by Michael Balderas.)

maximov
Anton Maximov has been awarded tenure. (Photo by BioMedical Graphics.)

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