In Brief

Friedlander, Han Promoted to Full Professor
Two senior faculty promotions were announced at a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Martin Friedlander was promoted to full professor in the Department of Cell Biology. Friedlander (A.B., Bowdoin College; Ph.D., The University of Chicago; M.D., S.U.N.Y.-Downstate Medical Center) has been a member of Scripps Research since 1993. His laboratory is interested in understanding the underlying mechanisms of angiogenesis (the proliferation of new blood vessels) in the eye and the abnormalities in this process that lead to retinal vascular disease, a leading cause of blindness.

Jiahuai Han was promoted to full professor in the Department of Immunology. Han (B.S., M.S., Beijing University; Ph.D., University of Brussels, Belgium) joined Scripps Research in 1992. His research focuses on the p38 MAP kinase signal transduction pathway, which plays an important role in inflammation, cardiovascular dysfunction, and renal disease.

Bloom to Retire as Scripps Research Department Chair
Floyd E. Bloom has announced his retirement as chairman of the Scripps Research Department of Neuropharmacology. Bloom will be named professor emeritus at Scripps Research and intends to devote substantial efforts to the work of Neurome, Inc., the La Jolla-based biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of solutions for human neurodegenerative diseases, which he co-founded in 2000.

Bloom is the immediate past editor-in-chief of Science, the world's premier journal of scientific thought and discovery, and served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from 2002 to 2003 and as chairman of the Board of Directors from 2003 to 2004. A professor at Scripps Research since 1983, Bloom has served as chair of the Department of Neuropharmacology from 1989 to 2000 and again from 2002 to the present. A member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1977, Bloom is the recipient of numerous prizes for his contributions to science, including the Janssen Award in the Basic Sciences and the Pasarow Award in Neuropsychiatry. He has also been named a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and a member of the Institute of Medicine. Bloom's more than 600 publications include the seminal work: The Biochemical Basis of Neuropharmacology.

Wanted: Career Fair Volunteers
The Scripps Research Human Resources Department is calling for volunteers to help with the institute’s Career Fair on Wednesday, May 25 from 10 AM to 2 PM. Volunteers are needed to give lab tours for 10 to 15 people or to sit at a table in the Beckman Galleria and talk to job seekers about working at Scripps Research. An informal meeting for volunteers will be held prior to the event to distribute name tags and other details. Pizza will be served.

To volunteer, please respond to Khanh Nguyen at x4-8662, or email knguyen@scripps.edu. Please indicate whether you would like to lead a lab tour or sit at a table and your time preference. Tours leave every half hour between 10:30 AM and 1:30 PM, and volunteers are needed at the table every hour between 10 AM and 2 PM.

New English-as-a-Second-Language Classes Begin
A new series of English-as-a-Second-Language classes will begin on Tuesday, March 1. Instructor Cassandra Wadkin's class meets from 6:30 to 8:30 PM every Tuesday evening 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 and your understanding of your friends and colleagues, movies, television shows, and the news, this class is for you. The class uses movies, games, television shows, grammar books, songs, drawing and novels to teach standard American English. Have fun and learn English at the same time!

For more information, please leave a message at x4-2176.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

Martin Friedlander, professor.

Jiahuai Han, professor.