Snapshot:
Michael Arends

Title: Senior Research Assistant

Laboratory: Professor George Koob's lab, Department of Neuropharmacology, La Jolla campus.

Duties: Developing and maintaining several scientific and administrative databases; assisting with all grant submissions; preparing research findings for publication (including literature searches, reference verification, editing of text for scientific accuracy, and organization of references, figures, and tables); and managing the numerous articles, chapters, and reviews going in and out of Koob's office.

"I manage paper flow so the researchers can focus on their studies," says Arends. "Once the researchers have a story to tell, I help them tell it."

Started at Scripps Research: 1995

Background: A San Diego native, who also spent time on the East Coast. Graduated with a B.S. in psychology from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Before working for Koob, he participated in the Research 199 Program at UCSD, which provides undergraduates with training in the biological and biomedical sciences. "I started cleaning up the disarray in the lab—and I've been cleaning up ever since."

Favorite Part of Job: "Getting the big projects accomplished—R01 grants, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism research centers, a 1,000-page textbook being published this fall... It's satisfying when it's done and all the long hours have paid off." Arends' efforts have been acknowledged in nearly 200 scientific articles, book chapters, and monographs.

Extracurricular Activities: An annual trip to Minnesota, where he fishes for bass. Reading "Money," "Car and Driver," and novels by authors such as Tom Clancy. Continuing a family tradition of decoupage projects, a craft involving piecing together postage stamps and lacquering the finished product. He'll be selling some of his boxes at the Spring Craft Fair on Thursday, May 12, from 11 AM to 2 PM in front of the Immunology Building.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu