Etcetera

Kristin Baldwin Wins Prestigious Pew Scholarship
Scripps Research Institute Assistant Professor Kristin Baldwin has been named one of 20 2007 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences. As a Pew Scholar, Baldwin will receive a four-year award from the Pew Charitable Trusts through a grant to University of California at San Francisco (UCSF).

"The Pew Scholars are among America's finest biomedical research entrepreneurs," said Rebecca W. Rimel, president and chief executive officer of The Pew Charitable Trusts. "They seek out and mine unexpected leads in a quest for knowledge that may one day lead to new medical treatments and save lives. Pew is honored to invest in these great minds, and to provide financial and professional support as they pursue their pioneering breakthroughs."

The award, noted for its flexibility, is designed to enable early-to-mid-career scientists to take calculated risks, expand their research, and follow unanticipated leads. Baldwin will try to clone mice from neurons taken from the cerebral cortex or cerebellum areas of the brain. Her work could provide important new insights into both neuronal development and the science of cloning, which has great therapeutic potential. For more information, visit www.pewtrusts.org.

Leonardo Karam Teixeira Named Pew Latin American Fellow
Leonardo Karam Teixeira, a research associate from Brazil to begin in the Reed lab at Scripps Research in July, has been named a 2007 Pew Latin American Fellow in the Biomedical Sciences.

The fellowship program, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts through a grant to UCSF, offers talented young Latin American scientists two-year fellowships to obtain cutting-edge postdoctoral research training in a leading U.S. research laboratory, followed by support to set up a laboratory in the scientist's home country upon completion of his or her training. The program aims to help develop a cadre of highly trained Latin American scientists who could stimulate and contribute to the growth of quality biomedical science and foster collaboration between scientists in Latin America and the United States.

George Nicola Receives American Cancer Society Fellowship
Research Associate George Nicola of the Scripps Research Abagyan lab has received a three-year Research Scholar Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the American Cancer Society, a nationwide, community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. Nicola's project is titled "EphB4 as a Putative Cancer Target for Small Molecule Modulation."

Jack Beierle Awarded NASA Funding
Jack Beierle, a Scripps Research Kellogg School of Science and Technology student in the Ghadiri lab, has won a Planetary Science award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). "Competition was intense, so being selected is a real mark of distinction," writes James Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, in the award letter. Beierle's project is entitled "Potentially Prebiotic Peptide Based Oligomers for Dynamic Recognition of DNA and RNA."

Landon Whitby Selected for Andrea Elizabeth Vogt Memorial Award
Landon Whitby, a Scripps Research Kellogg School of Science and Technology student in the Boger lab, has been selected to receive the 2007/2008 Andrea Elizabeth Vogt Memorial Award. This award, administered by the Kellogg School, is made possible by the generosity of Scripps Research Professor Peter K. Vogt. Whitby's research focuses on the design and synthesis of combinatorial screening libraries of peptidomimetic compounds.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

Richard Lerner Receives Honorary Degree from Oxford

Richard A. Lerner, president of The Scripps Research Institute, was recognized with an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Oxford for his innovative work as a chemist. Here, he signs his name in the Honorary Degree Book as part of the ceremony June 20. Photo by Rob Judges.