Etcetera

Luke Wiseman and William Ja Receive Ellison Medical Award
Luke Wiseman, Arlene and Arnold Goldstein Assistant Professor on the California campus of The Scripps Research Institute, and William Ja, assistant professor on the institute's Florida campus, have received 2011 Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Biology Awards.

According to the foundation, the New Scholar program aims to provide support for newly independent investigators beginning in the first three years after their postdoctoral training. "These awards contribute to a safety net that allows bright young scientists to staff their laboratories, collect preliminary data, and organize research programs of sufficient momentum to obtain ongoing support from other sources," according to the organization's announcement.

With the new award, Wiseman will study the basic mechanisms that link mitochondrial protein homeostasis to organismal aging. He hopes this research will reveal specific targets whose activity can be further explored, and, potentially, therapeutically manipulated to attenuate aging-related human diseases.

Ja's award will fund research on identifying genes that protect an organism from the toxic effects of high-nutrient diets. These genes and their pathways should represent potential therapeutic targets for countering metabolic disease and obesity.

German-Themed SOF Happy Hour Raises Funds for Cancer Research
The lure of German bratwurst, beer, and homemade potato salad, sauerkraut, and desserts enticed 125 members of the Scripps California community to the recent Society of Fellows (SOF) special Happy Hour to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Light the Night Walk.

More than $1,600 was collected to benefit LLS cancer research and patient support programs.

"LLS supports several researchers/groups here at Scripps Research conducting research for better treatments of blood cancers," noted Amanda Buchau MacLeod, research associate in the Havran lab and SOF vice president.

Organizing the event were: MacLeod; SOF volunteers; Professor Wendy Havran, team captain of the Mission Researchers' LLS team and a former LLS scholar; and Associate Professor Karsten Sauer, current LLS scholar. In addition, Luise Sternberg, graduate student in Sauer's lab, grilled 150 "brats," said MacLeod. Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery donated the supply of beer for the event. Organizers also thank Bisher Meats of Poway for supporting the fundraiser through a discount on the locally produced bratwursts, said MacLeod.

Online donations are still being accepted to support the SOF-sponsored LLS fundraiser.

Assistant Professors Luke Wiseman (left) and William Ja were both winners of New Scholar in Aging Biology Awards from the Ellison Medical Foundation.