Etcetera

Sergio Catz and Stephanie Cherqui Awarded Grants to Support Cystinosis Research
Scripps Research Institute Associate Professor Sergio Catz and Assistant Professor Stephanie Cherqui each have been awarded two-year grants by the Cystinosis Research Foundation (CRF) in pursuit of a cure for the rare, inherited deadly metabolic disease.

Catz received the award to support his research in small molecule regulators of vesicular trafficking to enhance lysosomal exocytosis in cystinosis. Cherqui's award supports research on the mechanism of bone marrow stem cell-mediated therapy in a mouse model of cystinosis.

The grants were part of more than $1 million in recent CRF awards for scientific studies on cystinosis in the United States and Belgium.

Kevin Walsh Receives American Society of Virology Travel Award
Kevin Walsh, research associate in the Oldstone lab, has been awarded an American Society for Virology travel grant to attend the 15th International Congress of Virology to be held September 11 to 16 in Sapporo, Japan.

Walsh will present his work conducted with fellow research associate John Teijaro on cytokine storm and influenza virus infection.

Luis Tuesta Awarded NIH Grant
Luis Tuesta, graduate student in the Kenny lab, has been awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award will fund a project titled "Neurobiological mechanisms of nicotine reinforcement: Role of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS)."

"The burden of disease and negative economic impact of tobacco addiction on society is considerable,” Tuesta said. “In fact, it has been projected that by 2020 tobacco-related disease will become the largest single health problem world-wide, resulting in approximately 8.4 million deaths annually. This project seeks to provide a better understanding of the fundamental neurobiology underlying nicotine addiction by looking into entirely novel neural circuitries. Results from these experiments may serve to develop more effective therapeutics for smoking cessation."

Three Florida Interns Win Travel Awards
Volunteer judges from Scripps Florida's Society of Research Fellows have selected the three summer undergraduate interns to receive travel awards from the Scripps Florida Education Outreach Undergraduate Internship Program. Winners will use the awards to present posters at a national scientific conference of the student and faculty advisor's choice.

First place went to Megan Novak, a senior at Furman University and intern in the Cancer Biology laboratory of Associate Professor Katrin Karbstein. Gage Brummer, a senior at Kansas State University, won second place for his work in the laboratory of Assistant Professor Brian Paegel. Third place went to Brown University sophomore Christine Chapman, a returning Kenan Fellow intern who also worked in the Paegel lab.

Receiving honorable mention for their posters were: Sany Hoxha, a senior at Florida Atlantic University and intern in the laboratory of Assistant Professor William Ja; Uday Ayyagari, a sophomore at Emory University and intern in the laboratory of Professor Tom Kodadek; and Katherine Nichole Holm, a senior at Eckerd College and intern in the laboratory of Professor Patrick Griffin.