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Dale Boger Wins Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry

Dale Boger, the Richard and Alice Cramer Professor of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute, has received the 2013 American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry.

Sponsored by Merck Research Laboratories, the award recognizes outstanding contributions in the chemistry, biochemistry, and biophysics of peptides.

The Boger lab’s research focuses on the total synthesis of biologically active natural products, development of new synthetic methods, heterocyclic chemistry, bioorganic and medicinal chemistry, combinatorial chemistry, the study of DNA-agent interactions, and the chemistry of antitumor antibiotics.

The award will be presented at a ceremony during 245th ACS national meeting in New Orleans next April.


David Gokhin Awarded Muscular Dystrophy Association Grant

David Gokhin, a senior research associate in the Fowler lab, has been awarded a development grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) for his project, "Structure, regulation, and function of gamma-actin in the sarcoplasmic reticulum."
 
MDA development grants are awarded to “exceptional postdoctoral candidates who have the best chance of becoming independent researchers and future leaders of neuromuscular disease research,” according to the award announcement.
 
Gokhin will study the role of a protein called gamma-actin in muscle degeneration and weakness in Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies.


Interns Wrap Up Summer of Science

This summer, laboratories on both the California and Florida campuses opened their doors to high school students, teachers, and undergraduates. These internships offered the students and teachers the opportunity to experience the dynamics of biomedical research, hone their critical thinking skills, and learn about the variety of career opportunities in science
 
On the California campus, 23 students from high schools across San Diego County were selected for Scripps Research internships as part of the Life Sciences Summer Institute, a collaboration of research institutions, the San Diego Workforce Partnership, and Biocom. Following spring tutorials on biomedical research topics, the students participated in an intensive hands-on, seven-week summer lab internship, working with a Scripps Research investigator and a mentor, and concluding with oral presentations. High school intern alumni now total more than 500 since the California campus program began in 1993.
 
On the Florida campus, 15 high school students and two teachers brought the total of “Kenan Fellows”— participants in the Florida campus’s eight-year old high school internship program—to past the 100 mark. Sponsored by the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust, student interns spent six intensive weeks working in labs and attending research seminars presented by Scripps Florida faculty members.
 
On both campuses, 25 undergrad students—representing colleges and universities from throughout the United States and as far away as Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—took part in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) Program and the Kenan Fellows Internship Program (supported by the Kenan Trust). During the 10-week program, each intern learns about the scientific method with the help of a Scripps faculty mentor, attends research seminars, and participates in discussions, culminating with a formal research presentation. The Florida undergraduates also compete in a poster competition (see below).


Poster Competition Recognizes Winning Florida Undergraduate Interns

It’s probably just a coincidence that most undergraduate research internships run the same length as Army basic training. Granted, spending 10 weeks working in a lab bears little resemblance to boot camp, but the dedication and energy invested by summer interns were on full display at an August 10 poster competition at Scripps Florida.

“I was pretty amazed by how much knowledge they had gained in 10 weeks,” said Sonali Deshpande, a postdoctoral fellow from the lab of Assistant Professor William Ja and one of the judges from the Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows. “Most of them had a really good sense of how to present and go through the data. It was very professional, and I think it speaks to the mentoring they received.”

Interns were scored based on the various components of their poster—such as methods, results and discussion—as well as the overall style and effectiveness of their presentation. Each of the top three presenters won a $2,000 travel award to present the poster at a national conference of his/her principal investigator’s choice. After the scores were tallied, the winners were:

  • 1st Place - Tate Storey, a senior at the University of Florida studying pre-professional biology. Storey interned in the Chemistry lab of Assistant Professor Brian Paegel
  • 2nd Place - Jacqueline Cox, a junior at the University of California, Berkeley studying chemical biology. Cox worked in the Chemistry lab of Professor Tom Kodadek
  • 3rd Place - Angela Phillips, a senior at the University of Florida studying chemistry. Phillips worked interned in the Molecular Therapeutics lab of Associate Professor Laura Bohn

Honorable mentions went to James Alburger, a senior at Grove City College and Chemistry intern in the Roush lab, and Ankit Kaushik, a junior at Georgia Tech and Neuroscience intern in the Page lab.

poster
A poster competition gave Scripps Florida undergraduate interns a chance to present their summer projects. Shown here is Angela Phillips, who placed third.





Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ca students
Life Sciences Summer Institute high school students participated in research tutorials and experienced seven-week summer lab internships on the California campus. Shown here at a research funding tutorial are (left to right) Neil Rens, St. Augustine H.S.; Walter Parker, Crawford H.S; Brandon Hernandez, Sweetwater H.S; and Erick Espinoza, Mt. Miguel H.S. (Photo by Marisela Chevez.)

ca surf
Among the 15 undergraduate students participating in the California campus SURF program were Macalester College’s Nicole DePolo (left) of the Wiseman lab and Michigan State’s Kelly Montgomery of the Kelly lab. (Photo by Skip O'Donnell.)

fll students 3
The “Kenan Fellows”— participants in the Florida campus’s eight-year-old high school internship program—included Lauren Fremont (right), a student at Jupiter Community High School, shown here with her mentor Bethany Strunk, a postdoctoral fellow in the Karbstein lab.

fl_surf
This summer’s undergraduate intern group on the Florida campus included (left to right) Alexandra Morgan, Matthew Feldman, Sergine Brutus, Yimin Chen, Kasey Haugen, Jacqueline Cox, Angela Phillips, Ankit Kaushik, Jamie Alburger, and Tate Storey.