In Brief

Matthew Cross Awarded American Cancer Society Fellowship

Matthew Cross, research associate in the Boger lab, has been awarded a three-year American Cancer Society (ACS) fellowship for his project “Design and Synthesis of a Novel Vinblastine Covalent Inhibitor."

The ACS award supports the training of postdoctoral researchers, providing initial funding leading to an independent career in cancer research.

Cross also received an NIH National Cancer Institute fellowship, which he declined in favor of the ACS award. The Scripps Research Office of Sponsored Programs staff believes Cross may be the first postdoctoral fellow at the institute to receive both awards simultaneously.

SOF Research Symposium Winners Announced

The Society of Fellows (SOF) and the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office announced the oral and poster presentation winners from the 2012 Fall Research Symposium, held September 19 on the California campus. The oral presentations were judged by Scripps Research faculty, and the posters were evaluated by all symposium attendees. Each winner received a cash prize.

In addition, Abhishek Chatterjee, research associate in the Schultz lab, received the Jared Purton Memorial Award. The annual award recognizes an outstanding oral presentation at the research symposium with an extra cash allotment and matching donation to the Jared F. Purton Foundation.

Oral presentation winners were:

Immunology and Microbial Science: Yi Ting Koh (first place), Amanda MacLeod (second place), Jose Garcia (third place)
Cell & Molecular Biology: Eveline Bouwens (first place), Toshihide Kurihara (second place), Wei Xiong (third place)
Chemistry and Structural Biology: Abhishek Chatterjee (first place), David Veesler (second place), Timothy Barker (third place)
Experimental Medicine, Neurosciences, and Translational Research: Ku-lung Hsu (first place), Jeffrey Savas (second place), Rupak Doshi (third place)

Poster presentation winners included:

Immunology and Microbial Science: Kiyomi Komori, Marianne Chabod
Cell and Molecular Biology: Elena Menichelli, Nabanita De
Chemistry and Structural Biology: Nicole Schirle, Rakesh Sit
Experimental Medicine, Neurosciences, and Translational Research: Sheena Saayman, Ranjeet Sinha

First-Ever Alumni Symposium to Spotlight Kellogg School Grads

Highlighting the careers and research accomplishments of Kellogg School of Science and Technology graduates, the Inaugural Alumni Symposium will be held on Wednesday, October 17, 8:30 AM to 7 PM in the Beckman Building’s Galleria and Keck Auditorium.

The symposium will offer presentations by former Kellogg School students whose careers have taken them to positions in academia, government, and industry throughout the United States. Presenters will include:

Christopher Yohn, Class of 1997, Sapphire Energy
Pamela Sears, Class of 1996, Optimer Pharmaceuticals
Michael Burkart, Class of 2000, University of California, San Diego
Phyllis Frosst, Class of 2001, National Institutes of Health
Michael Dorrell, Class of 2004, Point Loma Nazarene University
Yan Jessie Zhang, Class of 2004, University of Texas at Austin

An afternoon career panel discussion also will feature alumni, including

Shana Frederickson, Class of 1995, Life Technologies
Melanie Nelson, Class of 1999, Dart Neuroscience
James Graziano, Class of 2006, Fabrus Inc.

Open to the public, the symposium will also include a poster session featuring the work of current graduate students from both the California and Florida campuses. The event is presented by the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office and the Graduate Office.

Library Tip: Announcing ChemDoodle

ChemDoodle is chemical drawing and publishing software available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. There is a one-time, easy installation on up to two personal computers per individual, and it even works on iPhone/iPad or Android devices. This resource is new to Scripps Research, and library staff members hope it fills the gap for chemical drawing software for those on Macs and Linux. Get started with the Kresge Library’s ChemDoodle Guide.

ChemDoodle features include:

Templates to match settings for most chemistry journals
ChemDoodle widgets to generate predicted NMR spectra, chemical properties, and elemental analysis values
Scalable vector graphics
Compatibility with MS Office, iWork, Open Office, and Adobe tools
Round-trip cut-and-paste editing on Mas with MS Word 2011 (coming soon for Windows and Linux)

Open Enrollment Is Coming

Employee Benefits Open Enrollment begins at 8 AM, Monday, October 22, and runs until 5 PM, Friday, November 2, Pacific Time. During this annual opportunity, participants may make changes to their Scripps Research benefit selections and, if eligible, enroll or re-enroll in the Health Care and/or Dependent Care Spending Accounts for the 2013 plan year.

Once again this year, all Open Enrollment communications, including new 2013 plan information, will be sent via email and will be available to review on the Open Enrollment website. Employees are strongly advised to review the information provided in the Open Enrollment booklet regarding changes for the 2013 plan year. The booklet will be posted on the Benefits website by October 8.

To effectively manage rising healthcare costs in the current funding environment, a few changes to the health plan designs have been implemented this year, including:

HMO Plan participants will experience increased co-pays for office visits and prescriptions
PPO Plan participants will experience an increase in prescription co-pays, along with increased co-insurance and deductible responsibility
Preventive care will be covered at 100 percent on the HMO Plan and when using in-network providers on the PPO Plan. Essentially, no co-pay, co-insurance or deductibles will be charged when obtaining preventive care

Every effort has been made to keep the increases as low as possible. Greater detail regarding the changes will be included in the information booklet.

Also, please be aware under new federal regulations, the maximum dollar amount for a Health Care Spending Account is limited to $2,500. Employees who are eligible for and participated in the Health Care and/or Dependent Care Spending Accounts in 2012 must log on and elect a new deferral amount to participate in 2013. The 2012 election WILL NOT roll over to 2013.

Participants with questions regarding Open Enrollment may contact Benefits Administration at 858-784-8487 or at benefits@scripps.edu.

ScrippsAssists Cleans Park, Aids Animal Causes

ScrippsAssists volunteers have been busy recently helping out Planet Earth and the Animal Kingdom.

A small, but mighty ScrippsAssists team collected eight pounds of recyclable materials and 4.5 pounds of trash at Lake Hodges’ Rancho Bernardo Community Park as part of the annual state-wide California Coastal Cleanup Day on September 15. Laboring in 100-plus-degree heat, the team joined an estimated 8,000 San Diego County residents in removing 150,000 pounds of debris from 88 sites during the three-hour event, organized locally by the I Love a Clean San Diego organization.

Another ScrippsAssists group of volunteers staffed the silent auction tables at the 26^th annual “Fur Ball,” sponsored by the San Diego Humane Society and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). The sold-out event raised more than $500,000 to support Humane Society and SPCA programs, including community education, animal cruelty and neglect investigations, and pet-assisted therapy.

For information about ScrippsAssists ongoing and special event projects, visit the group’s webpage.

CA Onsite Clinics

The next California campus onsite immunization clinics will be held Monday, October 1, and Wednesday, October 3, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM in Room 325 of the 3366 Building.

Conducted by Sharp Rees-Stealy staff, the clinics provide hepatitis B vaccination free of charge to all Scripps Research employees. Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Occupational Medicine must pre-authorize all other procedures based on the employee's working conditions. These procedures include:

Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap) vaccines
A new one-visit Quantiferon tuberculosis test (for information on this test, read the Centers for Disease Control TB Fact Sheet)
Other tests, including titers, immunizations, and procedures according to the Scripps Research employee job function

Individuals who cannot attend the onsite clinic may visit the Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Center in Sorrento Mesa after EH&S pre-authorization. In addition, appointments can be scheduled at the Sharp Rees-Stealy Occupational Medicine Office by calling 858-526-6150. For further details, contact Sunny Gold Schmidt, x4-9299 or gschmidt@scripps.edu.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

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Among the keynote speakers at the Fall Symposium was Kellogg School alumnus Chris Vanderwal (right) of UC Irvine, shown here with his symposium host Matt Cross of the Boger lab.

Fall Symposium keynote speaker John Cambier (center) of the University of Colorado, Denver, is welcomed by his symposium hosts Amanda MacLeod (left) of the Havran lab and Yi Ting Koh of the Kono lab.

Shown here are ScrippsAssists Co-Chair Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn and her husband, Tim, who collected trash and recyclable materials with other volunteers.

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