In Brief

Faculty Promotions: Susana Valente and Patricia McDonald

As announced at a recent meeting of the TSRI Board of Trustees of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), TSRI faculty members Susana Valente and Patricia McDonald have received promotions.

Valente is now associate professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases. The Valente lab focuses on the discovery and characterization of molecular interactions within a host cell that are critical for HIV replication with the goal of developing therapeutic targets and providing novel antiviral approaches. For further information, visit Valente’s faculty page and lab website.

McDonald has been promoted to assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Therapeutics. The McDonald lab concentrates on developing biochemical and cell-based functional assays to monitor GPCR activity with the aim—in collaboration with other disciplines such as chemistry, DMPK and in vivo pharmacology—of identifying and developing small molecule modulators of GPCRs for potential therapeutic treatment of metabolic and central nervous system disorders. For additional information, see the McDonald faculty page.

Donna Blackmond to Open 2013-14 Faculty Lecture Series

Donna Blackmond, professor in the TSRI Department of Chemistry, will open the 2013-14 season of the Faculty Lecture Series on Wednesday, October 9, 5 PM in the Timken Amphitheater at the Green Hospital, with a talk, “Models for the Origin of Biological Homochirality.” A reception will follow the lecture in the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Building, first floor.

In 2014, other faculty lecturers will include:

January 8: Thomas Kodadek, professor, Department of Chemistry; “Chemical Tools To Monitor and Manipulate the Proteome”

February 12: Lindsay J. Whitton, professor, Department of Immunology and Microbial Science; “Inate and Adaptive Host Responses to Virus Infections”

March 12: Martha Fedor, professor, Department of Chemical Physiology; “Mechanisms of RNA-Mediated Gene Regulation: From Proton Transfer through Nucleotide Signaling”

April 9: Kate Carroll, associate professor, Department of Chemistry; “Selective Chemical Approaches to Probe Cysteine Redox Biology”

May 14: Kristin Baldwin, associate professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; “The Malleable Genome: Programming and Reprogramming Cell Fate”

For further information, see the Faculty Lecture Series webpage.

FL NWiS Speakers to Share Career Experiences

Two female faculty members will share their career experiences and advice at upcoming Network for Women in Science (NWiS) meetings on the Florida campus.

A Coffee Chat with Gunda Georg, department head of medicinal chemistry and endowed chair at the University of Minnesota, will be held Wednesday, October 2, from 1:10 to 2 PM in the campus café. Georg will share how she successfully dealt with career obstacles. RSVP to Briana Weiser, NWiS coordinator and graduate student in the Tellinghuisen lab.

TSRI Associate Professor Laura Niedernhofer is the featured speaker at the Monday, October 7 NWiS chapter meeting, scheduled 4 to 5 PM in B159. Niedernhofer will discuss her academic career experiences and provide guidance on such topics as securing promotions, communicating effectively and interviewing successfully.

Scripps Consulting Club to Hold First Meeting

The Scripps Consulting Club (SCC), a new career resources organization for TSRI staff, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students on both TSRI’s California and Florida campuses, will hold its inaugural meeting Tuesday, October 1, at 1 PM in the Keck Auditorium on the California campus.

The group aims to provide business skills training, such as such as analytical skills, problem-solving, storyboarding and project management, for careers in management consulting or other non-academic positions in the life sciences industry.

Spearheaded by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, SCC plans to hold monthly one-hour sessions covering business consulting topics and case studies. Activities will also include interview preparation, consulting panels and workshops, on-campus recruitment, alumni consultant networking and an annual case study competition.

For further details, contact Kelvin Chan, graduate student in the Yu lab, at kchansl@gmail.com or visit the SCC LinkedIn page.

CA Campus to Compete in RideShare Challenge

Pursuing a third straight win, the California campus will compete in the iCommute Rideshare 2013 Corporate Challenge, a program of the San Diego Association of Governments to promote work commute alternatives to driving alone. TSRI faculty and staff are encouraged carpool, vanpool, bike, walk or take public transit to campus at least once a week during the month of October and log their alternative commutes on the iCommute website.

In addition to helping TSRI compete in its category, participants are automatically entered in prize drawings held throughout October; prizes include a limited-edition Chargers football, spa packages, transit passes, gift cards, and more.

To participate, sign up for an iCommute account using a TSRI e-mail address. Log alternative commute trips on the iCommute Trip Tracker web page.

The CA campus RideShare Challenge participation is coordinated by the Benefits Department.

ScrippsAssists to Support Child-Abuse-Prevention Fundraiser

ScrippsAssists, the TSRI employee volunteer organization, invites California campus faculty and staff to support its community partner Home Start’s fundraiser, the 6^thAnnual Hallo-Wine Fall Festival, to be held Saturday, October 5, from 3 to 5 PM, at a private estate in the Marston Hills neighborhood.

Held in conjunction with National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the event will benefit Home Start’s child-abuse-prevention programs. Attendees will tour the estate’s gardens and taste boutique wines, handcrafted beers and gourmet hors d’oeuvres. The $50 per-person tickets can be purchased at the Home Start website.

To volunteer to help with event’s registration, silent auction and wine cellar activities, contact ScrippsAssists coordinator Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn at mshinn@scripps.edu.

Home Start was founded in 1972 as a national Head Start demonstration project and provides services to children living in poverty. The organization accepts toy, food and financial donations for its community services, which include programs to end family violence and assist child victims of abuse. For more information about Home Start, visit http://www.home-start.org

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

valente
Susana Valente has been promoted to associate professor. (Photo by James McEntee.)

Patricia McDonald has been promoted to assistant professor.
(Photos by James McEntee.)

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