In Brief

Intern Eric Chen Wins Google’s Grand Prize

Eric Chen, high school intern in the Wilson lab at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has won the grand prize in the 2013 Google Science Fair for his project “The Taming of the Flu,” research to help discover a new anti-flu medicine effective against all influenza viruses.

“This is a fantastic achievement, and we are very proud of Eric,” said TSRI Professor Ian Wilson. “It was extremely impressive that Eric was able come to our lab as a high school student with lot of ideas of how to tackle influenza virus and then proceed to follow through on them in the lab.”

The 17-year-old Canyon Crest Academy senior, who began his research while an intern at the University of California, San Diego, bested 14 other science fair finalists selected from tens of thousands of entrants worldwide. Chen captured not only his age category, but also the top overall prize, which includes a $50,000 scholarship and a National Geographic Expedition trip to the Galapagos Archipelago. Canyon Crest Academy also received a $10,000 technology grant on his behalf. The science fair award ceremony was televised live via YouTube from Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Currently applying to colleges for the fall, Chen is considering a career either as a university professor, which would allow him to both teach and perform research, or as an entrepreneur.

Youjun Chen and William Pryor Win O’Keeffe Neuroscience Awards

Research Associates Youjun Chen in the Page lab and William Pryor in the Subramaniam lab have received Esther B. O’Keeffe Neuroscience Scholar Awards for 2013-2014.

The awards are presented by the Esther B. O’Keeffe Neuroscience Symposium Fund, which provides support for early-career neuroscience researchers and for symposia to raise awareness and education on the brain and a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Chen is investigating how risk factors for autism influence the dynamics of brain growth during development and whether an altered trajectory of growth in a few key cell types in the brain may contribute to symptoms of the disorder.

Pryor’s research is centered identifying the biochemical and molecular mechanisms responsible for the initiation and progression of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease to ultimately lead to new and innovative approaches in treating these devastating neurological diseases.

Benefits: Open Enrollment to be Held October 28 to November 9; Changes to 2014 Health Care Plans

TSRI Human Resources has announced Open Enrollment will be held Monday, October 28, 8 AM through Friday, November 8, 5 PM, Pacific time. During the annual Open Enrollment period, employees have the opportunity to make changes, if desired, to their TSRI benefits, including health care plans, flexible spending accounts, life insurance and long-term care insurance.

The 2014 Benefits Guide, which has been emailed to all faculty, staff and students on both campuses, contains a detailed summary of benefit options for next year, including a number of changes in TSRI health care plans.

“Like most organizations, TSRI is facing the challenge of managing an exponential increase in health care costs,” said Christy Attebury, director of compensation and benefits at TSRI. “We tried to keep the impact of necessary medical plan changes as minimal as possible for employees.”

In 2014, preventive care will remain covered at 100 percent for all TSRI employees, no matter which health care plan they belong to; as per federal law, no copayments, co-insurance or deductibles are required for care considered preventive.

Changes to the 2014 TSRI plans, which become effective January 1, vary according to the type of plan.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
For the comprehensive plan (also known as the PPO plan), changes will include:

A premium of $71 per month for an individual employee (from $68 in 2013) or $189 to $365 for an employee plus various family members (from $182 to $348 in 2013)
An annual deductible for non-preventive services of $750 for in-network providers (from $400 in 2013) or, for families, $2,250 (from $1,200 in 2013)
An annual out-of-pocket maximum for in-network providers of $2,000 (from $1,500 in 2013) or, per family, of $4,000 (from $3,000 in 2013)
A new deductible for brand-name prescription drugs of $100 per person or $200 per family

HMO PLAN
For the health maintenance organization (HMO) plan, now called HMO Deductible Plan (still with the provider Aetna), premiums will remain the same, while changes will include:

An office visit co-pay of $30 (from $20 in 2013), and $40 co-pay for specialists (from $30 in 2013)
A annual deductible for non-preventive services of $100 per person or $200 per family (from no deductible in 2013)
An out-of-pocket maximum of $2,500 (from $1,500 in 2013) or, per family, of $5,000 (from $3,000)
A deductible for brand-name prescription drugs of $100 per person or $200 per family (from no deductible in 2013)

CATASTROPHIC PLAN
In 2014, the current Catastrophic Plan will change into a Health Savings Account-Compatible PPO Plan, offering new tax advantages and long-term savings opportunities (see the Health Savings Account handout for details). In the new plan, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums remain the same as for 2013 (for employee-only coverage, the deductible is $2,000; the out-of-pocket maximum, $5,000). Coverage changes will include:

A premium of $20 per month, only for employees covering themselves plus a spouse/domestic partner as well as children
A two-tier reimbursement system where in-network coverage will remain at 80% and out-of-network coverage will be 60%
Prescription drug reimbursement only after the annual deductible has been met; both office visits and prescription drug costs count toward meeting the deductible
If you are enrolled in dependent coverage, the family deductible must be met before coinsurance applies

All TSRI health care plans meet the minimum coverage levels required by federal healthcare reform.

Additional details about the open enrollment process and all TSRI benefits, including health care plans, can be found in the 2014 Benefits Guide and on the TSRI Benefits website. Charts of health care plan changes are available online for California and Florida employees.

A number of meetings have also been planned for those needing help with the Open Enrollment process. For a list of California events, see http://www.scripps.edu/hr/calendar/california_events.html; for Florida, see http://www.scripps.edu/hr/calendar/florida_events.html. Benefits administration staff, (858) 784-8487 or benefits@scripps.edu, also welcome specific questions regarding coverage or the enrollment process.

Lunch & Learn: ‘The Search for True Happiness’

Achieving a consistent state of happiness in life, an elusive goal for many people, is the topic of the next Lunch & Learn presentation, scheduled for Wednesday, October 23, noon to 1 PM, in the Keck Amphitheater in the Beckman Building on the California campus.

Arranged by the TSRI Office of Counseling and Psychological Services, the seminar’s speaker, San Diego psychologist Jeff Jones, will share current research in the field of positive psychology, in particular, the theory of “learned happiness” developed by Martin Seligman, the Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Specifically, Jones will discuss:

Seligman’s 24 “Signature Strengths” to help achieve authentic happiness
What happy people do differently
The question of whether money can buy happiness

For information on other resources provided by the Office of Counseling and Psychological Services, visit the department’s website.

CA Onsite Clinics Scheduled for October 28 and 30

The next California campus onsite immunization clinics are scheduled for Monday, October 28 and Wednesday, October 30, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM in Building 3366, room 240. Conducted by Sharp Rees-Stealy staff, the clinics provide hepatitis B vaccination free of charge to all TSRI employees. Appointments are not needed.

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, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccines and other titers, immunizations and procedures.

TSRI no longer requires TB testing for TSRI faculty and staff whose work includes exposure to animals. TB testing is provided for employees who, in the scope of their TSRI positions, provide human health care, such as registered nurses, work with human subjects or work with nonhuman primates. Employees authorized for the one-visit Quantiferon tuberculosis test may find further information on the Centers for Disease Control TB Fact Sheet.

After EH&S pre-authorization, individuals who cannot attend the onsite clinic may visit the Sharp Rees-Stealy occupational medicine clinic by calling (858) 526-6150. The clinic is located at 10243 Genetic Center Drive, off Mira Mesa Boulevard. For further details, contact Rachel Longville, rachellv@scripps.edu or x4-8457.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

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TSRI Professor Ian Wilson (left) congratulates high school intern Eric Chen on winning the Google Science Fair top prize for his research project, “The Taming of the Flu.” (Photo by Cindy Brauer.)

Celebrating Two Awards
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TSRI President Michael Marletta (left) recently hosted an overflow-crowd reception to celebrate TSRI’s Professor Phil Baran’s (center) MacArthur Fellowship and Professor Ardem Patapoutian’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator award. (Photo by Cindy Brauer.)

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