In Brief

Dixon Lecture to Feature Noted Immunologist Max Cooper

The 2015 Frank J. Dixon Memorial Lecture, featuring a presentation by noted immunologist Max D. Cooper, will be held Monday, February 23, 4 PM, at The Auditorium at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). The event is open to the San Diego science community.

Cooper is a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and member of the Emory Vaccine Center and the Center for AIDS Research at the Emory University School of Medicine. His work focuses on ontogenetic and phylogenetic studies of the adaptive immune system in parallel with the analysis of immunological diseases in humans. He will speak on “The Evolution of Lymphocytes.”

While at the University of Minnesota from 1963-1967, Cooper worked with Robert A. Good to establish the dual nature of the immune system. With University of Alabama Birmingham graduate student Paul Kincade, Cooper discovered isotype switching by IgM-producing B cells. At the University College London in 1974, he worked with Martin Raff and John Owen to identify the fetal liver and bone marrow origin of B cells and pre-B cells.

A Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, Cooper is an editor of several immunological journals and past president of the Clinical Immunology Society, the American Association of Immunologists and the Kunkel Society. Among his many awards is the Robert Koch Prize, widely regarded as the leading international scientific prize in microbiology, for a major discovery in biological science.

The annual Dixon lecture honors Frank Dixon, a pioneering immunologist who was among the founding biomedical scientists of Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation (predecessor organization to TSRI) and who led the organization’s research division for many years. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 87.

A reception will be held immediately following the lecture in the TSRI Faculty Club. For directions and additional details, contact vogtadm@scripps.edu.

CA Consortium Offers Lab Management Symposium

TSRI and the Torrey Pines Training Consortium will sponsor the two-day Lab Management & Leadership Symposium on Friday, February 20, and Saturday, February 21, to equip junior faculty and postdoctoral fellows with professional competencies to lead innovative and productive research programs.

Among the course topics are:

Building a team
Managing communications and conflict
Negotiating job offers
Developing a leadership vision
Navigating tenure.

Speakers will include faculty and staff members from local research institutions, as well as Joan Lakoski, who is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and Athanasia Panopoulos, who is Elizabeth and Michael Gallagher assistant professor at Notre Dame University.

The symposium—which begins at 8:30 AM on Friday and runs until 1 PM on Saturday—will be held at Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla, California. Course materials for the event, which is organized by TSRI, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego, will be distributed on flash drives; attendees may bring their laptops.

For additional information, visit the event registration website or contact Jean Branan, TSRI Career and Postdoctoral services program coordinator, at jbranan@scripps.edu.

Ten Tips: How to Keep Those New Year’s Resolutions

As February begins it’s still possible to rekindle your resolve to meet your News Year’s goals with help from the latest article in the “Ten Tips” series, provided by TSRI Counseling and Psychological Services.

In “10 Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle and Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions,” Scripps Florida Staff Counselor Dana Scoville suggests the key to success is employing right approach. Her recommendations include setting clear, simple and measureable goals; developing a plan; finding a supportive network; and recognizing self-defeating triggers.

The tips are available on the Counseling and Psychological Services website.

Scripps California I-5/Genesee Construction: Phase 1 to Begin

Scripps California commuters should expect traffic delays during the three-week Phase 1 of the I-5/Genesee Avenue Interchange Project, scheduled to begin in mid-February with groundbreaking ceremonies Friday, February 13.

According to Caltrans and the San Diego Association of Governments, the project will involve:

Intermittent traffic delays, but no lane closures
Installation of temporary concrete safety barriers (k-rail) along I-5 and on/off ramps
Construction-related noise, dust, large equipment and signage along I-5
Continued bike access along the I-5 shoulder
Continued access to Scripps Memorial Hospital and Science Center Drive
Emergency responder access to nearby hospitals 24 hours/day, seven days/week.

Key features of the $105.2-million project, which is planned in five phases through 2017, include widening the Genesee/I-5 bridge to 10 lanes, improving east-west traffic flow on Genesee and constructing a separate bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing connecting the Sorrento Valley train station and the University of California, San Diego. To receive email construction updates, sign up on the Transnet website.

At the Auditorium: Chopin, Liszt Piano Program

The La Jolla Music Society (LJMS) presents Ingolf Wunder, first prize winner at the Concours Musical de France, on Sunday, February 8, 3 PM. Wunder will perform a program for solo piano featuring works by Chopin and Liszt. Ticket and additional details are available at the LJMS website.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

27-Year-TSRI-Veteran Peggy Rosensteel Retires
rsoensteel
Peggy Rosensteel, TSRI property accountant, is retiring after 27 years of service in the TSRI Finance Department. Rosensteel says she leaves “awestruck by all the employees—as well as the scientists—who work at TSRI. They are so great!” She and her husband, Bill, will move to Texas to be closer to family, including grandchildren Allison and Luke. Above, she is toasted by Richard Stryjewski, assistant controller, at a staff celebration. (Photo by Cindy Brauer.)

SEARCH NEWS & VIEWS

Team Establishes that Drug Candidates Can Block Pathway Linked to Cell Death in Parkinson’s Disease

Team Wins $1.7 Million to Develop Stem Cell Quality Control Methods

New 'Ph.D. Pathways' Videos Feature Early-Career Scientists