In Brief

Frank Chisari Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Frank Chisari, professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has received the 2015 William H. Prusoff HEP DART Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of viral hepatitis research.

According to the award announcement, “The HEP DART Organizing Committee recognizes that every scientific and medical advance relies on the strong foundations of discoveries by those who have come before us. Instituted in 2005, the William H. Prusoff HEP DART Lifetime Achievement Award is given at each HEP DART conference to a researcher who has made integral contributions over their career toward the advancement of care of persons infected with hepatitis viruses.”

The award’s namesake, William H. Prusoff, was an early innovator in antiviral drugs, credited with developing in the 1950s the first antiviral agent approved by the FDA and co-developing stavudine, one of the earliest AIDS drugs, in the mid-1980s.

The Chisari lab studies the immunological basis for viral clearance and disease pathogenesis during persistent viral infections, especially hepatitis B and C virus; the ability of T cell-derived cytokines to inhibit viral replication without killing infected cells; the signaling pathways and effector molecules that mediate these antiviral effects; and the viral evasion strategies that subvert them.

Chisari, who will assume the title of professor emeritus upon his retirement April 1, is a member of the Association of American Physicians, American Academy of Microbiology, National Academy of Sciences, and Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. A summary of his research accomplishments is available at https://www.informedhorizons.com/hepdart2015/pdf/ChisariBio.pdf.

Chisari will deliver an award lecture at the HEP DART 2015 Frontiers in Drug Development for Viral Hepatitis conference in December.

SRF April 10 Faculty Seminar to Feature Brian Paegel

Brian Paegel, associate professor in TSRI’s Department of Chemistry, is the featured speaker at the next Faculty Seminar series presented by the Scripps Research Society of Research Fellows (SF-SRF) on Friday, April 10, at 4 PM, in the Fink Auditorium on the Jupiter campus. Paegel will speak on “The Revolution will be Compartmentalized: Technology for Distributed Drug Discovery.”

The Paegel lab studies the controlled assembly of phospholipid vesicles, emulsions, microfluidic circuit design, protein engineering and evolution, and drug discovery technology development. A reception will follow the lecture in the Scripps Café.

Additional information on SF-SRF activities is available on the SRF website.

Jane Dyson to Speak at NWiS Faculty Lecture

Jane Dyson, professor in TSRI’s Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, is the featured speaker at the next Female Faculty Lecture presentation, sponsored by the Scripps California Network for Women in Science (NWiS), on April 16, 3:30 to 4:30 PM.

The Dyson lab uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study the protein-folding process and the nature and behavior of unfolded and partly folded forms of proteins, including prion proteins and several newly discovered, intrinsically unstructured proteins.

The lecture will be held in the Skaggs Institute/Molecular Biology building’s Committee Lecture Hall. For information on other NWiS activities, visit the group’s website and Facebook page.

Registration for J&J Janssen Visit Closes March 30

Registration for the next Industry Bridge Program (IBP) event, a visit to the Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen R&D facility in La Jolla, closes Monday, March 30 at 5 PM. The Johnson & Johnson visit will be held on Wednesday, April 8, from 8 AM to 3 PM.

Sponsored by the Scripps California Society of Fellows (SoF), the event is open to TSRI postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. Participant applications, procedures, guidelines and registration details are available on the IBP webpage. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, with preference given to first-time IBP participants. Only fully completed applications are eligible. Cancellation within 72 hours of the event will count as attending and will affect future IBP event applications.

Additional information on SoF activities and resources is available on the group’s website.

Library to Host SciFinder Seminar

The Kresge Library will host a Scripps California SciFinder seminar on Tuesday, March 31, 1:30 PM, in the Beckman building’s Keck Amphitheater. Representatives from Chemical Abstract Services will provide updates on SciFinder’s key features and recent enhancements, as well as news from the American Chemical Society’s recent meeting in Denver.

The seminar will include a demonstration of the ChemBioDraw Ultra platform, from which TSRI scientists may now launch a SciFinder session.

Following the formal presentation, the speakers will be available for additional questions. Attendees may bring laptops to the event for help with specific search examples or problematic structure queries.

A Scripps Florida SciFinder seminar is scheduled for August.

A SciFinder guide can be found on the Kresge Library’s website. For further information, contact the Kresge Library (858) 784- 8705 or helplib@scripps.edu.

Career Workshop: Persuading Others

How to persuade colleagues, friends, family members and others is the focus of an upcoming workshop featuring communications expert Jean-Luc Doumont on Wednesday, April 8, from 3 to 5 PM, on the California campus.

Sponsored by TSRI Career and Postdoctoral Services, the Graduate Program and the Society of Fellows, the workshop will cover use of personal or organizational power, tactics of persuasion and basic social influences to gain others’ cooperation and acceptance.

Trained as an engineer and holding a PhD in applied physics from Stanford, Doumont is author of Trees, maps, and theorems, a book about “effective communications for rational minds.”

The event will be held in the Beckman building’s Keck Amphitheater. RSVP is required.

CA ScrippsAssists Volunteer Opportunities in April

Scripps Assists, the TSRI employee volunteer organization, offers service opportunities in the San Diego area in April.

Blood Drive

The lives of San Diego residents depend on the generosity of healthy blood donors. Scripps California faculty, students and staff are encouraged to sign up for the next ScrippsAssists blood drive in partnership with the San Diego Blood Bank (SDBB) on Tuesday, April 14, from 9 AM to 2:30 PM. The SDBB bloodmobile will be located in the parking lot adjacent to the Skaggs/MBB building, 10596 N. Torrey Pines Road.

Eligible donors are asked to make an appointment on the SDBB website. Walk-in donors will be welcomed. Guidelines and eligibility requirements are also listed on the blood bank website. Donors should bring photo identification, a record of medications they currently take and a list of locations visited outside the United States in the past three years.

All donors will automatically be entered into a prize raffle. For further information on the blood drive, contact ScrippsAssists project coordinator Leslie Madden at lmadden@scripps.edu.

Home Start Gala

Volunteers are needed to help staff Home Start’s 43^rd Annual Blue Ribbon Gala on April 18 at the Dana on Mission Bay in San Diego. The event will raise funds for Home Start’s programs supporting at-risk children and families in need.

Shifts are available from noon to 4 PM for set-up tasks or 4:30 to 7:30 PM for check-in and silent auction activities. Snacks will available for volunteers.

For more information or to sign up to volunteer, please contact ScrippsAssists project lead Jess Sheu-Gruttadauria at jgruttad@scripps.edu. Gala tickets may be purchased on the Home Start website.

Walk for MS

Walkers, volunteers and donors are being recruited for the ScrippsAssists team participation in the 2015 WalkMS, benefitting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on Sunday, April 19, from 6:45 to 11:30 AM, at Legoland California Resort in Carlsbad.

The funds raised at Walk MS events throughout the U.S. support cutting-edge research and programs and services for MS patients and their families.

Supporting event walkers, volunteer tasks include cheer crew, check-in, floater and route signage coordinator. Snacks will be provided for all volunteers. Register to walk, volunteer or donate on the ScrippsAssists team website. Contact ScrippsAssists project coordinator Jess Sheu-Gruttadauria at jgruttad@scripps.edu for further information.

At the Auditorium: Jazz with Willie Jones III

The Athenaeum Music and Arts Library presents a Jazz@TSRI concert on Saturday, April 11, 7:30 p.m., featuring the Willie Jones III Quintet, an all-star ensemble with Jones on drums, past Tonight Show band member Ralph Moore on sax, Herbie Hancock and Art Blakey band alumnus Gilbert Castellanos on trumpet, former Wynton Marsalis band member Eric Reed on piano and acclaimed veteran jazz artist Buster Williams on bass. Ticket and program information is available on the organization’s website.

The Auditorium at TSRI is located at 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, San Diego 92121.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

Professor Frank Chisari has won the William H. Prusoff HEP DART Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of viral hepatitis research. (Photo by Kevin Fung.)

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