Of Note

TSRI Faculty Listed Among Highly Cited Researchers

A number of faculty members at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have been named among the Thomson Reuters 2015 Highly Cited Researchers, an annual list recognizing leading researchers in the sciences and social sciences from around the world. They include:

Phil Baran, chemistry
The late Carlos Barbas, chemistry
Dennis Burton, microbiology
Ben Cravatt, biology & biochemistry
Keary Engle, chemistry
Steve Kay, plant and animal science
Pascal Poignard, microbiology (adjunct)
K. Barry Sharpless, chemistry
Eric Topol, medicine
Ian Wilson, biology, biochemistry/microbiology
Richard Wyatt, microbiology
John Yates, biology & biochemistry
Jin-Quan Yu, chemistry

According to Thomson Reuters, highly cited papers rank in the top one percent by citations in their subject field and publication year (from 2003 to 2013) in the Web of Science Core Collection, a leading global citation database.

Candice Contet, Olivier George and Jiang Zhu Contribute to Inaugural BRAIN Consortium Symposium

TSRI Assistant Professors Candice Contet, Olivier George and Jiang Zhu were among the presenters at the San Diego BRAIN Consortium’s (SDBC) recent inaugural symposium, “Neurotechnology Research in San Diego,” which highlighted cutting-edge research in the region related to the Obama administration’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative. Symposium topics included new developments in wireless devices, nanotechnology, optogenetics, imaging and genetic tools.

Contet and George, both members of the TSRI Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, presented “Genetic tools to study proteins, neuronal ensembles and circuits in addiction.”

Zhu, whose lab studies novel strategies to engineer novel protein devices and to optically manipulate signaling pathways and neural circuits implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, presented “Structural engineering and rational design of optogenetic channels.”

A collaboration of regional research institutions and the entrepreneurial community, the SDBC aims to leverage the BRAIN initiative and its state counterpart, the “California Blueprint for Research to Advance Innovations in Neuroscience,” to develop research programs and new training programs and to establish San Diego as a leader in neurotechnology.

Sandelman Travel Award Winners Announced

The Career and Postdoctoral Services office has announced the winners of the Scripps Florida 2015 Robert M. Sandelman Awards for Scientific Excellence, which support attendance at scientific conferences.

Stephanie Sillivan of the Miller lab has won the $1,500 award to attend an international conference. She will use the award to present her project, “The Role of microRNAs in the Maintenance of Traumatic Memory,” at the 10^th Annual Federation of European Neurosciences Societies Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark, next July.

Recipients of $1,000 travel grants are:

Sweena Chaudhari of the Solt lab, who will present “Regulation of Th17 cell development and function by the REV-ERBs” at a Keystone Symposia in Snowbird, Utah, in January
Julien Sejourne of the Page lab, who will present “Developmental control of cortical GABAergic interneuron number via Pten signaling” at the Society for Neuroscience’s 2015 annual conference, in Chicago in October
Supriya Swarnkar of the Puthanveettil lab, who will present “Molecular motor, Kif5C: A key regulator in synaptogenesis” at the 12^th Gordon Research Conference on Cell Biology of the Neuron, in New Hampshire next June.

Recognizing outstanding scientific achievement and accomplishment, the awards are funded through the Boca Raton-based Sandelman Foundation, established by sales promotion pioneer Robert Sandelman, founder of the first sales promotion agency in the United States and creator of the American Express Gold Card.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

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Of Note

TSRI Faculty Listed Among Highly Cited Researchers

Candice Contet, Olivier George and Jiang Zhu Contribute to Inaugural BRAIN Consortium Symposium

Sandelman Travel Award Winners Announced