In Brief

Jeffery W. Kelly Wins Royal Society of Chemistry Award

Jeffery W. Kelly, Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has won the prestigious 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry Jeremy Knowles Award, which recognizes and promotes the importance of inter- and multi-disciplinary research between chemistry and the life sciences.

Kelly was cited for his research in protein-folding diseases, specifically “discerning the mechanism of transthyretin aggregation causing neurodegeneration and for the discovery of a drug that slows the underlying etiology of a human amyloid disease.”

In addition to £2,000 and a medal, the award includes a lecture tour in the U.K. The 175-year-old Royal Society of Chemistry is the U.K’s professional body for chemical scientists, promoting, supporting and celebrating chemistry. The award’s namesake, chemist and biochemist Jeremy Knowles, formed the Enzyme Group at Oxford University, later joining Harvard University faculty, where his enzymatic research was fundamental for understanding enzyme function in illnesses, knowledge still used in current drug discovery.

For additional information on Kelly and his research, visit his biosketch page and lab website.

George Campbell Receives Dorris Neuroscience Travel Award

George Campbell of the Encalada lab has received the 2016 Helen Dorris Graduate Student Travel Award, given to a senior graduate student ready to present project findings just prior to his or her PhD defense.

A fifth-year graduate student, Campbell’s project, “Multi-motor coordination by Kinesin-1 and Kinesin-3 regulates the axonal transport of synaptic vesicle proteins,” focuses on the cellular process of axonal transport, affected in multiple neurodegenerative diseases.

Philanthropist Dorris, a San Diego State University professor emeritus and mental health advocate, founded TSRI’s Dorris Neuroscience Center, which addresses many of the most important problems facing contemporary molecular and behavioral neuroscience.

CA Career Workshop: Ace the Interview

Scripps California postdoctoral fellows and graduate students can prepare to have successful interviews with the career workshop, “Ace the Interview,” scheduled for Wednesday, May 25, from 1 to 2 PM.

Conducted by Ryan Wheeler, director of TSRI’s Career, International and Postdoctoral Services, the workshop will cover:

Interview question preparation
The “STAR” technique for answering behavioral questions

The role of nonverbal communication
Interview etiquette, including how to ask informed questions

Reservations are required for the workshop, which will be held in the Graduate Office Seminar Room, first floor, Hazen Theory building.

CA Academic Roundtable: Private Liberal Arts Colleges

Developing strong tenure-track applications for private liberal arts colleges is the discussion topic at the next Scripps California Academic Roundtable for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, to be held Thursday, May 26, from noon to 1 PM.

Kristopher J. Koudelka, assistant professor of biology at Point Loma Nazarene University, will lead the discussion. Koudelka, who earned a PhD from TSRI in 2008, has also been a faculty member at the University of San Diego and Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Sponsored by TSRI’s Career and Postdoctoral Services, the Academic Careers Roundtable is a professional development series featuring guest discussion leaders on a variety of topics.

Reservations are required for the event, to be held in the Graduate Office Dining Room, first floor, Hazen Theory building.

SRF Mark Hall Travel Award Deadline: May 19

Applications for the spring cycle of the Mark A. Hall Travel Award, presented by the Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows (SRF), are due Thursday, May 19.

Named in honor of the late Mark Hall, a TSRI postdoctoral fellow in cancer biology, the award aims to support postdoctoral fellows by offering the opportunity to participate in a scientific or professional development meeting. The $1,000 grants are open to fulltime Scripps Florida research associates.

Specific award criteria and application details are available on the SRF website.

CA Lunch & Learn: Happy, Healthy Relationships

Aspects of developing and maintaining strong, healthy relationships will be explored in the next Scripps California Lunch & Learn presentation, “The Art of the Dance: Balance and Connection in Intimate Relationships,” on Wednesday, May 25, noon to 1 PM, in the Beckman building’s Keck amphitheater.

Daphne Lurie, director of TSRI’s Office of Counseling and Psychological Services, will conduct the seminar, which will cover key elements in healthy relationships and ways to maintain balance when partners are out of step.

For information on the resources offered by Counseling and Psychological Services, visit the department’s website.

ScrippsAssists to Support San Diego Burn Institute Expo

ScrippsAssists seeks volunteers from the California campus to help staff the San Diego’s Burn Institute’s 26^th annual Fire & Safety Expo and Firefighter Demolition Derby at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Saturday, June 4.

Three volunteer shifts are available: 9:30 AM to 2 PM, 1 to 6 PM and 10 AM to 6:30 PM (all day). Admission to the fair and parking passes will be provided. Comfortable clothing and shoes and sunscreen or a hat are recommended.

The expo includes “live” firefighting demonstrations, a fire- and burn-prevention pavilion, safety demos, firefighter obstacle course for the kids, live music and the popular demolition derby. Founded in 1972, the Burn Institute offers lifesaving fire- and burn-prevention education, funds vital burn research and treatment, and conducts support programs for burn survivors.

To volunteer, contact ScrippsAssists Project Lead Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn at mshinn@scripps.edu.

CA Biosafety Committee Meeting Materials Due May 27

To receive consideration at the next TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety by Friday, May 27, via email to rachellv@scripps.edu. The meeting will be held Wednesday, June 8, 2:30 to 3:30 PM, in the P2 conference room, Building 3301.

At the Auditorium: Acclaimed Pianist

The San Diego Symphony’s final program in its 2015-2016 Chamber Concert Series will present internationally acclaimed pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet on Tuesday, May 24, 7:30 PM. Thibaudet will be featured with symphony musicians performing Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 and Nikolai Roslavets’s Nocturne. Ticket and additional details are available on the symphony’s website.

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

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

kelly
Professor Jeffery Kelly has been awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Jeremy Knowles Award. (Photo by Jennifer Catacutan.)

Philanthropist Helen Dorris (left) congratulates graduate student George Campbell on receiving the 2016 Helen Dorris Graduate Student Travel Award at the recent Founders Day reception. (Photo by Cindy Brauer.)

Vendor Show Draws Attendance and Engagement
vendor
The recent SoF Vendor Show was a “full success in attendance and engagement,” says event co-chair Matthias Pauthner. Above, Yiran Zhou (left) and Aime Lopez (center), members of the Wu lab, speak with a representative from goldbio.com, a global supplier of chemical reagents. (Photo by Cindy Brauer.)

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