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In Brief


Matt Disney, Phil Baran Named Finalists for Blavatnik Awards

Matthew Disney, professor on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), and Phil Baran, Darlene Shiley Professor of Chemistry on the California campus of TSRI, have been named chemistry finalists for the 2016 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists.

The awards, established by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and administered by the New York Academy of Sciences, recognize outstanding faculty-rank researchers from the nation's leading academic and research institutions.

“The 2016 National Finalists in Chemistry are performing revolutionary research that has the potential to improve lives around the globe,” noted the Blavatnik Family Foundation and New York Academy of Sciences in a statement. 

Disney’s research focuses on RNA-based drug discovery. His lab’s goal is to create new tools for the development of therapies based on a patient’s individual genome sequence and the RNA products of those genes. With these tools, Disney and his team are currently targeting rare “orphan” diseases with no known cure and more common disorders that show poor prognoses, such as drug-resistant cancers. For more information on Disney and his research, see his faculty webpage and lab website.

Baran’s lab explores new avenues for the efficient and practical construction of organic molecules, both naturally occurring and man-made, by pursuing longstanding synthetic challenges and by designing methods of broad utility. For more information on Baran and his research, see his faculty webpage and lab website.

Disney and Baran will be honored at an awards ceremony on September 12 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.


Jeffrey Rudolf Wins Beckman Fellowship

Jeffrey Rudolf, research associate in the Ben Shen lab at the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has won an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship. According to the Beckman Foundation website, the award is intended to support postdoctoral fellows at research institutions across the United States "who are judged to have the highest potential for success in an academic career in chemistry and the life sciences and who will become the next generation of leaders and innovators in science, engineering and technology."

Rudolf’s research, titled “Engineering Structural Diversity into the Platensimycin and Platencin Natural Products,” studies a new family of antibacterial compounds produced by soil bacteria for insights into natural product biosynthesis. In the context of rising antibiotic resistance, this work could lead to development of antibiotics with new modes of action to combat existing and emerging pathogens.

This year’s 20 Beckman Fellows are also invited to attend a symposium in August at the Beckman Foundation in Irvine, California.


CA Career Workshop: Modern Marketing for Scientists

Raising public awareness of scientists’ research and accomplishments is the focus of a Scripps California workshop, “Modern Marketing for Scientists,” scheduled for Tuesday, June 14, from 10 to 11:30 AM.

Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Space Flight Center, will conduct the workshop. Co-inventor of the band-limited coronagraph, a tool for finding planets around other stars that will be part of the James Webb Space Telescope, Kuchner is also known for his work on planets with exotic chemistries: ocean planets, helium planets and carbon planets.

The marketing session topics will cover:

  • Self-evaluation tools
  • Beyond the “elevator speech”
  • Marketing, sales and branding for scientists
  • Relationship-building

Hosted by TSRI Career and Postdoctoral Services and open to the entire campus, the workshop will be held in the Graduate Office seminar room, first floor, Hazen Theory building. Reservations are required.


Funding Fest: Non-Federal Fellowship Opportunities

The 2016 Funding Fest in San Diego concludes with three workshops in June on fellowship opportunities from non-federal sources. Open to postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, the workshops will be held from 1 to 2 PM in the TSRI Graduate Office, first floor, Hazen Theory building:

Reservations are required. The Funding Fest is sponsored by the Torrey Pines Training Consortium, a collaboration of TSRI, the Salk Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and University of California, San Diego.


CA Meet the Alumni: Matt Wheeler, Patent Agent

Matt Wheeler, patent agent at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, is the featured guest at the next Scripps California Meet the Alumni event, scheduled for Wednesday, June 8, from 4 to 5 PM.

Wheeler was a postdoctoral fellow in the Balch lab, then staff scientist, at TSRI (2006-2014) before joining Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, legal advisors to technology, life sciences and other growth enterprises.

Sponsored by the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, Meet the Alumni events feature guest speakers from the growing TSRI network of alumni, presented in a relaxed, informal setting. Speakers discuss career-influencing decisions and options, offering advice on career transitions.

Reservations are required.


FL Academic Career Roundtables: NIH Awards, Undergraduate Institutions

Two academic career roundtables will be held for Scripps Florida postdoctoral fellows and graduate students in June.

  • Thursday, June 9: K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award
  • Friday, June 17: Applications to Teaching-Intensive, Primarily Undergraduate Institutes

Reservations for both roundtables, sponsored by TSRI’s Career and Postdoctoral Services, can be made on the department’s website.


Gathering to Celebrate Cultural Diversity at Scripps FL

The Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows (SRF) and Graduate Student Committee will hold the fourth annual International Party on Friday, June 17, from 5:30 to 8 PM in the Café, building B.

Open to postdoctoral fellows and graduate students and their families, the event celebrates the geographic and cultural diversity of the Florida campus. Attendees are asked to bring cuisine to share—entrée, side dish or dessert—traditional of their native country. Beverages will be provided. For additional information, contact SRF event co-chairs Muriel Desbois, mdesbois@scripps.edu, or Isabel Adrados, iadrados@scripps.edu.


SF-SRF Offers Free Yoga Classes

The Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows (SRF) offers free yoga classes twice a month on Tuesday evenings. Open to the entire Florida campus community, the next classes are scheduled for June 7 and 21 at 6 PM in front of Building A.

A yoga-certified instructor will lead the classes; participants should bring a yoga mat or a towel. In case of rain, the classes will be held in room A116.

Information on other SRF activities and resources is available on the group’s website or Facebook page.


ScrippsAssists Seeks Volunteers for San Diego Food Bank Benefits

The Scripps California community is invited to support a food program for local children in need by volunteering at the San Diego County Fair’s Gospel Festival, benefiting the San Diego Food Bank (SDFB), on Saturday, June 25.

ScrippsAssists volunteers will collect donations and staff the SDFB information booth. Two shifts are available: 2:30 to 6 PM and 6 to 8:30 PM. Admission to the Fair will be provided; free parking will be available, as well as a direct shuttle from the Solana Beach train station.

The event supports the SDFB Food 4 Kids Backpack Program, which provides weekend backpacks of food to elementary school students living in poverty and facing hunger at home during weekends and summer vacation. In San Diego County, more than 130,000 children experience food insecurity.

Volunteers are also needed to help staff another upcoming SDFB benefit, the San Diego Blues Festival, on Saturday, September 10, noon to 8 PM, at the Embarcadero Marina Park North. A variety of shifts will be available from 9 AM to 9 PM with free admission for all volunteers to enjoy the event before or after their shift. The festival will feature Grammy winners Los Lobos and Bobby Rush, Nikki Hill, Watermelon Slim and others.

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


CA Biosafety Committee Meeting Materials Due July 1

To receive consideration at the next TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety by Friday, July 1, via email to rachellv@scripps.edu. The meeting will be held Wednesday, July 13, 2:30 to 3:30 PM, in the P2 conference room, Building 3301.


FL Biosafety Meeting: June 7

The next meeting of the Scripps Florida Institutional Biosafety Committee will be held on Tuesday, June 7, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM, in the Building B Founders room. RSVP required to Galina Judge, mgjudge@scripps.edu.


CA Onsite Clinic: June 8

The next onsite immunization clinic on the California campus will be held Wednesday, June 8, from 9:30 to 11 AM, in rooms 203/205, the Hazen Theory building. Appointments are not needed.

Conducted by Sharp Rees-Stealy staff, the clinic will provide hepatitis B vaccination free of charge to all TSRI employees. Environmental Health & Safety 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.





Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

disney
baran
TSRI Professors Matthew Disney (top) and Phil Baran are Blavatnik Award finalists. (Top photo by James McEntee; bottom photo courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)







New View of Zika
zika-goodsell
A watercolor painting of the Zika virus by TSRI’s David Goodsell has been highlighted by National Public Radio  blog “Goats and Soda: Stories of Life in a Changing World”. The image shows the microscopic virus, which has been linked to birth defects and neurological disease, in the process of infecting a cell.