In Brief

CONNECT Honors Richard Lerner for Contributions to Life Science Innovation

Richard A. Lerner, M.D., Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Immunochemistry at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has been awarded the CONNECT Duane Roth Distinguished Contribution Award for Life Science Innovation.

CONNECT is a premier innovation company accelerator in San Diego that creates and scales great companies in the technology and life sciences sectors. The company’s Most Innovative New Product Awards ceremony “recognizes and lauds stars of innovation and their latest groundbreaking products.”

Lerner was president of TSRI for 20 years. His research focuses on protein engineering techniques and the use of catalytic antibodies as therapeutic tools. His work has resulted in two drugs: Humira®, which treats inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis; and Benlysta®, which treats the most common form of lupus. In a study out this year, Lerner’s team announced a way to tether an anti-HIV antibody to cells, making cells resistant to HIV.

Learn more about Lerner’s research: http://www.scripps.edu/research/faculty/lerner

Graduate Student Murat Kilinc Receives Autism Speaks Fellowship

Murat Kilinc, a graduate student in the Rumbaugh Lab on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has been named a 2017 Weatherstone Predoctoral Fellow by Autism Speaks.

The highly competitive Weatherstone program supports ground-breaking studies conducted under the mentorship of leading scientists—and serves as a launching pad for the careers of promising autism researchers. With this new $64,000 grant, Kilinc will be working to determine how different isoforms of the protein Syngap1 regulate dendritic development and synapse physiology in neurons. This research could lead to new biological targets for autism treatments.

According to Autism Speaks, “This research has the potential to advance our understanding of autism and intellectual disability at the molecular and brain systems level.”

CA ScrippsAssists Toy Drive Ends Dec. 11

Help make the holidays bright for kids in our community! Employees on the California campus are invited to bring in toys through Dec. 11 for the ScrippsAssists Home Start Holiday Toy Drive.

Scripps Assists will be accepting new and unwrapped toys for children of all ages that will benefit local children who are on the verge of homelessness or coping with other serious crises. Blue drop boxes for toys are located in the lobbies of Molecular Biology, Immunology, Beckman, the Graduate Office, and MEM. Toys will be removed to a secure location periodically.

To arrange a toy pick up or if you have questions, contact ScrippsAssists project lead Jess Sheu-Gruttadauria at jgruttad@scripps.edu.

Winter Course: Effective Career Planning for PhDs

TSRI postdoctoral researchers and graduate students are invited to register for “Effective Career Planning for PhDs,” an eight-week (1 credit) course Jan. 10 –Feb. 28, 2018. Students will meet every Wednesday from 12–2 PM Pacific time/3–5 PM Eastern time in the Graduate Office, Hazen Theory Building in La Jolla, and classes will be streamed live to Jupiter, with instructors on both campuses.

The course is designed to help students tackle some common questions:

What career options are there for science PhDs?
What are my own short- and long-term career plans?
What do I do next?

The course encourages proactive career planning by equipping students with the skills, resources and self-assessment information necessary to make informed career choices both inside and beyond academia. The course emphasizes developing career-related skills, including networking, self-evaluation, maintaining a professional presence online, goal setting and formulating an Individual Development Plan (IDP).

Graduate students can enroll via the course registration system and postdocs should email cpso@scripps.edu to enroll.

Electronic Laboratory Notebook Institute-Wide Survey

Are you interested in using an electronic laboratory notebook, or are currently using one and have a moment to share your thoughts?

TSRI Information Systems and the TSRI Library would like to assess the level of interest for an institute-wide electronic laboratory notebook system.

The survey should take three to five minutes. Your responses are appreciated! Go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/lab_enotebooks

CA Biosafety Committee Meeting Materials Due Dec. 15

To receive consideration at the next TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) meeting, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety by Friday, Dec. 15, via email to rachellv@scripps.edu. The meeting will be held Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, 2:30 to 3:30 PM, building 3301, P2 conference room.

CA Onsite Clinic Scheduled for Dec. 20

The next onsite immunization clinic on the California campus will be held Wednesday, Dec. 20, from 9:30 to 11 AM, at 3040 Science Park Road, Room 105 (located within the Normal Blood Donor Services suite- Room 101). 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: press[at]scripps.edu

Richard Bregman of Bank of America presented the award on behalf of CONNECT to TSRI Professor Richard Lerner, M.D. (Photo by Frank Rogozienski, CONNECT)

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