In Brief

Wendy Havran receives AAI Distinguished Service Award

Professor Wendy Havran, PhD, has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Council of The American Association of Immunologists (AAI). The award recognizes Havran’s leadership and contributions to AAI programs and the immunology community over the last 20 years.

In addition to her leadership in AAI, Havran runs a lab dedicated to shedding light on interactions between immune cells and tissues of the thymus, skin and intestine. Her team has identified cell surface molecules and growth factors that regulate epithelial T cell functional responses. This work has increased the field’s understanding of the role that these cells play in epithelial and mucosal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, malignancies and wound healing.

Havran also serves as associate dean of graduate studies for TSRI’s Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences.

Havran will be recognized at the AAI conference IMMUNOLOGY 2018 in Austin, TX, in May.

TSRI graduate students receive ARCS scholar awards

Five graduate students at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have received Scholar Awards from the San Diego chapter of the Achievement Rewards for College Students (ARCS) Foundation, a national organization dedicated to advancing science in the United States through grants to academically outstanding U.S. citizens pursuing degrees in science, engineering or medical research.

The award recipients are:

Danielle Grotjahn
Chris Cottrell
Michael Ledbetter
Daisy Johnson
Rigo Cintron-Colon

This year marks the 21st anniversary of the first ARCS scholarships given to TSRI students. The program is funded through corporate, foundation and individual donors.

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Leaders from the ARCS San Diego Chapter visited the California campus of TSRI on Jan. 25, 2018 to present the award to this year’s scholars. From top left: Michael Ledbetter, Chris Cottrell, Rigo Cintron-Colon, Bruno Conti, PhD, Kim Doren, Chelsea Luedeke. Bottom left: Wendy Havran, PhD, Philip Dawson, PhD, Floyd Romesberg, PhD, Daisy Johnson, Danielle Grotjahn, Mary Lou Quick (ARCS co-president), Priscilla Moxley, Tami Strachan (Photo by Madeline McCurry-Schmidt)

TSRI researchers to co-lead new study of opioid pain medicines

Researchers from Kim Janda's lab at TSRI, along with partners at Scripps Health, have begun enrolling human subjects for an observational study funded by the ALSAM Foundation to look at how the long-term use of opioid pain medicines can affect patients with back pain. The study investigators are interested in monitoring individuals who are at least 20 years old who have had back pain for at least the last six months. They will be searching for differences in immunologic and inflammatory markers between those individuals who have a chronic history of taking oxycodone and hydrocodone for their back pain and those individuals who have not been using these drugs.

“Considering the ongoing issues with prescription opiate abuse, and the potential for transition into substance use disorder or overdose following long-term use of opioids, we are looking to identify factors that may contribute to reduced efficacy of these medications over time, or even development of adverse reactions,” says Cody Wenthur, PhD, a co-investigator for the study. “Fully identifying the risks associated with long-term opioid use is especially important for common conditions like back pain where the frequency of chronic opioid prescription in the population is fairly high, despite recommendations that they be reserved only for patients in whom nondrug and NSAID therapeutic strategies have failed.”

Enrollment for the study is occurring at Scripps Green Hospital, and subjects will be asked to answer a health information questionnaire as well as provide a blood sample. Subjects will receive compensation for their sample, as well as information about non-opioid methods that are available to manage back pain. Some individuals will also be asked to fill out a medication diary and return for a second visit if they fit specific opioid-use criteria. Anyone interested in getting more information or enrolling in the study should contact the study coordinator at 858-678-6084.

Dixon Lecture featuring Robert Schreiber scheduled for Feb. 6

The 2018 Frank J. Dixon Memorial Lecture, featuring a presentation by immunologist Robert Schreiber, PhD, will be held at 4 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the Auditorium at TSRI.

Schreiber is the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Immunology, Director of the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs and co-leader of the Tumor Immunology Program of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is renowned for his contributions to our understanding of the role of the immune system in controlling and shaping cancer. His studies focus on elucidating the biochemistry and molecular cell biology of cytokines and defining the role they play in promoting immune responses to cancer. He has been honored with several awards, including the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology, the Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research, the Lloyd J. Old Prize in Cancer Immunology and the Balzan Prize (shared with James Allison). Schreiber is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences (USA), has served on various Scientific Advisory and Editorial Boards and has authored more than 300 research articles. Schreiber will speak on “Cancer neoantigens as targets for natural and therapeutic anti-tumor responses.”

The annual lecture honors Frank Dixon, MD, a pioneering immunologist who for many years led the research division of the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation (predecessor organization to TSRI). He died in 2008 at the age of 87.

For directions and inquiries, please contact vogtadm@scripps.edu.

TSRI hosts 29th Annual Frontiers in Chemistry Symposium Feb. 9

The 29th Annual Frontiers in Chemistry Symposium at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) will present four distinguished speakers covering diverse topics within the molecular sciences from 1 to 5:30 p.m, Friday, Feb. 9.

Symposium speakers and their lectures:

Karen N. Allen, PhD, professor of chemistry and professor of material science and engineering, Boston University, “Form Follows Function: Evolution of Protein Scaffolds for Phosphoryl Group Transfer”
Robert G. Bergman, PhD, Gerald E. K. Branch Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley, “The Application of Physical Organic Methods to the Investigation of Organometallic Reaction Mechanisms: A Nostalgia Trip Through Organometallic Chemistry of the Late 20th Century”
Shinji Murai, PhD, professor, Nara Institute of Science & Technology, Japan, “C-H Functionalization. Early Days and Recent Advances”
John C. Martin, PhD, executive chairman, Gilead Sciences, Inc., “Reflections on the Impact of Nucleotide Antiviral Drugs”

Open to the public, the symposium enables TSRI faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and neighboring scientists to hear from some of the world’s best researchers. Since 1990, the TSRI Department of Chemistry has hosted 114 lectures by 100 distinguished scientists, including 13 Nobel laureates.

Sponsors include Abbvie, Abide Therapeutics, ActivX, Achaogen, Alkermes, Arcus Biosciences, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Genentech, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, Incyte, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, Merck, Lilly, Millipore Sigma, Pfizer and Wuxi AppTech.

Admission is free, attendance is limited to 300. Directions to the event, which will be held at The Auditorium at TSRI, and parking details are available at the symposium website or by contacting Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn at mshinn@scripps.edu or chemsem@scripps.edu.

TSRI to present the Bernard Fields Lectures Feb. 13

The TSRI California community is invited to attend the 2018 Bernard Fields Lectures on Microbial Pathogenesis from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 13, in the Committee Lecture Hall, Skaggs Institute/Molecular Biology Building.

Stephen Goff, PhD, Higgins Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Columbia University, will present “Transcriptional Silencing of Retroviral DNAs in Embryonic Cells.”

Michael Diamond, MD, PhD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Molecular Microbiology, Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine, will present “New Insights into Pathogenesis by Emerging RNA Viruses.”

The event will be hosted by TSRI Professor Michael B.A. Oldstone, MD. A reception will follow the lecture in the TSRI Faculty Club. The lecture series is sponsored by the Bernard Fields Memorial Lecture Fund, The Ray A. and Robert L. Kroc Lecture Fund and the Pathogenesis Affinity Group.

David Nemazee to present Faculty Lecture on Feb. 14

David Nemazee, PhD, TSRI professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, will continue the Faculty Lecture Series on Wednesday, Feb. 14, with a presentation, “Phospholipase D3 and D4: new players in innate immunity and nucleic acid sensing.”

The lecture begins at 4 p.m. in The Committee Lecture Hall in the Skaggs/Molecular Biology Building (MBB2N), followed by a reception in the Beckman Building first-floor galleria.

For further information, see the Faculty Lecture Series webpage. The series is supported by an endowment from the Cochrane-Cartan families, established by TSRI Professor Emeritus Charles G. Cochrane.

Presidential Lecture to be held Feb. 16

Join visiting Nobel laureate Roderick MacKinnon, MD, of The Rockefeller University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, for a special Presidential Lecture on Feb. 16. MacKinnon will present “Regulation of Ion Channel Gating.” The lecture will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. at The Auditorium at TSRI and is open to the public. The lecture will be hosted by TSRI Professor Ardem Patapoutian, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

CA Biosafety Committee meeting materials due March 2

To receive consideration at the next TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety by Friday, March 2, via email to rachellv@scripps.edu. The meeting will be held from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 14 in Building 3301, P2 conference room.

CA Onsite Clinic scheduled for March 7

The next onsite immunization clinic on the California campus will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m., Wednesday, March 7 in the Hazen Theory building, rooms 203/205. 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

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Wendy Havran, PhD, professor at TSRI (Photo by Biomedical Graphics)

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David Nemazee, PhD, professor at TSRI (Photo by Mark Dastrup)

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