TED Audacious
The Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative to combat climate change using plants, led by Professor  Joanne Chory will receive funding of more than $35 million from over 10 individuals and organizations through The Audacious Project, a highly competitive program housed at the nonprofit TED. The collective commitments represent one of the largest gifts to a single project in the Institute’s history.

The Harnessing Plants Initiative Leadership Team—which includes Salk faculty  Wolfgang Busch , Joanne Chory,   Joseph Ecker ,  Julie Law  and  Joseph Noel —aims to use a combination of cutting-edge technologies to turbocharge plants’ ability to capture and store larger amounts of carbon from the atmosphere in their roots and keep it buried in the ground for hundreds of years.
New study targets Achilles' heel of pancreatic cancer, with promising results

A new study led by Professor Tony Hunter uncovers the role of a signaling protein called LIF that may be the Achilles’ heel of pancreatic cancer. The findings, published in Nature , show that LIF conveys stimulatory signals to tumor cells to drive pancreatic cancer development and progression. Blocking LIF's communication slows tumor progression and improves the results of chemotherapy.
New role for a driver of metastatic cancers
Metastatic cancers are notoriously difficult to treat and often deadly. The the lab of Professor Katherine Jones has revealed a new role for the CDK12 protein with implications for treating a subset of metastatic cancers that contain mutations in the CDK12 gene. Chemical inhibitors of CDK12 could be used to make the cancer more easily treated by chemotherapy drugs, or more responsive to immunotherapy. The findings were published in Genes & Development .
Editing of RNA may play a role in chloroplast-to-nucleus communication
How will plants fare in a three-degree-warmer world? When experiencing stress or damage, plants use cellular communication to regulate gene expression and help them cope. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) , Professor Joanne Chory ’s lab found that GUN1—a gene that integrates numerous chloroplast-to-nucleus signaling pathways—also plays an important role in how proteins are made in damaged chloroplasts, providing new insights into how plants respond to stress.
Salk promotes three leading scientists in the fields of infectious disease, neurobiology and biological networks
Three Salk Institute faculty members have been promoted after the latest round of faculty reviews determined they are scientific leaders who have made original, innovative and notable contributions to biological research. Janelle Ayres  and  Tatyana Sharpee  have each been promoted to the rank of full professor and  Saket Navlakha  has been promoted to associate professor. The promotions were based on recommendations by Salk faculty and nonresident fellows, and approved by President Rusty Gage and the Institute’s Board of Trustees on April 12, 2019.
Salk professor Kay Tye honored with endowed chair
Salk Professor Kay Tye has been recognized for her contributions and dedication to advancing science through research by being named to the Wylie Vale Chair. As a member of the Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, she uses a wide variety of cutting-edge techniques to better understand the brain’s circuitry underlying emotion and motivation.
Salk mourns the passing of Nobel Laureate and Salk Distinguished Professor Emeritus Sydney Brenner
Nobel Laureate and Salk Distinguished Professor Emeritus  Sydney Brenner  passed away on April 5, 2019, in Singapore at the age of 92. Over the course of six decades, Brenner shaped the modern understanding of the genetic code.
Click below for select media coverage:
Postdoctoral Fellow Sara Priego Moreno is a 2020 recipient of an Early Career Research Award
Sara Priego Moreno of the Karlseder lab was awarded a 2020 Early Career Research Award by the Biochemical Society. She is invited to present a lecture, submit an article and will receive £1000 prize money along with a medal.
Postdoctoral Fellow Nancy Padilla receives a Ford Foundation Fellowship
Nancy Padilla of the Tye lab received a 2019 Ford Foundation fellowship award. Padilla will attend the Conference of Ford Fellows, a national conference of scholars committed to diversifying the professoriate and using diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.
Inside Salk
The spring issue of Inside Salk lands in mailboxes soon, highlighting Salk’s advancements in aging research, an interview with Professor Gerald Shadel and other profiles, discoveries and news from around the Institute.

Interested in getting on our mailing list to receive the print version of Inside Salk ?
The issue is available online here:
Rusty Gage ’s latest study on SSRIs covered by Newsweek:
An image from Kuo-Fen Lee ’s recent publication featured on Biomedical Picture of the Day:
Satchin Panda discusses time-restricted eating with the American Heart Association:
Reuben Shaw ’s research on metabolism regulator AMPK covered by  Natural History  magazine:
Symphony at Salk
SAVE THE DATE
Saturday, August 24, 2019

Please join us for a spectacular evening of music, featuring the sensational San Diego Symphony and special guest artist Tony Award-winner Laura Benanti. Experience warm camaraderie, gourmet food and drink, a breathtaking sunset and refreshing ocean breezes, all against the backdrop of one of the world’s most striking architectural masterpieces. Symphony at Salk is the cultural event of the summer and a chance to share an extraordinary experience with friends and colleagues.

Tickets go on sale June 24, 2019.
Salk wallpaper images

Looking for a unique background image for your computer, iPad or phone?

This month's image comes from a recent press release from Salk scientists in Tony Hunter 's lab who discovered a potential therapeutic target for deadly cancer.
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