|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
This month, we have the exciting news that Salk scientists including Joe Ecker and Ed Callaway, along with Margarita Behrens, Xin Jin and Kuo-Fen Lee, will lead a $25 million, multi-institution, five-year initiative to develop an atlas of brain cell types. Ron Evans was also awarded $2.5
million by Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) as part of a multi-institution team to conduct clinical studies to open up a new avenue for immunotherapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
|
| |
|
In scientific news, Nicola Allen and Kuo-Fen Lee made headlines with their research in cellular connections in the brain and pain sensory neurons.
|
| |
Deserved recognition also goes to Eiman Azim, Geoff Wahl, Inder Verma and Tony Zhang for recent awards. Not to be outdone, Salk's newly restored teak windows earned two top awards from the California Preservation Foundation.
|
| |
Around the Institute, Salk presented its first Women & Science Design and Discovery Fashion Showcase, and the fifth season of the Science & Music Series is officially underway. In addition, I'm pleased to report that the Institute has recorded a banner fundraising year, with revenues having increased to $134 million from $118 million the previous fiscal year, a 13.5 percent increase.
|
| |
| Please read on for more Institute news. |
| |
| Yours in Discovery, |
| |
 |
| Elizabeth Blackburn |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Salk scientists lead $25 million initiative to develop atlas of brain cell types
|
| |
|
From left: Joseph Ecker, Kuo-Fen Lee, Ed Callaway, Margarita Behrens and Xin Jin
|
Salk Institute scientists will lead a multimillion-dollar, five-year initiative to revolutionize our understanding of the human brain by systematically identifying and cataloging cell types across the mammalian brain, the National Institutes of Health has announced. The effort, which is part of the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative®, will be co-led by Salk Professors
Joseph Ecker and
Ed Callaway. Researchers from USC and UC San Diego will also participate in the collaboration.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Ronald Evans and his lab have been awarded $2.5 million by Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) as part of a multi-institution team to conduct clinical studies to open up a new avenue for immunotherapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. While the cancer normally excludes immune T-cells, the Evans lab discovered that modified vitamin D reprograms the cancer environment in a way that may allow an immunotherapy drug to invade and destroy the tumor.
The award of $2.5 million over three years is part of SU2C Catalyst®, which uses "funding and materials from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostic and medical devices industries to accelerate research on cancer prevention, detection and treatment," according to SU2C. The award is supported by the pharmaceutical company Merck, which is providing funding and the immunotherapy drug Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) for the clinical trial.
|
|
|
|
|
Nicola Allen's lab has discovered that brain cells called astrocytes initiate communication between pairs of neurons early in development by inducing specific changes in both members of the pair. The work, published in
Neuron on October 11, 2017, has important implications for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, ADHD and schizophrenia that are thought to result at least partly from faulty communication between neurons.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Busybody protein may get on your nerves, but that's a good thing
|
| |
|
|
Sensory neurons regulate how we recognize pain, touch, and the movement and position of our own bodies, but the field of neuroscience is just beginning to unravel this circuitry. Researchers in the lab of Kuo-Fen Lee showed how a protein called p75 is critical in the development of pain sensory neurons, which could one day have implications for treating neurological disorders as well as trauma such as spinal cord injury.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Salk neurobiologist receives NIH Director's New Innovator Award
Assistant Professor Eiman Azim has been named an NIH Director's New Innovator for 2017 as part of the National Institutes of Health's High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program. The award provides $1.5 million for a 5-year project during which Azim will explore how the nervous system controls dexterous movements.
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Salk cancer researcher receives Komen grant
Professor Geoffrey Wahl is the recipient of a 2017 Susan G. Komen grant to study aggressive and metastatic cancer in the hopes of finding a cure.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Inder Verma honored by American Cancer Society
Professor
Inder Verma was named one of the ACS "Giants of Science" and honored with a Triumph Award at an event that included business, civic and philanthropic leaders uniting to fund research and celebrate life-saving work.
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Salk Scientist wins imaging award |
|
 |
| |
| Light Microscopy Specialist Tong Zhang, of the Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Core, won an Image of Distinction award in the 2017 Nikon Small World competition, which showcases "the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope." |
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
Salk garners statewide preservation awards
|
| |
|
The California Preservation Foundation awarded Salk top honors for the preservation of its teak window systems and a newly established endowment for future conservation projects.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| Institute revenues increase over previous fiscal year |
| |
| Salk's total revenues in fiscal year 2017 rose to $134 million from $118 million the previous fiscal year, a 13.5 percent increase. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| The Salk Institute has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $313,840 for a seed-planting robot for Professor Wolfgang Busch's root system research in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Lab. In the first official week of the campaign, 61 supporters have signed up and donated. Join us today! |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Padres Pedal the Cause |
| |
|
Salk's Cancer Center cycling group is all set to suit up and put their pedals to the metal for the annual Padres Pedal the Cause November 11-12. Each rider on Team Salk Cancer Center has pledged to raise funds for cancer research conducted locally.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Salk Science & Music Series |
|
 |
| |
Violinist Alena Baeva and pianist Vadym Kholodenko ushered in the fifth season of the Salk Science & Music Series on October 22 in the Conrad Prebys Auditorium. The next concert, featuring pianist Dasol Kim and a scientific talk by Professor Satchidananda Panda, is December 3. Upcoming concerts:
- December 3, 2017 - Pianist Dasol Kim with Professor Satchidananda Panda
- February 4, 2018 - Pianist Karen Joy Davis, violinist Asi Matathias and cellist Gabriel Schwabe with Associate Professor Tatyana Sharpee
- April 8, 2018 - Pianist Zlata Chochieva with Assistant Professor Edward Stites
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Women & Science event showcases science by design |
| |
Gowns inspired by scientific images and conceived by aspiring fashion designers were modeled October 4 during the Salk Women & Science Design and Discovery Fashion Showcase. More than 300 people attended the inaugural event, a collaboration of Salk's Women & Science and San Diego Mesa College's Fashion Design programs, intended to raise funds for biological research. Voting for favorite garment and other categories is open through October 31.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Wall art |
| |
|
The Institute and its designer, master architect Louis Kahn, are the subject of the latest installation in the Murals of La Jolla public art project.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Inside Salk garners Folio accolades
|
| |
Inside Salk, the Institute's thrice-yearly magazine, took first place awards for email, online feature design and video, as well as nine Honorable Mentions, at the annual media and marketing Folio Awards.
|
|
|
|
|
| Salk science wallpaper images |
|
Looking for a unique background image for your computer, iPad or phone?
Salk scientists discovered that a microprotein helps cells choose the best path to repair genes and avoid cancer. Shown below are chromosomes (red) with telomeres (green).
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
