|
|
 |
October 2018 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Salk mourns the passing of immunology titan Melvin Cohn, PhD, founding fellow of the Salk Institute and a pioneer in the field of gene regulation
|
|
|
Salk Professor
Melvin Cohn, titan of immune system biology and a pioneering researcher in the field of gene regulation, passed away on October 23, 2018, in San Diego, California, at the age of 96. Cohn joined Salk in 1961 as a founding and resident fellow, with his wife and fellow researcher, Suzanne Bourgeois-Cohn, at the personal request of Jonas Salk, discoverer of the first effective polio vaccine. He was named a professor emeritus of Salk in 2011 and made groundbreaking contributions to the fields of gene regulation and immunology.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Protein made by astrocytes enables the brain's maturation and regulates its flexibility
|
|
|
When we're born, our brains have a great deal of flexibility. Having this flexibility to grow and change gives the immature brain the ability to adapt to new experiences and organize its interconnecting web of neural circuits. In a study published in
Neuron, Assistant Professor
Nicola Allen
showed that astrocytes
---
long-overlooked supportive cells in the brain
---
help to enable the brain's plasticity, a new role for astrocytes that was not previously known.
The findings could point to ways to restore connections that have been lost due to aging or trauma.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dannielle Engle, rising star in pancreatic cancer research, to join Salk Institute
|
Credit: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
|
The Salk Institute is honored to welcome Dannielle Engle back to Salk as an assistant professor in the Salk Cancer Center. She is currently a senior fellow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, where she focuses on the early detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer. Engle conducted research in the lab of Salk Professor
Geoffrey Wahl for six years as part of her doctoral program at UC San Diego.
|
|
|
|
Janelle Ayres receives NIH Pioneer Award for novel approaches to infectious disease
|
|
Associate Professor
Janelle Ayres has been awarded a 2018 NIH Director's Pioneer Award by the National Institutes of Health for her innovative research into host-pathogen interactions that promote the health of the host. The highly sought-after grant, which awards $3.5 million in direct costs over five years, "supports scientists with outstanding records of creativity pursuing new research directions to develop pioneering approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Salk team takes pioneering sonogenetics technology to next level
|
|
|
Associate Professor
Sreekanth Chalasani, who pioneered the idea of using ultrasonic waves to stimulate neurons and coined the term "sonogenetics," will participate in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's ElectRx program, aiming to take his lab's work on the emerging technology to the next stage with $750,000 in new funding.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte one of
TIME
magazine's "50 Most Influential People in Health Care" for 2018
|
|
 |
Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte has been named one of
TIME
magazine's 50 most influential people in healthcare for his scientific innovations in addressing the shortage of human organs for transplant. The list, which is curated by TIME's health reporters and editors, recognizes people who changed the state of healthcare in America this year, and bear watching for what they do next.
|
|
|
|
|
Salk awarded grant that will help preserve Louis Kahn-designed concrete facades
|
As part of its Keeping It Modern initiative, the
Getty Foundation has awarded the Salk Institute a $200,000 grant to support the conservation of Salk's celebrated concrete facades. The award is part of more than $1.7 million in architectural conservation grants announced by the foundation in 2018 for 11 significant 20th century buildings.
|
|
|
|
|
Dan Rather interviews the
2018 Laureates of the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, including Salk Associate Professor Janelle Ayres.
|
Harnessing Plants Initiative
Salk scientists describe how the Harnessing Plants Initiative will address climate change using plants.
|
|
|
|
Explore Salk
|
|
|
|
Drop in at Salk on October 27, 2018, for a FREE day of hands-on activities for all ages, demonstrations of cutting-edge technology, science talks and fun for the whole family.
Research booths and kids' activities will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Refreshments will be available for purchase on campus and kids are encouraged to attend wearing science-themed costumes and trick-or-treat at the booths. Visitors will be able to tour the iconic campus and enjoy faculty talks on topics such as Harnessing Plants, The Science of Architecture, Conquering Cancer and The Circadian Clock.
|
|
|
|
Salk Science & Music Series
|
|
|
The sixth season of the Salk Science & Music Series continues on Sunday, December 9, 2018, with a performance by pianist Alessio Bax along with a short scientific talk by Salk Assistant Professor
Graham McVicker. Enjoy a musical program from Marcello, Rachmaninoff, Dallapiccola and Liszt.
Upcoming concerts:
|
|
|
|
Salk Women & Science - Design and Discovery
|
|
View video » |
|
Thank you to everyone who attended this spectacular show of science. Thanks especially to all the scientists who participated and submitted their imagery.
The event was hosted by Salk Professor Clodagh O'Shea with special guest Roxana Velásquez from The San Diego Museum of Art.
|
|
|
|
Pedal the Cause
|
|
|
Padres Pedal the Cause is dedicated to raising money to fund cancer research in San Diego through a one-day cycle/spin/run/walk event at Petco Park on November 17th. Training is in full swing for Team SCC, Salk's Cancer Center cycling group, which is raising funds for cancer research at the Salk Institute and three other local research centers. Join the team for a 5K run/walk or cycling routes from 25 to 100 miles.
|
|
|
Updates to Salk campus visitor policies
|
|
|
Recently, several changes were adopted that may impact visitors to the Salk campus, including changes to our free public architecture tours. The changes were made to help provide additional resources for the Salk Conservation Program, which is an ongoing effort to restore and preserve the architectural integrity of the Institute. The changes include:
- Beginning November 5, the Institute will require all visitors who are not invited guests of Salk faculty and staff to RSVP prior to their visit on the Salk website and pay a fee of $7.50, which go toward the Salk Architectural Preservation Fund.
- Salk donors, and family and friends of Salk faculty and staff, may visit campus without paying a fee by simply informing gate security who they are visiting.
- Free docent-led, daily public tours are no longer offered; however, self-guided tours will still be available. All guests will be provided with an architectural self-tour handout.
- Docent-led private tours will continue and can be scheduled on the Salk website.
The decision to adopt an architecture preservation fee for entry to the campus was made after serious consideration. The wear and tear of 40,000 visitors per year on the iconic campus is significant and the fee will enable Salk to support and protect its architectural heritage. The fees collected will be used to support architectural preservation and restoration projects around campus, such as the concrete restoration currently taking place on the facades of the west buildings.
|
|
|
|
Salk science wallpaper images
|
|
Looking for a unique background image for your computer, iPad or phone?
This month's image
is the Salk Women & Science Design and Discovery contest winner! The image is credited to Tong Zhang, PhD, and Uri Manor, PhD, in the
Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Core.
This image shows a one-millimeter mouse brain sectio
n from work that helps
scientists understand the relationship between different types of brain cells and map the connections between neurons in disparate brain regions. The neurons were engineered to express tdTomato, a red fluorescent protein derived from coral.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
