DEM Monthly Snapshot

Monthly Snapshot

February 2023 | Edited by: Meredith Lew Tan

DEM Welcomes Fonda Smith

We are thrilled to announce Ms. Fonda Smith as our new Division Manager for Experimental Medicine. Fonda received her bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from San Francisco State University. She joined the UCSF Memory and Aging Center in 2017 and served as the center’s operations manager. In this role, Fonda provided operational oversight for the center and partnered with the executive leadership to establish center goals and objectives. Through this work, Fonda led activities that fostered awareness, accountability, education, transparency and advancement of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and accessibility. In recognition of her leadership and contributions to UCSF, Fonda received the prestigious Holly Smith Award in 2022.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Fonda grew up in poverty and was impacted by the social justice issues such as mass incarceration and gentrification that continuously plague under-served communities of color. She began working in the nonprofit sector at a very early age to empower communities of color and help those in need. She immediately made it her life’s mission to uplift and amplify the voices of those in underserved communities, advocating for positive social justice for all. During the summer of the second civil rights movement in 2020, she was instrumental in using her passion, leadership and community focus to establish the Memory and Aging Center’s Coalition on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (CODE) and the Black Leadership Advisory Council (BLAC).

Announcements

February is Black History Month

Throughout the month of February, UC is celebrating Black History Month - an official recognition of the incredible and lasting achievements of the Black community. Use the links below to see the events at UCSF, SFDPH, and UC-wide.

Food and drinks are permitted when at 50% occupancy staff are present together in in-door, non-clinical areas. Masking is still required on-site.

UCSF COVID-19 Policy Updates

Food and drinks are permitted when at 50% occupancy staff are present together in in-door, non-clinical areas. Masking is still required on-site.

March DOMINOs Events

3/1 - 6 PM

Trivia and Dinner at Anchor Brewing with Ashley Cristal - Specialist, Division of Cardiology, UCSF Health

3/7 at 6 PM -

Discovering Your Values and Dinner with Dawn Gross - Physician, Division of Palliative Medicine, UCSF Health

3/9 at 11:30 AM-

Brunch at Kitchen Story with Amy Yun - PM, Chair's Office, DOM

3/16 at 7 PM-

Enjoy Venezuelan Food at Arepas with Legna Betancourt - Clinical Research Supervisor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Sleep Medicine, UCSF Health

3/28 at 6:30 PM -

Warriors vs Pelicans with Peter Chin-Hong - Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCSF Health and Brian Schwartz - Associate Chair of Education, DOM

(priority for DOM trainees)

3/29 at 6:30 PM -

Ping Pong and Dinner at SPIN with John Fahy and Prescott Woodruff - Professors, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Sleep Medicine, UCSF Health

Click here for additional information.

Featured Tweet

Staffing Updates

Departures

Xavier Farias - Lab Assistant - Admin
Yuxiang Chen - Postdoc - Javid
Tessa Dickson - SRA - Javid

Arrivals

Fonda Smith - Division Manager - Admin
Fatoumatta Darboe - Postdoc. -Suliman

Current Openings

Specialist - CIL
Lab Assistant 3 - DEM
Translational Research Faculty - DEM
Postdoc (Genome Engineering) - Rutishauser Lab
Postdoc (ImmunoX Collab)- Rutishauser Lab
Postdoc - Rutishauser Lab
Professional Researcher - Rutishauser Lab

Previous Snapshot

Awards and Publications

Sara Suliman was interviewed by the prestigious Journal of Experimental Medicine on her multiple approaches to identify candidate Tuberculosis risk pathways and to determine their role in TB progression.

Committee Updates

Quality of Life Committee

The DEM will be having Pi Day on 3/14 - Details TBA

Call for Donations to Pancake Tuesday

We hope you have been enjoying the return of Pancake Tuesday! Just a friendly reminder that the supplies are entirely donation-driven so if you are able, please donate using the black lock box in the 5th floor kitchen or Venmo, Sophie Samiee (@sophiesss). The supplies have cost ~$25/month, so even $1 from everyone would go a long way!

We would hate to run out of supplies and have to stop.

Lab Managers

There is a dry ice survey for the ZRAB to determine space for dry ice. Vanessa is inquiring how many lbs of dry ice each lab uses to ship/week.

If anyone is interested in joining the Achievement Awards committee, contact Vanessa.

Tehe is a volunteer group for orientation to the ZRAB. If anyone is interested in conducting tours, contact Vanessa.

For BSL2* users, Vanessa sent drawings of the BSL2* equipment placement for the ZRAB. Please provide Vanessa with feedback.

With Xavier's departure, thank you to all who are helping with lab assistant tasks. A schedule will be made to organize the tasks.