SBP OETIS Chronicle FY2018 Q4

OETIS Chronicle

In this issue: ‣ GSBS Annual Retreat ‣ New Interactive Map of SBP Foreign Nationals ‣ OETIS Presents at NPA Conference ‣ The Howling Coyote & More!

Diversity by the numbers: Foreign students, scholars, and staff at SBP

By Doug Broadhurst, M.A. | Manager, International Services & Susie Bolor | Senior International Advisor Ever wonder how many different countries are represented at SBP and where your fellow international students and researchers come from? Check out the new “Foreign National Data & Statistics” link and interactive map under International Services at: http://intranet/academicsupport/otas/international/imigration-data-stats/Pages/default.aspx

The new page, developed by International Services, provides a list of the different countries represented at SBP from 2014 to 2018, the total number of scholars from each country, the positions that those scholars held, and the types of visas they were sponsored on, as well as their countries of origin and primary visa categories. For previous years, the interactive map also lists the total number of female and male scholars the Institute has sponsored.

Going forward the interactive map will be updated quarterly so check back to see who is represented at SBP!

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Newly expanded professional development event at the GSBS retreat

By Andrew Bankston, Ph.D. | Program Manager, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) Our 9th Annual Graduate School Retreat kicked off with a new event this year: a full day of career and professional development. As part of continuing efforts to facilitate student career planning, students were provided with tools and strategies for effective career exploration and a chance to put that new knowledge into practice by networking with professionals from five fields of interest to the students.

Josh Henkin, Ph.D. (Founder, STEM Career Services) and Diane Klotz, Ph.D. (Director, OETIS) co-presented an interactive workshop on strategic career planning. The workshop was designed for students to gain an understanding of the vast array of careers available to them, help them consider their professional values and interests in identifying a career path, and start designing their individualized career planning approach. Students were provided with tools for selfassessment and career exploration and led through exercises to assess their values and interests. The students also learned about specific career gateway opportunities such as fellowships and internships that can aid the transition into specific career paths.

At the GSBS Annual Retreat Career Event, Diane Klotz, Ph.D. (Director, OETIS) and Josh Henkin, Ph.D. (Founder, STEM Career Services) presented an interactive workshop on strategic career planning.

Based on survey results, the students had the opportunity to speak with local San Diego professionals from the top five career tracks that they identified: research careers in the biotech industry, research careers in the pharmaceutical industry, clinical research careers, medical science liaison positions, and entrepreneurial careers in biomedicine. We are grateful to the speakers who took significant time out of their schedules to speak with the students and share their professional experiences: • • • • • • • • • • •

Matt Cross, Ph.D. | Teva Pharmaceuticals Brendan Eckelman, Ph.D. | Inhibrx Tufan Gokirmak, Ph.D. | ThermoFisher Scientific Natalia Gruzdeva, Ph.D., CCRA | Parexel Heather Handl, Ph.D. | Exelixis Josh Henkin, Ph.D. | STEM Career Services Christopher Larson, Ph.D. | SBP Aman Mann, Ph.D. | AivoCode Emily Meadows, Ph.D. | Astellas Pharma Fiona Scott, Ph.D. | Neurocrine Biosciences Paula Southwick, Ph.D., CCRA, RAC | Beckman Coulter

In a “speed-networking” format, the students spent fifteen minutes at each table speaking with the professionals before moving on to the next career path table. (See right and page 3 for photos from this day-long event.) The day ended with a networking happy hour where the students and professionals could continue their conversations and hopefully make fruitful connections that continued beyond the retreat!

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Graduate students engaged in conversation with Ph.D. professionals from 5 different career tracks (research careers in the biotech industry, research careers in the pharmaceutical industry, clinical research careers, medical science liaison positions, and entrepreneurial careers in biomedicine) to learn about their jobs and how they leveraged their biomedical education and training.

OETIS makes an impact on postdoctoral training at the national level

By Nisha Cavanaugh, Ph.D. | Manager, Postdoctoral & Academic Programs & Diane Klotz, Ph.D. | Director, Office of Education, Training, and International Services)

Opening Remarks at 16th Annual National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) Meeting

The 16th Annual National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) Meeting was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 4-6, 2018. It’s the largest national conference and networking event dedicated to the postdoctoral community, in which institutions, organizations, and postdocs share best practices and policies committed to enhancing postdoctoral training. This year, more than 400 postdocs, postdoc administrators, faculty, and others involved with postdoctoral training gathered for this 3-day conference.

At the annual meeting, OETIS team members Diane Klotz, Ph.D. and Nisha Cavanaugh, Ph.D. co-presented several novel workshops and a poster towards sharing ideas and programs that have been successfully implemented at SBP and providing suggestions to other institutions. Below is a list of the presentations and major objectives of each.

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“myPDO session: Career Planning for Us” (workshop co-presented by D. Klotz) In this session, Diane and NPA colleagues led a professional development workshop for postdoc office administrators to consider how they can expand their skills, interests, and values to enhance their job satisfaction and growth.

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Leveraged our experience in working with grad students and postdocs to bring individual development planning to career development professionals

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Helped participants understand that career satisfaction is complex and depends on many factors that evolve over the course of one’s career

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Led the participants through exercises to identify their career interests and values … what they like/want to do and what type of environment and work is important to them

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Explored career path options for career development professionals and what is required for growth and competence in various career paths

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Communicated the importance of regularly assessing one’s level of career satisfaction with respect to whether their interests and values are being fulfilled

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Outcome: participants left with an outline of their interests and values, and which ones are currently being fulfilled, as well as a list of options to investigate further towards their own career progression

Diane Klotz, Ph.D. and NPA colleagues co-facilitated an interactive workshop for career development professionals

“Think Beyond Your Skill Set and Identify Your Unique Value” (workshop co-presented by D. Klotz & N. Cavanaugh) In this session, Diane and Nisha provided a framework for postdocs to identify their priorities and strengths towards understanding the unique value they bring to an organization or team.

Diane Klotz, Ph.D. & Nisha Cavanaugh, Ph.D. designed and facilitated a novel workshop for postdocs to identify their priorities and strengths towards understanding the unique value they bring to an organization or team.

OETIS Chronicle

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Led participants through processes to identify their inherent work style, priorities, preferences, and talents

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Provided participants with an understanding of how various styles uniquely contribute to a team/workplace

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Guided participants through exercises to help them better communicate the unique value and talents they bring to their team/organization

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Outcome: participants developed a personal “value statement” that articulates the value they bring to their team/organization through their inherent priorities and approach to their work, and how they uniquely use their talents to accomplish this

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“Engaging Faculty to Advance Postdoctoral Career Success” (workshop co-presented by N. Cavanaugh) In this session, Nisha co-facilitated a discussion among postdoc administrators, faculty, and postdocs on the roles that faculty and postdoc offices play in enhancing the postdoctoral training experience. The session identified ways in which institutions can effectively engage faculty and also increase their awareness of what services and resources postdoc offices provide for their postdocs.

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Leveraged our experience in working with postdocs to discuss the key roles that postdoc offices and faculty play in postdoctoral training

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Facilitated discussion among participants on areas where postdoc offices and faculty can work independently and areas where collaborations/partnerships can be forged

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Shared productive strategies that have worked at our respective institutions

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Outcome: Participants identified and shared ways in which faculty and postdoc offices can partner in advancing postdoctoral career success

Nisha Cavanaugh, Ph.D. and an NPA colleague co-facilitated a discussion session with postdoc administrators, faculty, and postdocs on the roles that faculty and postdoc offices play in advancing postdoctoral training

“Developing Effective Scientific Leaders: A Leadership Development Program at SBP” (poster co-presented by N. Cavanaugh & D. Klotz) This poster described the continued evolution and expansion of the Torrey Pines Leadership Development Program at SBP since 2016 and its effectiveness based on the foundation of a cohort model.

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Presented novel year-long comprehensive leadership development program for early career Ph.D.s, including graduate students, postdocs, and staff scientists

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Shared outcomes and evaluation metrics of the program in its inaugural year and the impact the program has had on the cohort six months and one year after the program’s completion

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Outcomes: Described ways in which the program has expanded in its second year and provided suggestions for institutions to implement similar programs for their postdocs

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Nisha Cavanaugh, Ph.D. and Diane Klotz, Ph.D. presented a poster on the comprehensive leadership development program offered at SBP to all postdocs on the Torrey Pines Mesa.

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Highlights from the GSBS Annual Retreat

By Mary Bradley, M.L.A. | Manager, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences The 9th Annual Graduate School Retreat was held May 17-18, 2018 at Lakehouse Hotel and Resort in San Marcos. This year’s theme was “Beyond the Bench: What is the Future of Your Findings?” William C. Mobley, M.D., Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Neurosciences Initiatives in the Department of Neurosciences at UC San Diego gave the keynote speech. His talk was titled “Translating Basic Science Observations to Treatments in Down Syndrome.”

The 25 students in attendance each gave 15-minute presentations on their research and were evaluated by their peers and attending faculty. Each year, the Howling Coyote Award is given for the Best Talk, as evaluated by their fellow students.

Congratulations to this year’s winner, Amir Razai (Salvesen lab)! In addition to presenting and sharing their scientific work, students enjoyed networking with Dr. Mobley, the graduate school deans, faculty, and fellow graduate students.

Amir Razai (graduate student in Professor Guy Salvesen’s lab) won the Howling Coyote Award for Best Talk at the GSBS Retreat.

Faculty and Students at the 2018 Annual Graduate School Retreat

Many thanks to the student Retreat Organizers, Katja Birker & Joe Fromm! In addition to helping the Graduate Office to organize the retreat, they planned a group social outing including dinner and bowling.

On the day prior to the retreat, the SBP graduate students participated in a career and professional development activities, as described on page 2 of the OETIS Chronicle.

We thank Genentech and Pfizer for their generous contributions in helping make this year’s retreat possible!

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Congratulations to our recent Ph.D. graduates!

Francesca Boscolo Sesillo, Ph.D. Thesis Title: Role of p53 in balancing self-renewal, Myogenic commitment, and cellular transformation of muscle stem cells Mentor: Dr. Alessandra Sacco Graduated April 16, 2018 Francesca was born and raised by her amazing parents in a small town by the Adriatic Sea of Italy, Chioggia. She pursued scientific studies during high school and then enrolled at Universita’ di Bologna to study Biotechnology, where she graduated with a Master of Science in 2006. In 2007, Francesca moved to the United States where she started her master’s program in Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, and Stem Cells Technology at California State University Channel Islands. In 2009, she won a scholarship that brought her to San Diego to join Jeanne Loring and Louise Laurent’s laboratories. This experience profoundly enriched Francesca, helping her to realize that one more step was necessary to finally fulfill her scientific career.

In 2012, she joined the SBP’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences under the mentorship of Dr. Alessandra Sacco. Here she began studying muscle stem cells and their role in regulating muscle regeneration and chronic disease. In addition to expanding her scientific views, as a graduate student, Francesca also mentored multiple students and discovered her passion for teaching.

In her free time, Francesca likes to bake bread, cakes, and cookies and she also loves exploring San Diego both outdoors and indoors. Whenever she gets a chance, she travels back to Italy to visit family.

Marco Maruggi, Ph.D. Thesis Title: Elucidating the Mechanisms Underlying Resistance to Targeted Therapy in Pancreatic Cancer Mentor: Dr. Garth Powis Graduated May 25, 2018

Marco was born and spent the first part of his youth in Italy, moving to San Diego in 2002. He always showed an interest for the sciences, initially seeking to pursue a career as an engineer, but eventually turning towards biology after a short laboratory internship in high school. Combining his two interests, he joined UCSD as an undergraduate in biomedical engineering, working with Dr. Shyni Varghese on tissue remodeling and muscular dystrophy. He eventually transitioned to an industry internship at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, working with Dr. Tim Neuberger on the automated characterization of bronchial epithelial cells in patients with cystic fibrosis, eventually using the work as the basis of a Master’s degree in biomedical engineering through UCSD. Following Dr. Neuberger’s advice, Marco pursued more training in preclinical target identification work by joining the SBP graduate program. (continued on page 8)

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At SBP, Marco worked with Dr. Garth Powis on several projects focused on understanding the mechanisms that tumors use to evade targeted therapy. Specifically, he did so by probing the effect of mutagenesis-induced tumor evolution, especially as mediated by the hypoxic microenvironment of tumors. In a parallel project, Marco elucidated the mechanism underlying resistance to inhibition of a key survival pathway in hypoxia, namely the promotion of angiogenesis by HIF1A. In doing so, he identified a novel, non-metabolic role for glycogen in driving a pro-inflammatory phenotype that supports tumor survival.

Following graduation, Marco will continue to work in the laboratory of Dr. Garth Powis, focusing on a new clinical project to characterize the sequential evolution of non-small cell lung cancer patients to develop resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibition.

In his free time, Marco is either working on shaving seconds off his climbing times on the bike or improving his bread dough recipes.

OETIS recognizes SBP trainee accomplishments  Katja Birker (SBP Graduate Student in Dr. Rolf Bodmer’s lab) received a 2018 Predoctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association for her project titled “Probing Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome candidate genes in the Drosophila heart.”  Clara Guida, Ph.D. (Postdoctoral Associate in Dr. Rolf Bodmer’s lab) received a 2018 Postdoctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association for her project titled “ ‘Heart-breaking’ parental nutritional habits: epigenetic mechanisms underlying inherited lipotoxic cardiomyopathy.”  Ee Phie Tan, Ph.D. (Postdoctoral Associate in Dr. Malene Hansen’s lab) received a 2018 Postdoctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association for her project titled “Probing Mechanisms of Lipid Clearance by Autophagy Relevant to Aging.”

Read more: https://sbpdiscovery.org/news/beaker-blog/sbp-women-awarded-american-heart-association-fellowships

 Monica Gonzalez Ramirez, Ph.D. (recently defended her Ph.D. from SBP GSBS in Dr. Guy Salvesen’s lab) received an IRACDA (Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award) Postdoctoral Fellowship at UCSD. She will join Dr. Alexandra Newton’s lab this Fall.  Usue Etxaniz Irigoien, Ph.D. (Postdoctoral Associate in Dr. Lorenzo Puri’s lab) received the 2018 Fishman Fund Fellowship in support of her research on understanding fibro-adipogenic progenitor muscle cells towards finding treatments for disorders such as muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Read more: https://sbpdiscovery.org/news/beaker-blog/usue-etxaniz-irigoien-awarded-fishman-fund-fellowship

Share your research and career accomplishments with us! Email OETIS@SBP.edu and tell us your exciting news!

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National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week (Sept. 17 – 21, 2018) National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week (NPAW) is a week for recognizing the scientific contributions that postdocs make to the research enterprise. The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) has celebrated this occasion since 2009 and institutions across the United States, Canada, and India have participated. SBP-SN & OETIS have scheduled several events throughout the week of September 17-21, 2018. The agenda is below; stay tuned for further details!

Monday, Sept. 17: Perky Beans Coffee & Smoothie Cart Thursday, Sept. 20: Annual Postdoc Symposium • Abstract submission extended deadline (for Podium Talks): August 6th, 2018 (Monday) at midnight • Abstract Submission form can be accessed HERE • Symposium registration link is here: https://17thannualsbppostdocsymposium.eventbrite.com

Friday, Sept. 21: Annual Postdoc Appreciation BBQ Lunch Tuesday, Sept. 25: Top 10 Ways to Succeed as a Postdoc (workshop) Thursday, Sept. 27: CV/resume Review Session Friday, Sept. 28: Sunrise Science Lecture Series featuring: Koen Galenkamp, Ph.D. | Commisso lab Ee Phie Tan, Ph.D. | Hansen lab Zhijie Xia, Ph.D. | Freeze lab We will also have “I’m Awesome!” & “You’re Welcome” & “I heart/appreciate my Postdoc” stickers too!

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POSTDOCS & STUDENTS AS OF JULY 11, 2018 POSTDOCS = 142 Total per location Postdoc Associates Postdoc Associates, Sr. Postdoc Fellows

La Jolla

Lake Nona

138 115 6 17

4 4 0 0

La Jolla

Lake Nona

47 25 22

0 0 0

GRADUATE STUDENTS = 47 Total per location Graduate Students, SBP Graduate Students, External

Postdoc & Student Counts for FY2018 Q4

HIRES BY QUARTER: APRIL – JUNE 2018 POSTDOCS = 5 Total per location Postdoc Associates Postdoc Associates, Sr. Postdoc Fellows

La Jolla

Lake Nona

5 4 0 1

0 0 0 0

La Jolla

Lake Nona

9 1 8

0 0 0

GRADUATE STUDENTS = 9 Total per location Graduate Students, SBP Graduate Students, External

TERMS BY QUARTER: APRIL - JUNE 2018 POSTDOCS = 16 Total per location Postdoc Associates Postdoc Associates, Sr. Postdoc Fellows

La Jolla

Lake Nona

9 7 2 0

7 6 0 1

La Jolla

Lake Nona

4 2 2

0 0 0

Coming in the next issue…

• Stories from NPAW • Profiles of GSBS 1st year Students • 2 Week Preuss Summer Research Program

GRADUATE STUDENTS = 4 Total per location Grad Students, SBP Grad Students, External

POSTDOC IDP JULY 1, 2017 – JUNE 30, 2018 ANNUAL IDP SENT = 124 La Jolla

Lake Nona

Total per location PD/PI Participated in the process

112 64 (57%)

12 1 (.08%)

Total per location PD/PI Participated in the process

La Jolla 39 20 (51%)

Lake Nona 2 1 (50%)

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If you would like to contribute content to the next issue, please contact OETIS@SBP.edu

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OďŹƒce of Education, Training, & International Services Sta Diane M. Klotz, Ph.D. Director Ellen Smock Program Coordinator

Education & Training

Nisha A. Cavanaugh, Ph.D. Manager, Postdoctoral & Academic Programs

Mary B. Bradley, M.L.A. Manager, Graduate School

Andrew N. Bankston, Ph.D. Program Manager, Graduate School

International Services

Doug Broadhurst, M.A. Manager, International Services

Susie Bolor Senior International Advisor

Leadership Support Guy Salvesen, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor, Graduate Education

Malene Hansen, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor, Postdoctoral Training

Angelica Gamble-Wong Vice President, Human Resources

SBPdiscovery.org

Please contact OETIS@SBP.edu with any questions or concerns.

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