OETIS Chronicle FY2022 Q4

Joseph Fromm, Ph.D. Mallika Iyer, Ph.D.

Diversity,Equity,andInclusion

InauguralPrideFlagRaisingCeremony

by Angelica Rocha, Ph.D.

Sanford Burnham Prebys’ Education and Training (E&T) DEI Committee hosted an Inaugural Pride Flag Raising Ceremony on June 10th, 2022 in honor of Pride Month Beyond a symbolic gesture, the flag embodies the Institute’s commitment to LGBTQIA+ concerns, gives visibility to the “invisible minority,” and represents the ongoing work of providing a welcoming and safe place for all. Dozens of faculty, postdocs, students and staff joined in person, or via live stream, to celebrate and bear witness to the momentous occasion (link on pg. 4).

Betsaida Bibo Verdugo, Ph.D.

Career&ProfessionalDevelopment

Diversity,Equity,andInclusion

ExpandingLeadershipforPostdocsandEarlyCareerFaculty

by Diane Klotz, Ph.D. Associate Dean, Administration & Professional Development

After several years of receiving requests for “more,” the Torrey Pines Leadership Development Program, fondly known as “SBP Leaders,” has grown.

The Torrey Pines Leadership Development Program (TPLDP) began as a 3 workshop series to provide postdocs with a base level understanding of leadership styles and workstyle priorities. Based on the popularity of the pilot sessions and consistent requests to provide more in depth leadership development experiences for postdocs, the TPLDP was further developed into a year-long, 11-module program not only for postdocs at the Institute, but also for postdocs across the Torrey Pines Mesa. Eventually participation in the TPLDP was extended to graduate students who have passed their qualifying exam and, following its transition to a virtual format during the pandemic, postdocs and other early career scientists across the world.

As the Program has evolved, with new components being developed and current components being expanded, it became evident to us that there was more than enough material to create additional sessions. Couple that with Program alumni asking for more leadership focused workshops, and the idea for a follow up leadership program was born: Expanding Leadership.

Thus, the Torrey Pines Leadership Development Program is now comprised of two full programs: Foundations in Leadership and Expanding Leadership. Foundations in Leadership continues to provide the same foundational leadership education to postdocs, senior graduate students, and other early career scientists as the original program, and Expanding Leadership provides Foundations in Leadership alumni with an opportunity to further explore their leadership style and the impact they have on their teams and organizations. While the Foundations program utilizes individual reflection and small group discussions to assimilate and further explore the material introduced through lecture style presentations, Expanding Leadership focuses more on application of new and previous material to participants’ current environments and leadership challenges

2022 Expanding Leadership Program Cohort

Diversity,Equity,andInclusion(Cont.)

Professor and Vice Dean of the Graduate School Alessandra Sacco, Ph D , a member of the E&T DEI Committee opened the Inaugural Flag Raising Ceremony with an acknowledgment of the strength that a diverse and inclusive community provides. She challenged “all of us here at the Institute to have a vision of the community that we want and work together to achieve it.”

Luca Caputo (he/they), Ph.D., a postdoc and co founding member of the E&T DEI Committee, shared their experience of being one of the lucky ones. Growing up, queerness was negatively represented, they never met an LGBTQ PI or a senior scientist who was “out,” and students hid their identities from openly homophobic PIs Being truly yourself was an act of courage and fighting stereotypes and microaggressions was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting contributing to the problem with retention While ongoing progress and accountability are expected, Dr. Caputo feels lucky for “extremely supportive mentors, during (their) graduate career and here at Sanford Burnham Prebys, who evaluated them for their scientific abilities and made them feel welcomed and accepted. Not everyone is so lucky."

Hudson Freeze, Ph D , a member of the DEI Learning Committee, concluded the ceremony by recognizing the struggles experienced by those in the LGBTQIA+ community and asserted that “we should not have to fight in any way (to contribute) because we are here for the good of everyone For the good of the world ” Dr Freeze stated that flying the Pride Flag is a step in the right direction to becoming the truly inclusive, collaborative, and compassionate community that we strive to be

Of the dozen or more pride flags, the Progressive Flag was selected because it contains a chevron that represents the spectra of gender identities and sexual orientation. The chevron also represents intersectionality with black and brown stripes highlighting people of color who are members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Our non singular identities, whether marginalized and/or privileged, enmesh to create a unique combination of histories and struggles. Dr. T.J. Tallie, an openly queer, Black, “generally” cis-gender male, descendant of slaves touched upon this intersectionality when they delivered a Juneteenth talk for our Institute (link to the video, below).

PostdoctoralTraining(cont.) InauguralPrideFlagRaisingCeremony Diversity,Equity,andInclusion(cont.)

continue to

Career&ProfessionalDevelopment(cont.)

The 6 month long Expanding Leadership program welcomed its inaugural cohort in January 2022 and included alumni who are now senior postdocs, lab managers, and junior faculty The cohort consisted of individuals from nine institutions, including one participant in Australia. Joining a leadership program session via Zoom at 3am is extra level dedication to becoming the best leader one can be!

While we are still receiving feedback from the first cohort, multiple participants have actually requested that more “homework” be given to encourage them to continuously consider key discussion points from module to module. Although it’s questionable whether all participants would agree to more homework, additional consistent feedback was to continue to go deeper into the aspects of leadership that help create a team environment dedicated to high achievement and where the impact one has as a leader is intentionally facilitated through carefully chosen behaviors that match the situation and the individual(s) involved

Often we experience leaders who believe that by virtue of their position, they have arrived as a leader and no longer need to develop themselves in that capacity What this cohort has embraced is that leadership is a process, and because the situations leaders find themselves in are forever changing, there is no end to the process of leadership The members of this cohort have welcomed the fact that there is always something new to learn about themselves and others, and we believe wholeheartedly that their current and future teams are in excellent hands!

ExpandingLeadershipforPostdocsandEarlyCareerFaculty

GraduateSchoolUpdates

BackIn Person:GradStudentAppreciationWeek&the2022Retreat by Paula Checchi, Ph.D. Program Manager, Recruitment, Outreach & Achievement

In Spring of 2022, we welcomed the resurgence of in person events within our Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

During Graduate Student Appreciation Week (April 4th 8th), our graduate school invited the Beachin’ Boba food truck to campus, which provided an opportunity for graduate students to catch up and enjoy the sunny, SoCal weather with specialty drinks in hand. Since its inception in 1993 by the National Association of Graduate and Professional Students (NAGPS), Graduate Student Appreciation Week is a nationally recognized celebration that aims to support graduate students throughout the United States. In recognition of their contributions, Sanford Burham Prebys students were spotlighted on digital signage throughout the campus and were highlighted on social media outlets. Throughout the week, graduate students also logged online daily to play a series of virtual trivia events, which brought out everyone’s competitive spirit At the end of the week this culminated in a win for a team of four women (Paloma Sánchez Pavón, Karina Barbosa Guerra, Rachael McVicar, and Betsy Bibo Verdugo) whose success was rewarded with the prize of a free lunch

The following month, our initiative to celebrate the success of doctoral students took us off campus to San Marcos, California for a three day retreat. For the first time since 2019, our Annual Graduate Program Retreat was once again held in person, this year at the Lakehouse Hotel and Resort The retreat was kicked off this year with an afternoon of water sports on the lake followed by a professional development event led by Associate Dean Klotz and an evening of group bonding at nearby Bowlero Throughout the remaining two days, our graduate students’ work was showcased in the form of oral and poster presentations, which culminated in prizes being awarded to three students: Karina Barbosa Guerra, Michael Alcaraz, and Alex Arzamasov, for most engaged participant, best poster, and best oral presentation (aka the “Howling Coyote”), respectively Nearly fifty individuals attended one or more events at this year’s retreat, and among those surveyed, 100% were in agreement that the retreat promoted collegiality and interaction within the GSBS community To this effect, one faculty member remarked “I thought it was excellent It was great to see the students take a lead role in organization and engage with each other scientifically through presentations and questions.” From all of us in the Office of Training, Education and International Services, we enthusiastically agree; we look forward to planning next year’s getaway!

Students eating lunch during the 2022 retreat Aleksandr Arzamasov wins the Howling Coyote Award

Celebratingourrecentgraduates!(cont.)

Dr Mallika Iyer graduated on May 16, 2022

A student in Dr Adam Godzik's group, her thesis was titled, "Studying protein conformational diversity and flexibility through the lens of experimentally solved structures"

Pictured is Dr. Iyer shaking the hand of Dean Guy Salvesen.

Dr Joseph Fromm graduated on May 27, 2022

Dr. Fromm, a student in Dr. Nicholas Cosford's laboratory, successfully defended his thesis titled, "Probing the Substrate Pocket of the Thioesterase Domain of Fatty Acid Synthase".

Pictured is Dr. Fromm with his mentor, Dr. Cosford.

Dr Betsaida Bibo Verdugo graduated on June 24, 2022

Dr Bibo Verdugo was a student in Dr Guy Salvesen's laboratory and titled her thesis, "Caspase mechanisms in inflammatory cell death"

Pictured is Dr. Bibo Verdugo with her mentor, Dean Salvesen.

ImmigrationUpdates

OETISrecognizesSanfordBurnhamPrebystrainee accomplishments

Luca Caputo, Ph.D. (Puri lab), Aloran Mazumder, Ph.D. (Haricharan/Adams labs), Tony Ngo, Ph.D. (Chun lab), Linda Chang (Colas lab), Jordan Friedlein (Bagchi/Wechsler Reya labs), Rachael McVicar (Snyder/Leibel labs), and Ceda Stamenkovic (Sacco lab) were all recipients of the CIRM Training Grant Fellowship Award.

Aleksandr Arzamasov (Osterman lab) won the "Howling Coyote" award at the 2022 GSBS retreat for giving the best oral presentation

Michael Alcaraz (Adams lab) attended his first GSBS retreat and won the award for "Best Poster"

Karina Barbosa-Guerra (Deshpande lab) received the award for being the "Most Engaged" attendee at the 2022 GSBS retreat

UpcomingWorkshops&Events

Postdoc&StudentCounts

OfficeofEducation,Training,&InternationalServices

DianeKlotz,Ph.D.

Director

AssociateDean,Administration& ProfessionalDevelopment

MeganElyamani

ProgramCoordinator,OETIS

Education&Training

NishaCavanaugh,Ph.D.

AssociateDirector,CareerDevelopment& PostdoctoralPrograms

PaulaChecchi,Ph.D.

ProgramManager,Recruitment,Outreach &Achievement

LeadershipSupport

GuySalvesen,Ph.D.

FacultyAdvisor, GraduateEducation&Postdoctoral Training

AngelicaRocha,Ph.D.

AssistantDirector,Institutional Research&AcademicPlanning

InternationalServices

MitchellFurumoto Manager,InternationalServices

SusieBolor

SeniorInternationalAdvisor