Office of Education, Training & International Services
A Learning Culture: MESA Creators Visit Sanford Burnham Prebys
By: Paula Checchi, Ph D
As part of a collaborative endeavor to honor student achievements, on Friday, February 9th, Sanford Burnham Prebys warmly welcomed nine students from San Diego City College (SDCC) These students are participants in the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Creators Program, an academic support and transfer program based out of SDCC designed to promote student success. The community of Creators work under the guidance of Rafael Alvarez, MESA Program Director. A distinguished figure in higher education who was recently acknowledged as one of the Top 50 Latino Leaders of Influence in the San Diego Business Journal, Alvarez serves as the visionary behind SDCC's MESA Program, where he has cultivated a learning environment aimed at enhancing student success.
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A Learning Culture: MESA Creators Visit Sanford Burnham Prebys
Postdoc Training Guide for Career & Professional Development Workshops
FREE Membership to The National Postdoctoral Association
Graduations & Postdoc Highlights
Postdoc & Graduate Student Counts
The goal of this visit was for Creators to learn more about life at Sanford Burnham Prebys. As such, they toured our campus. Stopping at our Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics (CPCCG), they had the opportunity to delve into the intricacies of drug discovery with a tour lead by Dr Ian Pass, Director of High-Throughput Screening. They also visited the Desphande laboratory within our NCIDesignated Cancer Center; there, they gained insights into experimental design from Marlenne Perales, Research Assistant, alongside graduate students Aditi Pedgaonkar and Rema Iyer. The visit culminated in a stimulating roundtable discussion with key members of OETIS staff, including Megan Elyamani and Dr Paula Checchi, as well as Donmonique Chamblis, Cancer Center Senior Program Administrator.
Postdoc Training Guide for Career & Professional Development Workshops
By: Nicole Villa, M A
One of the many services provided by the Office of Education, Training and International Services (OETIS) is the plethora of career and professional development workshops that offer information and resources to help advance trainees' research and career goals. Planning for the future and developing a career path forward can be a difficult task to navigate alone. To assist postdocs in their career journeys, OETIS has developed a Postdoc Program Guide as a tool to help them navigate the optimal times during
their postdoc training to take advantage of each career and professional development opportunity. Postdocs are welcome to attend any of career and professional development workshops and programs offered by OETIS at any time throughout their training at the Institute Workshops and programs are offered in person, virtually, or on-demand, depending on which format provides the best environment conducive to meeting the learning objectives while also recognizing that postdocs may not be available to attend some workshops at their scheduled times. Workshops and programs are offered multiple times throughout the year or over the course of several years. Our goal is for postdocs to use the Postdoc Program Guide as a resource when developing an Individual Development Plan to make the most of their postdoctoral training experience by determining: 1) which OETIS career and professional development opportunities to attend, and 2) when the best time to participate in those workshops/programs will be.
FREE Membership to The National Postdoctoral Association
The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on enhancing the postdoctoral experience in the U.S. and advocates on behalf of its members. NPA provides a wealth of information and career resources for postdocs, including resources for international postdocs Sanford Burnham Prebys provides FREE affiliate NPA memberships to our postdocs and graduate students. If you are a postdoc or graduate student at the Institute and would like to take advantage of NPA’s resources, email OETIS@sbpdiscovery org to get your membership started!
NPA resources offered to its members:
Publications: written articles and documents on various aspects of the postdoc training period
Toolkits: resources to help develop important functions of postdoctoral affairs
Webinars: on topics such as becoming a resilient scientist, diversity, myPDO monthly, myPostdoc monthly, and SmartSkills
Resource Library: all resources published by NPA
Check out www.nationalpostdoc.org to learn more about the National Postdoctoral Association... and save the date for National Postdoc Appreciation Week September 16 - 20, 2024!
Congratulations
to Dr. Stephen Sakuma!
Congratulations to Dr. Rachael McVicar!
Dr. Rachael McVicar successfully defended her Ph D thesis on January 10, 2024
Dr. McVicar conducted her thesis research “Studying Airway Surfactant BPIFA1 in the Developing Human Lung: Novel Role in Regulating Neonatal Lung Homeostasis,” under the mentorship of Dr. Evan Snyder.
Dr. Stephen Sakuma successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on February 29, 2024.
Dr. Sakuma conducted his thesis research “Targeting nuclear pore complex assembly to treat cancer,” under the mentorship of Dr Maximiliano D’Angelo
Reflecting on your graduate school experience, what is a memory you’d like to share of your time in the GSBS?
It’s tough to pick just one memory to share of my time in the program (I’ve had so many over the years!) Although one of my favorite moments was my first year as a graduate student at the GSBS Graduate Program Retreat It was the second day of the retreat, and after dinner the graduate students celebrated with faculty, including GSBS deans Dr Guy Salvesen and Dr Malene Hansen It was the first time I truly realized how fantastic and unique this graduate program was I would talk with these incredibly accomplished scientists, and they welcomed me with open arms and really were present when I spoke with them and listened with their attention and interest Since this moment, the GSBS program has continued to impress me. GSBS has faculty that truly supports their students, encourages their development as scientists, and has a sense of comradery I have felt so incredibly thankful to have been a part of.
- Rachael McVicar, Ph.D.
At the beginning of graduate school, my cohort did an activity where we selected pictures to represent our perspective of graduate school. I learned a lot from the other students about what their motivations and expectations were, but I selected a picture of the pyramids because I wanted my efforts to be able to contribute to something lasting Even if it meant I only added one small brick to a much larger edifice, at least I could say that I did that Professionally and personally, I can confidently say that I was able to achieve that goal - Stephen Sakuma, Ph D
Recent Postdoc Accomplishments
Dr Sara Ancel (postdoc in Dr Will Wang’s lab) received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation for “Spatial glycan profiling in skeletal muscle denervation and disease ”
Have you or a fellow trainee at Sanford Burnham Prebys had a research or career achievement lately? Email OETIS at oetis@sbpdiscovery.org to be featured in an upcoming issue of The Chronicle!
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Office of Education, Training & International Services
Diane Klotz, Ph.D.
Chief Learning Officer
Associate Dean, Administration & Professional Development
Megan Elyamani Program Coordinator, GSBS
Education & Training
Nisha Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Career Development & Postdoctoral Programs
Mitchell Furumoto Manager, International Services
Nicole Villa, M.A.
Program Coordinator, OETIS
Angelica Rocha, Ph.D. Associate Director, Institutional Research
International Services Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
Lauren Mitchell, M.S. Program Manager, DEIB
Leadership Support
Alessandra Sacco, Ph.D. Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Susie Bolor
Senior International Advisor
Paula Checchi, Ph.D. Program Manager, Recruitment, Outreach & Achievement
Linda Bradley, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor, Postdoctoral Training
