Global Health Symposium, Itzhak Perlman concert celebrate Salk's 100th birthday

From Left: Irwin Jacobs, Itzhak Perlman, William Brody

 

The Salk Institute celebrated its founder's 100th birthday in inimitable Salk style on November 13 with a science symposium during the day and a private concert with violin virtuoso and polio survivor Itzhak Perlman at night.

 

As the host of "Global Health Symposium: Viruses, Vaccines and Pandemics," Inder Verma welcomed prominent scientists
from the United States and Europe. The five guest speakers addressed poliovirus, viral diversity and Ebola, among other topics.

 

In the evening, nearly 300 invited guests were treated to a talk on pandemic prevention by Nathan Wolfe, founder and CEO of Metabiota, followed by Perlman's recital in remembrance of Jonas Salk. Accompanied by pianist Rohan De Silva, the famed violinist performed classical works including Robert Schumann's "Three Fantasies" and John Williams' theme to "Schindler's List."

 

After the concert, Irwin Jacobs, Salk's board chairman, presented Perlman with the Salk Institute Medal for Public Service, noting all he has done to help eradicate polio around the globe. Perlman is the fifth person to receive the Salk award given to individuals who have contributed to science, medicine, public health or public service.
Select media coverage: U-T San Diego, La Jolla Light
Salk Science News
From left: Yifeng Xia and Inder Verma

Inder Verma's lab discovered a powerful combination therapy for countering a common genetic mutation that often leads to drug-resistant cancers as detailed in Science Translational Medicine.

Press release:

From left: Ya-Cheng Li and Geoffrey Wahl

Geoffrey Wahl's team developed a new method that enables researchers to detect fleeting protein interactions that play critical roles in the development of many diseases, including cancer as published in Cell Reports.

Press release: Salk scientists unveil powerful method to speed cancer drug discovery

Select media coverage: Medical Xpress

From left: Katherine Jones, Yupeng Chen and Lirong Zhang

In recent work published in Genes & Development, Katherine Jones and colleagues uncovered a new protein that participates in active HIV replication and could be a promising target for therapeutics. 

Press release: A new dent in HIV-1's armor

Select media coverage:  R&D Magazine

 
From left: Yelena Dayn, Fernando Lopez Diaz and Beverly Emerson

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Beverly Emerson's lab showed how variations in breast cancer cells' RNA helps the cancer to evolve more quickly than previously thought. These findings are detailed in PNAS. 

Press release:  Findings point to an "off switch" for drug resistance in cancer 

Select media coverage:  Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News  

 

From left: Alejandro Ocampo, Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Ignacio Sancho-Martinez, Tomoaki Hishida and Eric Vazquez.

Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte and colleagues healed injured hearts of living mice by reactivating long dormant molecular machinery found in the animals' cells, a finding that could help pave the way to new therapies for heart disorders in humans as published in

Cell Stem Cell.

Press release: Salk scientists discover a key to mending broken hearts

Select media coverage: U-T San Diego

Your support makes it possible for Salk to recruit and retain top-tier
scientists, acquire the latest cutting-edge technology and fuel innovative research initiatives, all of which provide extraordinary opportunities for
scientific discovery.

The Salk Science & Music series features stunning performances by some of the hottest established and emerging classical and jazz musicians, as well as riveting talks about the latest scientific discoveries by the Institute's world-renowned scientists.

Vision Center Laboratory

December 7, 2014

Conrad T. Prebys Auditorium 

Salk Institute   

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From left: Rachel Kudo and Karen Joy Davis
View the 2014-2015 Concert Schedule �

Congratulations

Janelle Ayres and Don Yeckel

Janelle Ayres, Salk assistant professor in the Nomis Foundation Laboratories for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, has been selected to receive the prestigious Ray Thomas Edwards Foundation Career Development Award. Only one three-year grant is conferred annually. Ayres will receive $150,000 over three years to support her research into the complex ecosystem of the digestive system.

Google doodle pays tribute to Jonas Salk's 100th birthday anniversary


Image courtesy: Mike Dutton

Google was one of several outlets nationwide that paid tribute to Jonas Salk on his 100th birthday on October 28. On that day, the Google home page featured a sketch of Salk, capturing the spirit of relief and celebration that followed his discovery of the polio vaccine.  

 

Be sure to take a look at the Salk Institute web site, www.salk.edu/salk100, which features a page dedicated to Jonas Salk's centenary celebration. Read touching memories shared by Jonas Salk's former colleagues and acquaintances and submit a remembrance of your own.

San Diego pharmaceutical executive Richard Heyman has been elected to the Salk Board of Trustees

Richard A. Heyman

Richard A. Heyman, cofounder and CEO of Seragon Pharmaceuticals, has been elected to the Salk Institute Board of Trustees. His previous ventures include co-founding Aragon Pharmaceuticals, which developed novel therapeutics for the treatment of hormone-dependent cancers; founding X-Ceptor Therapeutics with Ronald Evans, whom he worked with as an NIH postdoctoral fellow and staff scientist at Salk; and authoring or inventing over 120 publications and patents. He serves on the boards of BIOCOM, Organovo Inc. and Receptos Inc., and is on the executive committee of the UCSD Moores Cancer Center.

Your support makes it possible for Salk to recruit and retain top-tier
scientists, acquire the latest cutting-edge technology, and fuel innovative research initiatives, all of which provide extraordinary opportunities for
scientific discovery.
Upcoming Events

President's Club Luncheon 

December 4, 2014

For information, contact:

Megan Shockro at [email protected] 

Salk Science & Music Series

December 7, 2014 

  

Science image for download 

 

In a dish, heart muscle cells return to a precursor-like state after pro-regenerative treatment with microRNA inhibitors. Green shows a disorganized cardiomyocyte cytoskeleton indicative of cell dedifferentiation; red shows mitochondrial organization.

 

Image: Courtesy of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Alejandro Ocampo, Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Ignacio Sancho-Martinez, Tomoaki Hishida and Eric Vazquez.

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