Staff News
WELCOME TO BBE!
Tish Cheek
Tish joined the division in July 2022. She is a Chicago native – born and raised. Her career spans over 25 years as an office manager, paralegal, administrative/executive assistant, and now as Divisional Events Coordinator. "One of my favorite parts of my job is that when I succeed, usually someone else does too."
Tish’s hobbies include collecting Sanrio items, reading, and being the favorite auntie. Tish is married to John and they live in Pasadena.
Renee Soriano
Renee joined the division on November 28th as the new Assistant to the Division Chair and Faculty Affairs Manager. Renee has worked on campus for over 20 years and comes to us from Human Resources. In HR, she worked in the Scholar Services Office as a liaison between the academic divisions and scholars (including Postdocs, Visitors, and all non-professorial ranks). She is married to her best friend from high school, has three children (19, 16, and 7), and a six-month-old german shepherd. Her youngest is deaf/hard of hearing, so Renee is continually learning sign language - plus she is fluent in Spanish. She loves coffee, reading, and bingeing good tv shows (always looking for suggestions!). “I’m looking forward to meeting you all and learning all about BBE. Come by to say hi!”
Corey Tran
Corey joined BBE in November as the Material Handling Associate. He assists with receiving and special projects like writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). He describes himself as a quiet person; more of a listener than a speaker. He has an older sister and a younger brother who he cherishes dearly. He loves his family but like most families, they can be exasperating. His hobbies include watching films, sports, and playing games. Some films that he recently watched and enjoyed were Chainsaw Man, House of the Dragon, and Knives Out. His favorite sport is basketball and he's currently playing Valorant and Marvel Snap.
Receiving Staff Update
The BBE receiving staff consists of Manny De La Torre, Andreas Feuerabendt, Albert Gomez, and our newest team member, Corey Tran. With so many labs relocating to the new Chen building, Manny relocated there as well in October 2022. Manny now serves many of the labs he used to work with in Alles, and also manages the receiving at Braun Labs. Taking Manny’s place in Alles, Albert physically relocated from the Beckman Institute in October 2022, although he still assists BI as needed. Andreas continues to manage the Broad and BBB receiving rooms. The team can be reached at bbereceiving@caltech.edu.
Introducing Our New EHS Representative
Dr. Leyma De Haro is a Biomedical Scientist with more than 15 years of experience in research, publishing, and mentoring. Eight years ago, she made a career switch to Biosafety and discovered her passion. She has worked in Biosafety at national laboratories, non-profit institutions, local and state governments, and internationally. Her philosophy when it comes to being Assistant Biosafety Officer at Caltech is that she is here to serve and facilitate research. Her goal is to provide researchers with the tools needed to be able to carry out work safely, without being an obstacle to progress. She will strive to earn trust and respect so that staff and faculty alike feel comfortable coming to her with biosafety/safety related questions in order to work together, finding the best solutions. She is extremely excited to be here, and looks forward to seeing everyone around campus.
Shelley Diamond Invited as Keynote for National Coming out Day Celebration!
Pasadena Public Health Department, Pasadena Public Library and Pasadena Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department hosted Pasadena’s 7th annual National Coming Out Day Celebration on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022 in the Pasadena City Hall Courtyard. This annual free event is part of the City’s efforts to celebrate and foster an inclusive community.
This year’s keynote speaker was research biologist and activist Rochelle Diamond, chair emeritus of Out to Innovate (formerly known as the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals, or NOGLSTP) and director of the Flow Cytometry/Cell Sorting Facility at Caltech. Since 1984, Diamond has provided service to more than 30 on-campus biology, chemistry and chemical engineering division labs as well as 50 research projects per year, serving as a national expert on the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting. She participates in the Caltech community on a number of levels, including membership on the LGBTQ working group committee, establishing the Caltech Mentoring Day with the Caltech Career and Development Center, working career fairs on behalf of the Caltech Academic Partnership with MentorNet and more. She has received the Lesbians and Bisexual Women Active in Community Empowerment (LACE) Award by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the Walt Westman Volunteer of the Year Award by NOGLSTP. Read full article here.
Please welcome our new Postdocs to the Division:
Udi Binshtok – Anderson Lab
Emma Boxer – Anderson Lab
Cameron Chalk – Winfree Lab
Kim-Marie Dam – Wold Lab
Yujie Fan – Gradinaru Lab
Lai Foong – Chou Lab
Riley Galton – Bronner Lab
Yicheng Luo – Aravin
Johan Melis –Dickinson Lab
Yanping Qiu – Chou Lab
Kriti Sharma – Orphan Lab
Zsofia Torok – Lois Lab
Boya Wang – Qian Lab
Division Events
BBE Retreat 2022
The retreat afforded faculty, staff, postdocs and students at all levels to mingle and learn more about the division and each other. The extensive research and family-friendly activities were a welcome change from the past two years of COVID restrictions.
The BBE Retreat came back in a big way on November 4th and 5th! The event kicked off with a poster session on Friday evening followed by an all-day extravaganza on Saturday. Festivities included talks in Chen 100 and concluded with a family dinner on the Beckman Auditorium Lawn with live music, bubbles, face painting, balloon art, bouncy climbers, obstacle courses, slides, and even a mentalist!
Thank you to the BBE Retreat Committee; Tish Cheek, Lauren Breeyear, Niles Pierce and Lior Pachter, along with all of those who pitched in to make this event a big success!
The BBE Retreat Perpetual Trophy
What do important events have in common? The World Cup, Wimbledon, the America’s Cup, the Stanley Cup, the Westminster Dog Show,… What we can plainly see is that important events involve a perpetual trophy.
So what are the qualities of a good perpetual trophy? It should be large. It should be made of a precious metal or precious-metal-appearing substance. It should have some auxiliary utility (such as for drinking champagne).
Is there a BBE Retreat Perpetual Trophy? There is now!
The BBE Retreat Perpetual Trophy
What are the selection criteria for the BBE Retreat Perpetual Trophy? They are known only to the Organizers. They are subject to change. In the event of a tie, the Trophy shall be awarded to the BBE Division Chair.
What are the Terms for the BBE Retreat Perpetual Trophy? Your presence at (or absence from) the BBE Retreat indicates your eligibility to win the Trophy. If so honored, you agree: 1) That your name shall be emblazoned on the plinth in perpetuity. 2) That you shall use publicly, in good times and in bad, the Trophy until the next BBE Retreat. 3) That you shall surrender the Trophy to the Organizers in good working order prior to the next BBE Retreat.
How do nominations work? Anyone can make unlimited anonymous nominations during a BBE Retreat by submitting the Name of the nominee and the Reason (i.e., what has this person done to deserve this!?).
Who won the BBE Retreat Perpetual Trophy in its inaugural year? Based on the copious nominations received, the 2022 finalists were:
• Grad student Vera Beilinson: “I used to want to get a PhD. Now I just want to get that lamp some time in the next five years.”
• Postdoctoral scholar Georgia Squyres: volunteered to give a 0-slide talk and delivered a great one.
• Professor Paul Sternberg: delivered a standout 1-slide talk finale.
• All the speakers that gave π-slide talks: the Babylonians estimated π as 3; Archimedes estimated π to 4 decimal places in the 3rd century BC; in 2022, the BBE Division calculated π, based on the average number of slides in the π-slide talks as 17. For this, the π-slide speakers are honored as finalists.
• BBE Division Chair Richard Murray: for “leading so many changes in BBE to make it a better place for everyone”, for “selfless dedication to helping others succeed”, and for “being Richard”.
• The BBE Retreat Perpetual Trophy: “I believe the perpetual trophy should be given itself, because of its great beauty”.
And the BBE Retreat Perpetual Trophy went to? Upon opening the envelope, the final tally resulted in a tie. Thus, by the obscure but cannily prescient selection criteria, the Trophy was awarded in 2022 to BBE Division Chair, Richard Murray.
Is it true that the BBE Retreat Perpetual Trophy has disappeared? Rumor has it that less than one hour after being awarded to Richard Murray, the Trophy got pranked by the BBE grad students who made off with it undetected. However, if that did happen, the Trophy was shortly returned unharmed and it now graces the desk of the BBE Division Chair until the next Retreat.
Holiday Party
The gathering in December was the perfect kickoff to the Holiday season. Great company, delicious food and drinks, along with live music and a fun raffle were included in the festivities.
Student News
Bioscience Industry Day a Success!
Another successful Bioscience Industry Day was held on November 15th. This popular campus event brought together innovative startups, companies, and nonprofits in bioscience for meaningful interactions with the Caltech Community. Highlights included a keynote talk by Dr. Alborz Mahdavi, founder of Protomer Technologies, followed by a demo fair where companies showcased novel technology and networked with students, postdocs, faculty and other scientists interested in biodata, biopharma, biotech, life sciences, medical devices, and synthetic biology.
Biology Graduate Student Fayth Hui Tan Wins the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications
A total of 24 awards were announced — 12 awards for best science communication by research scientists and 12 awards for science journalists, split among six categories. In each of the categories, one $40,000 top prize and three $20,000 awards will be given, totaling $600,000.
The winners were honored during a recognition event and workshop on Nov. 11th and 12th in Washington, D.C.
Fayth Tan studies the development and evolution of animal regeneration— or how animals make and re-make themselves. In their writing, Fayth explores the stories we tell about science, and how they intersect with their cultural and sociopolitical contexts.
For your Information...
BBE Library News
NIH Data Management & Sharing Policy Effective January 25
The Library is supporting the upcoming implementation of the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy, which goes into effect on January 25, 2023. It requires the submission of a 2-page data management and sharing plan (DMSP) for all grants that generate scientific data and that researchers maximize the sharing of scientific data. The Library has several helpful resources available to support you, including: a webpage, a handout of guidance on writing a DMSP, an example DMSP, and DMSP/DMP standard language. We are happy to answer any questions you have on the new policy; please email data@caltech.edu.
Caltech Library Offers Large-Scale Printing & Scanning!
The Library TechHub can provide access to large format printing and scanning. These services are available to all current Caltech students, staff, faculty, and postdocs. More Information
Kristin Briney specializes in helping scientists navigate information resources and in managing research data. You may contact her a briney@caltech.edu.
2022 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
Caltech’s Annual Security and Fire Safety report provides information concerning safety and security on campus, as well as policies and initiatives to prevent and respond to crime and emergencies.
The report can be obtained in hard copy by emailing the Clery Compliance Act Coordinator Office at cleryinfo@caltech.edu. Questions or comments may also be directed to cleryinfo@caltech.edu.
Faculty News and Highlights
Viviana Gradinaru Elected to the National Academy of Inventors
Viviana Gradinaru (BS '05), professor of neuroscience and biological engineering and director of Caltech's Center for Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, has been selected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). The NAI Fellows Program highlights academic inventors who have "demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society," according to the academy's press release.
Caltech's WormBase and Alliance of Genome Resources Projects Named as Global Core Biodata Resources
The Global Biodata Coalition (GBC), an international coalition of funders, announces the first list of Global Core Biodata Resources (GCBRs)—a collection of 37 resources whose long-term funding and sustainability is critical to life science and biomedical research worldwide. Two of these, WormBase and the Alliance of Genome Resources, are led by Caltech.
"This is a tremendous first step towards having an international contribution of effort to develop these globally-used but only locally-funded projects," says Paul Sternberg, Bren Professor of Biology. "It is also is a great validation of what we have been doing to support researchers with information."
Brain-Machine Interface Device Predicts Internal Speech
Preliminary results could ultimately help patients who cannot speak.
New Caltech research is showing how devices implanted into people's brains, called brain-machine interfaces (BMIs), could one day help patients who have lost their ability to speak. In a new study presented at the 2022 Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego, the researchers demonstrated that they could use a BMI to accurately predict which words a tetraplegic participant was simply thinking and not speaking or miming.
"You may already have seen videos of people with tetraplegia using BMIs to control robotic arms and hands, for example to grab a bottle and to drink from it or to eat a piece of chocolate," says Sarah Wandelt, a Caltech graduate student in the lab of Richard Andersen, James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience and director of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center at Caltech.
"These new results are promising in the areas of language and communication. We used a BMI to reconstruct speech," says Wandelt, who presented the results at the conference on November 13th.
Published Papers
Caltech researchers have discovered an unexpected role for a protein in human cells, solving a longstanding mystery about how the composition of mitochondrial membranes is regulated. Read Article Featured in Science
The microbial world shapes essentially every facet of our lives. Whether they are in the soils where our food is grown, or the lungs of a person with an infection, or at the bottom of the ocean, microbes live in diverse communities made up of multiple species all working together and impacting each other. Just like in our own neighborhoods, the geography of how a microbial community is laid out affects how those microbes live and function together. Read Article Featured in Current Biology
We have all been there. You just meant to have a single Oreo as a snack, but then you find yourself going back for another, and another, and before you know it, you have finished off the entire package even though you were not all that hungry to begin with. But before you start feeling too guilty for your gluttony, consider this: It might not be entirely your fault. Now, new research in mice shows that specific gut bacteria may suppress binge eating behavior. Read Article Featured in Current Biology
Have you ever been cut off while driving and found yourself swearing and laying on the horn? Or come home from a long day at work and lashed out at whoever left the dishes unwashed? From petty anger to the devastating violence we see in the news, acts of aggression can be difficult to comprehend. Research has yielded puzzling paradoxes about how rage works in the brain. But a new study from Caltech, pioneering a machine-learning research technique in the hypothalamus, reveals unexpected answers on the nature of aggression. Read Article Featured in Cell
Faculty Archives
David Ho (BS '74), Microbiologist and Trustee
What did David Ho see so clearly, and so early on in the AIDS crisis, that led to the therapies and achievement of making HIV a treatable disease? Reflecting on this legacy, Ho gives major credit to his undergraduate education at Caltech, where an emphasis on biology as a quantitative discipline gave him the tools to "see the numbers" in viruses, and ultimately, to build the therapies to blunt their destructive power.
After arriving with his family in Los Angeles from Taiwan, and reuniting with his father who had traveled ahead for education and professional opportunity, much of Ho's education and early career involved bouncing back and forth from coast to coast. After completing his undergraduate degree, Ho went to Harvard Medical School before returning to Los Angeles for clinical training at UCLA Medical School. It was in Los Angeles that he first cared for patients suffering from a mysterious and deadly disease, soon identified as HIV/AIDS. From this experience, Ho departed from his plan to pursue a more traditional medical career, and he subsumed himself in understanding HIV and searching for therapies.
This goal brought Ho back to Boston to work at Massachusetts General Hospital to focus on immunology and virology. By this point, the race was on to develop HIV therapies, as more clinical data yielded promising clues, and advances in genetics provided greater insight on how different people responded to infection. By the late 1980s, the federal government began treating AIDS as a national crisis in need of a massive effort of funding and resources, and breakthrough therapies began showing that HIV infection need not be a death sentence. Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who was Ho's patient, was easily the most prominent case testifying to this development.
In the 1990s, Ho settled in New York, where he founded the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (first affiliated with NYU, and now with Columbia), which has been since its inception a worldwide center for HIV research. Ho and his colleagues have never given up on finding a vaccine for HIV - the holy grail to stop its spread. With the onset of the Covid pandemic, Ho abruptly switched gears to focus on understanding this new virus, putting to effective use his expertise on HIV.
David Ho is one of the most acclaimed and well known medical doctors in the world. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine. His international honors include membership to the Chinese Academy of Medicine, and he was awarded the Prince Mahidol Award in Medicine from Thailand. Ho was elected to the California Hall of Fame, he is a recipient of Caltech's Distinguished Alumni Award, and he is an honorary professor at numerous institutes worldwide. His highest profile recognition came in 1996, when Time Magazine named him Man of the Year. As Ho tells it, none of these honors come close to the satisfaction he feels when strangers stop him to express gratitude for saving their life, or the life of someone they love. Read Full Story and Interview Here
Article written by David Zierler, Director, Caltech Science Heritage Project
BBE Announcements
DEI Reporting Options
The BBE Division wishes to promote an atmosphere that is as free from bias as possible. If you wish to report an incident of bias of any kind, the Caltech Equity and Title IX Office has reporting information and a reporting form online:
https://titleix.caltech.edu/reporting/reporting-options
In addition, you can send an anonymous report to the BBE DEI committee or just the BBE DEI committee chairs. The BBE reporting form can be found here:
https://www.bbe.caltech.edu/diversity/reporting/reporting-options
Pamela Bjorkman, BBE DEI Committee Chair Richard Murray, BBE Division Chair
Introducing Green Labs
Did you know that labs consume 10x as much energy as office spaces of similar size, use 4x the amount of water, and lead to the production of around 2% of the world’s plastic waste? Do you wish you could work to make your lab more sustainable, all without compromising research objectives? Look no further! BBE has recognized the importance of sustainability in research at Caltech and has agreed to support and work with a pilot Green Labs project, the first group of its kind at Caltech, focusing mainly on laboratory sustainability. Green Labs will provide helpful guides, signage, assessment tools, funding for sustainable pilot programs, and other resources that offer simple, cheap, and safe ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency, all while protecting your research objectives.
Do you want to get more involved in sustainability initiatives, attend Green Labs meetings, or learn more about Green Labs? If so, check our their website for more information.
Fisher Scientific Stockroom Open and Operating!
Fisher Scientific Stockroom, Alles 181 is open from 8am to 12pm and 1pm to 5pm Monday through Friday.
All supplies in the stockroom including Life Technologies products are available with ZERO shipping fees.
Now fully stocked and shelves organized with the products you need easily accessible for a world class shopping experience.
Table shows in the stockroom will showcase new technology and occur regularly in 2023. Look for communication from your Fisher Sales Rep Sonita Akhavan.
The QR codes that are tied to PTA accounts and can be used on the Touchscreen Ordering Kiosk for ease of ordering at checkout.
New: the ordering Kiosk now supports up to 5 picklist email addresses that can be added at the time of purchase. Beyond the purchaser or lab manager there is now space to include additional emails to enhance your shopping experience and keep other lab members or administrators informed of what is being purchased on which account.
If you do not see what you need on the shelf in the stockroom simply notify Raymond Dunn onsite and we will see if we can bring in stock for your lab.
Q1 desktop ordering enhancements will provide ease of ordering from your lab so you can simply pick up your order from the stockroom. Details to follow.
Featured Events
BBE Seminar - Marc Kirshner, January 17, 4:00-5:00pm, Kerckhoff 119
Biology Graduate Recruitment, January 19-20
Bioengineering Graduate Recruitment, January 26-27
Chen Institute Biennial Symposium, Friday January 27 - 1pm, Saturday January 28 - 5pm
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Recruitment, February 11-14
Wiersma Visiting Professor Lecture: Christof Koch, February 21, 3:30-4:30pm, Chen 100
Stay Tuned
Neurobiology and Computation and Neural Systems Graduate Recruitment, March
BBE Visiting Committee, April 24-26
All upcoming events can be found on the BBE Calendar
This newsletter is intended to be a valuable resource for the Division of BBE. Please email your feedback and ideas to bbenewsletter@caltech.edu
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Photo Credits: Caltech, Katie Fisher, Uli Herget, Niles Pierce, Renee Soriano, Agnes Tong
Credits:
Created with an image by ericksodhi - "The word "security" on the back of a security guard's jacket."