GSA Dean's Cup Bowling Tournament

Several MCIP graduate students recently represented the program in the first annual GSA Dean's Cup bowling tournament. The rounds went by quickly with a single elimination format, and MCIP took on the Immunology grad group in the first round. Unfortunately, we fell victim to two lucky IGG strikes and were eliminated early. Now that we know what we're up against, we'll be ready to bring home the trophy next year!

MCIP graduate students George Crocker , Karine Schaal, Nick Klug, and Kyla Walter represented the MCIP graduate group at the first annual GSA bowling tournament.

November Happy Hour

This Friday, November 6th, is another great opportunity to gather with your fellow MCIP students. Please join us at 5:30 at G St. Pub.
http://daviswiki.org/g_street_pub

See you there!

MCIP Barbecue

Be sure to mark your calendar for the upcoming MCIP back-to-school barbecue on September 30th from 2-8pm. The event starts off at 2pm with an Amazing Race challenge for students and faculty from 2-5pm.  If you aren't up for the race, bring your family for some fun activities and food at the barbecue from 5-8pm.  The events will be held at the Recreation Pool Lodge.

Be sure to let us know whether you will or will not be attendiing by filling out the MCIP Kickoff BBQ form.  Be sure to fill out a form for every family member coming and indicate whether you would like to participate in the Amazing Race.

A Nest of Success!

Birds of a feather get flocked together!

A flocking successful household has created a massive migration of flamingos to West Davis.  I would like to congratulate the following individuals on their many accomplishments over the past few weeks.

Shannamar Dewely (left), Kristi Bezold (center) and Leslie Baehr (right)

• Leslie Baehr rung the bell of success upon filing her dissertation last week. 
• In addition to being one of the 2012 Dean's Mentorship Award recipients, Kristi Bezold received 2012-2013 research funding from the Northern California Chapter of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) and the American Heart Association (AHA).
•  Shannamar Dewey (the upcoming 2012-2013 MCIP student steering committee president), has demonstrated her research prowess by successfully obtaining both an Achievement Reward for College Scientists (ARCS) and an AHA grant.  She has also been selected to present her work at the 2012 Nara Institute of Science and Technology International Student Conference in Japan.

 

Kristi Hamilton Qualified for FLOCKING!

Congratulations Kristi Hamilton on passing your QE.  You are Flocking Awesome!

Dedicated to Excellence in the Classroom

Congratulations to a current MCIP student, Monica Watson, for receiving the 2012 Graduate Student Teaching award!

The award recognizes the contributions of graduate students to teaching and learning on the UC Davis campus.

MCIP Graduate Students Continue to Succeed in Both Research and Mentoring!

Dean's Mentorship Award


Congratulations to Kristi Bezold for being one of the 2012 recipients of the Dean's Mentorship Award!
The Dean's Mentorship Award was created to help support both graduate and undergraduate students in their research and to honor the efforts of graduate students who mentor those around them. Graduate student winners are nominated by their faculty advisor and chosen by a committee to receive the award. In addition, they are then able to divide an additional award among the undergraduate students who work with them in the lab.

Northern California Chapter of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Award (ARCS)

Congratulations to Kristi Bezold and Shannamar Dewey!
The ARCS Foundation Northern California Chapter provides scholarships to academically outstanding United States citizens studying to complete their degrees in science, medicine, and engineering, thereby contributing to the worldwide advancement of science and technology.

Philip Matern Selected as a Teaching Assistant Consultant  
I am very excited for the opportunity to assist the graduate teaching community in evaluating and improving teaching techniques.  As a TA consultant, I hope to share the insights and strategies I’ve developed through my teaching experiences while continuing to learn and develop new teaching approaches across a variety of disciplines.  I'm a proponent of incorporating active learning strategies in the classroom to get students engaged in constructing knowledge, and look forward to improving my understanding and use of active learning techniques throughout my time with the TAC program.

I'm a Ph.D. student in the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology (MCIP) department currently studying the regulation of skeletal and cardiac muscle mass and the role specific E3 ligases play in atrophy and hypertrophy.

Congratulations to Tingting Liu (an incoming MCIP graduate student) for receiving a Seahorse Biosciences Travel Award for her recent presentation.

PREDOCTORAL AND POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP

University of California, Davis

Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowship

in Basic and translational cardiovascular medicine

2012-13

National Institute of Health Supported Pre- and Post-doctoral Fellowship Positions in Basic and Translational Cardiovascular Science are available immediately. Trainees will have the opportunity to work in a highly collaborative multidisciplinary environment with faculty, to whom they are linked with by common interests in the cardiovascular system and membrane biology.  Our research team includes diverse faculty from five different schools and colleges (Medical School, School of Veterinary Medicine, School of Engineering, College of Biological Sciences, and College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences). Trainees will have ample opportunities to learn and master state-of-the-art techniques in imaging, proteomics, metabolomics, genomics and bioinformatics.

Eligibility:

1)  All nominees must be citizens or permanent visa residents of the United States.

2) If funded, the students and fellows must present his/her research at the Annual Training Program Retreat and participate in the Training Program Activities. All publications must cite the training grant (T32 HL086350).

3) It is essential that the nominees be students and postdoctoral fellows who have the best potenital of becoming first-rate independent Cardiovascular Research scientists. Scholastic achievement, innovation and interdisciplinary research weigh heavily in the selection.  Collaborations between laboratories and crossing traditional boundaries are also important in the selection process. Research proposal and progress are highly valued as well as excellent GRE scores and graduate level GPA.

Application:

A complete application consists of the following.

1. A NIH biographical sketch or CV
2. A concise plan (1-3 pages) of proposed research or statement of research interests and a description of career goals
3. A copy of graduate and undergraduate academic records
4. Three Letters of recommendation.
5. A nomination letter from Faculty Sponsor and Sponsor’s other funding support

Applications should be sent to the individual listed below. 

The deadline for applications is June 1, 2012 with a start date of July 1, 2012.

Chandra Reid

Admin Assistant to Dr. A. A. Knowlton and Dr. N. Chiamvimonvat

Molecular and Cellular Cardiology,

GBSF 6315

One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616

chandra.reid@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu

Colin...YOU'VE BEEN FLOCKED!

Congratulations to Colin McCoin for recently passing his Qualifying Exam!

Patterson Lab Recognized by Neuromics for Primary Hippocampal Neuron Culture Techniques

Neuromics recently recognized The Patterson Lab at UC Davis for their outstanding culture techniques of primary hippocampal neurons:

http://neuromics.blogspot.com/2012/04/primary-hippocampal-neurons-performing.html 

Images of 67 day old e18 Primary Rat Hippocampal Neurons were provided by George Kenneth Todd!

Prior to staining, the cells were treated with Wnt5 for 2 min, then Wnt5 + Wnt3 for an additional 2 min during Calcium Imaging experiments. The cells were then fixed and stained for IP3R (green), Frizzled2 (blue), and B-Catenin (red), and the confocal images were captured at 10x. Notice the parallel neurites formation in image 3.

Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium

The Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium (IGPS) is being held at the ARC on the UC Davis Campus on Thursday April 26th through Saturday April 28th (http://www.gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/about/igps.html)

MCIP has a number of students presenting at the Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium.  Please take the time to support them. 

1. Shannamar Dewey will be presenting her poster: DYNAMIC PERTURBATIONS WITHIN THE UBIQUITIN PROTEASOME SYSTEM IN TYPE 1 DIABETES MELLITUS on Thursday, April 26th from 7:30-9:30PM
2. Amanda Klein will be giving her talk NEURAL MECHANISMS OF ITCHING, BURNING, PRICKING, STINGING, TINGLING AND NUMBING: HOW IRRITATING! On Friday, April 27th at 11:30 in ARC, Room A
3. Monica Watson is organizing a student panel on ACTIVE VS PASSIVE TEACHING which will include an experiment and real time data analysis on Saturday, April 28th from 11:00-11:45PM in ARC, Room 1 with Shannamar Dewey and Kate Watson
4. Kate Watson is organizing a workshop on WORK/LIFE BALANCE IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH (STEM) on Saturday, April 28th from 12:00-1:00PM in ARC, BALLROOM C

Please join us for these events and spread the word so that these sessions are well attended! 

STEM Workshop Flyer for 2012 IGPS 


2012_Active vs Passive IGPS Flyer

What does the schedule look like?
Thursday, April 26
5:45 p.m. – Registration
6:00 p.m. – IGPS Opening Dinner (RSVP on the website listed above)
7:00 p.m. – Keynote Address, Tim Bucher
7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. – Poster Session

Friday, April 27
9:00 a.m. – Breakfast
9:30 a.m. – Presentation Talks Session 1
10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. – Resource Fair
11:00 a.m. – Presentation Talks Session 2
12:15 p.m. – Lunch
1:00 p.m. – Presentation Talks Session 3
2:30 p.m. – Presentation Talks Session 4
4:00 p.m. – Presentation Talks Session 5
5:15 p.m. – Refreshments
6:00 p.m. – Performance Session 1
7:30 p.m. – Performance Session 2

Saturday, April 28
8:30 a.m. – Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – Panel Session 1
10:00 a.m. – Panel Session 2
11:00 a.m. – Panel Session 3
Noon – Workshop
1:00 p.m. – Lunch and Awards

The keynote speaker is high-tech serial entrepreneur, Tim Bucher. Bucher has created several successful companies over the last 25 years, taking one of them public and selling four others to tech giants like Microsoft, Apple and Dell for over $1B.

Concussion Expert Dr. Stefan Duma Will Speak at UC Davis on Head Impact Exposure in Youth Football

Stefan Duma, the Virginia Tech professor of biomedical engineering and department head of the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, is directing a new study to instrument and map the head impact exposure of youth football players for all age groups from 6 years through 18 years. Here he fits a young player with a helmet.

 “Every Newton Hertz”

Stefan Duma, Ph.D., Professor and Department Head, Virginia Tech–Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, will speak as part of the UC Davis Biomedical Engineering Department’s Distinguished Seminar Series Thursday, 3/8/12 at 4:00 PM (1005 GBSF). Dr. Duma is one of the nation’s foremost scientists in the study of concussions. His rating system for football helmets has rocked the sports world since its release last spring and escalated the debate surrounding concussions in sports. Dr. Duma’s lecture, Every Newton Hertz, will discuss findings from his study recently published online in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering called, Head Impact Exposure in Youth Football (open access).

While the head impact exposure for athletes involved in football at the college and high school levels has been well documented, the head impact exposure of the youth population involved with football has yet to be investigated. This is despite the fact that 70% of football participants are in the youth leagues, over three million per year in the U.S. Dr. Duma’s group monitored impacts during both games and practices for 7 players aged 7-8 years old for the entire 2011 season. A 12 accelerometer array was equipped inside of the helmets of the participants and acceleration data were downloaded wirelessly to characterize the impact exposure of the participants. A total of 748 impacts were collected for the 7 participating players during the season, with an average of 107 impacts per player. The recorded linear accelerations ranged from 10 g to 100 g, and the recorded rotational accelerations ranged from 52 rad/s² to 7694 rad/s².

Surprisingly, the majority of the high level impacts occurred during practices, with 29 of the 38 impacts above 40 g occurring in practices. Although less frequent, youth football can produce high head accelerations in the range of concussion causing impacts measured in adults. In order to minimize these most severe head impacts, Dr. Duma’s paper concludes that youth football practices should be modified to eliminate high impact drills that do not replicate the game situations. This finding has caused a sensation on ESPN, Discovery News, Stone Phillips Reports, and all over the media. The audience will have a chance to ask questions after the lecture.

Stefan Duma is the founding Director of the Center for Injury Biomechanics (CIB) at Virginia Tech-Wake Forest and has personally been awarded over $35 million in externally funded research from the NIH, CDC, NSF, DOD, DOT, and a range in industrial sponsors. He has published over 300 technical papers in the field of injury biomechanics including over 100 peer reviewed journal papers and two books. Dr. Duma is a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine and his research has been recognized with numerous best paper awards at the Stapp and AAAM Conferences. 

When: Thursday, 3/8/12 4:00 PM
Where: 1005 GBSF, UC Davis

Promoting Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

The Sacramento Regional FIRST Robotics competition returns to the UC Davis Pavilion March 15-17 for three days of intense mechanical competition between high school teams from around the region and across the country.

Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams of 25 students or more are challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build + program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. It’s as close to "real-world engineering" as a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team.

This year’s challenge is “Rebound Rumble,” where each alliance competes by trying to score as many of the basketballs in the hoops as possible during the 2-minute and 15-second match. Balls scored in higher hoops score Alliances more points. Alliances are awarded bonus points if they are balanced on bridges at the end of the match. In matches where opponent Alliances work together to balance on the white bridge, all participating teams earn additional valuable seeding points.

Here’s the full list of teams. Competing again this year is Team 1678, the Citrus Circuits from Davis. For the first time last year, Citrus Circuits went to the national competition in Atlanta!

Practice rounds begin on Thursday, March 15 with full competition on Friday and Saturday, March 16-17. The event is free and open to the public, so come down and cheer them on.

More about the Sacramento regional event: http://www.firstsac.org/
FIRST Robotics national site: http://www.usfirst.org/

City of Davis Science Night

Mad Science Family Science Nights are spectacular science-the mad shows designed to amaze and entertain young audiences of any size. Starting with a spectacular Mad Science show, moving on to interactive Discovery Stations and hands-on Make 'n Take booths, children love Mad Science! Parents and kids are amazed at what science and their children can do: conjure foggy dry ice storms, float on a Mad Science hovercraft, watch a foam factory at work, create slime and so much more!

Davis Senior Center
646 A Street
Thursday March 8, 2012
6:00 p.m.

Tickets are $6 Children under 13, and $8 Adult or $10 at the door (All Ages).
Tickets available beginning February 1 at the Community Services Department at City Hall, 23 Russell Blvd., Armadillo Music*, Avid Reader, and Dimple Records*.  (*convenience fee applies)

For more information please call
(530) 757-5626 or email
csweb@cityofdavis.org

2012 Award Recipients

Congratulations to Fan Yang, the 2012 recipient of the Loren D. Carlson Prize in Physiology for his dissertation on the Molecular mechanisms underlying temperature-dependent activation of thermoTRP channels!  Fan will be officially recognized at the Graduate Studies Commencement in June.








Congratulations also go out to Katherine (Kate) Watson who was selected as the 2011-2012 Irving I. Hertzendorf Memorial Award in Physiology for outstanding qualities as a scholar and humanitarian.  She will be leading a 15 minute discussion on a a topic of special interest to her at the MCIP Winter Colloquium being held on March 2nd, 2012.

Seminar Announcement

Get Out of The Lab: Volunteer At Your Local Science Fair!

Today SYNAPSE is highlighting the efforts of Shannamar Dewey and Monica Watson for volunteering to be judges at the 2012 Sonoma County Science Fair held on February 8th.

Shannamar Dewey (left) and Monica Watson (right), judges for the Sonoma County Science Fair on February 8th 2012

This year, for the first time, the fair bestowed two Director’s Choice awards for the most impressive entries. The winners were:

• Srijit Basu, a junior from Casa Grande High School.  Her project "Light Spectrum Analysis for Monocrystalline Polycrystalline and Thin Film Cells" evaluated the efficiency of various solar panels under different weather conditions.
• Hanna Maillard, a St. Francis Solano School 7th grader, studied how the convenience of recycling affected the degree to which students recycle.

This is Shannamar's second year judging the Sonoma County Science Fair; later this year she will trek to the Alameda County Science Fair to inspire more young scientists.  The Biophysical Society can always use your help in bestowing awards to budding Nobel Laureates so contact her for more information on how you can get involved!

BPS has sponsored student awards at regional and state science fairs since 2010. This growing initiative, sponsored by the Public Affairs Committee, promotes the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and math in US schools, while raising awareness about biophysics at the high school level.

In 2012, the Biophysical Society will be giving out the Biophysics Award for the best biophysics-related project at the fairs listed here. If you are interested in volunteering as a judge for this award at one of these science fairs, please contact the Society Office at scifairs@biophysics.org.

Judging at your local fair and don’t see it listed below? BPS would love to sponsor a Biophysics Award in your area! Please fill out the following form by February 1, 2012 to participate: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sciencefairvolunteer. Contact the Society Office at scifairs@biophysics.org with questions.

Alzheimer's Disease Pilot Research Funding Opportunity

News from the Grants Coordination Group, UC Davis School of Medicine/Office of Research:

Jeffrey Elias, Ph.D., Director/Manager Grant Coordination School of Medicine
jeffrey.elias@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu  
Erica Chedin, Ph.D.,Grant Coordination Officer
erica.chedin@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu  
Betty Guo, Ph.D., Grant Coordination Officer
betty.guo@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu 

Alzheimer's Disease Pilot Research Funding Opportunity 2012-2013

The University of California, Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center (UCD ADC) invites applications for pilot research grants with support from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Alzheimer's Disease Center for $32,500 each.  This funding is subject to modification contingent on NIH funding. These grants are available to researchers who are interested in studying Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.  Deadline is March 16, 2012.

The UCD ADC supports research which contributes to an improved understanding of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.  Therefore, applicants are invited to submit research proposals in the area of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders directed toward epidemiology, etiology, neurobiology, pathology, clinical medicine and diagnosis, care, treatment, evaluation, cure, social and economic impacts, or other related fields of study.  These awards are designed as pilot research projects, which are aimed at generating data to support future research applications.

Download Complete Requirements at http://alzheimer.ucdavis.edu/research/pilot.php

Career Options Seminar

Greetings fellow grad students and faculty (and anyone else who is interested),

What are the odds that you will follow your PI in becoming a tenured faculty? Yep, less than 25%. Would it make sense to focus your entire PhD career on that 1 in 4 shot (assuming those odds don't deteriorate once you get your shot at a tenured track faculty position)? Of course not. Therefore we offer your an insight in the various career options there are for people with a PhD in molecular biology (and related fields), so you can make an educated plan for your own future. You can have plans for the day after your finish your PhD.

Career Options Seminar

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

Jane de Lartigue

10:30 AM

LSA 1022

Jane completed a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the University of Liverpool in England, where she's from, prior to moving to California to start a postdoc in the Scholey lab at UC Davis. After 2 years of postdoctoral research she left the lab to follow her passion for science writing. She started up her own freelance scientific writing and editing company, Jane de Lartigue Science Communications (JLSC,) in January 2011. Over the past year she has cultivated clients in fields ranging from academia to pharmaceutical companies and specialist medical magazines. She is also active in the online scientific communications community via blogging, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Whatever you study, this will be a good talk to attend because Jane will provide insight into how she succeeded in her career using the sheepskin we are all working for.

Tell your fellow grad students, techs, postdocs, and PI and we'll see you on February 14th!

Seminar schedule (http://bmcdb.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/career-option-seminar-schedule/):

Fall quarter
11 Oct 2011 - David Posner, UC Davis graduate, human resources Cisco
08 Nov 2011 – Paul Henderson, National lab + start-up company
13 Dec 2011 – Eric Jonas, CEO of Novia Systems start-up, PhD student at MIT

Winter quarter
10 Jan 2012 – Sharon Bergquist, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellows, policy and global affairs
14 Feb 2012 – Jane de Lartigue, freelance science writer
13 Mar 2012* – Dave Crotty, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, executive editor CSHL Protocol

Spring quarter
10 Apr 2012 – Mel Bradnam, grant office at UC Davis Cancer Center
08 May 2012 – Megan Hall, associate editor PLoS Biology
12 Jun 2012** - Jacqueline Alldritt, high-school teacher

All talks will be at 10:30 in LSA1022.

* will be on a Friday at 2pm in LSA1022

** will be on a Tuesday, but at 4pm in LSA1022

2012 Graduate Studies Commencement Ceremony

The Office of Graduate Studies, together with the Graduate Council and the Graduate Student Association, invite you to join us as we host the 2012 Graduate Studies Commencement Ceremony.

Date: Thursday, June 14, 2012
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Location: ARC Pavilion

On the following pages you will find information on eligibility requirements, registration, cap and gown ordering, directions and parking tips, and more! Plus, we've even included some "Celebrating On the Town" information.

Congratulations, graduate!



IMPORTANT DATES

• February 6: Online Registration opens
• April 13: Deadline to register to participate if you want your name to appear in the commencement program
• May 4: Line-up instructions will be posted on Commencement Central
• May 29, 3:00 p.m.: Deadline to register to participate, your name will not appear in the commencement program. No late exceptions. Only eligible students may participate. See eligibility requirement.
• May 30, 31, June 1: Pick up cap and gown in Freeborn Hall (go to the UC Davis Stores website for more information). Late pick-up fee accessed for pre-orders picked up after June 1.
• June 14, 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.: Commencement (outside reception immediately following)
• June 14: Late cap and gown return fees assessed the first Monday following the ceremony. (Best to return items with staff stationed outside the Pavilion immediately following commencement ceremony.)

For more information and to sign up for the 2012 commencement ceremony go to http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/commencement/ .

The 7 Secrets of Highly Successful PhDs and Masters Students

The 7 Secrets of Highly Successful PhDs and Masters Students

Thursday, March 1, 2012
Noon-2:30pm
MUII, 2nd Floor, Memorial Union

Please Register at http://iccweb.ucdavis.edu/graduates/7SecretsSignUp.htm

What do graduate students and postdocs do to finish on time, to overcome isolation, doubt and writer’s block, and to enjoy the process? And just as importantly what do they do in order to spend guilt-free time with their family and friends and perhaps even have holidays? If this sounds appealing, then this session will be of particular use to you.

This workshop describes the seven key habits that will help you complete your graduate degree or postdoc. Just as importantly, these habits can greatly reduce the stress and increase the pleasure involved in the process of finishing your degree or training.

The workshop helps you to understand how to increase your effectiveness and outcomes in the following key areas:

• how you deal with your adviser
• how you structure your writing time
• your attitude (or lack thereof!) in relation to your research
• dealing with writer’s block or having difficulty writing
• getting the help you need when you are stuck
• juggling multiple commitments and never having enough time
• keeping on going when the going gets tough

Feel free to bring a brown bag lunch!

Light refreshments will be served.

Professors for the Future

A Professional Development Program for Ph.D. Candidates and Postdoctoral Scholars

Information Meeting

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Noon-1:00pm

Garrison Room, MU (2^nd floor)

The Professors for the Future (PFTF) program is a competitive, year-long fellowship program designed to recognize and develop the leadership and academic skills of outstanding graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who have demonstrated their commitment to professionalism, integrity, and academic service.  The program consists of professional development training through participation in monthly meetings and workshops, a seminar in college teaching, and a seminar on ethics and professionalism in the university. 

All Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars are cordially invited to join Associate Dean, Lenora Timm, Teresa Dillinger, Program Coordinator and current PFTF fellows for this informational meeting about the PFTF program.

Visit http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/pftf/  for more information and application forms.  Applications are due Friday, March 2, 2012 by 5pm.

Sponsored by the Office of Graduate Studies and Professors for the Future

In Vivo Small Animal Imaging Workshop

An Invitation from Simon Cherry

The Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging (CMBI) invites you to join them at the “In vivo Small-Animal Imaging: An Introductory Workshop,” to be held March 21, 2012, at the auditorium of the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility on the UC Davis campus. This workshop is designed for individuals who are new to in vivo, small animal imaging. It is appropriate for technical staff and researchers who have recently started working with in vivo imaging techniques and who want to learn more about the basic science and methods of small-animal imaging. The workshop will consist of lectures in the morning and demonstrations of imaging procedures in the afternoon. Only the first 26 registered participants will be invited to participate in the afternoon demonstrations at the Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging (CMGI). No prior knowledge is assumed. Please note that the workshop is not suited for those already experienced in small-animal imaging. We look forward to seeing you in March!

Tentative schedule:

8:00 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast

8:30 a.m. Welcome

8:35 a.m. Small Animal Imaging Basics, Simon Cherry, PhD

10:00 a.m. Data Acquisition, Processing Analysis, Doug Rowland, PhD

11:15 a.m. Targeted Molecular Imaging, Julie Sutcliffe, PhD

12:15 p.m. Image Reconstruction Techniques, Ramsey Badawi, PhD

1:00 p.m. Lunch

1:45 – 4:45 p.m. Demonstrations (limited to the first 26 registered participants) in the CMGI

Registration: $25 per participant (non-refundable). Please register at http://cmgi.eventbrite.com

For more information: If you have any questions regarding this workshop, please contact

Malena Teeters at (530) 754-8033 or mbteeters@ucdavis.edu

JOINT SEMINARS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Sponsored by: The  College of Biological Sciences, Graduate Group in Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Department of Plant Biology, Molecular & Cellular Biology Training Grant (NIH), and Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology

Dr. Hana El-Samad

Assistant Professor

Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics

University of California, San Francisco

""Non-Genetic Individuality: Molecular Noise as a Phenotype"."

Thursday, February 2, 2012

4:10 p.m.

1022 Life Sciences

Faculty Host: Katie Dehesh (kdehesh@ucdavis.edu)

 (If you wish an appointment with the invited speaker, please contact their host.)

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Innate Immunity

If you missed The Center for Comparative Medicine's Symposium on  the Evolution of Common Molecular Pathways Underlying Innate Immunity, audio/visual power point presentations from the speakers (two of whom are Nobel Laureates) have been released.  I have provided the links below for the presentations, but you can also visit The Center for Comparative Medicine's website for additional information and upcoming events/seminars/symposia.

• "The Drosophila Host Defense: A Model for the Study of Innate Immunity"  by Jules Hoffmann, PhD, 2011 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg

• “Creating Immune Deficiencies by Random Mutagenesis in Mammals” by Bruce Beutler, MD, 2011 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas

• “The Rice XA21 Receptor Recognizes a Conserved Bacterial Signaling Molecule” by Pamela Ronald, PhD, Professor Department of Plant Pathology, UC Davis Genome Center, University of California, Davis

• “Toll-like Receptors and Inflammasomes:  Key Drivers of Inflammatory Diseases” by Luke O'Neill, PhD, Professor School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College, Dublin

Storer Life Sciences Endowment Seminar Series

The Major Issues in Modern Biology (MIiMB) seminar series was established by the College of Biological Sciences in 1986 to focus attention on important issues that influence the direction of modern biology. In 1990, the Tracy and Ruth Storer Lectureship in the Life Sciences endowment began funding the seminar series to bring to Davis eminent biologists whose current work represents the cutting edge of their fields of inquiry. The series features speakers whose work has had a major impact in their field and is of broad appeal to the campus community of biologists.

The series generally consists of 4-6 seminars scheduled at intervals throughout the academic year. Each speaker presents a single seminar.

Dance your Ph.D.

For the past few days I have been contemplating what topic should be used to induct SYNAPSE into the blogging community.  In retrospect, I never should have stressed over the decision because it was a no-brainer; it just took time to form the synaptic connection!  Since the mission of this blog is to provide "chemically balanced connections to, from, and about MCIP graduate students at UC Davis" the first post is going to highlight one of our very own, Kristina (Kristi) Bezold.  She came to UC Davis with Dr. Samantha Harris and quickly integrated herself into the core muscle fibers of the MCIP graduate group.  She is best known for her diligent planning and seamless execution of the Napa Valley wine trips that have recruited many students to our graduate group.  In October of 2011, Kristi submitted a video to 'Dance Your Ph.D.'  She has a unique ability to make science engaging!  Here is her video on how myosin binding protein C helps regulate cardiac contraction.  Thank you Kristi for your energy, enthusiasm and commitment to MCIP!


CMyBP-C PhD dance from Kristi Bezold on Vimeo.

Procrastinating?  Check out some of this year's video submissions, they are a GREAT educational waste of your valuable time!  The winning videos can be found here.

Improving your Mentoring Skills:
Another shameless Kristi promotion - starting February 2nd through March 7th she is organizing an HHMI supported seminar on 'Improving your Mentoring Skills'.  Bagels and coffee are provided along with valuable information on the importance of quality mentoring.  This seminar is open to graduate students, postdocs, and even professors who want to enhance their abilities as a mentor.  There will be 6, weekly, 1-hour seminars covering topics common to all mentoring relationships.

Benefits of participating in the Mentoring Seminar:

1. Enhance your mentoring abilities through awareness and tools for effective mentoring
2. Gain perspective on all mentoring relationships, including your own student/PI relationship
3. Put on your CV that you took a HHMI Entering Mentoring Seminar
4. Free coffee and bagels on Wednesday mornings!

Details:
Time:  Wednesday mornings from 9:00am to 10:00am
Dates: February 2nd through March 7th (6 weeks long)
Place:  148 Briggs Hall

Tentative weekly schedule will focus on the following topics:

1. Establishing a good mentoring relationship, and elements of a good research project
2. Learning to communicate effectively and adaptively
3. Setting goals and expectations, and developing trust
4. Identifying and resolving challenges in mentoring
5. Evaluating your progress as a mentor
6. Developing a mentoring philosophy and drawing parallels in mentoring

To sign up, subscribe to the EnteringMentoring listserve at:  https://lists.ucdavis.edu/sympa/info/enteringmentoring or email Brandon Zipp or Kristi Bezold for more information.