SCRIPPS DISCOVERS
Accele rating Discove r ies, S a ving L ives
A Newsletter for Philanthropists Published Quarterly by The Scripps Research Institute
SUMMER 2012
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VOL 8
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NO 3
California-Florida
I N S T I T U T E U P D AT E
Scripps Research Discoveries Lead to Newly Approved
Drug for Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome
> New Drug Helps Pre-Term Infants Breathe
Professor Emeritus
Charles Cochrane
Scientific advances at The Scripps Research Institute have led to a new drug Surfaxin® (lucinactant), approved
recently by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat infant respiratory distress syndrome.
“I am excited that our scientific findings will help save lives,” said Charles Cochrane, MD, professor
emeritus at Scripps Research. “Many years of work in our basic research laboratory at The Scripps Research
Institute made this landmark development possible.”
Respiratory distress syndrome (also known as neonatal respiratory distress syndrome) is a life-threatening
condition affecting pre-term infants. The more premature an infant is, the more likely he or she is to suffer from
it and die.
The condition occurs when infants are born prior to the time when natural surfactant is made in their lungs.
Surfactant is a liquid that coats the inside of the lungs, helping to keep the air sacs open and making normal
breathing possible. Without enough surfactant, the lungs collapse and the body can be starved of oxygen.
In addition to mechanical ventilation, current treatments for pre-term infants involve using surfactants derived
from chopped cow or pig lungs. However, animal-derived surfactants are expensive, contain material that can be
injurious to the lungs, and cannot be produced in quantities sufficient to treat pre-term infants worldwide. In
addition, animal-derived surfactants can only be used once since they cause an immune reaction; in contrast, the
new synthetic surfactant is not immunogenic.
The Cochrane lab first created a synthetic version of surfactant in the 1990s, mimicking a natural peptide known
as Surfactant Protein B; the inventors of the technology are Cochrane and Susan Revak. After this formative work at
Scripps Research, the therapy was developed by Discovery Labs of Warrington, PA, which oversaw the three phases
of clinical trials required by the FDA. These clinic trials provided data on the drug’s success.
Inside:
2 . . License Agreement for Novel
Parkinson’s Disease Compound
3 . . Scripps Research Celebrates
20th Commencement
Esther B. O’Keeffe Foundation
Gives $2 Million to The Scripps
Research Institute
4 . . Team Develops Simple Test to
Predict Heart Attacks
5 . . Scientist Profile: Peter Kuhn
6 . . Scripps Reseach Institute Announces
Five-Year Research Collaboration
with Bristol-Myers Squibb
7 . . Donor Profile: Achievement
Rewards for College Scientists
Foundation (ARCS)
BACK COVER:
Geoff Graham Named Director of
Planned Giving and Estates, Contact Us
he Esther B. O’Keeffe Charitable Foundation has made a $2 million donation to The Scripps
Research Institute to fund biomedical research and education on the Florida campus. In
recognition of the gift, the Founders Room and the adjoining board room at Scripps Florida
have been named the Esther B. O’Keeffe Founders Suite.
“I know I speak for the entire Scripps community when I wholeheartedly thank the Esther B.
O’Keeffe Charitable Foundation,” said Scripps Research President and CEO Michael A. Marletta.
“Gifts of this magnitude are transformative and will go directly towards the next generation of
discoveries to understand, cure, and treat human disease.”
“We are delighted to contribute to The Scripps Research Institute’s important scientific and
educational work,” said Clare O’Keeffe, executive trustee of the foundation. “These efforts are
tremendously exciting and we are proud to be part of them.”
continued on page 2
T
R E S E A R C H U P D AT E
Scripps Research Institute and OPKO Health Announce
Global License Agreement for a Novel Compound That
Blocks Brain Cell Destruction in Parkinson’s Disease
he Scripps Research Institute and OPKO Health, Inc.
(NYSE: OPK) recently announced a global agreement for
the development and commercialization of SR 3306, a
novel compound discovered by scientists from the Florida campus
of The Scripps Research Institute that blocks the destruction of
brains cells in animal models of Parkinson’s disease.
“This licensing agreement will help insure that the
development of this promising compound keeps moving forward,”
said Scripps Research Professor Philip LoGrasso, Ph.D., whose
laboratory has led the research on the compound to date. “This is
one of the best opportunities we have for the development of an
effective neuroprotective treatment for Parkinson’s patients.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Scripps Research has
granted to OPKO Health exclusive worldwide rights to develop,
manufacture, and commercialize SR 3306 and related compounds
that inhibit a class of enzymes called jun-N-terminal kinsases
( JNK) that play an important role in neuron survival. The new
compound would potentially be the first to protect the brain from
the ravages of Parkinson’s disease.
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O’Keeffe,
“We are excited to be working
with Dr. LoGrasso and The
Scripps Research Institute to
develop this important compound
which could prevent the progression
of Parkinson’s disease and not
just treat the symptoms of the
disease,” said Phillip Frost, M.D.,
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of OPKO.
Parkinson’s disease, a
degenerative neurological disorder
that reduces the brain’s ability
to produce dopamine, affects
Professor Philip LoGrasso
about 1 million Americans.
Currently prescribed drugs for
Parkinson’s disease—including levodopa and so-called MAO-B
inhibitors—can counteract symptoms of the disease but not stop
its progression.
CONTINUED
The Esther B. O’Keeffe Charitable Foundation was
established in 1990 by the late philanthropist Esther B. O’Keeffe,
wife of respected surgeon and philanthropist Dr. Arthur O’Keeffe.
Their children now carry on the family tradition by serving as
trustees of the foundation, which supports a variety of health and
medical research causes, as well as a broad spectrum of arts and
cultural programs.
Over the years, the foundation has supported
innovative non-embryonic stem cell research at
Scripps Research, helping to advance breakthroughs
in the development of new treatments for conditions
such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, hearing
loss, and spinal cord damage.
The new unrestricted gift will be used to fund special initiatives
on the Florida campus. In the past, unrestricted funds have provided
state-of-the-art scientific infrastructure, funded “out of the box”
research projects, provided crucial “bridge funding” for scientists
between grants, and enabled graduate students to study in the
institute’s top-ranked PhD program.
With this gift, the foundation and its trustees become Scripps
Florida Founders, a designation that honors donors who have made
lifetime contributions of $2 million or more to the Jupiter campus.
2 | SCRIPPS DISCOVERS
SUMMER 2012
The O’Keeffe family’s generosity is reflected in the names of
many Palm Beach area facilities and programs, including the
Esther B. O’Keeffe Art Gallery and Speakers Series at The Society
of the Four Arts, pavilions at the Good Samaritan and St. Mary’s
medical centers, a wing at the Norton Museum of Art, and the
American Heart Association’s West Palm Beach headquarters.
In addition, the Esther B. O’Keeffe Charitable Foundation has
supported the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Massachusetts General
Hospital, Cape Cod Hospital, and many other charities.
The late Dr. Arthur O’Keeffe (center) with his children (left to right),
Daniel, Arthur, Clare, and Brian.
Scripps Research Celebrates 20th Commencement
> The Scripps Research Institute held its 20th commencement on May 18, celebrating 40 graduating
students and featuring Scripps Research President and CEO Michael A. Marletta as keynote speaker.
Nobel laureate Manfred Eigen was also presented with an honorary degree.
fter the colorful march across the California campus to the
Neurosciences Institute auditorium, Marletta welcomed the
faculty, Eigen, Ph.D. candidates, family, and friends to the
ceremony. He urged the participants to acknowledge the important
support that the students had received over the years from their
families and friends that made this moment possible.
Jamie Williamson, dean of graduate and postgraduate studies,
also offered his welcome, inviting the group to celebrate the occasion
with “unrestrained enthusiasm” and underlining the Scripps Research
graduate program’s focus on research.
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for them. We strike a very responsive cord. We’re going to tell them we
are going to understand, cure, and treat human disease. They’ll
get it.”
After the commencement address, Scripps Research faculty
members stepped up to the lectern one by one to speak about the
array of impressive scientific and personal accomplishments of each
member of the class of 2012.
“Our faculty are tremendous mentors in the lab,”
said Williamson. “It is no accident that we are
among the top ten programs in the country in
chemistry and biology.”
U.S. News & World Report ranks the Kellogg School program
seventh overall in chemistry and seventh overall in the biological
sciences, based on a survey of department heads, deans, directors of
graduate studies, and other academics in each discipline.
Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Peter Vogt
introduced Marletta, a world-renowned biochemist who took office
as president and CEO of Scripps Research at the beginning of the
year, as the keynote speaker.
Marletta noted that Scripps Research is unique and this fact will
reflect well on the new graduates. “No place has a singular focus in
mind on understanding biology and curing and treating human
disease as does The Scripps Research Institute,” he said. “What’s
different about Scripps? Scripps combines first-rate biology with
first-rate chemistry in a seamless fashion. That doesn’t exist at any
other place…, that environment and the range of disciplines that it
encompasses, including structural biology at a density and a quality
unmatched anywhere in the world. When you roll all of that together,
you can begin to see how Scripps can set itself apart from our
competitors.” He also highlighted the entrepreneurial spirit at the
institute, which has produced 52 companies, “a remarkable number.”
Looking ahead to the future of the institute, Marletta
acknowledged there were challenges in face of the tightening of
funding from the federal government. However, he noted he was
confident Scripps Research would remain strong, given its vitality,
determination, and new initiatives in philanthropy, licensing, and
partnerships with industry.
Speaking to the graduates, Marletta urged them to work in a
field they are passionate about, one that “doesn’t feel like work.”
However, he also issued a challenge. “I want you to demystify
science to the public,” he said. “You’ve got the education to do that.
It is so important that our citizens understand what science can do.…
When an opportunity presents itself, then take it forward and explain
to people in terms that they can understand what science can do
To graduate, each Kellogg School student needs to attend
classes, complete lab rotations, and work with an advisor to write a
dissertation that offers an original contribution to their field. The
research interests of this year’s graduating class represented fields
from synthetic organic chemistry to molecular biology, and topics
from genome stability to the Lassa virus.
The audience learned that many students had numerous firstauthor publications. One individual’s dissertation was 900 pages.
Some students had solved seemingly intractable scientific problems.
One had had her work covered by The New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, and The Economist. The first biology student from the
Scripps Florida campus was graduating, as was the first student
who was accepted directly into the Florida program (rather than
transferring from another institution).
continued on page 4
SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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Team Develops Simple Test to Predict Heart Attacks
ew findings from a landmark research study led by the
Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI)—a
collaborative program between Scripps Health and The
Scripps Research Institute—shows a promising new blood test
may be useful in helping doctors predict who is at risk for an
imminent heart attack.
The study, published March 21, 2012, in Science Translational
Medicine, concludes that circulating endothelial cells (CEC)
from heart attack patients were abnormally large and misshapen
and often appeared with multiple nuclei, which indicates that
CECs are promising biomarkers for the prediction of acute ongoing
arterial plaque rupture.
N
“The ability to diagnose an imminent heart attack
has long been considered the holy grail of
cardiovascular medicine,” said Eric Topol, the
study’s principal investigator and director of STSI,
who also holds positions at Scripps Health,
Scripps Clinic, and Scripps Research.
“This has been a tremendous collaboration of two institutions on
the research side, three health care systems in San Diego, and a life
science industry leader, which has resulted in an important discovery
that may help to change the future of cardiovascular medicine.”
The study involved 50 patients who presented to emergency
rooms with heart attacks at four acute care hospitals in San Diego.
Using different cell isolation platforms, including the Veridex
CellSearch System®, the researchers found that CEC counts and
the cell structural features were dramatically altered in the heart
attack population when compared to the healthy control group.
“Our image analysis showed that the myocardial infarction
CECs have a unique morphological signature (larger cells, greater
cellular/ nuclear areas, multicellular and multinuclear clusters),
Commencement,
compared to CECs from control individuals,” said Professor Velia
Fowler, one of the Scripps Research investigators contributing
to the study.
The findings are significant, as more than 2.5 million U.S.
individuals experience a heart attack or ischemic stroke, most
commonly the result of obstructive coronary artery disease, according
to STSI. If the arteries get abruptly and completely occluded by
the buildup of fatty cholesterol, it will cause a massive heart attack
that will likely lead to a sudden death, as was the case involving
former NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert.
“With some additional validation, the hope is to have this
test developed for commercial use in the next year or two,” said
Raghava Gollapudi, a co-author from Sharp HealthCare. “This
would be an ideal test to perform in an emergency room to
determine if a patient is on the cusp of a heart attack or about to
experience one in the next couple of weeks. Right now we can
only test to detect if a patient is currently experiencing or has
recently experienced a heart attack.”
Professor Eric Topol
CONTINUED
Other accomplishments were more personal in nature—
helping other lab members, finding a spouse, becoming an expert
in ballroom dancing and Krav Maga, an Israeli marshal art.
Members of the Scripps Research Class of ‘12 are working in
both academia and industry. Employers include: Harvard, ETH
Zurich, University of California, San Diego, J. David Gladstone
Institute, the La Jolla Institute of Allergy and Immunology,
Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Novartis, Genentech, Johnson &
Johnson, and Bristol Myers-Squibb.
One by one, the graduates stepped up to the stage to receive
a diploma and ceremonial hood from Williamson and William
4 | SCRIPPS DISCOVERS
SUMMER 2012
Roush, professor, executive director of Medicinal Chemistry, and
associate dean of graduate studies at Scripps Florida.
Eigen, who had officially received his degree last year but
had been unable to attend the ceremony, was also hooded.
When PhD degrees were officially conferred on the
candidates and honorary degree recipient, the audience burst
into thunderous applause.
Taking the dean’s advice, the faculty, students, graduates,
family, friends, and supporters filed out of the auditorium, ready
to spend the rest of the day celebrating with “great enthusiasm.”
SCIENTIST PROFILE
Peter Kuhn: Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment
is a Goal within Grasp
istening to Scripps Research Associate Professor Peter Kuhn
describe the goal of his research on metastatic tumors gives
you the distinct impression that our current cancer treatments
will look like medieval medicine within a few years.
Peter, who joined Scripps Research in 2002, and his colleagues
study circulating tumor cells (CTCs) – the cancer cells that escape
from the primary tumor and travel through the blood to start distant
metastasis. This spread of cancer from the primary site of origin to
other places in the body resulting in metastatic cancer is the most
common cause of cancer related deaths.
Cancer tumor cells are known to move around – and that’s the
problem. In the peripheral blood of patients with carcinomas such
as breast, prostate, lung, pancreatic, liver, and ovarian cancer, they
circulate in minute amounts, about one cancer cell for every ten
million normal blood cells.
Peter and the staff of the Scripps Physics Oncology Center
analyze blood samples containing billions of cells to find tens or
maybe hundreds of cancer cells, which could give physicians a “real
time” understanding of how a patient’s cancer is behaving. Finding
a CTC is comparable to finding Waldo of Where’s Waldo fame, or
finding the needle in the haystack. By understanding metastasis,
Peter and his colleagues can interfere with it early on and have a
better chance of successfully treating patients and more effectively
managing the disease.
Scripps Physics Oncology is one of twelve National Cancer
Institute funded signature centers. “Progress in cancer medicine,
like that in many medical fields, must encompass and take advantage
of progress in the physical sciences,” said Peter. “Although some
progress has been made in fighting cancer, the victories are limited.
We can successfully eradicate primary tumors in the sites where
they arise and we can effectively control local recurrences in nearby
tissues. However, distant spread of cancer via the bloodstream has
always been the fatal loophole and is mysterious to us. We are
taking aim at this mystery.”
L
In a major breakthrough, Peter’s team, working
with pathologists and oncologists from across the
country, has developed a very sensitive effective
method to find, count and characterize CTCs in
patient blood samples, called the HD-CTC test.
This could possibly give doctors a faster and better way to adjust
treatments of a variety of cancers by providing significant and
crucial information about how a patient is responding to the
current treatment, helping oncologists monitor patient status more
frequently and less invasively, and enabling detection, prognosis, and
individualized therapy management for cancer patients.
“Considering the fact that cancer really comprises more than
200 distinct diseases, it is clear that we have to learn how to stratify
patients on a personal basis, to customize diagnosis and treatment
aimed at the way it presents in that individual,” said Peter. You want
to be able to provide initial therapy that is based on individual
diagnosis and monitor that in real time.”
The blood test could supplement and, in some cases, replace
surgical biopsies, which can be costly, painful and difficult to conduct,
said Peter. A surgical biopsy can collapse a person’s lung, and there
is concern that cancerous cells can be spread in the body when the
needle is being removed. “We have a brand new way of doing a
biopsy,” said Peter. Instead of sticking a needle in your chest wall,
we can see disease-derived cells in the blood. It’s next-generation
and unprecedented technology. We’ve never been able to see these
elusive cells routinely and in high definition like this before.”
Peter’s work offers the long-term possibility of
further leveling the playing field in the war against
cancer and making early detection – when
treatment can be most effective – a common
and relatively simple process.
Peter and his colleagues have learned that over 70% of all stage
IV patients have circulating tumor cells in the blood, and have
concluded seven clinical studies and initiated nine new clinical
studies involving twelve clinical sites around the world. Over
2,000 patients are involved in these clinical studies. They also
demonstrated that they could sensitively detect CTCs even in
patients with early-stage cancer.
“Working directly with blood samples from cancer patients
provides a direct link to the bedside,” said Peter. “There is a rather
long and depressing list of anti-cancer therapeutics that were
tremendously successful in animal models but failed to exhibit
activity against cancer when tested in humans. Our ability to work
with human blood samples should increase the relevance of our
findings to those in need.”
“What excites me is having an impact on human health,” said
Peter. “And what pushes me personally are a few key events – most
importantly, my mother surviving breast cancer due to early-stage
radiation. I know that by bringing research and the clinic together
as early as possible it can result in survival – that’s a powerful
message to me personally.”
Peter is a big fan of the Scripps Research environment of
non-hierarchical lines. “Here is a place crowded with people who
have tremendous competencies and intellects,” he said. “If we
work in a collaborative way, the common gain should be enormous.
It’s more likely to lead to success here than in other environments.
We don’t fit into any traditional department structures but instead
are evolving constantly to keep focused on our goal of impacting
continued on page 6
SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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Kuhn,
CONTINUED
human health. We’re doing something completely new that we can
take to the patient.”
Peter drives into work fired up every day. “We have put in place
a research framework, have proven that it works, and are now putting
these pieces together,” he said. “Once you put together the right
scientists and the right clinicians and the right programs, you add
some very creative graduate and postdoctoral fellows, and you set it
up so everyone talks to one another, then suddenly one plus one
becomes ten. They are able to do things not achievable before.”
Peter labels himself as stubborn and focused on the problem.
“In order to be successful, we need to understand the disease in each
patient. It’s a human story, not a science and technology story.
Problem solving got me into science in the first place. I want a
solution. I don’t care how we get there.”
Peter, whose work has placed him among the leaders in the
cancer fluid biopsy field, predicts these results could turn into
routine medical practice within three years, if he’s able to secure the
necessary funding.
Between government grant programs, funding
opportunities from pharmaceutical companies
and investors, and private philanthropy, Peter
believes individual philanthropy will play the key
role in his program’s future success.
“Private philanthropy is incredibly important,” said Peter.
“Financial gifts directly support promising research, the training of
new generations of scientists, and enhance our ability to succeed in
our goal of a cancer-free tomorrow. Private philanthropy will allow
us to answer questions pertaining to individual patients on all the
major killer types of cancers. It’s an investment in your own health.”
Associate Professor
Peter Kuhn
“In fact, generous gifts from the Borden family and Wayne
Green allowed us to start our high risk research which was just an
idea from a crazy scientist in the beginning and would not have
been funded by the federal government. Their gifts have been
leveraged so that we’re now a full-fledged peer-reviewed National
Institutes of Health Center, and the generosity of Carol Vassiliadis
is helping us in getting started in the next stage. It’s crystal clear
that we will fail if we don’t get more private philanthropy on board.”
“When it comes to cancer, there is a maximum of
one degree of separation,” said Peter. “Talk to the
person next to you. Everyone is touched and is
deeply concerned about finding answers.”
For further information on Peter’s work, please visit http://kuhn.
scripps.edu.
Scripps Research Institute Announces Five-Year Research
Collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb
> For Scripps Research, the Focused Deal Provides a Model for Future
The Scripps Research Institute has entered into a five-year collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY ) focused
on applying novel chemistry to drug discovery and synthesis.
The collaboration will revolve around support for projects of mutual interest to Bristol-Myers Squibb and a number of Scripps
Research chemistry laboratories. Scripps Research investigators and senior scientists from Bristol-Myers Squibb collaborated to develop
research plans incorporated into the new agreement.
“This agreement is an exciting development for The Scripps Research Institute,” said Scripps Research President and CEO Michael A.
Marletta. “It serves as a great example of how we will engage corporate partners in both understanding and treating disease. I look with
anticipation to the outcome of this multi-lab collaboration.”
In broad terms, the research will utilize Scripps Research investigators’ expertise in applying chemistry methodologies to prepare novel
synthetic intermediates and analogs for biological evaluation against Bristol-Myers Squibb targets.
“This arrangement is exemplary of our forward-looking corporate partnership strategy, as the first of what we hope will be many such
agreements existing in parallel,” said Scott Forrest, vice president for business development at Scripps Research.
6 | SCRIPPS DISCOVERS
SUMMER 2012
DONOR PROFILE
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists
Foundation (ARCS): Providing Hope for the Country’s
Future in Science and Engineering
chievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation
(ARCS) provides graduate and undergraduate scholarships
to our country’s best and brightest students who are
pursuing a degree in science, engineering, or medical research.
Brilliant young ARCS Scholars provide hope for the country’s
future.
On a national level, ARCS Foundation has given away almost
$79 million since it was formed in 1958, through its 17 chapters across
the country. The San Diego Chapter was formed in 1985, and, two
years later, provided $10,000 in Scholar Awards. This year, the chapter
awarded $405,000 to 56 students at Scripps Research and three other
local institutions, and it has now granted more than $7.1 million
locally since its formation!
The San Diego ARCS Scholars at Scripps Research, San Diego
State University, the University of California, San Diego (including
Scripps Institution of Oceanography), and University of San Diego
are working on a diverse range of research that has the potential to
lead to the development of new drugs to treat diseases such as breast
cancer and Alzheimer’s, faster smartphones, and advancements in the
production of biofuels and other renewable energies.
A
An all-volunteer organization of philanthropists
dedicated to helping the best and brightest United
States students, ARCS Foundation was formed
by a group of women in 1958 in Los Angeles in
response to Sputnik and the lack of U.S. supremacy
in the technology race.
“The need for U.S. scientists and engineers that existed in the
late 1950s continues and is especially acute today,” notes Robin Luby,
president of the San Diego ARCS chapter. “Our greatest science
questions will be answered by the young minds at work today in U.S.
colleges and universities.”
Toni Nickell, who serves as ARCS liaison to Scripps Research
and its chapter web site advisor, has been active on both the local and
national boards of ARCS for more than 10 years, served as president
of the local board for several years, and has been a member since 1987.
She has had a significant impact on the group’s success.
“We’re unique in that one hundred percent of Scholar Award
contributions – from corporations, endowments, individuals, and ARCS
members – goes to fund these motivated students – we are totally
volunteer-based and administrative costs come from member dues,”
said Toni. “Many alums of ARCS Foundation funding have entered the
nation’s government agencies, corporations, and academic institutions
to work on the advancement of U.S. science and technology.”
Thirty-six percent of ARCS Scholars have received national or
international science recognition. Sixty-seven percent of ARCS
Scholar alums rate ARCS funding as having had great or significant
impact on the completion of their studies and future careers.
Since 1997, the San Diego Chapter of ARCS Foundation has
donated $845,000 to Scripps Research to provide scholarship awards
to 50 students at the Kellogg School of Science and Technology.
The awards have been given to students who focus on a wide range
of scientific disciplines including organic chemistry, chemistry,
biology, immunology, and chemical and molecular biology.
Scripps Research had to meet rigid criteria to even participate in
the ARCS program. “In order to participate in the program, ARCS
considers the strength of the degree program, the size and quality of
the faculty, the number of published scientific articles, and the number
of research grants from nationally recognized institutions, amongst
other criteria,” said Toni.
Crystal Moran Gutierrez, who is studying for a doctorate at
Scripps Research, is researching protein folding, such as the type
implicated in Parkinson’s disease. By understanding what causes the
proteins to misfold, the next step could be a viable treatment.
As a graduate student who works in a lab, Gutierrez receives
an annual stipend of $28,000 from Scripps Research and $5,000
from ARCS.
“The extra money allows me to live a little more comfortably
so that I can go home to a quiet place,” she said. “I want my
research to do something good for humanity, and I know people
who have Parkinson’s.”
Toni notes, “ARCS Foundation invests in America’s
scientists. Our support of Scripps Research
graduate science students is an important part of
our mission. Scripps Research is an outstanding
institution with an impressive group of scholars
and we’re pleased to be involved.”
continued on back page
SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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AWARDS AND HONORS
Geoff Graham Named Director of
Planned Giving and Estates
cripps Research is pleased to welcome Geoff Graham, who served most recently
as Director of Gift Planning for the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) for
the past seven years, as its new Director of Planned Giving and Estates. Geoff is
responsible for helping Scripps Research donors and friends (and their professional advisors)
meet their needs by identifying and helping them to understand creative ways to plan and
implement their charitable gifts to the institute. These gifts often require strategic financial
planning, but yield great benefits to donors while helping Scripps Research fulfill its mission.
Geoff has extensive experience in gift planning and in the creation and administration
of gifts in which donors retain a life income interest, such as gift annuities and charitable
trusts, as well as other planned gifts, such as bequests, and gifts of real estate, retirement
plans, and life insurance. Geoff earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and visual arts
at UCSD.
S
For further information about the planned giving program at Scripps Research,
please visit scripps.edu/philanthropy/planned-giving.html, or contact Geoff at
(858) 784-9365 or gcgraham@scripps.edu.
ARCS,
CONTINUED
Beyond financial support, ARCS Foundation members take a
personal interest in ARCS Scholars and Scholar alums. “We meet
with the students to learn more about their work, challenges, and
successes,” said Toni. “This often continues through academic life
and into their careers.”
The local chapter, which boasts approximately 160 members,
also holds an annual Scientist of the Year Dinner, which typically
attracts between 400 and 600 attendees, and an annual Scholar
Recognition Event.
“Without ARCS support, many of these Scholars would not
be able to continue their education through the difficult times,”
said Toni. We hope they’ll go on to do extraordinary things –
perhaps they will even cure cancer or Alzheimer’s someday.”
Contact Us:
• For more information about Scripps Research,
visit our web page at www.supportscrippsresearch.org
• To learn more about supporting Scripps Research’s
cutting-edge research, please contact:
CALIFORNIA
(858) 784.2037 or (800) 788.4931
burfitt@scripps.edu
FLORIDA
(561) 228.2013
abruner@scripps.edu