SCRIPPS DISCOVERS
Accele rating Discove r ies, S a ving L ives
A Newsletter for Philanthropists Published Quarterly by The Scripps Research Institute
WINTER 2011
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VOL 8
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NO 1
California-Florida
I N S T I T U T E U P D AT E
Bruce Beutler Wins the 2011 Nobel Prize
in Physiology or Medicine
Professor Bruce Beutler
Bruce Beutler, M.D., Chair of the Department of Genetics at The Scripps Research Institute and
professor and director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern Medical
Center, has won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Bestowed annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for achievements in physics, chemistry,
medicine, literature, economics, and peace, the prize recognizes individuals who, as stipulated in Alfred
Nobel’s will, “have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” The prize carries a cash award of about a
million dollars.
Beutler was awarded half of this year’s prize along with Jules A. Hoffmann “for their discoveries
concerning the activation of innate immunity”; the other half goes to Ralph Steinman “for his discovery
of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity.”
“We are delighted by the news and extend our wholehearted congratulations to Bruce,” says Scripps
Research President Richard A. Lerner, M.D. “We couldn’t be more proud.”
“According to the prize committee, this year’s winners have “revolutionized our understanding of the
immune system by discovering key principles for its activation… The discoveries of the three Nobel
continued on page 2
Inside:
2
. . . Tenet Florida and Scripps
Research Announce
Collaboration to Build
Academic Medical Center
3
. . . Scripps Research Findings
Open the Door to Development
of Novel Drugs for
Early-Stage Tumors
4
. . . Scripps Research Scientists
Establish New Class of
Anti-Diabetic Compound
5
7
7
. . . Scientist Profile: Ben Cravatt
7
. . . IRA Charitable Rollover Provision
Extended Through 2011
. . . Sauer Lab Hosts Donor Visit
. . . ARCS Foundation Scholars
Announced
BACK COVER:
Partners, Contact Us
Scripps Research Achieves
4-Star Rating from
Charity Navigator
The Scripps Research Institute has achieved Charity Navigator’s coveted 4-star rating for
sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency.
“As the nonprofit sector continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, savvy donors are
demanding more accountability, transparency and quantifiable results from the charities they
choose to support with their hard-earned dollars,” said Ken Berger, President & Chief Executive
Officer of Charity Navigator. “Charity Navigator’s goal is to provide donors with essential
information needed to give them greater confidence in the charitable choices they make.”
“Receiving four out of a possible four stars indicates that Scripps Research adheres to good
governance and other best practices that minimize the chance of unethical activities and
consistently executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way,” said Berger.
Approximately a quarter of the charities evaluated by Charity Navigator receive it highest
rating, indicating that Scripps Research outperforms most other charities in America.
“This exceptional designation from Charity Navigator differentiates The Scripps Research
Institute from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust,” said Berger.
Charity Navigator is the leading charity evaluator in America. It is estimated that last year
Charity Navigator influenced approximately $10 billion in charitable gifts.
Tenet Florida and Scripps Research Announce
Collaboration to Build Academic Medical Center
enet Florida Inc. and The Scripps Research Institute
have announced a collaboration to develop an academic
medical center. The proposed state-of-the-art facilities,
for which Tenet has submitted a Letter of Intent to the Florida
Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA), would be
located on up to 30 acres of land on the Scripps Florida campus
on Donald Ross Road between I-95 and Military Trail. “It is
our vision that this new center would expand the opportunities
for clinical research, graduate medical education and medical
and surgical services while providing even better access to
state-of-the-art medical care,” said Marsha Powers, senior vice
president, Tenet Florida.
Plans for the new center include an 80-bed acute care
hospital, as well as specialized medical/surgical services in
orthopedics, oncology, senior care and digestive diseases.
Through a consortium of area medical facilities, the hospital
would also afford residency and internship opportunities for
medical students enrolled in the newly accredited Florida
Atlantic University (FAU) Medical School, which offers a
joint MD-PhD program with Scripps Florida.
“The location of a cutting-edge medical center next to our
current research facilities in Florida would help us continue to
build bridges between science and medicine,” said Scripps
Research President Richard A. Lerner. “This collaboration
offers opportunities to further key aspects of our mission—to
T
Beutler,
create knowledge in the biosciences to improve human health,
as well as to train the next generation of scientific leaders. In
addition, we are delighted by the prospect of furthering economic
growth and biotech development in Palm Beach County and
the State of Florida.”
“One of my goals for this state has been to grow other
sectors of our economy that have potential,” said Florida Governor
Rick Scott. “Research and development is one of those areas,
and this Tenet-Scripps announcement is a great example of the
business world and the academic world, working together to
make that happen.”
Palm Beach County estimates that the total local economic
impact will be $402 million over a five-year period. This includes
the creation of 150 to 200 full-time construction jobs and 250
to 300 full-time health care-related jobs.
“The construction of this facility is a key
component to the success of our bioscience
cluster,” said Board of Palm Beach County
Commissioners Chair Karen Marcus. “It enhances
Scripps Florida’s drug discovery program and
solidifies our commitment to translational research
and educational collaboration.”
CONTINUED
Laureates have revealed how the innate and adaptive phases of
the immune response are activated and thereby provided novel
insights into disease mechanisms. Their work has opened up
new avenues for the development of prevention and therapy
against infections, cancer, and inflammatory diseases.”
Beutler makes the fourth Nobel Laureate on the Scripps
Research faculty, joining Gerald Edelman, M.D., Ph.D. (1972
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine), K. Barry Sharpless,
Ph.D. (2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry), and Kurt Wüthrich,
Ph.D. (2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry).
The institute’s 21-member Board of Scientific Governors
also includes 12 Nobel Laureates (Günter Blobel, Sydney
Brenner, Michael Brown, Edmond Fischer, Walter Gilbert,
Joseph Goldstein, Paul Greengard, Har Gobind Khorana, Sir
Aaron Klug, Sir Harold Kroto, Phillip A. Sharp, and Susumu
Tonegawa).
Beutler, who holds a B.A. from the University of California,
San Diego, and an M.D. from the University of Chicago, has
spearheaded the use of a technique called “forward genetics” to
study genes used by the mammalian innate immune system to
2 | SCRIPPS DISCOVERS
WINTER 2011
clear pathogens from the body. Beutler is credited with the
identification of the key receptors that inform the body when an
infection is present. The same receptors also initiate inflammation
and shock when an infection becomes widespread. Together with
his colleagues at Scripps Research, Beutler has continued to
analyze these receptors, and has pursued an ambitious search for
all proteins that protect mammals against defined infections.
A member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and
Association of American Physicians American Society for
Clinical Investigation, Beutler is also the recipient of the 2011
Shaw Prize, 2009 Albany Medical Center Prize, 2007 Frederik
B. Bang Award (International Endotoxin and Innate Immunity
Society), 2007 Doctor of Medicine honoris causa from the
Technical University of Munich, 2007 Balzan Prize (International
Balzan Foundation, Italy and Switzerland), 2006 Gran Prix
Charles-Leopold-Mayer (Académie des Sciences, France), 2006
William B. Coley Award (Cancer Research Institute, USA),
2004 Robert Koch Prize (Robert Koch Stiftung, Germany), and
1994 Outstanding Investigator Award (American Federation for
Clinical Research, USA).
R E S E A R C H U P D AT E
Scripps Research Scientists Reveal How White Blood Cell
Promotes Growth and Spread of Cancer
> The Findings Open the Door to the Development of Novel Drugs for Early-Stage Tumors
cientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown
that a particular white blood cell plays a direct role in the
development and spread of cancerous tumors. Their work
sheds new light on the development of the disease and points
toward novel strategies for treating early-stage cancers.
The study was published in the September 2011 print issue
of the American Journal of Pathoslogy.
Scripps Research Professor James Quigley, Staff Scientist
Elena Deryugina, and colleagues had previously demonstrated
that white blood cells known as neutrophils—bone marrowderived cells that function as “first responders” at sites of acute
inflammation—promote the growth of new blood vessels in
normal, healthy tissue.
The team has now tied these cells to the induction and
growth of new blood vessels in malignant tumors and to the
spread of tumor cells through those newly formed vessels.
The scientists have also uncovered some of the mechanisms
underpinning this process—which could be interrupted by
properly targeted drugs.
The Scripps Research team has been particularly interested
in neutrophils, in part because several studies have demonstrated
a link between elevated neutrophil levels and high rates of
tumor invasion among cancer patients. Mounting evidence has
also indicated that neutrophils play a particularly important role
during the early stages of tumor development.
“During tumor development, neutrophils appear to be one
of the first inflammatory cell types on the scene,” said Deryugina,
who spearheaded the new study.
The researchers have been especially interested in the blood
vessel-forming or “angiogenic,” powers of neutrophils, which
stem from a special enzyme they produce known as MMP-9
(matrix metalloproteinase type 9). The enzyme is, in fact,
synthesized by a number of different types of white blood cells
and has long been linked to tumor development. But the
particular form synthesized by neutrophils is especially potent,
in part because it does not come bound up with the natural
inhibitory regulating agents that other cells supply.
Whereas other types of white blood cells only manufacture
the enzyme later and invariably deliver it in combination with
one of its natural inhibitors, neutrophils come loaded with
pre-synthesized MMP-9 in a form that is unencumbered.
In a series of cleverly designed experiments, Quigley,
Deryugina, and colleagues established a link between neutrophils,
their MMP-9, and the growth and spread of tumors.
The scientists alternately raised and lowered the quantity
of neutrophils allowed to flow into two different kinds of
early-stage tumors, which had been transplanted into chicken
S
embryos and mice. They also introduced several different versions
of the enzyme, sometimes combining it with dampening agents,
sometimes not.
By observing the subsequent decrease and increase in the
formation of new blood vessels, the Scripps Research team was
able to establish that the unique form of the enzyme delivered
by neutrophils was directly responsible for heightening the
growth of new blood vessels in the tumors. Just as importantly,
they were able to determine that the newly formed blood vessels
served as “escape routes” or conduits for the spread of tumor
cells beyond their initial location.
First, the scientists
established that the most
aggressive tumors—that is, the
ones that were able to most
quickly penetrate the
surrounding blood vessels and
spread to different areas—
depended on their ability to
attract large numbers of
neutrophils.
The researchers then
proceeded to spur the growth
of new blood vessels in even
relatively
nonaggressive tumors
Professor James Quigley
by supplying additional
quantities of neutrophil-derived enzyme. They also blocked the
formation of new vessels with the anti-inflammatory drug
ibuprofen and then restored, or “rescued,” angiogenesis by
pumping in additional enzyme.
Quigley and Deryugina also drastically reduced the influx of
neutrophils by neutralizing IL-8 (interleukin 8), the chemical
attractant that draws neutrophils to sites of inflammation. Blood
vessel formation declined correspondingly, as did the penetration
of vessels by tumor cells, clearly linking neutrophils to the
development and spread of two different, but highly aggressive,
forms of cancer. To further strengthen that link, the researchers
again reversed the decline with an infusion of neutrophilderived enzyme.
“By dampening neutrophil influx into tumors, we dampen
angiogenesis, but we also dampen metastasis,” Quigley said.
“And when we rescue angiogenesis, we also rescue the high
metastatic rate of the tumors.”
Significantly, only the unregulated, uninhibited version of
the enzyme provided by neutrophils reversed the dampening
effect caused by reducing inflammation or cutting off the flow
continued on page 6
SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
| 3
Scripps Research Scientists Establish New Class
of Anti-Diabetic Compound
> Research Offers Hope for Better Treatments for Diabetes Patients
n a joint study, scientists from The Scripps Research
Institute and Harvard University’s Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute have established a new class of anti-diabetic
compound that targets a unique molecular switch.
The finding paves the way for the development of antidiabetic therapeutics with minimal adverse side effects plaguing
currently available drugs such as Avandia (rosiglitazone),
scheduled to be removed from pharmacy shelves this fall due
to concerns about increased risk of heart attack.
The new study, led by Patrick R. Griffin, professor and
chair of the Department of Molecular Therapeutics at Scripps
Florida, Bruce Spiegelman, professor of cell biology at the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Theodore Kamenecka,
associate scientific director of medicinal chemistry at Scripps
Florida, was published September 4, 2011, in the journal Nature.
The study describes a new compound known as SR1664.
I
“In this study, we demonstrate that we have
discovered novel compounds that work effectively
through a unique mechanism of action on a
well-validated clinical target for diabetes,”
said Griffin.
“This unique mechanism of action appears to significantly
limit side effects associated with marketed drugs. This study
is a great example of interdisciplinary, inter-institutional
collaboration with chemistry, biochemistry, structural biology,
and pharmacology.”
“It appears that we may have an opportunity to develop entire
new classes of drugs for diabetes and perhaps other metabolic
disorders,” said Spiegelman.
Diabetes affects nearly 24 million children and adults in the
United States, according to the America Diabetes Association.
The study follows previous research by the authors published
last year in Nature (Volume 466, Issue 7305, 451-456) that
suggested an obesity-linked mechanism that may be involved
in the development of insulin-resistance. In that research, the
team found disruptions in various genes when a protein known
as PPARg undergoes phosphorylation (when a phosphate
group is added to a protein) by the kinase Cdk5, an enzyme
involved in a number of important sensory pathways.
The new study confirms that blockage of Cdk5’s action on
PPARG is a viable therapeutic approach for development of
anti-diabetic agents. The new SR1664 compound is a potent
binder to the nuclear receptor PPARG, but does not activate
gene transcription via the receptor’s normal mechanism.
While Griffin stressed the difficulty of fully assessing side
effects of new compounds such as SR1664, the new research is
extremely positive in that it clearly demonstrated fewer of the
major well-documented side effects, such as weight gain or
increased plasma volume, from SR1664 as compared to Avandia
in diabetic mice.
While both the mice treated with Avandia and those treated
with SR1664 demonstrated improved blood sugar levels, those
treated with Avandia showed weight gain and increased fluid
retention within a few days of beginning treatment; those being
treated with SR1664 showed none of these side effects. In cell
culture studies, SR1664 also appeared to have little effect on
bone formation, nor did it increase fat generation in bone cells,
another side effect of current therapies such as Avandia.
While S1664 likely will not be developed as a
drug, it now serves as a molecular scaffolding for
the creation of similar compounds with potential
to treat diabetes.
Professor Patrick Griffin
4 | SCRIPPS DISCOVERS
WINTER 2011
“With data in hand showing that our compounds are as
efficacious as the currently marketed PPARG modulators, while
demonstrating a significant improvement of side effects in
limited studies, we are now advancing newer compounds with
improved pharmaceutical properties into additional studies,”
Griffin said
SCIENTIST PROFILE
Ben Cravatt: In Search of New Treatments for
Chronic Pain, Nervous System Disorders, and the
Most Pressing 21st Century Diseases
cripps Research Professor Ben Cravatt, who serves as Chair
of the Department of Chemical Physiology and a member
of the Dorris Neuroscience Center and the Skaggs Institute
of Chemical Biology, has made an impressive number of key
scientific advances with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic
targets for the treatment of human disease.
S
To achieve this goal, Ben develops and applies
new technologies that bridge the fields of
chemistry and biology, ascribing to the philosophy
that the most significant biomedical problems
require creative multidisciplinary approaches
for their solution.
Researchers only have a good handle on the functioning of
30 to 40 percent of the human proteome, or the proteins we
produce. The rest remains largely uncharacterized, and solving
this problem has been a focus of Ben’s. He and his team focus
especially on enzymes, which facilitate every chemical reaction
in the body, with results that have significantly advanced
understanding of basic biology, and uncovered a massive array
of targets for drug discovery, across many diseases.
Ben has built a long-standing and successful collaboration
with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to develop potent and
selective inhibitors for the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH)
enzyme as a possible chronic pain treatment. Ben’s preclinical
studies have shown that genetic or pharmacological blockade
of FAAH produces a range of beneficial effects, including the
reduction of pain, inflammation, depression, and anxiety. Several
of these inhibitors have gone into human clinical trials.
“Uniting the basic research expertise of Scripps Research
with the drug development process of a company like Pfizer
has made for an extremely potent combination that promises to
accelerate the generation of new therapeutics for the most
pressing 21st century diseases,” said Ben.
Much of Ben’s work was initially made possible through the
funding of philanthropists Sam and Aline Skaggs, who have a
deep interest in drugs for treating pain.
“Without the support of the Skaggs family at the formative
stages of our research, the path to FAAH discovery and drug
development would not have been possible,” said Ben. “They
pushed it forward.”
Proteomics offers the possibility of identifying proteins
associated with specific diseases. These proteins can potentially
be used as markers for detection or prevention, or as targets for
the design of new drugs. For example, Ben and his colleagues
have looked at dozens of samples of human tumors from breast
cancer patients, and have successfully analyzed them with
proteomics. The scientists were able to detect human proteins
that may be associated with breast cancer – including some never
before associated with the disease.
Professor Ben Cravatt
“We have found some known and novel markers of breast
cancer pathogenesis,” said Ben. “This method could potentially be
applied to other human diseases to discover new markers currently
evading detection by other methods.”
“Understanding the proteome, the structure and function of
each protein and the complexities of protein-protein interactions
will be critical for developing the most effective diagnostic
techniques at early stages to stop disease in its tracks, and treat
disease in the future,” said Ben. “Proteomics is fundamental to
translating genetic information into knowledge that will allow us
to predict and manage diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and
neurodegenerative disorders.”
In a recent project, Ben and his colleagues identified a class
of compounds that could be a boon to basic research and drug
discovery by powerfully and selectively blocking the activity of a
large and diverse group of enzymes known as “serine hydrolases.”
Previously discovered serine hydrolase-blocking compounds have
turned into drugs to treat obesity, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s
disease, and are currently in testing as treatments for pain, anxiety,
and depression.
continued on page 6
SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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Cravatt,
CONTINUED
“There are more than 200 serine hydrolases in human cells,
but for most we’ve lacked chemical inhibitors of their activity, so
we’ve had only a limited ability to study them in the lab or to
block them to treat medical conditions,” said Ben. This new
research allows us to grandly expand our list of these inhibitors.”
In another research project with MIT, Ben and his colleagues
discovered an extremely potent class of potential anti-cancer and
anti-neurodegenerative disorder compounds through a National
Institutes of Health-sponsored program to find potential medicines
and other biologically useful molecules. Ben hopes the findings
will one day lead to new therapies for cancer and Alzheimer’s
disease patients.
Last year, Ben and his colleagues discovered an enzyme that
normally helps break down stored fats goes into overdrive in some
cancer cells, making them more malignant. The enzyme, called
monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), may provide a target for
treating more malignant forms of cancer or for preventing
cancer progression.
Ben’s lab is a young and energetic place, and wears its
enthusiasm on its sleeve. Asked what distinguishes his lab from
most, Ben said, “We’re fairly technically fearless. Our people run
the gamut in a variety of integrated disciplines. We all learn a lot
from each other because we’re doing so many different things to
solve extremely complex problems. It was this level of scientific
diversity that brought me to Scripps Research in the first place.”
Much of the versatility in Ben’s research has come as a result
of attending Scripps Research’s graduate program. A native of
Los Angeles, Ben came to Scripps Research in the early 1990s
after completing his undergraduate degree at Stanford University.
“That’s one of the few decisions in my life that I have absolutely
no regrets about,” said Ben. “At that point, there was no other place
that was promoting a chemistry-biology interface. Scripps Research
was practicing something that was totally unique at that time. When
I visited for the first time, I was struck by two things. It had the
most integrated chemistry and biology program I’d seen by far, and
those students who would be my future classmates were the
brightest and the most energetic and creative I’d met. We all had
the feeling Scripps Research was a special place.
Cancer,
Ben’s class – 1996 – was one of the first to graduate from the
Institute, and he immediately joined the faculty. A biologist by
training, he was always attracted to the chemistry lab. As an
undergraduate, he was lucky enough to find a friendly chemistry
professor, who invited him to work in the lab, and who didn’t care
whether he had any formal training or not. He found the same
kind of freedom at Scripps Research.
“Scripps Research is very collaborative and
interactive – it allows you to do great research,”
said Ben. “Science is first here – it is different than
at a standard university. Here, there are minimal
administrative burdens – you can do science that
advances human health 24 hours a day.”
Ben has now come full circle and finds himself training
tomorrow’s scientists. “I like to watch young scientists build their
careers,” said Ben. “Many of the scientists who have worked in
our lab have gone on to other top-notch institutions, such as
Harvard, the University of California at Berkeley, and University
of Michigan. As they leave, new talent comes in. Our lab is
always fresh and dynamic, and never stale”
Ben’s impressive array of awards includes a Pfizer Fellowship
for Creativity in Chemistry and Chemical Biology, a Technology
Review Top 100 Young Innovators Award for research that will
shape how we live and work in the future, a EUREKA Award
from the National Institutes of Health for exceptionally innovative
research projects, and an American Chemistry Society Eli Lilly
Award in Biological Chemistry for work of unusual merit,
independence of thought, and originality by a young scientist.
“The thing I love about science is that there are very few
professions where you can do something new every day, and have
the ability to make potential groundbreaking discoveries that have
such an impact on devastating diseases” said Ben. “I love what I’m
doing. This isn’t labor for me. Scientific research is fun.”
CONTINUED
of neutrophils. No such rescue occurred when the enzyme was combined with its natural inhibiting agents—the same molecules that
accompany the enzyme when it is delivered by other kinds of white blood cells.
The scientists note that the study suggests tumors that engender a strong inflammatory response may be particularly amenable to
early-stage treatment by drugs that specifically target neutrophils, whether that means inhibiting the enzyme they deliver or simply
preventing them from showing up in the first place.
“It might be best to combat tumor angiogenesis earlier rather than later,” Quigley said, adding that “more specifically directed
anti-neutrophil agents might be better suited than a general anti-inflammatory.”
The Quigley lab continues to investigate.
Support for this study came from the National Institutes of Health, Scripps Translational Science Institute, the Max Kade Foundation,
and the National Cancer Institute.
6 | SCRIPPS DISCOVERS
WINTER 2011
AWARDS AND HONORS
Sauer Lab Hosts Donor Visit
ssociate Professor Karsten Sauer recently hosted a visit by Daniel Wu, the Leukemia
& Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Orange County Chapter “Man of the Year.” A
blood cancer research advocate, Wu’s award allows his fundraising efforts to directly
benefit Sauer’s lab research on chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Wu’s wife, Anita, passed
away in 2010 from complications of CML.
Wu and Piper Medcalf, LLS Orange County chapter executive director, spent a full
day at the Sauer lab, meeting researchers, learning about their work, even donning lab coats
and latex gloves to lend research associate Claire Conche a hand with some experiments.
Sauer himself is a 2010 recipient of a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar Award
and was recently elected into the board of trustees of its San Diego/Hawaii chapter.
His lab’s investigations aim to advance understanding of CML and may lead to potential
new therapies.
A
Blood cancer research advocate Daniel Wu (left) recently assisted in a few experiments
with research associate Claire Conche during a visit to the Sauer lab
2011-2012 ARCS Foundation Scholars Announced
Five graduate students at the Scripps Research Kellogg School of Science and Technology have been named 2011-2012
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholars. The ARCS Foundation through its local chapters annually provides
scholarships nationwide to outstanding students in science, engineering, and medicine.
The Scripps Research award winners include:
• Katharine Duncan, in the Boger lab
• Aaron Sather, in the Rebek lab
• Laurie Gay, in the Felding-Habermann lab
• Joshua Silverman, in the Williamson lab
• Joseph Nagano-Gerace, in the Cravatt lab
IRA Charitable Rollover Provision
Extended Through 2011
The 2010 Tax Relief Act signed into law on December 17, 2010 reinstated the popular IRA charitable rollover provision. If you are
aged 70 ½ or older and do not need all or a part of the distributions from your IRA, you can make tax-free gifts from your traditional
IRA to qualified charities through 2011.
A qualified charitable distribution has several potential advantages:
• Each individual can donate as much as $100,000 per year to qualified charities from IRA accounts.
• IRA distributions do not count towards the limit on charitable deductions an individual may claim against their income taxes.
• Charitable distributions can be used to satisfy the required minimum distribution of an IRA account without creating
taxable income.
The Scripps Research Institute is an eligible recipient of qualified charitable distributions from an IRA.
For more information on IRA Charitable Rollovers or other types of planned gifts, please contact William Burfitt in our California
office, (858) 784-2037 or burfitt@scripps.edu, or Alex Bruner in our Florida office, (561) 228-2013 or abruner@scripps.edu.
SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
| 7
Partners
1
Scripps Research recently held an
exclusive fundraising event for
Alzheimer’s research, generously
sponsored and hosted at the La Jolla,
California home of Ron Burkle, and
attended by 48 guests. Funds raised at the
event are supporting the development of
a laboratory for Dr. Jason Gestwicki,
currently at the University of Michigan,
a talented scientific investigator who has
developed an innovative approach to
handling the amyloid proteins that cause
Alzheimer’s. Emmy award winning CBS
News Correspondent Barry Petersen
(pictured here) was the keynote speaker,
sharing the emotional story of his wife
Jan’s personal struggle with early onset
Alzheimer’s. Dr. Jeffery Kelly discussed
why the work of Scripps Research is so
important to the development of effective
treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Please
contact Katie Collins at (858) 784-2874
or kcollins@scripps.edu, if you would like
to join this effort or for more information.
and charitable students, hope springs
from creative minds and hard work. With
their help much can be accomplished.
That’s what Scripps Research is all about,”
said Dr. Cleveland. Chapter members
are shown here presenting the check to
Dr. Cleveland. (bottom photo)
PHOTO BY
KAREN JAGODA
3
Scripps Florida Council members
Richard and Carolyn Sloane
(pictured here) have recently made
a gift commitment to fund Alzheimer’s
research at Scripps Florida. Hailing from
Philadelphia, their business experience
over the last 40 years has involved many
industries including technology
distribution, technical support centers,
ocean transportation, manufacturing and
internet commerce sites and now as Real
Estate Brokers at Ocean Via Realty in
Palm Beach. The Sloane’s are seasoned
travelers, live in Palm Beach, and have
three children. (middle photo)
(top photo)
2
At a Pep Rally to celebrate
another successful fundraising
year, over 100 members of the
thinkPINKkids – Wellington High
School Chapter presented a donation
of $15,000 to Dr. John Cleveland,
chairman of The Scripps Research
Institute’s Department of Cancer
Biology. The contribution marked the
third year of funding breast cancer
research at Scripps Florida, totaling
$32,000. “Through the generous
support provided by these dedicated
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