ASCB M A R C H 2 0 0 9 NEWSLETTER VOLUME 32, NUMBER 3 Science Funding Included in U.S. Celebrating Darwin Stimulus Plan Page 2 There is disagreement in the halls of the U.S. Bethesda campus. During Senate debate on the Congress about many of the provisions of the bill, NIH champions Senators Arlen Specter economic stimulus plan recently approved (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) offered an by Congress and signed into law by U.S. amendment to the Senate bill to increase the Exploring President Obama. There appears to be no NIH funding in the bill. The amendment Unconscious disagreement, however, that federally funded would have provided the NIH with $10 science will play an important role in reviving billion: $9.2 billion for research and $800 Bias the ailing U.S. economy. million for capital equipment purchases and Page 11 NIH building renovations. The final version National Institutes of Health of the plan, signed into law by the President, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the provides the NIH with $8.2 billion for federal science program that will see the biggest research, $1 billion for renovating university Careers in benefit from the stimulus bill. The House research facilities around the U.S., $300 version and the original draft of the Senate million for the purchase of instrumentation Patent Law version of the stimulus plan both provided and other research equipment, and $500 Page 15 the NIH with $3.5 billion, to be spent over million for the construction, improvement, two years, for research, lab renovation, and and repair of NIH buildings and facilities. the renovation of buildings on the NIH’s Science Funding, continued on page 5 Inside Changes Align ASCB Did You Programs with Resources President’s Column 2 Programs begun with high hopes leave behind sadness when they Know...? Public Policy Briefing 5 must be suspended. Similarly, saying farewell to staff due to funding constraints is always difficult. As reported in the February 2009 March 31 is the ASCB Profile 6 ASCB Newsletter, the ASCB Council had tough decisions to make deadline for nomination about cutting expenses in light of declining market returns. Those submissions for seven InCytes from MBC 10 decisions included: ASCB awards—all of n Suspending development of the ASCB Image & Video Library, which will be presented at WICB Column 11 BioEDUCATE, CellBASE, and concept question repository digital the 2009 ASCB Annual resources (These sites are still available for use, but the ASCB Meeting in San Diego, Call for Nominations 14 cannot accept submissions at this time. The Society is seeking CA, December 5–9. For information on Dear Labby 15 funding to support future development of these resources.) n Implementing layoffs of staff eligibility and submission Half-Century Fund Donors 16 n Discontinuing production of the ASCB Annual Meeting requirements, see “Call Abstracts CD-ROM (All abstracts will remain searchable online for Nominations” on Members in the News 16 and will remain available for referencing.) p.14 or go to www.ascb. n Eliminating the mailing of the ASCB Annual Meeting Program org and click on “Awards/ Member Gifts 16 Book to pre-registrants (This not only cuts a significant expense, Grants.” and furthers ASCB “green” efforts, it allows for a September Please take the time Letters to the Editor 17 regular submission deadline, otherwise impossible given the early to nominate a deserving date of the 2009 ASCB Annual Meeting. The Program Book will colleague, postdoc, Grants & Opportunities 18 be available online as a searchable PDF before the meeting, and mentor, or student. n Calendar 20 printed copies will be distributed onsite.) n —Joan Goldberg The American Society for Cell Biology PRESIDENT’S Column 8120 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 750 Bethesda, MD 20814-2762, USA Tel: (301) 347-9300 Fax: (301) 347-9310 Celebrating Darwin and the [email protected], www.ascb.org Joan R. Goldberg Scientific Method Executive Director The year 2009 marks the 200th anniversary Curiosity and wonder at the everyday world Officers of the birth of Charles Darwin, whose ideas were hallmarks of Darwin’s mind. He never and writings revolutionized biology. They were seemed to stop asking questions! Importantly, Brigid Hogan President radical and far-reaching. And they continue to his curiosity was coupled with both careful Timothy J. Mitchison President-Elect resonate through every branch observation and a tenacious Bob Goldman Past President Thoru Pederson Treasurer of natural science, not least of drive to test ideas. He studied Jean E. Schwarzbauer Secretary all cell biology. So, as a society, barnacles, beetles, butterflies, let’s cell-ebrate Darwin, and try birds, climbing plants, Council to follow his great example. insect-eating plants, orchids, earthworms, seeds, pigeons, and Pascale Cossart domesticated animals… the Susan K. Dutcher Celebrating an D. Scott Emr Inspiration list goes on and on. He drew Joan R. Goldberg, ex officio There are many sources from on a worldwide network of Holly V. Goodson which to draw inspiration fellow naturalists, experts, and Kathleen J. Green about Darwin in the coming laypeople to supply him with Paul W. Sternberg specimens and information. He Elizabeth Sztul year (see, for example, had close friends and colleagues Clare M. Waterman www.darwin200.org; www. Fiona M. Watt darwin2009.cam.ac.uk; www. Brigid Hogan who advocated his ideas. Susan R. Wente nature.com/news/specials/ Curiosity, experimentation, Susan M. Wick darwin; and www.sciencemag.org/darwin). communication, and community… all Virginia A. Zakian Some contributions highlight the very latest characteristics that we strive to emulate. The ASCB Newsletter advances in evolutionary research and their is published 12 times per year application to fields such as social behavior Communicating What Science Is by The American Society I remember that the parts of On the Origin of for Cell Biology. and medicine. Others reach out to the general public. These will help to address the gap Species that I enjoyed the most as a high school Joan R. Goldberg Editor between Darwin’s stature among scientists student were the descriptions of the experiments W. Mark Leader Editor and the way in which he is perceived by large that Darwin had carried out almost in his Elizabeth M. Rich Production Manager numbers of people in our communities. own “backyard.” For example, to test his ideas Kevin Wilson Public Policy Director about the geographic dispersal of seeds, he Ed Newman Advertising Manager It is no news to any of us today that John Fleischman Science Writer evolution and science have been under siege. asked how long seeds and fruits could survive Thea Clarke Editorial Manager I remember being astounded not long after I being immersed in seawater or being fed to came to the U.S. to hear Darwin referred to as animals; he questioned how many could be one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on germinated from dried earth found stuck on Deadlines for submission of a religious TV station! Surely this was not the dead migratory birds. The take-home message articles and advertising for me as a youngster was that one doesn’t materials: same Charles Darwin as the gentleman hero I had revered since high school? need fancy equipment to think and act like a Issue Deadline Today, I still have a picture of Darwin scientist. The important values are curiosity and April March 1 on my desk; and I still find inspiration from experimentation, and conclusions based on data May April 1 his example. Like all of us, I deeply admire and logical analysis. If we fail to communicate June May 1 his insatiable curiosity and his ability to the importance of data-driven scientific inquiry ASCB Newsletter communicate his ideas to a wide audience. I to our elected officials, nonscientific colleagues, ISSN 1060-8982 have particular admiration for his courage in friends, neighbors, and the public, then we Volume 32, Number 3 fail to live up to Darwin’s example. We must March 2009 holding to his beliefs even though he knew they would be unpopular. I hope that as scientists, continue to press for the application of the © 2009 teachers, and mentors, we can pass along to scientific method to the urgent problems that The American Society for Cell Biology future generations not only the fundamental face our society. Postmaster: Send change of address to principles of evolution and natural selection, Scientists—and the ASCB—have an ASCB Newsletter The American Society for Cell Biology but also the essence of Darwin’s great mind and obligation. As many of you know, the ASCB is 8120 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 750 very active in promoting the public understanding Bethesda, MD 20814-2762, USA personality.

2 ASCB NEWSLETTER MARCH 2009 of science. The celebrations of the 200th resources to help you teach your students. anniversary of Darwin’s birth provide a great The ASCB BioEDUCATE website links to opportunity to promote not only sites showcasing evolution. Our a greater public understanding education journal CBE—Life of evolution, but of scientific Sciences Education (www.lifescied. concepts in general. By the org), published online four times time you read this, we will be a year, features numerous articles celebrating a substantial increase about teaching evolution. The Annual in U.S. funding for science in spring issue, online as of March 2, general, and for the NIH budget features a timely look at Darwin- Meeting in particular. However, we need related Web resources. And our to make our voices heard about Education Committee, under the how the money should be best able leadership of Chair Caroline Lost & spent. The next issue of this Kane, is working on new sessions Newsletter will highlight how the for educators at the next ASCB Found funds will be spent. Charles Darwin Annual Meeting. Sadly, limited ASCB resources have forced us ASCB has a few unclaimed Why Natural Selection Matters to suspend continued development of ASCB’s items from the Annual It is sobering to remember that Darwin BioEDUCATE, Image & Video Library, and Meeting. If you misplaced built his ideas about natural selection and CellBASE websites… for now. (See p. 1.) But an item during the evolution without any knowledge of DNA, these digital resources are still available for meeting, please contact chromosomes, genes, cell organelles, and your use; and the ASCB website at www.ascb. Director of Meetings regulatory networks. Today, we have incredibly org remains your portal for a variety of rich Trina Armstrong at (301) powerful tools with which to ask questions resources, including iBioSeminars on evo- 347-9325 or via email at relevant to evolution. We can explore right devo topics, such as regeneration, genomes and [email protected]. n down to the molecular level how variations in evolution, evolution of vertebrates, and neural form and function are generated for natural crest in development. (Visit www.ibioseminars. selection to work on. We can ask how genes org to see the collection.) Or you might want regulate embryonic development and how to listen to the audiotape of the Deciphering competition and selection play out at the Evolution Symposium at the 2006 ASCB cellular level within tumors or stem cells and Annual Meeting (www.ascb.org/evolution). their niches. Need to be reminded about the importance These topics will be among the many of Kitzmiller v. Dover in the defense of science highlighted in the symposia, minisymposia, and and science education in the U.S.? That’s working groups planned for the 2009 ASCB why we gave the ASCB Public Service Award Annual Meeting in San Diego (December 5–9). at that same meeting to ASCB member Ken It is fun to think what Darwin’s reactions would Miller, Brown University, and Barbara Forrest, be to all the exciting new material that will be Southeastern Louisiana University. discussed. Be sure to mark the dates on your Are you ready to celebrate Darwin in your calendar and spread the word to your friends lab or classroom? Why not visit www.ascb.org and colleagues, even though December seems a and begin? n long way off. If teaching evolution is in your immediate Comments are welcome and should be sent to future, be sure to avail yourself of ASCB [email protected]. Save the Date... for the 49th ASCB Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA December 5–9, 2009

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Science Funding, continued from page 1 Hogan also urged Specter to consider carefully A total of $7.4 billion of the research funding the long-term future of the NIH and NIH- will be transferred to Institutes and Centers and funded researchers. “After repairing past to the Common Fund. The remaining $800 damage,” Hogan said, “the ASCB hopes million is to be used for research that can be that in the years to come, Congress and the completed within two years, with a priority “on President will join together to provide the NIH short-term grants that focus on specific scientific and American researchers with steady and challenges, new research that expands the scope dependable annual budget increases. It is also of ongoing projects, and research on public and our hope that the NIH will devote a majority international health priorities,” according to the of the $10 billion in the stimulus package Conference Report on the stimulus bill. for investigator-initiated basic research, the During debate on the Specter-Harkin cornerstone of medical advances in the United amendment, Sen. Specter acknowledged the States.” funding crisis the NIH has been facing. “There has been an actual decline of some $5.2 billion National Science Foundation of NIH funding in the last seven years,” Specter The final version of the stimulus bill also said. “This $10 billion allocation, if enacted, provides the National Science Foundation with would correct that.” $3.02 billion, to be spent over two years. This is Much of the debate about the overall the same figure as proposed by the House and stimulus plan focused on the ability of its up dramatically from the $1.402 billion allotted various provisions to create jobs. Specter by the Senate. The $3.02 billion includes $2.5 answered that charge by saying, “According to billion for research, $100 million for education Acting NIH Director Dr. Raynard Kington, and human resources, $400 million for major the $10 billion would result in the creation research equipment and facilities construction, of some 70,000 jobs over the next two years. and $2 million for the NSF’s Office of Inspector These funds could go out in a range of six General. to nine months, and certainly in less than a year, so it has the impact of being promptly Other Federal Science Programs disseminated.” The final stimulus bill also contains funding While the Senate deliberated the Specter for other federal science programs, including amendment, ASCB President Brigid Hogan $400 million for climate change research sent a letter to Sen. Specter offering the ASCB’s at the National Aeronautics and Space support. Hogan said, “Your amendment, Administration and $1.6 billion for the U.S. increasing the NIH stimulus funding to $10 Department of Energy’s Office of Science. billion over two years, would benefit the To read the ASCB’s letter to Sen. Specter American biomedical research enterprise while in support of his amendment to increase having a significant impact on the American funds for the NIH, go to www.ascb.org/ economy.” newsfiles/Specterlettersupportingstimulus Because of concerns about the long-term amendment.pdf. n implications of a quick infusion of money, —Kevin M. Wilson Peer-Review Changes Begin In June 2007, then National Institutes of Health of applications from new investigators, (NIH) Director Elias Zerhouni created two and a reduction in the number of times an working groups to review and suggest changes application can be resubmitted. Changes to to the NIH’s peer-review system. One year later, the application process, including new, shorter the NIH announced changes. applications, will not begin until the FY2011 Those changes are already starting to be funding cycle. implemented, beginning with applications For more information about the changes submitted for the January 2009 deadline. under way, and a timetable for future changes, The first changes taking place are changes to go to http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov. n the review and scoring process, the clustering —Kevin M. Wilson

MARCH 2009 ASCB NEWSLETTER 5 ASCB Profile

Martin Chalfie

Future Nobel laureates, take note: You can bring work on a project involving bioluminescent 16 all-expenses-paid guests to watch you receive proteins. A literature search turned up a new your prize in Sweden. Your spouse isn’t counted report on the cDNA of a naturally fluorescent among the 16, says Martin Chalfie, so his wife, protein discovered in a Pacific jellyfish, Tulle Hazelrigg, had her own invitation. Their Aequorea victoria, by Osamu Shimomura of 16-year-old daughter, Sarah, took one guest slot, the Marine Biological Laboratory. which left Chalfie with 15 seats to juggle. But he didn’t have to use a seat for his Chicago high Glowing Green school friend and now fellow Nobel laureate, Euskirchen prepared the materials and inserted Bob Horvitz. Laureates have a permanent the gene into Escherichia coli as a preliminary invitation to the December festivities. test, only to discover that the Chalfie lab didn’t have a microscope with the correct ultraviolet Going to Stockholm filters. Euskirchen took the sample back to Martin Chalfie Chalfie proudly explains how he “fudged” her old engineering lab. Under blue light, she his remaining invitations saw something glowing green. by rotating restricted tickets “There’s no real contrast among colleagues from between organelles in bacteria Columbia University, where he and I was worried that it might has been on the faculty since Euskirchen recalls, just be pyrite,” Euskirchen 1982, and friends, relations, recalls. “I wasn’t thinking about and their spouses. Those who “I wasn’t thinking making a major discovery. I didn’t get seats for the blow-out about making a was just trying to demonstrate Nobel banquet took themselves a basic competence as a new out for a celebratory dinner on major discovery. I grad student. So I went and got that night. By all accounts, they was just trying to friends to look at it.” They saw may have had a better time or something too. demonstrate a basic at least a more relaxed evening, This was the first glimmer Chalfie reports. Personally, competence as a of green fluorescent protein Chalfie declares that he had new grad student.” (GFP) in an organism other a ball throughout the many than the jellyfish. Chalfie events of Nobel week: “It’s a moved the work to his wonderful party. It’s a great longtime primary lab model, time.” Caenorhabditis elegans, and There is no question though saw the GFP glowing inside that Marty Chalfie deserved both the festivities six living neurons without any apparent and the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, say the disturbance to the animal. Further studies colleagues and friends who made the trek. And revealed GFP to be a small, inert, and relatively like Chaucer’s pilgrims bound for Canterbury, nontoxic molecule, easily diffused through Chalfie and his guests all seemed to bring tales living tissue. Properly inserted, the GFP gene is to tell. even inheritable. Ghia Euskirchen, who is now a research GFP turned cell biology on its ear by scientist at Yale, arrived in Stockholm last making it possible for the first time to follow December with her memories of the most protein movements in a living cell. It led to fruitful one-month lab rotation in modern the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chalfie, along with science. Euskirchen had just finished a Shimomura and Roger Y. Tsien, the University master’s degree in chemical engineering at of California, San Diego, biochemist who later Columbia in 1992 when she transferred developed GFP into a versatile rainbow of into Columbia’s biological sciences doctoral molecular tags. program. Noting that her engineering That Chalfie took her along to the Nobel background included work with fluorescence, ceremonies was the height of graciousness, Chalfie asked Euskirchen if she would like to according to Euskirchen. After her one

6 ASCB NEWSLETTER MARCH 2009 momentous month in the Chalfie lab, she A Smarter Protein moved on to a thesis on yeast genetics with Teri Hodgkin was not the least bit surprised that a Melese at Columbia. Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery of It was no surprise to Euskirchen that Chalfie GFP and that his friend was one of the winners. won a Nobel Prize for innovation. “Marty listens “GFP is much smarter than anything we ever very intently and gets right to the bottom of imagined,” he declares, recalling the frustrations whatever you’re talking about,” of using earlier protein reporter she explains. “He is very methods such as antibody ‘nonrigid’ in his thinking, and staining or glactosidase he doesn’t wait for new ideas to Chalfie moved the enzymes. be sanctioned before adapting work to his longtime If Hodgkin wasn't surprised, them.” Chalfie still is. As a Harvard primary lab model, undergraduate, Chalfie all but Jellyfish cDNA Caenorhabditis gave up on a science research Another member of the elegans, and saw career after a disastrous summer Chalfie party was the scientist lab experience. He graduated who created the jellyfish the GFP glowing with a degree in biochemistry cDNA used by Euskirchen. inside six living but was convinced he had no That was Douglas Prasher, talent at the bench. Chalfie who first cloned the gene neurons without sold dresses for the family in 1992 at the Woods Hole any apparent business and taught high school Oceanographic Institution. chemistry for a year before a disturbance to He too traveled to Stockholm second summer in the Yale lab on Chalfie’s guest list. (By the animal. of Jose Zadunaisky restored agreement, Prasher’s wife was his confidence. He returned on the Tsien guest list.) to Harvard University for his Ironically, when the 2008 Ph.D. in neurobiology with Nobel Prize was announced, Prasher was Robert Perlman. Twenty-two years later, Chalfie out of science, working as a van driver in put his mentor on his Nobel guest list. Huntsville, AL. His National Aeronautics Ironically, Chalfie’s role was central to the and Space Administration–funded biology- discovery of GFP, but GFP is not all that central in-space lab there had been eliminated by to Chalfie’s career interest in the molecular basis budget cuts. “It is unfortunate that somebody of touch, according to Hodgkin. “The whole as talented as Douglas is not in a science GFP thing was not the main thrust of his work,” job now,” says Chalfie of his one-time Hodgkin says, “but then Marty has always been collaborator. He adds that he hopes that the generous with his materials and interested in Nobel publicity and new U.S. priorities for new methods. He’s gone on to develop many research funding will change that. other useful methods.” Also in the party was Jonathan Hodgkin GFP was a game changer, says another of Oxford University. It was Hodgkin’s third Chalfie pilgrim to Sweden, Phil Anderson trip to Stockholm with a laureate. He went as of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. a child when his father, Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, For the Nobel Prize, that’s as it should be, “One thing about won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology says Anderson, because the scientific prizes the nerve cells that or Medicine. Hodgkin took his second trip are not given for lifetime achievement but with his former Cambridge colleagues John for breakthroughs. Clearly GFP was such a sense mechanical Sulston and Sydney Brenner, who along with discovery, even if the initial breakthrough stimuli is that for Bob Horvitz won the first “worm” Nobel required only a month’s work. “It’s hard to the most part, we Prize in 2002. His third Nobel guest trip— imagine science today without GFP,” says and probably his last, Hodgkin predicts— Anderson. Another longtime friend, he reports have no clue as to grew out of his friendship with Chalfie that that he was absolutely “giddy” when he heard how they work,” started in 1977. That’s when Chalfie arrived in that Chalfie had won the prize. Cambridge, UK, for a postdoc in Sulston’s C. Chalfie explains. “So elegans lab. A Victory for Small Science that’s a wonderful “Marty and I have been more or less Chalfie and Anderson go back to 1978, when permanent friends ever since,” says Hodgkin. Anderson was an American postdoc fresh off the problem.” Although, he adds, this is not the same as plane in Cambridge. Anderson was a complete being Chalfie’s best friend. “There’s too much neophyte when it came to C. elegans. Chalfie competition for that title,” Hodgkin dryly notes. took him under his wing for a crash course in

MARCH 2009 ASCB NEWSLETTER 7 worm breeding and much else, Anderson recalls. Chalfie was the great organizer for American postdocs and their families. He set up pub outings, restaurant parties, and a job-talk critique club. (Chalfie also “organized” the 1979 birth of Anderson’s son, Joe. Anderson confesses that despite his own nonchalant belief that there was no hurry, Chalfie insisted that Anderson and his heavily pregnant wife, Donna, go to the Mill Road Maternity Hospital. Joe was born less than an hour later.) Nobel week in Stockholm was the ultimate Chalfie-organized outing, according to Anderson. Back in Wisconsin, a colleague of Anderson’s pointed out the small scale of Chalfie’s big discovery. “He said, ‘This is a victory for the little guy, a victory for small science.’ And I think that this is a perfect example of a really clever idea that proves to have a huge impact on science,” says Anderson. “It also proves that we all could be just a month away from a Nobel Prize.” Chalfie has a third take on his Nobel Prize. The award ceremony, the Nobel lecture, and the gathering of old friends for a weeklong party were delightful. But whether or not discovering GFP was a sideline, Chalfie says that his own work on mechanosensation was the first beneficiary. The first multicelled animal to glow with GFP was C. elegans. And if he had not been working on a transparent animal like C. elegans, Chalfie believes that he would not have seen the point of a glowing jellyfish protein.

Back in Touch The white tie and long tails Chalfie wore to the Nobel ceremony have gone back to the formalwear rental company in Stockholm. The amazing publicity is dying down, and Chalfie has gone back to the problem he has relentlessly pursued since his Cambridge days. Chalfie explains, “[There is] a vast array of mechanical senses in us and in other organisms. These include touch, hearing, balance, stretch, detection of blood pressure, and perhaps the detection of changes to bone in terms of stress. There’s the sense of position—proprioception—and any number of other senses that detect mechanical force within our cells. One thing about the nerve cells that sense mechanical stimuli is that for the most part, we have no clue as to how they work. So that’s a wonderful problem.” To solve this wonderful problem, Chalfie has built up a large library of C. elegans “touch” mutants at Columbia. One initial clue to the nature of mechanical sensation, Chalfie explains, was the sheer speed of the response—typically less than a millisecond. This steered his attention toward super-fast ion channels and through his numb-to-touch mutant worms to a family of channel proteins called DEG/ENaC. Chalfie believes that DEG/ENaC proteins are the first neuronal mechanosensory transducers to be identified. The search for mammalian homologs, though, has not been easy. So far, no one has produced a mouse mutant null to touch. Chalfie says that this is probably because touch is so fundamental to survival that there must be redundant genes. But he reports that there are labs working on mouse double and triple mutants that might provide a mammalian homolog to his channel-defective worms. Twenty-five years into the problem, Chalfie believes that things are just getting interesting in the neuroscience of touch. That tale and that scientific journey are still unfolding.n —John Fleischman

8 ASCB NEWSLETTER MARCH 2009 TDC_USv2:Layout 1 24/2/09 09:52 Page 1

1-4 April 2009 the dynamic cell University of Edinburgh, UK

‘The Dynamic Cell’ is the first joint meeting of the Biochemical Society and the British Society for Cell Biology

Plenary speakers Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz Sessions David Komander • The endocytic pathway • Signalling in mitosis Kai Simons • Lipid droplets – dynamics and novel functions • Dynamics of microtubules Joan Steitz • Cell biology of the immunological synapse • Motors and organelle movement • Emerging mechanisms of cell movement • Rabs and dynamic cellular processes Confirmed Speakers • Imaging and new frontiers Viki Allan Isabelle Arnal Facundo Batista Oral communications will be selected from abstracts, and will make a major contribution Cecilia Bucci to the Speaker programme. Nigel Burroughs Folma Buss Ilan Davis Additional programme and events Michael Dustin • Workshops • Careers Speed-data • Trade Exhibition • Poster prizes Bruno Goud Erika Holzbaur Robert Insall Grants Amir Khan Each Society has its own Travel Grants for which its members can apply. Geert Kops Michael Lampson J. Paul Luzio Fees (not including accommodation) John McLauchlan Andrea Musacchio Member of Biochemical Society or British Society for Cell Biology £315 Jim Norman Non-member £375 Sven-Olof Olofsson Student £245 Sandra Schmid Robert Singer Kevin Slep Register online today at: Vic Small Ernst Stelzer www.jointbscbbs2009.org

) Jason Swedlow K

h , U Michael Welte a t B y o f t s i v e r n i U e a v s ( a R b a r a r e d b y B i PortlandSponsore dPress by Biochemical Society Transactions and Portland Press Ltd y s u p l

n d l Biochemical Society Transactions is the only publication to include this major international meeting. The proceedings will be published in volume 37(5). m a g e s k i I InCytes from MBC March, Vol. 20, Nos. 5 and 6

The Role of FilGAP–Filamin A Interactions in Mechanoprotection Y. Shifrin, P. D. Arora, Y. Ohta, D. A. Calderwood, and C. A. McCulloch Cells in mechanically active environments are subjected to high-amplitude exogenous forces that can lead to cell death. Filamin A, an actin cross-linking protein, has been implicated in protecting cells from mechanically induced death, but the means by which this mechanoprotection is achieved is not known. In addition to binding and cross-linking actin filaments, filamin A interacts with a diverse array of proteins, including filamin A– binding RhoGTPase-activating protein (FilGAP). The authors found that FilGAP is targeted to sites of force transfer by filamin A. This force-induced redistribution of FilGAP is essential for the suppression of Rac activity and lamella formation in cells subjected to tensile forces. Depletion of FilGAP by siRNA, inhibition of FilGAP activity by dominant-negative mutation, or deletion of the FilGAP filamin A–binding domain each resulted in a dramatic force-induced increase in the percentage of apoptotic cells. FilGAP therefore plays a role in protecting cells against force-induced apoptosis, and this function is mediated by filamin A.

RNA Interference Screen Identifies Usp18 as a Regulator of EGF Receptor Synthesis Jason E. Duex and Alexander Sorkin To identify novel regulators of oncogenic EGF receptor (EGFR), the authors developed a high-throughput RNAi screen. This screen revealed that the ubiquitin-specific protease Usp18 is a regulator of EGFR. Depletion of Usp18 by RNAi results in a 50%–80% decrease in the steady-state levels of EGFR in several cell lines, including squamous cell carcinoma. Conversely, overexpression of Usp18 increased EGFR levels. Interestingly, Usp18 does not function by controlling EGFR ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. Rather, Usp18 depletion leads to a dramatic decrease in the rate of EGFR protein synthesis. Further studies demonstrated that Usp18 regulates EGFR protein synthesis by controlling EGFR mRNA translation. Such regulation is dependent upon native 5' and 3' UTR sequences. Taken together, these studies demonstrate a unique role for Usp18 in controlling the levels of EGFR protein. Furthermore, inhibiting Usp18 activity has potential as a novel therapeutic approach to reducing EGFR levels and activity in tumor cells.

TORC2 Plasma Membrane Localization Is Essential for Cell Viability and Restricted to a Distinct Domain Doris Berchtold and Tobias C. Walther The conserved target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase regulates cell growth and homeostasis and exists in two functionally distinct complexes, TORC1 and TORC2. The authors explored the spatial organization of the two TOR complexes in yeast and found them in distinct places: TORC2 localizes to the plasma membrane, whereas TORC1 localizes to the vacuolar membrane. TORC2 exists in small dynamic foci akin to signaling nanoclusters like those observed for Ras proteins. These clusters occupy a distinct membrane compartment. Avo1, a subunit of TORC2, binds the plasma membrane lipid

PI(4,5)P2 via a PH-like domain that is required for TORC2 function and localization. However, this region of the protein can be replaced by a short heterologous sequence tag that directs protein lipidation and targeting to the plasma membrane without loss of function, arguing that plasma membrane localization of TORC2 is essential. The spatial separation of TOR complexes suggests that cells employ compartmentalization to process distinct information using the same kinase in different locations.

The Subcellular Distribution of an RNA Quality Control Protein, the Ro Autoantigen, Is Regulated by Noncoding Y RNA Binding Soyeong Sim, David E. Weinberg, Gabriele Fuchs, Keum Choi, Jina Chung, and Sandra L. Wolin Noncoding RNAs are critical participants in diverse cellular processes. This study shows how a noncoding RNA can regulate the subcellular distribution of a protein. The Ro autoantigen is a ring-shaped protein that binds misfolded RNAs in nuclei and likely functions in RNA quality control. In the cytoplasm, Ro binds noncoding RNAs called Y RNAs that block access by Ro to other RNAs. In addition to its quality control function, Ro assists cell survival following ultraviolet irradiation. Following irradiation, an unknown signal causes Ro to change from mostly cytoplasmic to largely nuclear. The authors found that in the absence of bound Y RNAs, Ro accumulates in nuclei. Moreover, nuclear accumulation of Ro following ultraviolet irradiation requires sequences that overlap the Y RNA binding site. Ro also accumulates in nuclei during oxidative stress and similar sequences are required. These findings suggest that Y RNAs mask a signal for Ro nuclear accumulation that becomes accessible following environmental stress. n

10 ASCB NEWSLETTER MARCH 2009 WOMEN in Cell Biology Self-Awareness and Cultural Identity: A Medical School Course of Exploration into Personal Unconscious Bias

The U.S. continues to struggle with race, Learning How We Experience Race and this struggle plays out in our scientific Another manifestation of racism is disparities culture as well as in the rest of society. A course in health care. Such disparities are so well offered at Harvard Medical School tries to help documented that the Liaison Committee participants recognize the manifestations of on Medical Education of the Association of racism in their own beliefs and American Medical Colleges behaviors. has added a requirement for “cultural competence training” Where Are the Minority [I]t can be hard for in medical school curricula. Job Applicants? white Americans We have developed a course at Harvard Medical School Those of us involved in faculty to appreciate recruitment are only too aware designed to launch participants that although we dutifully add how the three on a path of self-reflection the language to job descriptions levels of racism— and exploration of their own urging applications from unconscious biases. The underrepresented minorities, internalized, elective course has 14 sessions, we are often unable to find interpersonal, and each two hours. It is offered “qualified” applicants of twice a year, once to students the same caliber as majority institutional— in any year of their training, scientists. Why are there no continue to deny and once to faculty. While the study of racism forms a core candidates? blacks access to the The answer is that the component of our work, the U.S. has a long history of benefits of society course also explores gender slavery, Jim Crow laws, and that whites enjoy. bias, homophobia, social class, anti-miscegenation laws that immigration, religion, and body has shaped our perceptions. image. And even today there are The core tenet of the innumerable institutional structures that program is that undoing racism starts with each continue to offer privilege and advantage to person understanding what and how s/he was whites. We are bombarded from birth with taught to think about and experience race, as images and stories depicting black people as a key to unlocking unconscious feelings and criminals, shiftless and lazy, oversexed and biases. Therefore, the class is structured to allow dangerous. Most white Americans spend their participants to explore the values they have time in predominantly white contexts and about human differences and how they acquired feel uncomfortable when they find themselves those values. in the minority in a black group. Although We begin by having the group attempt to there are outstanding resources that debunk define “culture.” We ask each person to identify race as a biological reality, we have trouble his or her cultural identity. Participants bring seeing that race is a social construct. And it a “cultural object” (photograph, icon, food, can be hard for white Americans to appreciate book, etc.) to class that has special importance how the three levels of racism—internalized, for them. Each person presents the object and interpersonal, and institutional—continue to its meaning to the group. And as the circle deny blacks access to the benefits of society completes, what emerges is a remarkable that whites enjoy. richness in self-identities. Students often find

MARCH 2009 ASCB NEWSLETTER 11 it hard to select just one object, because we all to grow up gay, to have a secret that you could belong to multiple cultures, and a discussion not tell anyone, for fear that he or she would about which objects were not chosen often not love you anymore?2 One rough estimate brings additional richness to the conversation. is that about 10% of us are gay. Yet of the 20 In a subsequent session we each construct our or so people in your genogram, how many “cultural genogram”: a family tree going back did you know were gay? How does that enter as many generations as desired, into your current comfort using symbols and color zone about being around gay coding to denote interracial The core tenet people? Another example: As and interclass marriages; you move around in your busy levels of education achieved; of the program day, how often do you notice immigration patterns; gay and is that undoing how difficult it might be to lesbian; disabled and mentally follow you in a wheelchair? ill; divorce and illegitimacy; racism starts What feelings come up for you and class status.1 In groups of with each person when you encounter a person three we present our genograms in a wheelchair? Do you relate understanding to each other, noting areas of to that individual as you would pride and shame in the family, what and how anyone else? unspoken rules, and power s/he was taught dynamics. (What topics were Which Box Are You In? never discussed at the dining to think about and Racism is like smog: It room table?) As we hear each experience race, as is inescapably in the air other’s stories, it becomes clear everywhere. We breathe it a key to unlocking that we have shared experience from the day we are born, with some human differences, unconscious only occasionally noticing it. while other experiences are feelings and biases. We may cough from time to totally foreign and unknown to time and produce a most ugly some. excrescence, wondering how something like that could have Finding Our Blind Spots emerged from such a nice person. We try to hide These discussions focus on uncovering our these contributions, because we fear being called “blind spots,” areas of privilege that each of racist. We want to believe we are not racist. I us has that we don’t have to acknowledge. For was given a lovely instrument by Beverly Daniel example, as a white male, I rarely have to think Tatum that helps get folks thinking about their about my race. Race is something that others racism in a constructive way. Consider the have. I am the “norm” in my society, and thus following table: race has very little impact on me on a daily basis. I was raised in a white community, went Active Passive to a white school, and had little exposure to Racist blacks. But I find out in this course that my black colleague thinks about race 10–20 times a Anti-racist day and experiences daily “micro-aggressions”: clutching of handbags as he walks by white Who would you put in each box? It is women, being followed in department stores usually possible to come up with examples of while he is shopping, experiencing lack of eye people who are actively racist, both now and contact from whites, hearing comments such as historically. Similarly, it is straightforward to “My, you are so articulate!” or “What do black identify active anti-racists, people who devote people think about that?” unusual energy and time to fight racism. With Referring to our cultural genograms, in additional thought, you might imagine a passive subsequent sessions we explore the communities racist, someone who harbors considerable racist in which we grew up, our schools, summer attitudes but who may be relatively unaware vacations, and circles of friends. Again we do of this trait. Where would you be? Most whites this with an eye to understanding how we would like to be in the lower-right box: passive were taught values about human differences. anti-racist. Here, we can be truly against racism, Who was in our world and who was not? We but we are not prepared to do any hard work. approach each of the “isms” in the same way, What Tatum taught me is that in reality the sometimes using trigger videotapes to spark passive anti-racist box does not exist. If you are discussion. For example, what would it be like white, you carry white privilege. If you simply

12 ASCB NEWSLETTER MARCH 2009 accept that reality without questioning it, then you are part of the problem. You are passively endorsing the continuation of a racist society, enjoying your privilege, seeing it as “normal” or “the way things are,” or even denying that you have any special privilege because you are white. You may believe that we live in a meritocracy and that you have achieved all your successes solely because you are smart and have worked very hard. But, white individuals are born on third base, even if we want to believe we hit a triple.

Accepting Reality In The Matrix, Deo is given the choice of the red or blue pill by Morpheus. Take the blue pill: Go back to the status quo, change nothing, and continue to wonder why there are few competitive black candidates in our job searches. Take the red pill: Accept the reality and unfairness of racism, accept the nonexistence of passive anti-racism, and accept that we are all trained since birth to participate in a society with multiple institutional structures that ensure the preservation of white privilege. Having taken the red pill, there is no going back. n —Daniel A. Goodenough, Harvard Medical School

References 1Hardy KV, Laszloffy TA. (1995). The cultural genogram: key to training culturally competent family therapists. J Marital Fam Ther 21:227–237. 2McNaught B. (1993). Growing Up Gay and Lesbian. DVD, VHS. www.brian-mcnaught.com/books/growingupgay.htm.

MARCH 2009 ASCB NEWSLETTER 13 The American Society for Cell Biology 2009 Call for Nominations

Bruce Alberts Award for Excellence in Science Education Merton Bernfield Memorial Award Who is Eligible: An individual who has demonstrated innovative and sustained Who is Eligible: An outstanding graduate student or postdoctoral fellow who has excelled contributions to science education, with particular emphasis on the local, regional, and/or in research national impact of the nominee’s activities. The primary nominator must be a member of How to Apply: The student or postdoc or his or her advisor should submit a one-page the ASCB, but the candidate and support letter authors need not be. research statement, a list of publications, a copy of the abstract submitted to the current year’s Annual Meeting, and the advisor’s letter of recommendation. Postdocs may also How to Apply: Provide a letter of nomination, a maximum of three letters of support, submit the recommendation of their graduate student advisor. Duplicate applications from and CV. graduate students may be submitted for the Gilula and Bernfield Memorial Awards.

Awards: The winner is presented a plaque and will give remarks at the Annual Meeting. Awards: The winner is presented a plaque and $1,000 honorarium and will speak at a Expenses to attend the Annual Meeting are paid. Minisymposium at the Annual Meeting. Expenses to attend the Annual Meeting are paid.

Deadline: March 31 Deadline: August 1

Early Career Life Scientist Award Norton B. Gilula Memorial Award Who is Eligible: An outstanding scientist who earned his or her doctorate no more than 12 Who is Eligible: An outstanding graduate or undergraduate student who has excelled in years earlier (no later than December 1995) who has served as an independent investigator research for no more than seven years How to Apply: The student or advisor should submit a one-page research statement, a list How to Apply: Provide a nominating package that includes CV, brief research statement, of publications, if any, the abstract submitted to the current year’s Annual Meeting, and the nominating letter, and no more than three letters of support (at least one of which must come advisor’s letter of recommendation. Duplicate applications from graduate students may be from outside the nominee’s institution). submitted for the Gilula and Bernfield Memorial Awards. Awards: The winner is presented a plaque and an honorarium and will speak in a Awards: The winner is presented a plaque and a ribbon at the poster board. Expenses to Minisymposium at the Annual Meeting. Expenses to attend the Annual Meeting are paid. attend the Annual Meeting are paid. Deadline: March 31 Deadline: August 1

E.E. Just Lectureship Public Service Award Who is Eligible: A minority scientist who has demonstrated outstanding scientific Who is Eligible: An individual who has demonstrated outstanding national leadership in achievement. The primary nominator must be a member of the ASCB, but the candidate support of biomedical research. Any ASCB member may submit a nomination. The award need not be. winner may, but need not, be a scientist.

How to Apply: Provide a nomination package that includes a CV and a letter describing the nominee’s scientific achievement and mentoring support of underrepresented minority How to Apply: Provide a letter of nomination with a description of the nominee’s students and scientists. advocacy for, and promotion of, scientific research.

Awards: The winner gives the E.E. Just Lecture at the Annual Meeting and receives a Awards: The winner gives the Public Service Award Lecture at the ASCB Annual Meeting plaque. Expenses to attend the Annual Meeting are paid. and receives a certificate. Expenses to attend the Annual Meeting are paid.

Deadline: March 31 Deadline: March 31

WICB Career Recognition Awards E.B. Wilson Medal Who is Eligible: For the Junior Award, a woman in an early stage of her career (generally less than five years in an independent position at the time of nomination) who is making Who is Eligible: An individual who has demonstrated significant and far-reaching exceptional scientific contributions to cell biology and exhibits the potential for continuing contributions to cell biology over a lifetime of science. The primary nominator must be a a high level of scientific endeavor and leadership; for the Senior Award, a woman or man in a later career stage (generally full professor or equivalent) whose outstanding scientific member of the ASCB, but the candidate need not be. achievements are coupled with a long-standing record of support for women in science and by mentorship of both men and women in scientific careers. How to Apply: Provide the candidate’s CV and no fewer than three, and no more than How to Apply: For the Junior Award, provide a letter of nomination, CV, and no more than three letters of support, at least one of which must come from outside the nominee’s five, letters of support. institution. For the Senior Award, provide a letter of nomination, CV, and no more than five letters of support, at least one of which must come from outside the nominee’s institution, to include two letters from those who have been mentored by the candidate, Awards: The winner of the ASCB’s highest honor for science gives the E.B. Wilson mentioning specifics of the nominee’s mentoring history. Lecture at the Annual Meeting, and receives the E.B. Wilson Medal. Expenses to attend the Annual Meeting are paid. Awards: The winners are presented an honorarium and plaque at the Annual Meeting. Expenses to attend the Annual Meeting are paid. Deadline: March 31 Deadline: March 31. Send electronic submissions only to Cheryl Lehr at [email protected].

All applications and nominations should be submitted to: The American Society for Cell Biology 8120 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 750 Bethesda, MD 20814-2762, USA [email protected] For names of prior awardees or more information, visit www.ascb.org, or contact the ASCB at (301) 347-9300 or [email protected].

14 ASCB NEWSLETTER MARCH 2009 DEAR Labby

Dear Labby, I am a third-year postdoc. I have been working on a signal transduction pathway in macrophages, and it’s been OK. But I have decided research is not for me, either as an assistant professor or working in biotech. My mother is a lawyer (general practice), and I have always wondered about that profession. Patent law seems to need people who have strong scientific footing, and I am contemplating this move. But three years of law school at the age of 29 seems daunting. I have been asking around about career options and especially portals into patent law that could avoid law school. One of my friends said “Ask Labby.” —Pondering

Dear Pondering, Your friend has a generous view of Labby’s wisdom, but here goes. There are indeed entry points and careers in the field of intellectual property that do not require a law degree. For example, patent agents are (often) former scientists who work at law firms in the initial review of an invention (searching through prior related discoveries and assessing overall patentability). This is not too different from researching the literature for a review article or refereeing a manuscript for a journal (though the detailed rules of the game are a bit different). Patent agents also interface with the U.S. Patent Office, as well as its international counterparts when a filed application winds its way through the review process. Again, this is analogous to how we scientists submit our work for publication, deal with criticisms, and negotiate with the editor (in this case a patent examiner). Getting such a job requires some training in patent law, but not a law degree. Beyond the aforementioned activities, a patent agent’s job involves additional, highly interactive landscapes, interfacing with the inventors, their institution’s licensing office, and the law firm’s attorneys. The analogy between the roles of a research scientist and that of a patent agent can be stretched too far, however, for there are certainly differences. A cardinal criterion for patenting an invention, particularly in the U.S., is utility. Utility is conveyed by exemplifications in the patent application or as plausibly envisioned by the inventors. You should know that this is a very dynamic era in at least U.S. patent law because the other key criterion for granting a patent is now undergoing reconsideration. That criterion is that the claimed invention would not likely have occurred to scientists knowledgeable in the field. This issue of “nonobviousness” may be reinterpreted in the next few years, adding an interesting dialectic for anyone beginning work in patent prosecution these days. As to considering or rejecting law school, you need to think about your ultimate goals. No rational person, and no quality law school, calls the age of 29 anything other than young these days. More important than age considerations are the environment in which you would like to operate and your desired focus of attention, ultimately. Your attorney mother should be your first source of advice (as mothers always should). She can tell you about the standard law school curriculum. Much of this covers domains of the law that we all know about in lay terms: contracts and their enforcement, tax laws, interpretation of various statutes governing businesses, etc. And, of course, there is the great and noble U.S. Constitution. If you were to specialize in patent law, you would learn that a major domain is litigation for infringement; that is, when a product is made and sold through the alleged use of unlicensed rights. If you became a patent lawyer you would be filing briefs and appearing in court arguing from Aristotelian logic as well as the science. You’d be citing cases of precedent and the merits of the case at hand. No two cases are ever quite the same (which is why the argument of case precedent doesn’t always work). Other cases involve claims of fraud in which the filer of one patent has copied the claims in another or has made scientifically invalid claims. Now you can sense the courtroom drama a bit. And sometimes rather arcane elements of patent law have to be dusted off and tried in argument. One of Labby’s favorites is called “the doctrine of equivalents.” Does this sound exciting or are your eyes really glazing over now? Want to know more? Then maybe the law degree path is worth researching further with patent lawyers who have followed that path. Perhaps this simple distinction is the best way to consider the choice: A patent agent deals with the invention, a patent lawyer deals with litigation about the invention. Which intrigues you most and to which are you best suited? Examine your skills in written and oral communication, logic, and argument. Consider your memory and research abilities. How do you think you might, with due training and experience, measure up against successful patent attorneys? Moreover, what rewards are you seeking in terms of compensation? What type of work commitment are you willing to make and how much “deferred gratification” are you willing to tolerate? As is obvious, you can always move from the pre-law degree to lawyer status. Again, at 29 you have many options before you! It is good to take the time you need to consider them well. n —Labby Direct your questions to [email protected]. Authors of questions chosen for publication may indicate whether or not they wish to be identified. Submissions may be edited for space and style.

MARCH 2009 ASCB NEWSLETTER 15 MEMBERS in the News MEMBER Gifts Richard J. Ablin of the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Arizona Cancer Center and BIO5 Institute, The ASCB is grateful to the following members and applicants an ASCB member since 2007, was the recipient of who have recently given a gift to support Society activities: the First Award for Scientific Excellence by The Haakon Ragde Foundation for Advanced Cancer Studies “for his Rafael Edgardo Carazo-Salas invaluable contribution to humankind and exceptional Grant R. MacGregor scientific insight and valiant fight against cancer” at the First International Conference on Cryoimmunology in Beijing. Marcela Rojas-Pierce Katherine Lee Wilson Sandra L. Schmid of The Scripps Research Institute, an Joerg E. Wissler ASCB member since 1990, will be the recipient of the 2009 William C. Rose Award this April from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The award recognizes “outstanding contributions to biochemical and molecular biological research and a demonstrated commitment to the training of younger scientists.” 2008 Half-Century Fund Donors The ASCB is grateful to the following donors whose contributions support Society actvities: Gold Caroline H. Damsky Heber C. Nielsen Kathy Jung Bruce Alberts Susan K. Dutcher Eva Nogales Caroline M. Kane Richard Anderson Scott Emr Thoru Pederson Joyce E. Kephart Mina Bissell Qingshen Gao Mark Peifer Yasunori Kitamoto Elizabeth Blackburn Kathleen Green Jonathan Rothblatt Geri Kreitzer Craig Blackstone Morris J. Karnovsky William Saxton Phoebe S. Leboy Eloise E. Clark Sandra K. Masur Jonathan Scholey Gloria Lee Marilyn Farquhar W. James Nelson Jean Schwarzbauer James C. Lee Joseph G. Gall Jean Paul Revel Maxine Singer Maurine Linder Bob Goldman Bruce Schaar Masatoshi Takeichi Vincent T. Marchesi Alan Hall Mike Shelanski Robert L. Trelstad Manuela Martins-Green Barbara A. Hamkalo Allan Spradling Henry de Forest Webster Fumio Matsumura Renato V. Iozzo Paul Sternberg Earl H. Weidner Pierre D. McCrea Harvey Lodish Harold E. Varmus Robin Wright Rita K. Miller Tom Misteli Kenneth Yamada David Pruyne Tim Mitchison & Christine Field Bronze Hitoshi Sakakibara Thomas D. Pollard Diana C. Bartelt (in memory of Dr. Sustainer Jean M. Sanger Suzanne Pfeffer William D. Cohen) Simon J. Atkinson Joseph W. Sanger Melanie Royce Helen M. Blau Dorothy Bainton W. Sue Shafer Randy Schekman Henry G. Brown Donald Brown Caroline Shamu Sandra Schmid Edward H. Cohen Dennis E. Buetow Aaron Shatkin Huntington Sheldon Silvia Corvera Coralie A. Carothers Carraway Kurt S. Stenn Samuel C. Silverstein Ellen R. Dirksen Alfred B. Chaet Amy Tang David and Mona Spector Sarah Elgin Martin Chalfie Ora Weisz Jim Spudich Paul Forscher Cyril E. Challice Matthew Welch Susan Wente Dorit Hanein Shu Chien Leslie Wilson Zena Werb Brigid Hogan Alan L. Epstein William B. Wood Richard Hynes Daniel S. Friend Howard Worman Silver Shinya Inoue Gary J. Gorbsky Annette Wysocki Ueli Aebi George M. Langford Hideyasu Hirano Xin Xiang Joseph Besharse Daniel J. Lew Alan F. (Rick) Horwitz Masaki Yanagishita Kerry Bloom J. Richard McIntosh Mien Chie Hung 2009 Half-Century Fund Donors* *As of presstime Silver Bronze Sustainer Marc Muskavitch Joel Rosenbaum Yuko Mimori-Kiyosue Werner Franke Ralph A. Nixon Ronald Vale Barbara Johnson-Wint Ursula Goodenough Martin Schwartz Joan A. Steitz Michael Lampson PJ Simpson-Haidaris Ruth Lehmann Elizabeth Sztul Jani E. Lewis

16 ASCB NEWSLETTER MARCH 2009 LETTERS to the Editor

Dear Editor: constitute a minority view, the ASCB leadership I recently read Dr. Hogan’s column in the still has a duty to the Society and the public at- [January 2009] ASCB Newsletter. Her advice large to acknowledge and report this opposition. to think outside the box and and communicate In the past, I asked the ASCB leadership to more effectively will hopefully be embraced by conduct a poll of members as a means to senior faculty and trainees alike. I will post her quantitatively document the range of differences column in the hallway of my department (which in member views. The leadership refused. she visited a couple of years ago) to emphasize to I write now to inform ASCB members everyone how important these skills are for both of a new forum that will assist dissenting career development and maintenance. I look ASCB members in correcting the misleading forward to reading more outstanding columns monolithic ASCB image promoted by our in future newsletters. leadership. They can join a growing list of Joe McCarty, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center scientists, physicians, and other qualified professionals who endorse a scientific declaration Dear Editor: that human embryos and fetuses are living I write to provide a solution for an ASCB human beings and, therefore, must be protected failing that has gone unaddressed for much from undue injury, whether by embryonic stem too long. The past executive leadership of the cell research or abortion. The declaration can ASCB developed, and continues to maintain, a be endorsed at the following website: www. unilateral policy that the ASCB will support and amnestyforbabies.com/scidec. By also indicating promote human embryonic stem cell research. their ASCB membership, endorsing members This political positioning dismissed significant can begin the long overdue work of presenting dissent among ASCB members on this topic. to the public an image of ASCB that is more Although dissenting members, who protest that faithful to its true diversity of ideas. n research that perforce causes the death of its James L. Sherley, Boston Biomedical human subjects is unethical, are presumed to Research Institute

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MARCH 2009 ASCB NEWSLETTER 17 GRANTS & OPPORTUNITIES

HHMI Postdoctoral Fellowships. Howard Hughes Medical Institute will partner with the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund, Helen Hay Whitney Foundation, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, and Life Sciences Research Foundation to fund 16 annual fellowships to help advance young scientists. www.hhmi.org/news/20070604postdoc. html.

National Centers for Biomedical Computing (R01). This funding opportunity is for projects from individual investigators or small groups to collaborate with the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research National Centers for Biomedical Computing (NCBCs). Collaborating projects are intended to engage researchers in building an excellent biomedical computing environment, using the computational tools and biological and behavioral application drivers of the funded NCBCs as foundation stones. Expiration: September 8, 2011. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/ PAR-08-184.html.

NIGMS Grants. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences is accepting applications for funding research in which several interdependent projects offer significant advantages over support of these same projects as individual research. Standard NIH application dates apply. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-07-030.html.

NIH Administrative Supplements for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Research. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and the National Eye Institute announce the availability of one-year administrative revisions (also referred to as supplements) for funded grantees to encourage research into the derivation, characterization, and/or utilization of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) from non-embryonic sources. Application receipt date: April 1, 2009. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice- files/NOT-GM-08-136.html.

NIH CSR Marcy Speer Award. The Marcy Speer Award recognizes scientists who demonstrate extraordinary commitment to NIH Center for Scientific Review peer review groups, making it possible for NIH to fund the best applications and, ultimately, improve public health. The next nomination deadline is April 16, 2009. http://cms.csr.nih. gov/AboutCSR/SpeerAward.htm.

NIH Mentored Quantitative Research Development Award. The purpose of the Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award (K25) is to attract to NIH-relevant research those investigators whose quantitative science and engineering research has thus far not been focused primarily on questions of health and disease. Expiration: January 8, 2012. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-09-039.html.

NIH Pathway to Independence Award. The primary purpose of the Pathway to Independence Award (K99/ R00) program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented NIH-supported independent investigators. The program is designed to facilitate a timely transition from a mentored postdoctoral research position to a stable independent research position with independent NIH or other independent research support at an earlier stage than is currently the norm. Expiration: January 8, 2012. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-09-036. html.

NRSA Awards. The NIH Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is accepting applications for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards. The predoctoral fellowships promote diversity in health-related research. Application deadlines are May 1 and November 15 through 2009. http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-06- 481.html#SectionI.

NRSA Research Training Grant. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences will award MARC U-STAR National Research Service Act grants to minority-serving institutions that support undergraduate biomedical and behavioral research. Application deadline is May 25, 2009. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-07-337.html.

Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-related Research. These supplements are intended to promote diversity in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences research workforce. Expiration: September 30, 2011. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-190.html.

Research Supplements to Promote Re-entry into Biomedical and Behavioral Research Careers. These supplements are intended to encourage individuals to re-enter research careers within the missions of all NIH program areas. This program will provide administrative supplements to existing NIH research grants to support full-time or part-time research by individuals in a program geared to bring their existing research skills and knowledge up-to-date. Expiration: September 30, 2011. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-191.html.

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellows in Pharm.D./Ph.D Programs. The objective of this funding opportunity announcement is to help ensure that highly trained Pharm.D./ Ph.D. graduates will be available in adequate numbers and in appropriate research areas to carry out the nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research agenda. Expiration: January 8, 2012. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/ pa-files/PA-09-029.html.

18 ASCB NEWSLETTER MARCH 2009 GRANTS & OPPORTUNITIES

SCORE Awards. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences is accepting applications for its Support of Competitive Research (SCORE) developmental awards designed to increase faculty research competitiveness at minority-serving institutions. Multiple deadlines through May 18, 2010. The program announcement, as well as three other program announcements (PAR-06-491, PAR-06-492, PAR-06-493), can be found at http://grants1.nih.gov/ grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-06-490.html#PartI. n

MEETINGS Calendar

Continued from Meetings Calendar on p. 20 September 6–10. Edinburgh, UK 16th International Society of Developmental Biologists June 11–14. Ames, IA Congress. www.isdb2009.com. Systems Biology: Integrative, Comparative, and Multi- Scale Modeling. September 9–12. Ericeira, Portugal www.bb.iastate.edu/~gfst/phomepg.html. Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology/ International Society for Ocular Cell Biology. June 14–18. Zürich, Switzerland www.arvo.org/isocb. VIII European Symposium of The Protein Society. www.proteinsociety.org. September 21–23. Kyoto, Japan Joint American Society for Cell Biology–Japan Society June 23–27. Boone, NC for Cell Biology­–RIKEN Center for Developmental 17th International Chromosome Conference. Biology Meeting, Building the Body Plan: How Cell http://rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/icc2009 Adhesion, Signaling, and Cytoskeletal Regulation Shape Morphogenesis. www.ascb.org./japan2009. June 28–July 3. Andover, NH Gordon Research Conference, Stress Proteins in Growth, September 27–30. Aachen, Germany Development & Disease. www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year Trinational Fall Meeting of the Biochemical Societies of =2009&program=stressprot. Belgium, Germany, and Netherlands: Signal Transduction and Disease. www.gbm-online.de. July 4–9. Prague, Czech Republic 34th Congress of the Federation of European Biochemical October 16–17. Research Triangle Park, NC Societies: Life’s Molecular Interactions. Symposium on RNA Biology. www.febs2009.org. www.med.unc.edu/pmbb/symposium09.html.

July 14–20. Calgary, Canada October 20–24. Honolulu, HI Applied Computational Genomics Course. American Society of Human Genetics 59th Annual www.gcbioinformatics.ca/training. Meeting. www.ashg.org/2009meeting.

July 19–24. New London, NH October 29–31. Leipzig, Germany Gordon Research Conference, Cell–Cell Fusion. www.grc. World Conference on Regenerative Medicine. org/programs.aspx?year=2009&program=cellcell. www.wcrm-leipzig.de.

July 23–27. San Francisco, CA November 12–15. San Diego, CA Society for Developmental Biology 68th Annual Meeting. Annual Meeting of the Society for Glycobiology. www.sdbonline.org/2009Mtg/Webpage.htm. www.glycobiology.org.

August 9–12. Santa Cruz, CA November 18–21. Barossa Valley, Australia Engineering Cell Biology Meeting. 4th Barossa Meeting: Cell Signalling in Cancer and www.engconfintl.org/9ak.html. Development. www.sapmea.asn.au/signalling09.

August 29–September 1. Amsterdam, The November 29–December 4. San Juan, PR Netherlands 20th International Symposium on Glycoconjugates. The EMBO Meeting 2009. www.the-embo-meeting.org. www.glyco20.org.

September 3–7. Cambridge, England December 5–9. San Diego, CA Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS), 49th ASCB Annual Meeting. www.ascb.org. 4th Conference. www.mfoundation.org/sens4. For additional listings, see http://ascb.org/othermeetings. September 5–8. Visegrád, Hungary psp. 12th European Meeting on Complement in Human Disease. www.chd2009.com.

MARCH 2009 ASCB NEWSLETTER 19 MEETINGS Calendar March 17–22. Pacific Grove, CA March 30–31. Tempe, AZ May 15–20. San Diego, CA Genetics Society of America: 25th 2nd National Science Foundation 2009 American Thoracic Society Fungal Genetics Conference. Regional Grants Conference. International Conference. www.fgsc.net/25thFGC/FGC25.htm. www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/ www.thoracic.org. rgcamarch09.pdf?govDel= March 18–21. Anaheim, CA USNSF_80. May 23–29. Sant Feliu de Guixols, ASCB Rachmiel Levine Diabetes and Obesity Spain Symposium. April 1–4. Edinburgh, UK ESF-EMBO Symposium: Cell Polarity Annual Meetings www.levinesymposium.com. The Dynamic Cell, a Joint Meeting and Membrane Traffic. 2009 of the Biochemical Society and the www.esf.org/index.php?id=5242. March 19–21. Mosbach, Germany San Diego British Society for Cell Biology. 60th Mosbacher Colloquium: www.jointbscbbs2009.org. May 24–27. Xiamen, China December 5–9 Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms Wnt Signaling, Organogenesis, and of Memory. April 13–24. Biopolis, Singapore Stem Cells Conference. http://life. 2010 www.mosbacher-kolloquium.org. European Molecular Biology xmu.edu.cn/wntmeeting/index.htm. Philadelphia Organization and Institute of Medical December 11–15 March 21–24. Singapore Biology Course: FRET, FLIM, FCS, May 26–31. Madison, WI Genetics and Genomics of Infectious FRAP and 3-D Imaging—Application RNA2009: The Annual RNA Society 2011 Diseases. www.nature.com/ to Cell and Developmental Biology. Meeting. Denver natureconferences/ggid2009/index. http://cwp.embo.org/wpc09-01. http://rnasociety.org/#RNASocEvents. December 3–7 html. May 3–7. Fort Lauderdale, FL May 27–29. Charlottesville, VA 2012 March 22–27. Whistler, Canada Association for Research in Vision and University of Virginia 4th Biennial Keystone Symposia: Mitochondrial Morphogenesis Symposium. San Francisco Ophthalmology 2009 Annual Meeting: Dynamics and Physiology. Reducing Disparities in Eye Disease www.morphogenesis.virginia.edu. December 15–19 www.keystonesymposia.org/9X6. and Treatment. www.arvo.org/eweb/ June 4–6. Toronto, Canada 2013 March 22–27. Whistler, Canada startpage.aspx?site=AM2009. Organization for the Study of Sex New Orleans Keystone Symposia: Cell Death May 12–15. Chapel Hill, NC Differences Third Annual Meeting. December 14–18 Pathways (a joint meeting with Carolina Workshop: Force www.ossdweb.org/mc/page. Mitochondrial Dynamics and Measurement and Manipulation in do?sitePageId=64130. 2014 Physiology). Biological Microscopy. www.cs.unc. Continued on p. 19 Philadelphia www.keystonesymposia.org/9X5. edu/cismm/ForcesWorkshop.htm. December 6–10

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