Sanford Burnham Prebys

𝗦𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻? In addition to classic laboratory tools such as glassware and pipettes, many biomedical researchers now often need advanced computational techniques to analyze the results of their studies. For every scientist pictured with a petri dish, we should imagine others writing code or sending instructions to a supercomputer. In some cases, scientists are testing whether computers can be used to simulate the experiments themselves. Computational tools such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to help scientists improve data inputs, create scenarios and generate synthetic data by simulating biological processes, clinical outcomes and public health campaigns. In the Sanford Burnham Prebys Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, scientists are using simulation-based techniques to more effectively and efficiently find new potential treatments. Read more: https://bit.ly/3AGgzw1 #artificialintelligence #computationalbiology

Congratulations to Dr. Chiara Nicoletti, Ph.D. (postdoc in Dr. Lorenzo Puri's lab) for being the inaugural recipient of the Fishman Fund Cynthia Schwartz Shenkman Research Excellence Award! The award is given to a Sanford Burnham Prebys postdoc for their outstanding biomedical research contributions and demonstrated track record of research excellence. Dr. Nicoletti studies epigenetic patterns in skeletal muscle development and disease. Her postdoctoral work has been supported over the years by an American Heart Association postdoctoral fellowship, a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) postdoctoral fellowship, a Pilot Grant from the San Diego Nathan Shock Center, a Fishman Fund Career Development Award, and most recently by a Young Investigator Award from the Jain Foundation Inc. Among her many research achievements is the development of the first high-resolution map of DNA contacts in skeletal muscle and the characterization of these contacts at the epigenetic level, which will pave the way towards the development of personalized medicine tools for muscular dystrophies patients. Learn more about the Fishman Fund Awards: https://lnkd.in/gEq5ary2

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys and the La Jolla Institute for Immunology have revealed a new secret regarding senescence, a cellular state similar to sleep that is more likely to affect aged cells. This drowsy condition is known to provide health benefits under certain conditions while also potentially causing collateral damage. The research team published results on August 22, 2024, in Molecular Cell, describing a new connection between the inflammation caused by senescent cells and a protein involved in the process of winding up six feet of DNA tightly enough to fit into the nuclear center of cells. The scientists defined how this protein influences the increase in inflammation when our cells slip into a state of slumber. By detailing this process, the authors may have uncovered a new opportunity to find drugs that can promote healthy aging by preventing or reducing chronic inflammation from the collection of too many senescent cells as we get older. Read more: https://bit.ly/3SXhIph #agingresearch #senescence

Sanford Burnham Prebys held a Women in Science event on Monday, August 12, 2024. The session was in Fishman Auditorium on the Institute’s campus and focused on how female faculty members at different career stages have navigated their professional journeys in academia and the life sciences. Shanshan Yin, PhD, a postdoctoral associate working in the lab of Peter Adams, PhD, moderated the conversation that featured four panelists from Sanford Burnham Prebys: Linda Bradley, PhD, a professor in the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program; Caroline Kumsta, PhD, an assistant professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program and associate dean of Student Affairs of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Alessandra Sacco, PhD, the director of the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program and dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; and Xueqin Sherine Sun, PhD, an assistant professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program. Topics discussed included work/life balance, caregiving and family obligations, and gender disparities in academic rank at research and higher education institutions. Participants asked many questions about topics ranging from the risk of burnout, unrealistic expectations for postdoctoral fellows and how male scientists can contribute to a better environment for female colleagues. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4dxvHdH #womeninscience #womeninstem #dei #deib

Sanford Burnham Prebys unveiled its newly renovated auditorium in Building 12 during a special Happy Town Hall and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. The improved meeting space was renamed as the Victor E. LaFave III Memorial Auditorium, or “the Vic,” in recognition of the generous support of the LaFave family. David A. Brenner, MD, president and CEO of Sanford Burnham Prebys, discussed plans for the enhanced auditorium to be a prominent space for community engagement through new and ongoing events. The meeting space will help the institute connect with community members, alumni and research collaborators throughout the region and state. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gmdgf7rS

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys are investigating the inner workings of our bodies and the trillions of cells within them at a level of detail that few futurists could have predicted. “The scale of the data we can generate and analyze has certainly exploded,” says Will (Yu Xin) Wang, PhD, assistant professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys. “When I was a graduate student, I would take about a hundred pictures for my experiment and spend weeks manually classifying certain characteristics of the imaged cells.” “Now, a single experiment would capture probably hundreds of thousands of images and study the gene and protein expression patterns of millions of individual cells.” The Wang lab specializes in advanced spatial multi-omic analyses that capture the location of cells, proteins and other molecules in the body. Wang uses spatial multi-omics to explore how dysfunctional autoimmune responses—when the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues—can interfere with its ability to repair and regenerate. Read more: https://lnkd.in/grAameTd #artificialintelligence #computationalbiology #data #biomedicalresearch #omics

Sanford Burnham Prebys held a Women in Science event on Monday, August 12, 2024. The session was in Fishman Auditorium on the Institute’s campus and focused on how female faculty members at different career stages have navigated their professional journeys in academia and the life sciences. Shanshan Yin, PhD, a postdoctoral associate working in the lab of Peter D. Adams, PhD, moderated the conversation that featured four panelists from Sanford Burnham Prebys: Linda Bradley, PhD, a professor in the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program; Caroline Kumsta, PhD, an assistant professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program and associate dean of Student Affairs of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Alessandra Sacco, PhD, the director of the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program and dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; and Xueqin Sherine Sun, PhD, an assistant professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program. Topics discussed included work/life balance, caregiving and family obligations, and gender disparities in academic rank at research and higher education institutions. Participants asked many questions about topics ranging from the risk of burnout, unrealistic expectations for postdoctoral fellows and how male scientists can contribute to a better environment for female colleagues. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gvyxEgez

𝗗𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) “chatbot” that can understand and generate human language, steals most headlines related to AI along with the rising concerns about using AI tools to create false “deepfake” images, audio and video that appear convincingly real.  But scientific applications of AI and other computational biology methods are gaining a greater share of the spotlight as research teams successfully employ these techniques to make new discoveries such as predicting how patients will respond to cancer drugs. AI and computational biology have proven to be boons to scientists searching for patterns in massive datasets, but some researchers are raising alarms about how AI and other computational tools are developed and used. “I see a misconception where some people think that AI is so intelligent that you can just throw data at an AI model and it will figure it all out by itself,” says Andrei Osterman, PhD, vice dean and associate dean of curriculum for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and professor in the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys. “In many cases, it's not that simple.” Read more: https://bit.ly/3SRrbhJ #artificialintelligence #computationalbiology #chatgpt #data

𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 Although not every scientist-in-training will need to be an ace programmer, the next generation of scientists will need to take advantage of advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and computing that are shaping biomedical research. Scientists who understand how to best process, store, access and employ algorithms to analyze ever-increasing amounts of information will help lead the data revolution rather than follow in its wake. “I think the way to do biology is very different from just a decade or so ago,” says Kevin Yip, PhD, a professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys and the director of Bioinformatics. “I think most people now would agree that data science and the use of computational methods—AI included—are indispensable in biology. To use these approaches to the greatest effect, computational biologists and bench laboratory scientists need to be trained to speak a common language.” Read more: https://bit.ly/3WVYJh8 #artificialintelligence #computationalbiology #datascience #biomedicalresearch

This summer, Sanford Burnham Prebys welcomed high school students to the Institute to participate in one of two internship programs. One group came from the Preuss School, which is located on the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla and educates students striving to be first-generation college graduates. The Institute also welcomed its third cohort of interns this year for the Summer Program to Accelerate Regenerative Medicine Knowledge (SPARK). SPARK is an initiative by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) that provides research opportunities for high schoolers from underrepresented groups throughout California. “The whole internship was super fun,” says Saanvi Dogra, a SPARK intern who worked in the lab of Sanjeev Ranade, PhD, an assistant professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program. Fernando Pech, a Preuss intern who worked in the lab of Peter Adams, PhD, director of the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program, added, “I believe you can find your passion at Sanford Burnham Prebys, so I would recommend this experience to other students.” Read more: https://bit.ly/3WSwvE6 #internship #firstgeneration #firstgenerationcollegestudent #firstgenerationgraduate #underrepresentedgroups #regenerativemedicine