LA JOLLA—With each flip you make through a deck of vocabulary word flashcards, their definitions come more quickly, more easily. This process of learning and remembering new information strengthens important connections in your brain. Recalling those new words and definitions more easily with practice is evidence that those neural connections, called synapses, can grow stronger or weaker over time—a feature known as synaptic plasticity.
LA JOLLA—The Wicklow Foundation has donated $2 million to the Salk Institute to establish the Margaret Faye Wilson Endowment in honor of the banking and retail leader and former Salk Trustee. Wilson served on the Salk Board from 2010 to 2019 and was a generous supporter of the Institute’s research over the years. A treasured member of the community, Wilson died in July 2023.
LA JOLLA—Immunotherapy has revolutionized the way we treat cancer in recent years. Instead of targeting the tumor itself, immunotherapies work by directing patients’ immune systems to attack their tumors more effectively. This has been especially impactful in improving outcomes for certain difficult-to-treat cancers. Still, fewer than half of all cancer patients respond to current immunotherapies, creating an urgent need to identify biomarkers that can predict which patients are most likely to benefit.
LA JOLLA—In recognition of his notable and innovative contributions to science, the Salk Institute’s Axel Nimmerjahn has been promoted from associate professor to full professor. The promotion is based on Salk faculty and Nonresident Fellow recommendations and was approved by Salk’s president and Board of Trustees on April 19, 2024.
LA JOLLA—The Salk Institute will receive a four-year, $5 million gift from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation to support pancreatic cancer research. The project’s leaders, Salk Assistant Professor Dannielle Engle, Professor Ronald Evans, and Professor Reuben Shaw, will establish a novel pipeline from patients to the laboratory and back to the clinic. The approach will provide a unique opportunity to uncover new diagnostics and therapies for pancreatic cancer.
LA JOLLA – Das Salk Institute hat mit Joan Jacobs am 6. Mai 2024 in La Jolla, Kalifornien, eine seiner größten Förderinnen und eine der großzügigsten Philanthropinnen von San Diego verloren. Sie war 91 Jahre alt.
LA JOLLA—The Salk Institute’s Martyn Goulding, a professor in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory and the Frederick W. and Joanna J. Mitchell Chair, was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Goulding is a neuroscientist who studies the sensorimotor circuitry in the spinal cord that controls a range of different motor behaviors, from simple reflexes such as scratching to walking and precise forelimb movements.
LA JOLLA—Salk Institute Professor Susan Kaech has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Kaech is one of 120 new members and 24 international members to be elected to the academy in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. The election is considered one of the highest honors accorded to a scientist in the United States. Kaech’s work has transformed the fields of immunology and cancer biology and inspires new approaches to cancer immunotherapy. Her recognition brings the number of Salk faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences to 13.
LA JOLLA—As part of its $7 million “Prebys Research Heroes” program, the Prebys Foundation awarded Salk Professor Tatyana Sharpee and Assistant Professor Dannielle Engle each $500,000 to fund their research. The grants will be dispensed over two years and are part of 14 grants the foundation awarded to support women pursuing research careers in San Diego.
LA JOLLA—The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared that removing carbon from the atmosphere is now essential to fighting climate change and limiting global temperature rise. To support these efforts, Salk scientists are harnessing plants’ natural ability to draw carbon dioxide out of the air by optimizing their root systems to store more carbon for a longer period of time.
LA JOLLA—Salk Institute Professor Satchidananda Panda has been named a 2023 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Wissenschaft. Panda is among 502 new AAAS Fellows spanning 24 scientific disciplines who were nominated by their peers for their distinguished efforts to advance science. The election recognizes his contributions to the field of chronobiology, particularly for applications to obesity and human health.
LA JOLLA—One in every 10 individuals above the age of 65 develops an age-related neurological disorder like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, yet treatment options remain sparse for this population. Scientists have begun exploring whether cannabinoids—compounds derived from the cannabis plant, like well-known THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol)—may offer a solution. A third, lesser-known cannabinoid called CBN (cannabinol) has recently piqued the interest of researchers, who have begun exploring the clinical potential of the milder, less psychoactive substance.
LA JOLLA—Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers and is projected to become the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States by 2030. It is especially difficult to treat because pancreatic tumors grow so quickly and are constantly evolving, making them prone to developing drug resistance.
LA JOLLA—Salk Institute Professor Terrence Sejnowski will receive the 2024 Brain Prize for “pioneering the field of computational and theoretical neuroscience, making seminal contributions to our understanding of the brain, and paving the way for the development of brain-inspired artificial intelligence,” the Lundbeck Foundation announced today.
LA JOLLA – Charles Darwin beschrieb die Evolution als "Abstammung mit Veränderung". Genetische Informationen in Form von DNA-Sequenzen werden kopiert und von einer Generation an die nächste weitergegeben. Aber dieser Prozess muss auch eine gewisse Flexibilität aufweisen, die es im Laufe der Zeit ermöglicht, leichte Variationen von Genen entstehen zu lassen und neue Merkmale in die Population einzuführen.
LA JOLLA—The brain is typically depicted as a complex web of neurons sending and receiving messages. But neurons only make up half of the human brain. The other half—roughly 85 billion cells—are non-neuronal cells called glia. The most common type of glial cells are astrocytes, which are important for supporting neuronal health and activity. Despite this, most existing laboratory models of the human brain fail to include astrocytes at sufficient levels or at all, which limits the models’ utility for studying brain health and disease.
LA JOLLA—Salk Distinguished Professor Emeritus Roger Guillemin, recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and neuroendocrinology pioneer, died on February 21, 2024, in Del Mar, California at the age of 100.
LA JOLLA—Surveys show most men in the United States are interested in using male contraceptives, yet their options remain limited to unreliable condoms or invasive vasectomies. Recent attempts to develop drugs that block sperm production, maturation, or fertilization have had limited success, providing incomplete protection or severe side effects. New approaches to male contraception are needed, but because sperm development is so complex, researchers have struggled to identify parts of the process that can be safely and effectively tinkered with.
LA JOLLA—Salk Institute Professor Janelle Ayres has been elected to the American Academy of Microbiology’s Fellowship Class of 2024. Fellows of the Academy, an honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology, are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology. The Academy received 156 nominations this year, electing 65 into the 2024 Fellowship Class.
LA JOLLA—Above ground, plants stretch toward the sun. Below ground, plants tunnel through the earth. As roots soak up water and nutrients from surrounding soil, they grow and stretch to develop distinct root system architectures. The root system architecture determines whether roots remain in the shallow soil layers or grow steeper and reach deeper soil layers. Root systems are central to plant survival and productivity, determining the plant’s access to nutrients and water and, therefore, the plant’s ability to withstand nutrient depletion and extreme weather like drought.
