Announcements
Spring 2020 Newsletter Volume 28 Issue 1
This issue of the Newsletter is available in PDF.
For previous newsletters, click here.
Dear AWIS-SD Members, Partners, Sponsors, and Allies,
I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year in 2020! Since this is a new decade, I hope everyone gets a productive start on accomplishing their goals, both personally and professionally.
As a long-time member of AWIS-SD, I look forward to working with each and every one of you to make our organization the best it can be! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. AWIS-SD is one of the largest chapters in the AWIS family. Through the hard work of our volunteer members, we provide an exceptional array of committees and events to foster career development, networking and community engagement focused on improving access and inclusion for women in STEM (#stemwomenunite).
We have re-tooled some of our career development/networking groups which include groups focused on Outdoor activities (STEM Active Connect), Academia to Industry (A2I), Back to Work, Career Advancement (Early to Mid Career), and the Leadership Network (Senior Career). If you are interested in learning more about or joining one of these groups, please check them out at awissd.org. In addition, we are looking for new committee members to join our committees including Events, Public Relations, Corporate Sponsorship and more. If you are interested in learning more about our committees and what we do at AWIS-SD, please visit awissd.org.
I would like to personally thank all of the AWIS-SD members who have graciously volunteered many hours of their time to make this organization what it is today. I would also like to thank the sponsors of AWIS-SD who have made it possible for us to offer so much to our members and our community.
Warmest wishes,
Kina
Varykina Thackray, Ph.D.
President, AWIS-SD
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by Raymond Seradarian
On Wednesday, February 5, 2020, the local AWIS chapter held a Welcome to 2020 New Year’s event in Sorrento Mesa in a private party room at Gravity Heights Brewery restaurant. The room had its own bar and attentive waitstaff. In addition, there was plenty of space to mix and mingle, and to stand or sit while enjoying the food, which was delicious and plentiful. Many of the 38 attendees that night were longtime chapter members, but there were also a few new faces as well. These new attendees said that this was the first AWIS SD event they’d attended in years.
The event also included the presentation of the chapter’s Outstanding Volunteer awards as listed below:
Achievement in Innovation: Angela Macia
Rookie of the Year: Betty Cabrera, Norazizah Shafee
Achievement in Outreach or Community Service: Alina Luk, Chistina Grobin
Outstanding Volunteer: Alex Clark
Leadership Service: Courtney Benson
Board Special Award: Robyn Wygal
President's Award: Corine Lau, Lori Yang
Long Service Awards:
25 years: Grace Nakayama
20 years: Victoria Cagle
15 years: Laura Pereira
10 years: Wendy Ochoa, Parisa Abedinpour
5 years: Takako Noguchi, Cristina Giachetti, Adriana Bankston, Karrie Kwok
The recipients’ names are also listed on the AWIS SD home page.
This celebration was organized by the AWIS-SD Events Committee. We are looking for new members. If you are interested, please email for more information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
AWIS SD Retreat 25 January 2020
by Jean Spence
The 2020 Annual AWIS-SD retreat was held on January 25, 2020 with 24 attendees from the Board and Committee leadership. Courtney Benson, our former president, presided as Kina Thackray, our current president, was unable to attend. Highlights from the past year include the awarding of five $1000 scholarships to female students in community college, undergraduate, or graduate schools in San Diego County; two $1000 scholarships to AWIS-SD members to cover costs of classes at UCSD Extension; and 14 science fair awards for female middle school and high school students from the Scholarship and Outreach Committees. The Scholarship Committee also successfully organized an Awards Celebration for the awardees and the Outreach Committee organized and participated in multiple community STEM events with a focus on encouraging young women in science, including EXPO Day at Petco Park, the Expand Your Horizons conference for middle school girls at USD, and the ACS Chem Expo held at Miramar Community College.
Committees tasked with the functions related to the management of the chapter such as Public Relations, Website, and Newsletter are running smoothly with outstanding leadership. The Corporate Sponsorship Committee had a banner year last year, raising over $25K for 2018-2019, and they are well on their way to raising a similar amount for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Current sponsors include: Thermo Fisher, Celgene, Vertex, Quidel, Takeda, BioLegend, TriLink Biotechnologies, Pfizer La Jolla, Blue Nalu, and GASEF. UCSD Extension donated two $1000 scholarships. The Events Committee has been retooled under new leadership and will focus on organizing the Annual New Year Party, Spring and Fall Happy Hours/Networking Events, and a Speed Mentoring Event.
The Academia to Industry group held 6 meetings in 2019 for members, each featuring a speaker from the biotech community, and conducted 3 biotech company tours (Vertex, Celgene and Thermo Fisher). The Back to Work group will restart later on this year. The Career Advancement Committee, a new committee for early to mid-career professionals, was formed to replace the previous Strategy Sessions Committee. They will organize events pertinent to this career stage. The Leadership Network group for members in leadership positions such as Senior Scientist, Associate Professor, and above held monthly meetings that included social events and career advancement events, such as Industry and San Diego Trends Workshop and Strengths Based Leadership.
Another highlight was the organization of the Women in Science and Technology conference in 2019 by chapter member volunteers on the WIST Committee, led by Robyn Wygal. This event was held at the Thermo Fisher campus in Carlsbad and facilitated through the generous sponsorship of Thermo Fisher and other local companies. The event was a great success with over 150 attendees, many who joined AWIS-SD for the first time. The Public Relations Committee is working on enhancing chapter member interactions with the greater San Diego STEM network by hosting STEM Active Connect and the LinkedIn STEM network.
One issue raised at the meeting is declining chapter membership, which is probably linked to difficulties in renewing membership on the AWIS National website and linking chapter membership with National membership. Discussions are ongoing with AWIS National to remedy this situation. All committees also reported the need for more members. Therefore, the Board and the Public Relations Committee are working hard to highlight the benefits of joining one of the chapter’s committees. Another issue is maintaining continuity on the various committees since there has been some turnover. Committees that don’t already have SOPs plan on creating instructions for their events and functions to help with the transfer of knowledge.
AWIS-SD Visit to Thermo Fisher
by Takako Noguchi
Nineteen participants, members of AWIS-SD and non-member students and post-docs in the San Diego area, visited Thermo Fisher Scientific located in Carlsbad, on December 3, 2019. The Thermo Fisher Carlsbad campus was the headquarters of the former Life Technologies, a merger of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems. Here, three large buildings host about 2,500 employees. The Carlsbad campus is responsible for producing tens of thousands of laboratory supplies, including restriction enzymes, antibodies, and Western blot gels. They also develop new products such as next generation sequencers.
The tour was focused on the introduction of manufacturing line of commercial products. Tod Lusher, the Manufacturing Supervisor, kindly guided us through the facility. The company’s hallway was fully decorated with bioscience-inspired paintings created by local high school students, whose activities the company supports. Many manufacturing processes are automated by custom made machines, such as the one that fills reagents, packs in dry ice, and stores in a freezer. Interestingly, some operations, including filling of small batches or quality inspection of Western blot gels, are performed manually. In the protein purification laboratory, E.coli that are engineered to produce desired proteins are cultured in bioreactors as high as the ceiling, like in a beer brewery. The distribution center looked like a Costco store with many tall shelves. There, many adorable human-sized robots help people by carryi products from point A to point B. Different from a typical warehouse, they have two huge cold storage rooms with temperatures set at 4 and -20 degrees Celsius. We enjoyed walking through these rooms and shouting ‘It’s COLD!”. Products were automatically organized by temperature and destination, and placed into Fedex cargo to be distributed world-wide.
The second part of the tour was a panel discussion with Mini Manchanda (Manager, Molecular Biology), Aparna Aiyer (Director, Molecular Biology), Stephanie Nilsen (Senior Director, Operations), Rhonda Newman (Director, R&D), Erene Mina (Senior Manager, Clinical Affairs), and Sarah Pilote (Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist). They shared their experience on how they transitioned from academia to industry and answered our wide range of questions. As women scientists, many of their career paths were not straightforward. For example, Nilsen wanted to do R&D initially, but she took an opportunity in a manufacturing position. There, she solved technical problems and learned industrial operations that she never knew before. She found the position satisfactory and interesting. Mina started her industry career as an industrial postdoc at a neuroscience-based biotech company and stepped up to a senior scientist position. After she moved to San Diego, she attended many networking events and applied to a wide-range of scientific jobs from technical writing to R&D scientist. She was initially employed as a technical writer by Thermo Fisher. While she was working as a technical writer, she took UCSD extension classes for clinical affair and got a license, then successfully transitioned to a clinical scientist internally. Panelists emphasized the importance of networking. They also told us that they consider publication records of candidates just a proof of writing and presentation skills, and find their actual skill sets and soft skills are more important.
After the panel discussion, we were offered a delicious sandwich lunch and we enjoyed a speed mentoring session with other Thermo Fisher’s women employees. Overall, the tour was very enjoyable and informative. We learned about biotechnology product manufacturing and enjoyed networking with these established women scientists.
We would like to thank Nicole Lucia and Colleen Carpinella, the main organizers of this tour, and all other Thermo Fisher employees for giving us a wonderful learning opportunity.
Book Review - The Perfect Predator
by Jennifer Overklift
Dr. Steffanie Strathdee is an infectious disease epidemiologist known for her research on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). At the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, she is Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences and Harold Simon Professor of Medicine, as well as co-director of the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics. Her husband Thomas Patterson, is a Professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego. Together, the couple also directs a research and training program on the Mexico-US border. Strathdee recently spoke at the 2019 Women in Science and Technology (WIST) Conference about the book she and her husband wrote together, The Perfect Predator: A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug, which chronicles Strathdee’s race to save Thomas from a deadly superbug.
The book documents a real life story, combining genres of science, horror, and romance told from Strathdee’s perspective with brief interludes from Patterson. Dr. Strathdee was able to explain complex medical terminology in a way that is easy to understand, while at the same time spinning a heart pounding personal narrative. She included lessons on the history of certain medical practices to enhance the reader’s understanding of how complex the medical world is and explained how this will affect future medical practices.
The book begins with the couple traveling to Egypt on a cruise. Their trip was off to a great start until Patterson began to show signs of food poisoning. Assuming it was simply a stomach bug, Strathdee gave him an antibiotic. When his symptoms worsen the next day, he was taken to a hospital in Luxor, Egypt. As his symptoms worsen, Patterson began experiencing hallucinations. He was later transferred to a hospital in Germany, where it was discovered that he had been infected with a deadly antibiotic resistant bacteria known as “the worst bacteria on the planet.” From there, he was transferred to UCSD’s Thornton Hospital.
As Patterson’s condition continued to deteriorate, his medical team ran out of options to treat his infection. Strathdee began searching for alternative treatments, and found a paper on alternative treatments that mentioned phage therapy. A phage is a virus that infects and replicates itself within bacteria and archaea. Phage therapy is the therapeutic use of lytic bacteriophages (bacteriophages capable of causing cells to disintegrate by rupturing the cell wall) to treat pathogenic bacterial infections. The treatment is considered experimental in the West because it was overshadowed when antibiotics (specifically penicillin) were invented. After further research, she emailed Patterson’s medical team, asking if they could try using phage therapy. The team began their mission of finding phage specialists and creating a treatment plan to help them save Patterson. In collaboration with various research groups and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they were finally able to find a treatment that saved Patterson’s life.
Strathdee recounted Patterson’s recovery, telling of the medical problems he acquired as a result of his infection and the therapy he had to go through to learn to live normally again. She also wrote of her own experience stepping back into her regular life after spending a year working to find a cure for Patterson’s infection. In the epilogue, she wrote about other cases where phage therapy was applied, ending the book with a rallying cry about the approaching superbug crisis, and the potential solutions that are available if more research is done.
Overall, the book’s fast pacing coupled with the heart wrenching first person narrative of a wife desperate to save her husband makes it ideal for any reader. The medical and science language is clearly explained, and provides an engaging perspective on the state of medical research in epidemiology. The interludes from Patterson’s perspective also show readers the importance of this research for the victims of superbug infections. This book is an amazing work of science fiction that took place in real life.
by Jennifer Overklift
Ms. Simcoe is currently Principal at Simcoe Consultants, Inc., a biomedical consulting company focusing on medical publication strategy and medical writing. She has over twenty five years of publication management and medical writing in small and large pharmaceutical companies. Her industry career includes roles of increasing responsibility in publication strategy, planning, and medical Writing, and she has managed publication programs across 15+ therapy areas. Ms. Simcoe has Masters degrees in BioMedical Writing and Biotechnology and an M.B.A. She is a Certified Medical Publication Professional (CMPP). She is an active member of the International Society of Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP), the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) and the International Publication Professionals Association (TIPPA).
I met Donna Simcoe at the annual 2019 WIST Conference. Three people I’d talked to previously had recommended her for an interview, so I introduced myself during the first break of the day. She was nice enough to agree to an interview on the spot, with no preparation.
J: Can you describe your career path and how you got into your current job?
D: I started my career with a Bachelor’s in microbiology, and worked at Cephalon, a small biotech company. Because it was a smaller company, I worked in publications, regulatory writing, and SAS pharmacokinetic programming.
After three years there, I moved to Wyeth, performing SAS programming in their pharmacokinetics group. I also went back to the University of Sciences in Philadelphia for my first Master’s in biomedical writing, then moved over to the publications group at Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company. I stayed at Wyeth for eight years and obtained my second Master’s in biotechnology from Drexel University. I then moved to AstraZeneca, another top-10 pharmaceutical company, and worked there for five years in roles as a U.S Publication Lead and as a Project Director in business development. I obtained my third Master’s, an MBA from Wilmington University. I then moved to San Diego to become a publications director at Cadence, a small pharmaceutical company and also became the president of the local American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Pacific Southwest chapter.
In total, I spent 20 years as an employee in industry before starting my own S-corporation in 2011 (Medical Publication Consultants [Simcoe Consultants Inc., www.medicalpublicationconsultants.com or www.simcoeconsultants.com ]). I am a Publication Consultant and a Freelance Medical Writer for small to midsize biotech, pharmaceutical, or medical device companies.
J: How did your perception of the field change once you entered the industry?
D: I think a lot of us who go into medical writing don’t even know the field exists. Some people are in a lab space; they’re bench scientists, and are looking for a way to get out of the lab. But maybe they already do some writing there: they might be writing grants, or helping with publications, developing journal articles or poster presentations. It becomes a nice segue to do something different as a career. That’s what changed for me. I suddenly realized that there’s a whole field of medical writing out there. It’s great to have a background in science and learn how to write for specific audiences. There are also people who have a background in English who learn the science, so you meet people from both backgrounds in this field.
Also, there are a lot of women in the medical writing field. It’s a very supportive environment. We have a lot of networking, which means a lot of opportunity, and I do see this as a less competitive environment than you might see in other fields. There are lots of jobs out there, especially in regulatory writing.
I think having organizations like AWIS that host discussions and networking events and
provide opportunities to learn something new is great. You can tell everyone is very dedicated.
J: What challenges did you face starting off? What advice would you give to others trying to enter the medical writing field?
D: Networking and learning are definitely important. If you like to write, and you like the science, then you could volunteer to be a part of different committees. Through volunteer work, you can give back to the community and help move the field along while also reaping personal benefits. It lets you network with others in your field. It puts your name out there; it informs people that this is what you’re really interested in and this is what you love to do. This way, and by also learning as much as you can, people will get to know you, and may see you as an expert in this field.
I think one of the things that has always struck me, is that any job I’ve had, either as an employee or through freelance, has always been acquired through networking. I have a website (www.medicalpublicationconsultants.com or www.simcoeconsultants.com), but I get most of my work through referrals or the people I’ve worked with in the past. I think it’s important not to be shy. Just put it right out there, put it on Linkedin, put it out everywhere that this is what you do or would like to do.
J: Thank you Donna for sharing your experience today.
I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to interview such an amazing person. Donna’s advice and insights on the medical writing field are useful across the science field as a whole. This interview was one of the best highlights of my experience at the 2019 WIST Conference.
NEWS TICKER - Local Research on Coronavirus
by Jean Spence
- The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 illness, is closely related to viruses found in bats and pangolins and unlike previously known human coronaviruses. The RBD section of the spikes have mutated to target human cells and the structure of the virus has changed from closely related viruses from natural sources. Kristian Andersen from the Scripps Research Institute is lead author on the article “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2” which was published in Nature Medicine.
- Dr. Davey Smith, UCSD professor of medicine and his lab are evaluating a rapid test for COVID-19. The test was initially developed by Fluxergy, a biotech company in Irvine. Fluxergy used a synthetic virus for the test and Smith’s lab will confirm the accuracy of the test with the real virus. The test may be able to identify COVID-19 within an hour.
- The local biotech company Arcturus is creating a vaccine based on self-replicating RNA that creates the antigen in a few weeks. Arcturus is collaborating with Duke Medical School and the National University of Singapore which has experience with SARS and MERS epidemics. Arcturus CEO Joseph Payne is seeking approval for clinical trials.
- Mesa Biotech, Inc. will receive $561,330 and technical assistance from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a subdivision of Health and Human Services. Mesa Biotech will develop its test for COVID-19 with its Accula Dock Instrument.
- Jiang Zhu from the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at Scripps Research is developing vaccines with protein fragments of SARS-CoV-2 spikes on a protein nanoparticle scaffold which would mimic the virus.
- San Diego based Ligand Pharmaceuticals is licensing its technology to partners for the development of treatments for COVID-19. Captisol, OmniAb and LTP (Liver-Targeted Prodrug) platforms have been licensed to partner companies in China and the United States.
- Inovio Pharmaceuticals received $5 million from the Gates Foundation and $9-million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation to develop a DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. Kate Broderick, senior vice president of research and development is leading this effort. The vaccine has been tested in animals and clinical trials may begin as early as this summer.
- Alessandro Sette’s at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology and scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute have published a paper in Host, Cell and Microbe that investigates the immune response to SARS-CoV-2. This research is valuable for developing vaccines. Similarly, Dennis Burton at the Scripps Research Institute of Immunology and Microbiology are studying the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in order to identify “broadly neutralizing antibodies”.
Upcoming AWIS-SD Events
In-person meetings are currently suspended until the end of April in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Ray Seraydarian earned his BS and M. Eng. degrees in Engineering Physics from Cornell University, and has spent his entire professional career in San Diego working in visible spectroscopy and areas closely involved with nuclear fusion research at General Atomics (GA) and UCSD. He is currently employed by UCLA at GA working on a microwave instrument for the large ITER fusion experiment being built by an international consortium in southern France. Outside of work, Ray enjoys theater, movies, bicycling, downhill skiing, and small boat sailing. Ray is a long standing AWIS-SD member, and he currently serves as a co-chair of the Events Committee.
Jean Spence earned a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in microbial genetics. Subsequently, she did several postdoctoral fellowships at M.I.T., Harvard Medical School, UCSD and the University of Rochester. She pursued her interest in systems biology by developing a novel platform and publishing 3 manuscripts and a book chapter as communicating author. She has been a reviewer for the AWIS-SD newsletter since 2014 and became a co-chair this year. She was also a co-chair of the former Back to Work group in AWIS-SD.
Takako Noguchi received her PhD in Biological Science from Osaka University. She is a Project Scientist at the Center for Circadian Biology at UCSD, studying cellular and neuronal mechanisms of circadian rhythm using innovative bioluminescence imaging technology. She joined AWIS-SD in 2017 and is currently serving as co-chair of Academia to Industry Coffee Club. She hopes to transition into the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.
Jennifer Overklift was born and raised in San Diego and is scheduled to graduate from Clairemont High school in June 2020. She hopes to pursue a degree in environmental science and plans to be a scientific writer once she enters the workforce. Some of Jennifer’s hobbies include reading, running, and swimming. Jennifer also has a passion for wildlife conservation. She is currently interning at AWIS San Diego as a Communications Specialist.
Contribute to the Newsletter
If you are an AWIS-SD member, we encourage you to contribute to the newsletter. Please send articles, photographs, and member news as MS Word attachments to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. News articles should not exceed 250 words, event summaries should not exceed 500 words, and feature articles (special-interest stories and profiles) should not exceed 1000 words. The submission deadline for the next issue is May 15, 2020.
AWIS-SD Newsletter Committee
Co-chairs: Alyson Smith, and Jean Spence
Members: Corine Lau, Pat Rarus, Juliati Rahajeng, Emily Bentley, and Swathi Hullugundi
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Spring 2021 Newsletter Volume 29 Issue 1
This issue of the Newsletter is available in PDF.
For previous newsletters, click here.
Dear AWIS-SD Members, Partners, Sponsors, and Allies,
I would like to wish everyone a happy and fruitful new year in 2021! Although we are still struggling with the devastating effects of the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, there is light at the end of the tunnel due to vaccination efforts around the world as well as continued mitigation measures including masking and social distancing. I have greatly appreciated the support and good cheer from all of the members that I interacted with virtually over the past year. This past year was incredibly challenging for many of us in our personal and professional lives. If you have any questions, concerns or just want to talk, please do not hesitate to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
AWIS-SD is one of the largest chapters in the AWIS family. Through the hard work of our volunteer members, we provide an exceptional array of committees and events to foster career development, networking and community engagement focused on improving access and inclusion for women in STEM. Our chapter has risen to the challenge and organized many outstanding virtual events in the past few months that you can read about in the accompanying newsletter.
A special shout out goes to the members of our Outreach Committee for developing several new events for our San Diego community. Our career development/networking groups are also going strong and I applaud the members of the Academia to Industry (A2I), Career Advancement (Early to Mid Career), and Leadership Network (Senior Career) for their organizing efforts. If you are interested in learning more about or joining one of these groups, please check them out at awissd.org. In addition, we are looking for new committee members to join some of our committees including Events, Public Relations, Corporate Sponsorship and more. If you are interested in learning more about our committees and what we do at AWIS-SD, please visit awissd.org.
In the beginning of my second year as President of AWIS-SD, I would like to thank all of the chapter members who have graciously volunteered many hours of their time to make this organization what it is today. I would also like to thank our sponsors who have made it possible for us to offer so much to our members and our community.
The biennial Women in Science and Technology (WIST) Conference will be hosted by AWIS-SD on Saturday, May 15th, 2021. I am looking forward to an interactive and engaging conference and encourage you to join me in "Celebrating Diversity & Overcoming Adversity". This event will be held virtually on a Gathertown video game- style platform with a keynote speaker, panels, interactive career discussion sessions, interdisciplinary networking & an award reception. For more info and to register, please go to www.WIST2021.org.
Warmest wishes,
Kina
Varykina Thackray, Ph.D.
President, AWIS-SD
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AWIS San Diego Outreach Event: Meet a Scientist Series
1/12/2021
By Jamillah Murtadha
This past January, the San Diego AWIS Outreach Committee hosted a virtual event, “Meet a Scientist,”, for San Diego high school and college students interested in pursuing STEM careers. We were joined by 24 registrants who signed up to learn about the guest speakers and their interests and career paths in coral reef ecology and reproductive sciences. The guest speakers included Sarah Mctague (oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography) and Dr. Francesca Boscolo Sesillo (Postdoctoral Fellow for Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine).
Students learned about how each of the speakers navigated their STEM journey through engaging presentations and discussions that were followed by a Q&A session. The speakers contributed helpful resources and career advice to high school and undergraduate students. The adversities that both speakers overcame as women in STEM were interesting. The first speaker was Sarah McTague, followed by Dr. Boscolo Sesillo. Sarah McTague spoke about her career as a graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography studying coral reef ecology. Sarah's love for the ocean has led her to conduct fantastic research on the Great Barrier Reef and jellyfish while sailing across the North Atlantic Ocean. Dr. Boscolo Sesillo holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Biotechnology from the Universita' di Bologna in Italy as well as a second Master's in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics. Dr. Sesillo spoke about how she completed her Ph.D. at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Research Institute in San Diego. She is currently interested in discovering the role of stem cells during pelvic floor muscle regeneration in women after vaginal delivery. Overall, students learned about the fascinating career options that STEM careers could offer them.
Special thanks to panelists: Sarah McTague, Dr. Francesca Boscolo Sesillo, and Outreach Committee members Rachel McMillan and Anamaria Ancheta for moderating the Q & A's, as well as Outreach Committee Co-Chair Michelle Muldong for organizing this event with me. Thank you to all participants for your thought-provoking questions and engagement!
2/10/2021
By Jamillah Murtadha
On February 10, 2021, the San Diego AWIS Outreach Committee hosted a virtual event, “Meet a Scientist,”, for San Diego high school and college students interested in pursuing STEM careers. We were joined by registrants who signed up to learn about an amazing guest speaker, Dr. Olivia Graeve, and her interests and career path in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Dr. Graeve received her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering in 2001 from the University of California, Davis.
Students learned about how the Graeve navigated her STEM journey through an engaging presentation and discussions that was followed by a Q&A session. The speaker contributed helpful resources and career advice to high school and undergraduate students.
For example, Dr. Graeve mentioned she is the Director of CaliBaja Webinars, a research webinar series where college students in the US collaborate with college students in Mexico. Dr. Graeve was passionate about the importance of connecting students across the border to provide learning enrichment for all students. She also spoke of some of the kinetics and development of the Xtreme Materials Laboratory and how materials will one day be utilized in space. During the Q&A session, we were able to ask various questions that ranged from her Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from the White house, to her favorite stress relieving hobby of baking.
Special thanks to the guest speaker Dr. Olivia Graeve, and Outreach Committee members Jamillah and Michelle for moderating the Q & A's, as well as Outreach Committee Co-Chair Michelle Muldong for organizing this event with me. Thank you to all participants for your thought-provoking questions and engagement!
3/4/2021
By Michelle Muldong
AWIS San Diego Outreach Committee’s March Meet a Scientist event featured Dr. Lindsey Burnett, MD, PhD. Dr. Burnett provided an insightful and engaging presentation on her path to becoming physician scientist. She discussed her determination, work ethic and focus through her undergraduate and high school years that led her to obtaining her PhD and completing a postdoc. She realized she enjoyed working with people immensely which led her to exploring clinical work and ultimately going back to medical school. Dr. Burnett also emphasized her balance of family and work life and showed participants of the event that it is possible to have both and that you don’t have to choose between one or another.
Participants of the event were very enthusiastic and engaged, asking questions constantly in the Zoom Q&A chat box. Dr. Burnett was very approachable and down to earth which led to a very dynamic and informative open question session for the event. Another highlight of Dr. Burnett’s advice was discussing the importance of not being afraid of failure. Through failure we learn what did or didn’t work and how we can improve. In addition, Dr. Burnett discussed time management and the importance of being able to time box and focus on the task at hand whether it be time in the lab, clinical rounds or time at home with family.
Thank you Dr. Burnett for taking time out of your busy schedule to inspire, motivate and guide the next generation of STEM! AWIS San Diego appreciates your expertise and advice. We are inspired by you! Special thanks to the AWIS San Diego Outreach Committee for putting together this fantastic event.
By Cynthia Kuan
The 2021 Annual AWIS-SD retreat was held on January 23, 2021 with fifteen members from the Board and Committee leadership in attendance. Kina Thackray, our current president, presided at the meeting. Committees celebrated accomplishments from the past year and discussed future initiatives. A key accomplishment from the past year was the organization’s ability to pivot to virtual events/meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Outreach Committee successfully organized a virtual science lab for elementary students and multiple well-attended virtual STEM career panels. The Events Committee hosted summer happy hours and a speed mentoring program virtually, providing much-needed networking opportunities for members during the pandemic. The A2I Committee brought its career advancement panels online, with a strong focus on the development of emotional intelligence. The AWIS Leadership Network (ALN) met online to stay connected and support each other during uncertain times.
The Scholarship Committee had a productive year, awarding five $1,000 scholarships, seven honorable mentions, and two UCSD Extension scholarships to women in the San Diego STEM community. The Corporate Sponsorship Committee raised $12,000 during the first half of the 2020-2021 fiscal year and is well-positioned to meet its annual target of $20,000. Current corporate sponsors include: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Beckman Coulter Foundation, Blue Nalu, BioLegend, and General Atomics Sciences Education Foundation. AWIS Fellow Lynn Friedmann, who has been our long-time supporter, formalized a charitable bequest to AWIS-SD. Her act of generosity leaves a lasting legacy at AWIS-SD.
At the retreat, the Newsletter committee announced that newsletter publication schedule will shift from quarterly to triannual due to the pandemic. The Board and Committee chairs also discussed a key initiative for 2021 - the biennial Women in Science and Technology (WIST) conference. The 2021 WIST conference will be held virtually on May 15, 2021. An organizing committee of thirteen chapter member volunteers will plan the event. The theme of this year’s WIST conference will be “Celebrating Diversity, Overcoming Adversity”. The keynote speaker will be JoAnn Trejo, PhD, MBA, Assistant Vice Chancellor, UC San Diego Health Sciences Faculty Affairs and Professor of Pharmacology, discussing “Science, Mentorship, and Leadership: Breaking One Barrier at a Time”.
One issue of concern raised at the meeting is the increased stress experienced by women during the COVID-19 related shutdown. As the pandemic persists, we continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of its burden due to women’s societal roles as caregivers. The Board and Committee leadership would remain realistic about AWIS-SD members’ balance between work and life demands and continue creative events/programs to foster a connective and supportive network among women in STEM.
AWIS-SD Virtual New Year’s Party
By The Newsletter Team
We had a blast at our AWIS-SD Virtual New Year’s Party on January 29th. Who knew one could have so much fun over a Zoom meeting! Before the meeting, the participants received a box of snacks, chocolates and sparkling pear cider to enjoy during the event.
Helen Keen, a popular science writer and award winning producer kicked off the event with an entertaining and informative presentation of the history of NASA and women’s role in it. She highlighted how far women have come and to never stop dreaming big. Helen was so kind to join us from England - (2am her time!) She definitely set the tone for a relaxing and wonderful comedy segment of the event.
Shayla Rivera, a former rocket scientist with NASA started the program by telling us how a mistake at NASA led to her career as a stand-up comedienne. She also targeted her Puerto Rican upbringing by telling us her real name which is about 20 syllables longer than Shayla. She continued to amuse us by participating in the rest of the meeting including trivia contest.
Following Rivera’s talk, Kina honored this year’s AWIS-SD outstanding volunteers:
Achievement in Innovation: Courtney Benson & Manisha Kanodia
Rookie of the Year: Anamaria Ancheta & Shanna Lavalle
Achievement in Outreach or Community Service: Shirley Ahn, Ivy Fernandes & Yessica Diaz Roman
Outstanding Volunteer: Michelle Muldong & Jean Spence
Leadership Service: Robyn Wygal & Barbara Armstrong
Board Special Award: Angela Macia
President's Award: Christina Niemeyer
For the final event, we divided up into teams for the trivia contest hosted by Sporcle Inc. The questions centered on famous women scientists and writers like Marie Curie (she was born in Poland) and Elizabeth Blackwell (first woman to receive a medical degree). The Green Flash won the contest and all of us learned new things. Kudos to Michelle Muldong for organizing such a great event and getting an all-star lineup!
Virtual Science at Home: AWIS San Diego Outreach Collaboration with San Diego Public Libraries and UCSD’s The Science Initiative
By Michelle Muldong
On February 28, the Science at Home Virtual series kicked off with two experiments, “DIY Popsicle Catapults” and “The Wonders of Friction Book Experiment,” and a density column demo. Take home science kits for the event were made by the AWIS San Diego Outreach committee, and advertising and networking for the event was provided by the San Diego Public Libraries. The experiments were led and performed by UC San Diego’s student organization The Science Initiative. Over 50 students participated in the event and had a wonderful time learning different scientific concepts through the virtual platform Zoom.
DIY Popsicle catapults provided lessons on engineering and the concepts of force and projectile motion. Students enjoyed catapulting the mini poof balls that came along with their kits in addition to adding an artistic touch to their catapults with colored markers. The Wonders of Friction Book Experiment focused on the concept of friction. Two books were provided in the take home kit to use for this, which students were able to keep. The density column demo highlighted that the same volume of two different liquids will have different weights because they have different masses. The liquids that weigh more (have a higher density) will sink below the liquids that weigh less (have a lower density).
Overall, the science lessons went very well and the students were engaged and asked very interesting and thoughtful questions. One young student with a big smile was interested in seeing what would happen if all the materials in the density column were shaken up and leaned in close to the screen to see the result. Many were not shy and were willing to say their thoughts and ideas in front of the large group of students.
This was the first event out of a series of four. If students complete all four science at home events, they will be eligible for an award at a virtual award ceremony. We look forward to honoring and recognizing these eager and inquisitive young minds!
Special thanks to the San Diego Public Library community , especially Mission Valley youth librarian Marika Jeffery, branch manager of Mission Valley Library Karen Reilly, branch manager of Rancho Peñasquitos Library Adrianne Peterson, and branch manager of Logan Heights Library Kathryn Johnson. Thank you to UCSD San Diego Science Initiative members , including Shibangi Pal, Ben Boyarko, Andrea Biju, Madelene Wang, Jessica Jiang, Malcolm Hsiu and Becca Samuels. Also, a big thank you to AWIS San Diego Outreach Member Anamaria Ancheta for initiating this collaboration and creating this fantastic new outreach series. This successful event was the result of a fantastic collaboration!
AWIS-SD Happy Hour Exploring Gather Town
By Shirley Ahn
The AWIS-SD Happy Hour Exploring Gather Town was held in a virtual format this year on Thursday, March 4, 2021, from 5 to 6 pm. The purpose of the event was to explore the virtual platform Gather, which will be used for our Women in Science and Technology (WIST) Conference this year in May. WIST is one of our chapter’s signature events that we host every two years. Almost 20 AWIS-SD members registered for the event, which was greatly enjoyed by all.
The attendees found Gather to be refreshing as it was a different platform from Zoom and was the closest virtual platform mimicking an in-person interaction. In the middle of our Happy Hour, the attendees were entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card from a local San Diego cheese shop called Venissimo Cheese. Shijia Liu, one of the Scholarship Committee members, was the lucky winner. We anticipate that we will use Gather for our future virtual events.
Career Advancement with Dr. Christina Niemeyer
By Jill Slaboda
On March 22, the AWIS-SD Career Advancement Committee held its first meeting of the year. We enjoyed a discussion with Dr. Christina Niemeyer, who spoke about her career journey and how she navigated changing roles in her career. Christina started her career in academics, transitioned to corporate scientist then took a role as the Laboratory Director at Sanford Burnham Presby Medical Discovery Institute and finally became an owner of i2 Grants Associates. In her current role, she specializes in identifying and securing grants for emerging companies and nonprofit organizations in the life sciences. During our conversation, Christina emphasized the keys to her success have been volunteering to take on writing roles within her organization or company, speaking with and learning from people in different departments of the organization and utilizing connections for career advancement. AWIS-SD members were able to gain career advice in how to transition into a writing role and how to promote your skill set when seeking new opportunities. We all enjoyed the evening discussion and lost track of time—staying on a Zoom call an additional 20 minutes! Our next speaker series will be on June 14 at 6pm with Michaele Antoine who will discuss how to navigate conflict. We hope you can join us!
AWIS-SD A2I Virtual Coffee Clubs
By Shanna Newton
AWIS-San Diego’s Academia to Industry (A2I) committee ended 2020 with a series of virtual Coffee Clubs featuring Dr. Sameera Bilgrami, Dr. Bridget Kohlnhofer, and Dr. Erica Schoeller. They shared their experience landing jobs as scientists in the San Diego biotechnology industry.
Dr. Sameera Bilgrami is a scientist at Aethlon Medical, a medical device company that specializes in designing cancer diagnostic devices. She spoke to us about her experience being in the job market, the importance of networking, and her experience as a scientist in a small company. An added bonus to the event was her offer to review the CV’s of attendees who would soon be looking for work.
Dr. Bridget Kohlnhofer shared her experiences as an academic postdoc, an industry postdoc at Janssen, and as a Scientist II at Takeda, where she works to develop cell therapies for gastrointestinal disorders. She talked about the benefits of each position and how her responsibilities helped her progress through each phase of her career.
Dr. Erica Schoeller is a Research Scientist at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, where she works to identify novel drug targets in the reproductive medicine and maternal health field. She shared tips on the entire process of landing a job including: using the “buddy system” for networking, tailoring your resume to the job ad, practice interviews and salary negotiations.
The A2I Committee has begun its 2021 events with an Industry Postdoc Panel. This session will cover the differences between academic and industry postdoc positions. It will also include the interview process for landing an industry postdoc position. These events will be great opportunities to network and learn from amazing women who held industry postdoc positions at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc.
AWIS San Diego Outreach Event: Expanding Your Horizons
By Michelle Muldong
On Saturday morning March 13th, AWIS San Diego Outreach Committee members Bridget Kohlnhofer, Yessica Diaz Roman and Rachel McMillan led a virtual genetics and heredity workshop which included a Punnett square lesson and traits bingo. The target audience was 6-7th graders with a total of around 30 students that registered. The workshop was an hour long and was taught twice for ~15 students in each session.
Students were taught about a trait and allele through fun and entertaining Punnett squares which included themes of determining yellow or green beans, chances of a Morton’s toe and different colored eyes. The Punnett square lesson concluded with students creating their own alien trait Punnett square. Participants were able to be creative and decide which trait on the alien was recessive or dominant and assign the alleles accordingly.
In addition, the event also included an interactive game of traits bingo that consisted of traits such as “can roll tongue”, “widow’s peak” and “detached earlobes”. Students had fun displaying their unique traits on the Zoom camera and finding out who else in the room they shared their traits with. Overall, both activities proved to be engaging, dynamic and fun way to learn genetics virtually.
A big thank you goes out to AWIS Outreach Committee members Bridget Kohlnhofer and Yessica Diaz Roman for executing, designing and preparing the wonderful lesson and to Outreach Committee member Rachel McMillan for providing technical support, keeping the lesson on track in terms of timing, assisting with question and answers from the participants and capturing fantastic photos of this memorable event!
1) AWIS-SD Board Updates
By Michelle Muldong and Cynthia Kuan
The new year brings some new faces to AWIS-SD’s executive board! We’ve added Cynthia Kuan and Michelle Muldong to the group. From business leadership to oncology research, Cynthia and Michelle both have a passion for advancing women in science and science-related fields.
Secretary: Cynthia Kuan
Cynthia Kuan, who is the new secretary to the AWIS-SD board, is Program Director at the ARM Foundation for Cell & Gene Medicine. She is passionate about the development of regenerative medicine therapies and advancing patient access solutions in a coherent and credible manner. She has over 13 years of experience in building/managing innovative programs and is seasoned in alliance management, strategic planning, program development, and financial oversight. From 2014 - 2021, she was the founding business operations manager of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego and helped secure over $70 million funding for stem cell research. Prior to her work at UCSD, she helped build a Chinese immersion charter school in Washington DC and a social service program in Los Angeles. Outside of work, she enjoys her role as a “crazy cat lady.” (She has three adorable feline troublemakers!) She also volunteers through ElderHelp San Diego, providing seniors with access to fresh produce and groceries to mitigate the impact of social confinement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Member at Large: Michelle Muldong
Michelle Muldong was recently appointed to be a member at large on the AWIS-SD board. She is a Research Associate at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. She works in Dr. Christina Jamieson’s lab studying bone-metastatic prostate cancer by performing in vivo and in vitro experiments utilizing patient derived samples. She obtained her B.S. from UC San Diego with a degree in General Biology. She has been involved in AWIS since September 2019 and is passionate about teaching the next generation about STEM. Outside of lab, she enjoys yoga, hiking, snowboarding & hanging out with her French bulldog/Boston Terrier mix pup- Stitch!
The 2020 - 2021 AWIS-SD executive board consists of eight members.
- Varykina Thackray, PhD, President
- Cynthia Kuan, Secretary
- Kat Chang, PhD, Treasurer
- Angela Macia, PhD, Member at Large
- Robyn Wygal, PhD, Member at Large
- Sigrid Katz, PhD, Member at Large
- Michelle Muldong, Member at Large
- Kamala Janiyani, Member at Large
2) WIST registration is open!
The theme for this year’s event is "Celebrating Diversity & Overcoming Adversity". This event will be held virtually on a Gathertown video game-style platform with a keynote speaker, panels, interactive career discussion sessions, interdisciplinary networking & an award reception.
Discounts for all AWIS members. Not an AWIS member? Bundle AWIS membership with WIST to save more!
Registration and information
3) AWIS-SD Leadership Network (ALN) Event: Walk on Beach
By Christina Niemeyer
On Sunday February 21, eight AWIS-SD Leadership Network (ALN) Members walked from Torrey Pines Beach to Del Mar and back. It was a chance to catch up with each other and to see each other in a way besides Zoom. Masks were worn by all, so we did not get to see smiling faces but by the conversations a good time was had by all.
4) Member News
Suzanne Till became the first woman to be elected to become a director of the Padre Dam Municipal Water District Board. She is currently employed as a Coordinator and College Instructor at Mater Dei Catholic High School in Chula Vista, CA. She advises that water resources offers great STEM field opportunities for employment as many older workers are retiring.
Congratulations to Anamaria Ancheta for winning a Carmen Reyes MCAT scholarship from the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) in February of 2021. In December of 2020, she also received a $1000 scholarship as part of the Triton Research and Experimental Scholars (TRELS) program at UC San Diego to conduct a food insecurity research project under the guidance of urban planning professor, Dr. Leslie Lewis. She is a graduating senior at UC San Diego studying Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a member of the WIST, Outreach, and Public Relations Committees.
5) AWIS San Diego Leadership Opportunities
All committees are seeking new members. Current committees are Academia 2 Industry (A2I), Events, Public Relations, Newsletter, Scholarship, Career Advancement, Outreach, Website and Corporate Sponsorship.
Jamillah Murtadha grew up in West Virginia, but she has lived in San Diego for seven years. She transferred to UC San Diego as an undergraduate from Southwestern College. She is the first out of ten children to go to graduate school. Currently, she is a Biological Sciences major in the BS/MS program. She enjoys being the Co-chair in the Outreach Department of the Association of Women in Science (AWIS) organization. And she is always striving to seek knowledge outside her field to become a well-rounded scientist. She believes it the duty of scientists to communicate the importance that their research has for our society.
Michelle Muldong is a Research Associate at the University of California San Diego’s Moores Cancer Center. She works in Dr. Christina Jamieson’s lab studying bone-metastatic prostate cancer performing in vivo and in vitro experiments utilizing patient derived samples. Michelle obtained her B.S. from the University of California San Diego with a degree in General Biology. She has been involved in AWIS since September 2019 and is passionate about teaching the next generation about STEM. Outside of lab Michelle enjoys hot yoga, hiking, snowboarding, iced coffee & hanging out with her French bulldog/Boston Terrier mix pup- Stitch!
Cynthia Kuan, who is the new secretary to the AWIS-SD board, is Program Director at the ARM Foundation for Cell & Gene Medicine. She is passionate about the development of regenerative medicine therapies and advancing patient access solutions in a coherent and credible manner. She has over 13 years of experience in building/managing innovative programs and is seasoned in alliance management, strategic planning, program development, and financial oversight. From 2014 - 2021, she was the founding business operations manager of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego and helped secure over $70 million funding for stem cell research. Prior to her work at UCSD, she helped build a Chinese immersion charter school in Washington DC and a social service program in Los Angeles. Outside of work, she enjoys her role as a “crazy cat lady.” (She has three adorable feline troublemakers!) She also volunteers through ElderHelp San Diego, providing seniors with access to fresh produce and groceries to mitigate the impact of social confinement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Surl-Hee (Shirley) Ahn is a postdoctoral scholar advised under Prof. J. Andrew McCammon and Prof. Rommie Amaro in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSD. She is a computational/theoretical chemist and focuses on developing methods for computer simulations and using them to study proteins and biomolecules. Prior to moving to UCSD, she was at Stanford working on her Ph.D. in Chemistry (Chemical Physics). Outside of work, she enjoys training for marathons, visiting national parks, and learning how to play golf and surf.
Jill Slaboda is a Principal Investigator on the Clinical Research team at the Gary and Mary West Health Institute. Jill works closely with health system collaborators across the country to identify and prioritize applied research studies that can demonstrate innovative ways in which healthcare can be delivered to better enable successful aging. She has academic research experience in rehabilitation engineering working on identifying differences in postural responses in patients with stroke as a postdoctoral training at Temple University and identifying differences in treatment outcomes of chronic lower back pain patients as a graduate student at University of Pittsburgh. Jill holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
Shanna Newton Lavalle is a Ph.D. candidate in the Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program at the University of California San Diego. She joined the laboratory of Dr. Pamela Mellon in July 2015 where she is currently using a combination of cell culture and genetic mouse models to study the roles of several homeodomain transcription factors within kisspeptin neurons. In 2018, she completed the Rady’s School of Management MicroMBA program and was accepted into the Future Leaders Advancing Research in Endocrinology (FLARE) program. She was an active member of the Endocrine Society’s Trainee and Career Development Core Committee from 2018-2020 and served as Chair of the society’s Summer Research Fellowship program in 2019. In 2020 she became a Co-Chair for the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Academia to Industry committee, where she connects industry professionals to early career individuals.
Christina Niemeyer is an Associate at i2 Grants Associates, a woman-owned and operated, California-based team with years of experience identifying and securing grants for emerging companies and non-profit organizations in the life sciences. Christina has served as Laboratory Director at both Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and Salmedix, where she played a critical role in developing the approved oncology drug Treanda. Christina earned her Ph.D. at Bayor College of Medicine in cell biology and her B.S. from Texas A&M University in microbiology, where she graduated magna cum laude.
Contribute to the Newsletter
If you are an AWIS-SD member, we encourage you to contribute to the newsletter. Please send articles, photographs, and member news as MS Word attachments to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. News articles should not exceed 250 words, event summaries should not exceed 500 words, and feature articles (special-interest stories and profiles) should not exceed 1000 words. The submission deadline for the next issue is Jun 10, 2021.
AWIS-SD Newsletter Committee
Chair: Jean Spence
Members: Corine Lau, Pat Rarus, Emily Bentley, Swathi Hullugundi, and Alyson Smith
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The San Diego Chapter of AWIS thanks the corporations and organizations for their support.
Winter 2020 Newsletter Volume 28 Issue 3
This issue of the Newsletter is available in PDF.
For previous newsletters, click here.
Dear AWIS-SD Members, Partners, Sponsors, and Allies,
It seems like a long time has gone by since I wished everyone a Happy New Year! When I started my term as President of this chapter, I did not realize that we would be spending most of 2020 struggling with the impacts and repercussions of the global SARS CoV-2 pandemic.
I would like to acknowledge the hard work, sacrifice and dedication of the scientists and health care professionals over these past months who have developed novel diagnostics and treatments for COVID-19, worked to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and provided our healthcare. Many, many thanks are also due to the essential workers who have labored so hard to provide all of the services we depend upon to live and thrive.
Despite the pandemic, our chapter has persisted with its mission to support the advancement of women in STEM. AWIS-SD has shifted to a virtual organization and continued to thrive. Over the past months, we have provided virtual networking and professional development events for our members as well as virtual outreach events for the community. Please read our newsletter and visit our website at awissd.org to learn more about our organization, our recent events and our upcoming events including the 2021 Virtual Women in Science and Technology Conference.
I am also extremely pleased to announce that Lynne Friedmann, an AWIS fellow and long-term member of AWIS-SD has decided to become the first legacy donor to our chapter. Please read her inspiring words in the accompanying newsletter about her decision to include AWIS-SD in her will. Finally, I wish to thank all of the AWIS-SD members who have generously volunteered their time to make this organization what it is today and our sponsors who have made it possible for us to offer so much to our members and our community.
Warmest wishes,
Kina
Varykina Thackray, Ph.D.
President, AWIS-SD
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SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM AWIS FELLOW - LYNNE FRIEDMANN
By Lynne Friedmann, AWIS Fellow
I recently updated my family trust, will, power of attorney, and other important end-of-life documents. Included in those documents is a bequest to AWIS-SD.
It was an easy decision to make because in my nearly 40-year career, AWIS-SD has been there every step of the way providing me a risk-free environment to develop leadership skills, receive mentoring and in turn mentor others, and develop a powerful network of women in STEM leading to mutually beneficial work relationships as well as numerous cherished friendships. The chapter also gave me unsurpassed support when I came to the board 27 years ago with the harebrained idea to launch Women in Bioscience, which evolved and continues to this day as the biennial WIST conference series.
Like so many of you, over the years I have given back to AWIS-SD through volunteer, committee, and board service. I have financially supported WIST as a conference sponsor and the chapter through annual donations.
I am proud to be taking the next step up as a legacy donor and encourage you to give thought to doing the same. By the way, you don’t need to be retirement age, like I am, to set the wheels in motion. You also don’t need to hire an attorney to set up complicated legal documents to do this. Here are a few no-cost ways to create a bequest to AWIS-SD.
- Add AWIS-SD as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy.
- Name AWIS-SD as a beneficiary of your retirement plan.
- Give a tax-free gift with a charitable IRA rollover.
Decades from now, I will be long gone and people who aren’t even born yet will be running this chapter. I have complete trust that the members at large, committee chairs, volunteers, and board of AWIS-SD will continue to set the standard for advancing women in STEM. That is why AWIS-SD is in my will.
2020 Virtual AWIS-SD Open House
By Kina Thackray
The annual AWIS-SD Open House was held in a virtual format this year on Tuesday, September 15th, 2020 from 6-7:30 PM. Over 50 AWIS-SD members and non-members registered for the event. Breakout rooms were created for each AWIS-SD Committee including Newsletter, Website, Corporate Sponsorship, Public Relations, Outreach, Scholarship, Events, Academia to Industry, Career Advancement, and AWIS-SD Leadership Network. Each committee was represented by its Co-Chairs, who enthusiastically explained the committee’s goals and activities, and how new members can contribute to the success of AWIS-SD’s programming. At the end of the evening, the attendees were entered into a drawing for giftcards from Chipotle, Whole Foods, Uber Eats, Doordash and Amazon.
Although several new members were recruited to join one of our committees, we are still looking for new Co-Chairs for the Newsletter, Website, Scholarship, and Events Committees. All committees are also welcoming new members. Please read more about our different committees on our website at awissd.org and contact the current Co-Chairs for more information. In addition, we are beginning to organize for the Virtual Women in Science and Technology (WIST) Conference to be held in May, 2021. This is one of our chapter’s signature events that we host every two years. Please contact President Kina Thackray at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested in helping with this event.
AWIS Outreach Virtual Event: Bug Genetics and Why Do We Wash Our hands?
By Michelle Muldong
Over a three day period from July 7-9th 2020, AWIS Outreach leaders and volunteers received a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate a hands-on virtual science lesson to the third graders of Language Academy Elementary School located in La Mesa. Through the connection of AWIS committee member Dr. Yessica Diaz Roman to Senora Elisa Penaloza (3rd grade dual immersion STEM teacher), Outreach was able to provide a fun opportunity for science participation remotely.
Why Do We Wash Our Hands Lesson
The first lesson, “Why do we wash our hands?” incorporated learning about surface tension, cohesion and adhesion of water molecules in addition to demonstrating the importance of hand washing to remove germs during this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second lesson gave students insight into genetics by discussing recessive and dominant genes that are passed down to offspring. By using different bug traits and flipping a coin through a random coin flip tool online, students were able to create their very own unique bug, depending on the outcome of their coin flip. Each lesson plan was about 45 minutes, and the technicalities of separating six to seven students worked very well in order to increase participation and attention.
Build a Bug lesson
There was enthusiasm from each classroom as well as inquisitive questions. Through this smooth layout, all 70 third graders from Language Academy Elementary were able to prepare for the experiment beforehand with the guidance of Senora Penaloza and perform the activity at the same time as Outreach volunteer demonstrators. Students were then given follow-up activities for each experiment to try in their own home with their parents and were instructed to report their findings to their teacher and classmates at their next virtual class. For a virtual outreach event, it was fun and deemed a great success!
Top Row L to R: Senora Elisa Penaloza, Dr. Yessica Diaz Roman, Suravi Hingorani. Bottom Row L to R: Dr. Maryan Rizk, Michelle Muldong & Ivy Fernandes
Special thank you to Ivy Fernandes, Dr. Yessica Diaz Roman and Senora Elisa Penaloza for their time and planning on this event! Also a big thank you to all our volunteers who made it possible: Monique Mazaika, Dr. Maryan Rizk, Suravi Hingorani, Alex Osborne, Hao Pham, Jamillah Murtadha, Alex Bosworth, Jennifer Waters & Kamala Janiyani.
Meet Angela Macia, Ph.D.: Blending Scientific and People Skills
By Pat Rarus
Why is it that busy people always seem to get the most work done? This is certainly true of Angela Macia, Ph.D., co-chair of the AWIS Corporate Sponsorship Committee. She is a multi-tasker with strong scientific expertise as well as impressive people skills. These attributes serve Angela, a molecular biologist and UCSD post-doctoral researcher very well, as she works on brain organoids to help understand how COVID-19 impacts the brain.
A native of Spain, Angela earned her Ph.D. at Pfizer-University of Granada-Junta de Andalucia Center for Genomics and Oncological Research. She came to the United States as a result of a European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) fellowship, which required Angela to work overseas for a certain period of time. She studied with her current principal investigator Alysson Muotri, a director of the UCSD Stem Cell Program.
“AWIS aligned with my values of contributing to a worthy cause in addition to my scientific research,” said Angela in a recent email interview. Besides the altruistic aspect of volunteering, Angela admitted that she recognized the benefits to her career as well. “In the U.S., it’s important to have soft skills as well as scientific skills,” she said in the email interview. “This is not as important in an European country such as Spain.”
She began her AWIS San Diego involvement by attending AWIS-SD Academia 2 Industry Coffee Clubs and AWIS-SD Speed Networking events. Then Angela joined AWIS’ Corporate Sponsorship Committee at the end of 2017. She became co-chair in September 2018 and then an AWIS board member in January 2020. Back then— before COVID-19— AWIS held many in-person events and needed financial backing from local companies. Funding from corporate sponsors is vital to support scholarships, outreach activities, and events such as the AWIS-SD Scholars Celebration and WIST Conference.
Companies benefit from sponsoring AWIS-SD in many ways, including recognition at events, in the newsletter and AWIS-SD website, job postings on AWIS-SD website. In addition, AWIS company sponsors get employee discounts or complimentary admissions to AWIS-SD events.
“I thought it was interesting the way that AWIS San Diego engages with local biotechs,” explained Angela. She expressed great pride in helping to raise $25,000 in 2019.
Contributions also come from individuals, such as science writer Lynne Timpani Friedmann, an AWIS Fellow and long-time supporter of the chapter. “I have been enormously impressed with Angela’s work on the Corporate Sponsorship Committee. She's a real asset to the chapter,” said Lynne via an email interview. In addition to her generous annual giving, Lynne recently added a major bequest to AWIS-SD as part of her estate planning and credits Angela’s personal touch with donors -- meeting for coffee and sharing details of her research and personal life – in helping her to make that legacy decision.
Despite Angela’s busy work and volunteer schedule, this past April she married her husband Jon, a cell culture specialist with STEMCELL Technologies, in a scaled-down ceremony at Lake Arrowhead. “We were originally planning a big wedding in Coronado, but had to improvise due to COVID-19,” she explained.
Angela has much to look forward to – both personally and professionally. AWIS San Diego appreciates her continued interest and involvement in our chapter!
Something to be Happy About; Better Times for Women in Science
By Jean Spence
The year of 2020 will be forever etched into our memories because of the COVID-19 pandemic, racial strife and an unusual and contentious presidential election. There are reasons to celebrate however. For the first time, two women, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna, are sharing the Nobel Prize. Also this year, Andrea Ghez became the fourth woman to receive a Nobel Prize in physics since the prizes began in1901. Another glass ceiling was broken when Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris, a biracial black and south Asian American, as his running mate.
Charpentier (Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens, Berlin, Germany) and Doudna
(University of California, Berkeley) discovered CRISPR/Cas9, a ‘genetic scissors’ for making changes in DNA with high accuracy and ease. CRISPR/Cas9 was originally discovered in Streptococcus pyogenes where it is part of a primitive immune system against viral infection by targeting the viral DNA. Doudna and Charpentier modified the bacterial proteins so that they could recognize any DNA at a designated site by changing the guide RNA. CRISPR/Cas9 has revolutionized molecular biology in the same way that PCR and restriction enzymes have. It is widely used to make changes easily in the DNA and is currently being investigated as a means of treating genetic diseases.
Ghez is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA. She shares half of the prize with Reinhard Genzel with the other half going to Roger Penrose. Genzel and Ghez discovered a “supermassive compact object at the center of our galaxy” popularly called a black hole. Ghez measured the gravitational pull near this supermassive black hole in order to test Einstein’s theory of relativity. In 2009, Ghez said “[A]t some point we will need to move beyond Einstein’s theory to a more comprehensive theory of gravity that explains what a black hole is.” The other women who have won the Nobel Prize in physics are Marie Skłodowska-Curie (1903), Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1963), and Donna Strickland (2018).
Left: Emmanuelle Charpentier; Middle: Jennifer A. Doudna; Right: Andrea Ghez
Unfortunately, women have historically been awarded much fewer Nobel prizes than men. Since the prizes were started by Alfred Nobel in 1901, 3.8% of the awardees were women in chemistry, 1.8% in physics, and 5.4% in physiology / medicine. The percentages are somewhat higher in literature (13.7% women) and Peace (12.6% women). These low percentages are not due to lack of talent or intelligence. In order for a problem to be addressed, it must first be identified. The culture of harassment and discrimination against women has been investigated and documented. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a 312 page study entitled “Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine” (https://doi.org/10.17226/24994). High profile lawsuits have been filed against major universities including the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Chicago, University of California, Los Angeles, Rutgers, and Princeton demanding equal treatment of women for tenure, salaries and resources. The difficulties of women in science and technology have even reached public media in The Atlantic (2016), The Guardian (2019), Scientific American (2020), National Geographic (2019), Vox (2018), the NY Times, and Vice (2019) to name a few.
On March 31, 2019, AWIS members met with members of congress to urge bipartisan support for H.R. 36 Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act of 2019. This bill, which has passed the House of Representatives, entrusts the National Science Foundation with awarding grants to research sexual and gender harassment in STEM fields and to find ways to mitigate the incidence and effects of this harassment. The primary sponsors of this bill are Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) (currently, vice president-elect). The bill still has to pass the senate and be signed by the president before being enacted into law. Legal action, publicity and greater recognition are all signs that the fight for gender equality is changing the tide for women in science and technology. And that is something to be happy about.
Member News
Congratulations to Kathleen Prosser, Ph.D. from the UCSD Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She is one of five finalists for the Chancellor’s Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award.
Call for Volunteers
1) AWIS San Diego needs volunteers for organizing the Virtual WIST 2021 Conference. Because the conference is virtual, committee members with be recruiting speakers, registering participants and planning the program. We will also be celebrating our scholarship and science fair winners. If you are interested, please e-mail our president, Kina Thackray, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
2) The Outreach Committee is starting a monthly Meet a Scientist virtual speaker series for students of all ages. If you are interested in being a speaker please fill out the form in this link https://forms.gle/MCehk5QBD4hJPWhw9
Renew Your Membership Today!
As the year comes to an end, please renew your membership with AWIS by going to https://www.awissd.org/index.php/membership. There are three categories of membership: Student, Junior and Professional. The Student or Chapter only membership is only $25. This allows you to attend events at member prices but you will not receive any benefits from AWIS National and provide evidence that you have recently taken a course. The Junior membership is $90 or $25 for the local chapter and $65 for the National membership. This gives you benefits for both local and national AWIS. Finally, the Professional Membership for senior leaders is $175. The Professional membership provides more career development opportunities through the local chapter and national AWIS as well as the opportunity to mentor future STEM leaders.
Committee Events
1) AWIS San Diego Event Committee Meetings
– Plan network events for AWIS members and the community.
6:00 pm on Wednesday, January 13th, 2021 and Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Zoom link will be sent out one week prior to meeting.
2) AWIS San Diego Outreach Committee Meeting
6:00 pm on Wednesday, January 6th, 2021
– Plan STEM related activities for AWIS members and the community.
1) Encorps STEM Teachers Program is launching a new virtual STEMx math tutoring program- if interested, please sign up here: https://www.encorps.org/
2) The UC San Diego Human Milk Research Biorepository,(https://mommysmilkresearch.org) is seeking donations of breast milk samples from women who have tested positive for COVID-19, have been symptomatic but not tested, or have had a high risk exposure to the virus. The study is located at the Center for Better Beginnings at UC San Diego and led by Dr. Christina Chambers in collaboration with investigators at the Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence (MOMI CORE) and also at UC San Diego led by Dr. Lars Bode, The study will examine the evidence for transmission of the virus through breast milk as well as determine the extent to which breastmilk may contain protective antibodies or other anti-viral compounds. Women who reside in the U.S. or Canada are eligible to enroll in the study. Women who are interested can contact Kerri Bertrand at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., by calling 858-246-1713 or though the self-referral form on the study website (https://mommysmilkresearch.org/participate). Financial contributions to help support the study can be made through the MOMI CORE website.
Science writer Lynne Friedmann is a biologist and journalist by training who has spent her career writing about science, technology, medicine, and environment topics for newspapers, journals, magazines, and online. Friedmann was named a Fellow by AWIS, AAAS, and the Public Relations Society of America. All three cited her “leadership and significant contributions to the public communication of science and technology.” Friedmann has been a member of AWIS since 1986. She created the chapter newsletter, initiated the chapter’s first public relations outreach, was elected to both the chapter and National AWIS boards, and was chair of the 1993 Women in Bioscience conference. Through her science-writing courses at UC San Diego Extension, she has nurtured and launched the science-writing careers of several AWIS-SD chapter members.
Michelle Muldong is a Research Associate at the University of California San Diego’s Moores Cancer Center. She works in Dr. Christina Jamieson’s lab studying bone-metastatic prostate cancer performing in vivo and in vitro experiments utilizing patient derived samples. Michelle obtained her B.S. from the University of California San Diego with a degree in General Biology. She has been involved in AWIS since September 2019 and is passionate about teaching the next generation about STEM. Outside of lab Michelle enjoys hot yoga, hiking, snowboarding, iced coffee & hanging out with her French bulldog/Boston Terrier mix pup- Stitch!
Pat Rarus is a long-term contributor of the Newsletter committee. As the owner-founder of Marcom Consulting Group, Pat has assisted clients with marketing communications projects. The goal: increase visibility, market share and ultimately sales for profit-making companies. Increase visibility and donors for non-profits. Pat specializes in writing and editing a wide variety of online and print marketing materials: Website copy, including SE0, press releases, blogs, social media, biographies, marketing plans, speeches, ad/brochure copy, taglines/slogans, PowerPoint presentations and much more.
Jean Spence earned a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in microbial genetics. Subsequently, she did several postdoctoral fellowships at M.I.T., Harvard Medical School, UCSD and the University of Rochester. She pursued her interest in systems biology by developing a novel platform and publishing 3 manuscripts and a book chapter as communicating author. She has been a reviewer for the AWIS-SD newsletter since 2014 and became a co-chair this year. She was also a co-chair of the former Back to Work group in AWIS-SD.
Varykina Thackray (Kina) is an Associate Professor of Reproductive Medicine at UC San Diego. She has a comprehensive background in hormone signaling, regulation of gene expression in reproductive tissues and the role of the gut microbiome in polycystic ovary syndrome. She received her PhD at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and completed her postdoctoral studies in reproductive endocrinology at UC San Diego. Her research accomplishments were recognized with the Endocrine Society Early Investigators Award and the Women in Endocrinology Young Investigator Award. She is an active member of the Endocrine Society, Women in Endocrinology and the AWIS-SD Outreach Committee.
Contribute to the Newsletter
If you are an AWIS-SD member, we encourage you to contribute to the newsletter. Please send articles, photographs, and member news as MS Word attachments to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. News articles should not exceed 250 words, event summaries should not exceed 500 words, and feature articles (special-interest stories and profiles) should not exceed 1000 words. The submission deadline for the next issue is Mar 15, 2021.
AWIS-SD Newsletter Committee
Co-chairs: Alyson Smith, and Jean Spence
Members: Corine Lau, Pat Rarus, Emily Bentley, and Swathi Hullugundi
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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