Volume 11, Issue 1 Spring 2017
Inside This Issue
1. New Board and Committee
Members & Upcoming Events
2. Congrats Column & Connect with
AWIS
3. AWIS February Event—Wine
Blending
4. AWIS March Event—Expanding
Your Horizon
5. Local Events, Science News,
and Opinions
6. How to Become a Better
Speaker
www.awislavc.org AWIS LA/VC 1
Our New Board & Committee Members
AWIS Upcoming Events
AWIS/GQR Career Coaching & Headshots April 29th, 2017 at 12:30 PM
GQR Global Markets, Santa Monica
Women in Science and Technology Conference (WIST) May 20, 2017 (7:30 AM to 5:30 PM)
UCSD Faculty Club, La Jolla
www.awislavc.org AWIS LA/VC 2
Connect with AWIS
Allison Sargoy, Ph.D.
Allison is now the Licensing Manager at
Amgen.
Christina Vorvis, Ph.D.
Christina served as a mentor at UCLA
Inventathon and
accepted a Senior Associate position at
OrbiMed in New York City.
Erin Denny, Ph.D.
Erin is now the Licensing Manager of the
External R&D (Oncology) at Amgen.
Kathryn Zavala, Ph.D.
Kathryn served on the career panel at
BCLA’s annual “Bioscience Talent
Connection” event and organized the UCLA
Inventathon.
Marie Rippen, Ph.D.
Marie was promoted from COO to CEO at
Lab Launch, Inc.
Martina DeSalvo, Ph.D.
Martina started as a Licensing Associate in
Business Development at Amgen.
Sophia Tsai, Ph.D.
Sophia served on a grant proposal team for
the American Heart Association
Undergraduate Student Fellowship and
aided her institution (UC San Diego) in
securing the award.
Names appear in alphabetic order.
The AWIS LA/VC Congrats Column is taking
submissions 24/7. Want to recognize
yourself or another Member? Just send an
email to: [email protected]
Congrats!
Interested in expanding your professional network? Looking for a new job? Want to post a
job opening? Join our members-only AWIS
Los Angeles/Ventura
County LinkedIn group
Connect with us on Facebook @AWIS LAVC
for our latest events.
www.awislavc.org AWIS LA/VC 3
AWIS LA/VC hosted our first event of the year
at the Blending Lab on Sunday, February 26th.
Eleven members and friends attended this fun
wine blending class.
The class started off with a lesson introducing
the basic characteristics of wine. For instance,
we learned how to describe the color (deep
ruby, maroon, burgundy), smell (strawberry,
cherry, pepper) and taste (tannic, dry, sweet,
earthy) of different wines. We sampled and
characterized three different California varietals
- merlot, zinfandel, and petite sirah.
Keeping the different features of each varietal
in mind, we tested various blends in search of
our favorite combination.
As if preparing solutions in the lab, we started
with beakers filled with the different varietals,
mixed them in different ratios in our graduated
cylinders, and recorded the color, smell, and
taste in our (wine) laboratory notebooks.
Just as with lab experiments, not all of our
blends were successful. Fortunately, after some
arduous “research,” we each blended and
bottled our own unique wine combination.
During this blending class, some members who
transitioned into careers away from the bench
admitted to a bit of nostalgia for their previous
lab work. Sharing experimental wine blending
tips with our neighbors turned out to be a great
way to foster collaboration and get to know
fellow AWIS members. We can’t think of a
better way to start networking conversations!
We hope you join us for our next AWIS
networking event!
AWIS February Event - Wine Blending
www.awislavc.org AWIS LA/VC 4
AWIS LA/VC was a proud participant in the 38th
annual Expanding Your Horizons conference at
Mount Saint Mary’s University. AWIS has
supported this outreach event promoting STEM
education for middle school girls for more than
five years. Our members Tracy Blois (team
lead), Kathryn Zavala, Peg De Rose, and Lining
Zhu hosted two sessions of the Gummy Fish
Genetics workshops.
Approximately 35 girls signed up for our
workshops. During this hands-on activity, the
girls learned about the impact of the
environment on genetics and the gummy fish
population. Tracy first introduced gene
dominance, co-dominance, and recessive traits
to the students. She then guided the students
to record the color and number of the fish
offsprings after three rounds of “mating” in a
healthy pond, followed by one round of mating
in a polluted one. All students observed that
with decreasing diversity in the gene pool, the
total fish population decreased, especially when
pollution takes place.
To relate this lesson to everyday life, Peg De
Rose taught the students about genetic
disorders found in pure-bred dogs. She also
encouraged the girls to apply for the American
Association of University Women (AAUW) Tech
Trek program to get more hands-on science
experience.
Many students expressed interest in becoming
medical doctors or veterinarians. Tracy
encouraged them to consider other science
careers including becoming a genetic counselor,
diagnostic scientist, research scientist or nurse.
We hope that each young student left our
station with a better understanding of genetics
as well as some new career options, inspired by
our passionate volunteers.
AWIS March Event-Expanding Your Horizons
www.awislavc.org AWIS LA/VC 5
What early-career researchers can do to advocate for science Perspectives on the Future of STEM Graduate Education: an Open Forum at the 2017 AAAS Meeting Researchers should reach beyond the science bubble
New tools for measuring academic performance
Best Selling Oncology Drugs 2016
8 Technologies Poised to Disrupt US Healthcare in 2017 and Beyond
Few people actually benefit from ‘breakthrough’ cancer immunotherapy
The CRISPR patent decision: Your six takeaways
Report: Biotech VCs Perpetuate Boardroom Gender Gap
Opinions
What happens to your bacteria when you go to space?
Amgen strikes Enbrel 'outcomes' contract with Harvard Pilgrim
Win with promising 6-month lymphoma data for lead CAR-T
Hepatitis C drugs re-energize global fight over patents
DNA could store all of the world's data in one room
An oral microjet vaccination system elicits antibody production in rabbits (featured KGI students)
The drug-resistant bacteria that pose the greatest health threats
60+ Organizations Join March for Science, Network of Satellite Marches Nears 400 Globally
Trump targets environmental science for cuts
Science News
o WIB-SoCal “Rare Disease Part 3:
Blancing Genetics and Ethics in the
Management of Rare Diseases”
April 20, 5 PM – 8:30 PM
5200 Illumina Way, San Diego, CA,
92122
o East LA Biotech Mixer: New
Opportunities for Bioscience
Innovators in LA
April 26, 6 PM – 9:30 PM
5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles,
CA 90032
o SoCalBio Networking Forum: What
to Look for in Selecting a CRO/CMO
April 26, 4PM – 7PM
Southern California Biomedical Council
Newport Beach, CA
o Biocom LA: One Year Anniversary
Celebration
May 12, 12PM
Nixon Peabody, 300 South Grand
Avenue, Suite 4100
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Upcoming Local Events
•UCLA held its sixth year Inventathon event on March 4th and 5th. The two-day healthcare hackathon aimed at developing app, device, website or concepts to address the unmet medical need. Kathryn Zavala represented one of the sponsors and organizers—MedTech Innovator. Christina Vorvis served as one of
the mentors giving insights to participants in brainstorming, product development, early
prototyping, and business plan formation. Lining Zhu volunteered in the first day of the event. •On March 2nd, UCLA’s California NanoSystems Institute hosted a “Careers in Biotech” panel to provide insight and guidance to graduate students
and Postdocs on how they can leverage their PhD in
industry. The panel comprised members from a variety of STEM careers who shared their experiences on how they transitioned from the bench to industry. Allison Sargoy participated as the VP of Outreach. •On Feb 16th, Biocom, the Office of Los Angeles City
Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Biotech Connection Los Angeles held a successful event called “Investor Panel: New Opportunities for LA Biotech” at One California Plaza. Investor experts Paul Grant, Harry Nelson, Adam Bazih, and Ryan Bethencourt share insights in attracting venture capital for launching
and expanding innovations in life sciences field in Los Angeles.
Local Events
www.awislavc.org AWIS LA/VC 6
How To Become A Better Speaker
Authors’ Contributions
Allison Sargoy: Reported part of Local Events.
Karineh Petrossian: Organized Congrats Column & Connect with AWIS, and edited.
Lining Zhu: Wrote event articles, designed layout, and edited.
Be our author? Any feedback about our newsletter? Email us at: [email protected]
