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SynapseNewspaper
The UCSF Student
synapse.ucsf.edu | Thursday, April 16, 2015 | Volume 59, Number 13
Dr. Dan Lowenstein on diversity, research, and the evolution of UCSF: An interview with UCSF’s New Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (EVCP) Lauren Shields Contributing Writer
S ynapse: You’ve held a lot of positions here at UCSF from trainee to leadership. How has UCSF impacted you as you’ve moved through this range of positions?
I came here originally in 1983 as an intern and then the following year as a neurology resident. The first impact was having my clinical skills blossom under the tutelage of great mentors. The second was becoming a postdoctoral fellow working for Stan Prusiner at a very exciting time when the prion hypothesis was gaining significant momentum. The third was being given the opportunity to start up my own lab in epilepsy research as a junior faculty member. And then, as my research,
teaching and clinical responsibilities matured, UCSF gave me the opportunity to became more involved in some of the larger efforts associated with the School of Medicine and the institution at-large. Synapse: On the other side of the coin, how have you seen UCSF progress? If we think about the three mission areas of UCSF (research, clinical care, and education), there’s no doubt that the research enterprise has continued to expand at a spectacular pace. We’ve entered into the true era of team science, and by virtually every metric, UCSF is at the cutting edge of biomedical discovery.
In terms of clinical care, it’s been very impressive to see how the health system has applied systems science to improve the quality of care that patients receive. In terms of education - I can really only speak about the School of Medicine - it’s been incredibly exciting to see us go through major reforms in the curriculum and be
LOWENSTEIN » PAGE 6
UCSF Participates in First Lessons in a Lunch Box Oral Health Literacy Program Ivy Fua Contributing Writer
L essons in a Lunch Box: Healthy Teeth Essentials & Facts About Snacks® is a new
oral health literacy program designed to empower children and their families with proper knowledge about routine dental care, oral health maintenance, good dietary choices and more. Using a “dentally designed” lunch box, the uniquely crafted container illustrates flossing and brushing instructions and healthy nutritional information.
On March 4, 2015, the Student National Dental Association (SNDA) at UCSF School of Dentistry participated in the first Lessons in a Lunch Box program. In collaboration with The Children’s Oral Health Institute (COHI), SNDA presented preventative dental care products, oral hygiene instruction and nutritional information to 180 students at Starr King Elementary School in the Potrero Hill district of San Francisco. “Students from
Potrero Annex…are in desperate need of dental care!” said school nurse Judy Thompson. Prior to the event, COHI and SNDA collaborated in the shipment of all lunch boxes directly to Starr King Elementary. SNDA then recruited 4 dental students and 8 post baccalaureate students from California State University San Francisco,
LUNCH BOX » PAGE 6
Medical Students Organize Ultrasound Techniques Conference Libby Burch Contributing Writer
O n Friday, April 24, Point-of-Care UltraSound (POCUS), invites all UCSF
students and faculty to attend a student-led Ultrasound Conference and Exposition in the Millberry Union Conference Center. Medical students will man interactive stations at which participants – even ultrasound novices - can expect to learn commonly used scans and their clinical applications. This exposition, the culmination of a year-long effort, promises to be one of the semester’s most exciting events. In the spring of 2014, Walid Hamud and Stephen Brown, medical students in the 2017 graduating class, were dismayed to learn that that the UCSF School of Medicine curriculum lacked formal ultrasound instruction. “The expectation was that we would learn it during our clinic rotations or perhaps during our residency,” recalls Hamud, soft-spoken and with an easy smile. He, along with Brown, was part of a growing contingent of the school’s community that wanted to change that. In regards to its clinical usefulness, “ultrasound is the stethoscope of the future,” explains Brown. “We wanted to put UCSF on the map in terms of ultrasound medical education.” Motivated by this conviction and fed by the enthusiastic support of Anatomy Professor Dr. Peter O’Hara, Brown and Hamud set out to create an ultrasound curriculum. They recruited several classmates and set to work. “We began from scratch teaching ourselves ultrasound with two machines in the anatomy lab. We had the internet and a handful of determined second year medical students (MS2’s),” Hamud remembers. By mid-summer, the group had enlisted the expertise of Dr. Nathan Tiesmann, Director of Emergency Ultrasound and EM Ultrasound Fellowship Director, as well as Dr. Emma Webb, a radiologist and educator. With the support of faculty mentors, the student group authored an iBook of common scans and prepared a comprehensive syllabus that could be taught to ultrasound neophytes. “The best thing about ultrasound,” says Brown, “is
ULTRASOUND » PAGE 6
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Events » MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES
Friday, April 17, 1-1:30 p.m., Medical Sciences, 159, Parnassus Friday, April 17, 1:30-2 p.m., Helen Diller, 160, Mission Bay The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) every week. Come join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer and socializing. All are welcome!
MISSION BAY RIPS
Friday, April 17, 4-5 p.m., Genentech Hall Auditorium, Mission Bay RIPS is a seminar series wherein one student and one postdoc present their current research. Talks are 15 minutes in length and are preceded by a 20-minute social. Snacks and beverages are provided.
CAMPUS EVANGELISTIC FELLOWSHIP
Friday, April 17, 7-10:30 p.m., Nursing, 517, Parnassus Join the Campus Evangelistic Fellowship for their weekly meeting with Bible study, hymn singing, and fellowship.
THE ART OF NETWORKING: HOW TO LEVERAGE YOUR NETWORK FOR CAREER SUCCESS
Monday, April 20, 6-9 p.m., Genentech Hall Auditorium, Mission Bay Come to a panelist discussion on strategies PhDs and postdocs can use to create a useful and sustainable network and how to leverage this network to find employment. Discussion to include tips on how to network more effectively, the benefits of having a website and business cards, and other avenues.
150TH ANNIVERSARY CAMPUS CELEBRATION
Tuesday, April 21, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Millberry Union Gym, Parnassus Come celebrate the 150th UCSF Anniversary. Lunch will be served to the first 4,000 attendees. Enjoy carnival-style games, such as ring toss, skee ball, baseball toss, prize wheel and musical entertainment by DJ.
CARRY THE ONE RADIO WORKSHOP
Tuesday, April 21, 5 -7 p.m., Mission Hall, 1107, Mission Bay Carry the One Radio is a UCSF-based science podcast. The show is run completely by a dedicated group of young scientists who want to share their enthusiasm for research with a wider audience. The group meets weekly to workshop various pieces. All are welcome, no radio experience needed.
STATES OF GRACE
Tuesday, April 21, 5-7 p.m., Cole Hall, Parnassus For Dr. Grace Dammann, a pioneering AIDS specialist, a routine commute across the Golden Gate Bridge turned tragic when another driver crashed head on into her car. After seven weeks in a coma and a dozen surgeries, Grace miraculously awakened with her cognitive abilities intact, though her body was left shattered. Through intimate footage and interviews with doctors, family, and friends, States of Grace paints an inspiring portrait of devotion and trust as it delicately documents one woman’s fight to reinvent herself.
UCSF PRIDE
Wednesday, April 22, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Koret Quad, Mission Bay Come learn about how you can help increase visibility of LGBT community
at UCSF, promote the UCSF Committee on LGBT Issues and the LGBT Resource Center, and encourage participation in ongoing LGBT initiatives at UCSF.
NAHA ANNUAL SPRING CULTURAL EVENT
a voluntary basis by both people born and raised in the United States as well as many people who have, at one time in their lives, experienced life as a new immigrant to the US.
PEER LEADER TRAINING SERIES AT Wednesday, April 22, noon-1 p.m., MISSION BAY MIllberry Union Conference Center The Native American Health Alliance (NAHA) Annual Cultural Event brings together Native American intertribal drummers and powwow dancers. Come enjoy delicious traditional foods by Kickapoo and Wapepah’s Kitchen. Refreshments will include beef hominy stew, butternut squash and fry bread.
EARTH DAY DRUM CIRCLE AT MISSION BAY
Wednesday, April 22, noon-1 p.m., Gene Friend Way, Mission Bay Farmers’ Market, Mission Bay Come beat a drum and celebrate Earth Day at the Mission Bay Farmers’ Market. Drumm Rhythmic Events will bring drums.
MUSIC IN THE LIBRARY
Wednesday, April 22, noon-1 p.m., Library, Lange Reading Room, Parnassus Campus Life Services Arts and Events presents Music in the Library. Bring your books and study or just sit back and relax while listing to acoustic music. Enjoy free chair massage and lunch. First come, first served.
HOME PREPAREDNESS IN EARTHQUAKE COUNTRY
Wednesday, April 22, noon-1 p.m., Rock Hall, 102, Mission Bay Associate Professor of Medicine, Matt Springer, will talk about precautions that can be taken to lessen the damage from an earthquake at home and work. His onehour presentation includes many photos of preparations in his own home and suggests measures ranging from simple to complex to prepare for the next temblor. Sponsor: Office of Environmental Health & Safety.
OPEN PUBLISHING DISCUSSION WITH JOE DERISI
Wednesday, April 22, noon-1:30 p.m., Genentech Hall, S202, Mission Bay Join the Science Policy Group for a brown bag talk with Joe DeRisi, UCSF professor and advocate for open publishing. Joe will discuss how and why to publish in open access journals.
UCSF RUN CLUB
Wednesday, April 22, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Millberry Union Central Desk, Parnassus Please drop by and join UCSF Fit & Rec for a run! Each Wednesday night the Run Club runs various distances (3-6 miles) at a 9-11 minute per mile.
IMN MIDWEEK MEDITATION HOUR
Wednesday, April 22, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Library, CL211, Parnassus The Integrative Medicine Network (IMN) invites everyone in the UCSF community to experience a weekly guided meditation. All are welcome, whether you are looking to combat day-to-day stress using meditation or you’d like to uncover subtle layers of your self by diving deep! No experience in meditation is necessary.
ENGLISH CORNER
Wednesday, April 22, 6-8:30 p.m., Medical Sciences, 159, Parnassus English Corner is an informal Conversational English Class given as a free community service and provided on
Wednesday, April 23, noon-1 p.m., RSVP for location Attend the lunch-time Peer Leader Training Series at Mission Bay. Participate in-person or online. Lunch provided.
LAST LECTURE 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Cole Hall, Parnassus The students have spoken and hundreds voted for Dr. Kimberly Topp to deliver the Last Lecture. Dr. Topp will deliver a lecture on the prompt, “If you had but one lecture to give, what would you say?” This interprofessional event will bring out stories intertwining various dimensions of Dr. Topp’s professional, personal, spiritual, and cultural experiences that have brought her to UCSF today. Immediately following the lecture enjoy a reception and network with UCSF alums at the Zero Year Reunion in Millberry Union.
ZERO YEAR REUNION
Wednesday, April 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Millberry Union Conference Center, Parnassus Following the Last Lecture, join the Alumni Association for the Zero Year Reunion for all current UCSF students. Network with alumni and other students while listening to music, enjoying food & beverages.
CELL HACKERS: TIDE POOL GENETICS
Thursday, April 23, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Nursing, 217, Parnassus Come here from Tidepool, a 501c3 nonprofit startup with the mission of reducing the burden of managing type 1 diabetes. Tidepool’s easy-to-use applications allow care teams to see all of the data in one place. The Tidepool Platform is vendorneutral, secure, scaleable and HIPAAcompliant. Tidepool’s efforts also support diabetes research and will accelerate the commercialization of closed loop systems.
SPEAKER SERIES WITH PAUL HASTINGS, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, ONCOMED PHARMACEUTICALS
Thursday, April 23, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Helen Diller, 160, Mission Bay OncoMed is a clinical developmentstage company focused on first-in-class monoclonal antibody therapeutics targeting cancer stem cells. The company has formed strategic alliances with Celgene, Bayer and GSK and has raised approximately $622 million through venture capital and a 2013 IPO. We are excited to have Paul, a seasoned executive who has led OncoMed since 2006, chairs the Emerging Companies Section of BIO and serves on
Announcements » GPSA ELECTIONS: VOTING CLOSES APRIL 17
The ballot for the 2015-16 Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA) Executive Council is officially open. Results will be announced on monday, april 20.Take a moment to read each of the candidate statements running for the GPSA Executive Council before submitting your vote. The ballot may be found on the GPSA website at gpsa.ucsf.edu. If you have any questions, please contact gpsa@ucsf.edu.
the board of the BayBio/CHI, share his thoughts with us.
TRANSITIONING TO INDUSTRY: TOBY FREEDMAN
Thursday, April 23, 5:30-9 p.m., Genentech Hall, N114, Mission Bay Do you want to know more about what career paths exist in industry? How to build a good resume, use your LinkedIn network, and make yourself an attractive applicant to biochtechnology companies? Come hear from Toby Freedman, author of Career Opportunities in Biotechnology and Drug Development, to learn the answers to these questions and more.
CHANCELLOR’S CONCERT SERIES
Thursday, April 30, noon-1 p.m., Cole Hall, Parnassus Looking for a place to study or relax between classes? CLS Arts & Events has got just what you need. The Chancellor’s Concert Series on Thursdays is a great place to set up your laptop and study or just take a break from classes while listening to classical music. Seating begins at noon. Lunch will be served while supplies last.
GPSA MONTHLY MEETING
Monday, May 4, 5:30 p.m., Library, 220, Parnassus Meet your assembly members at the monthly GPSA meeting and be a part of the discussion on topics relating to student priorities. The agenda will include student representation on committees, the annual formal, the sweeten beverages tax, upcoming events and officer reports. Dinner provided with RSVP.
GRADUATE DIVISION ALUMNI SEMINAR SERIES: MEG BYRNE, PHD
Monday, May 4, 2015 7-8:30 p.m., Helen Diller, 160, Mission Bay Come hear from UCSF PhD alumni and learn about their careers! The May seminar features Meg Byrne, who received her PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from UCSF in 2005. Meg worked as a Medical Writer at newMentor and is currently Senior Editor at PLOS ONE. Sponsors: ASGD, GDAA, iPQB
RECYCLED/RECLAIMED ART SHOW
Thursday, May 14, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Rutter Community Center, Mission Bay The Visual Arts Club at UCSF, Campus Life Services Arts & Events and Living Green are excited to present The Recycled/ Reclaimed Art Show. All submittals are made from 99% recycled, reused or reclaimed material. Sponsored by the Performing Arts Fund. Co-sponsored by Living Green at UCSF. Produced by Campus Life Services Arts & Events. Have an event that you would like to submit? Please email to synapse@ucsf.edu.
STUDENT & COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS: UCSF PD OFFICER RECRUITMENT
The UC Police Department is seeking student and community volunteers to serve on panel interviews for Police Officer interviews. Interviews will take place on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 and Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 654 Minnesota Street, San Francisco, CA 94143-0238 (8:00am-6:00pm availability is ideal though though they may coordinate ½ day availability). Lunch and morning and afternoon refreshments will be provided. Contact deborah.baker-reyes@ucsf.edu.
synapse.ucsf.edu
Features » Career Advice
Negotiating Job Offers Naledi Saul Contributing Writer
H ere’s a common negotiation situation: you have a job offer from Organization #1, who is waiting to hear your response, but you’re still waiting to hear back from Organization #2. Here are the four questions that students and postdocs ask:
big decision that affects my whole family – can I give you a response in a week?” or, “I’m very enthusiastic about the offer – Could you send me a copy of the offer letter to review? Also, can I give you my final answer by the 15th?”
1. How much time can I take before I give Organization #1 a final answer? Most organizations are usually willing to wait a week - possibly two - for your decision to accept or reject their offer. Why is your decision window so narrow, since the interview process probably took months? It’s because if you turn them down, the employer can move quickly onto their second choice.
2. Can I push Organization #2 to let me know if I’m their selected candidate? It depends on where you are in their hiring process. If they have not yet interviewed you, there is no way to speed up the process. If you have interviewed with Organization #2, it’s worth contacting the hiring manager you interviewed with to let them know you have an offer and inquire about their timeframe.
How can you maximize the amount of time you get to make a decision after being given an offer? When initially given the offer, express your enthusiasm, and request time to consider it. The language at the stage is something like, “Thank you so much for the offer. I’m very excited about it. It’s a
Optimally, you would contact the employer by phone, but email also works. Appropriate language is some variation of the following: “I hope you’re well. I’m contacting you to ask you about your hiring timeframe for the position I interviewed
CAREER » PAGE 6
GPSA General Meeting April 6 Summary Polina Pulyanina Contributing Writer
Upcoming Events & Announcements Casino Night- April 16, 2015 GPSA is excited to bring you Casino Night! The event is taking place at Milberry Union on Thursday, April 16 5-8 p.m. Attendance is free, but you must bring your Eventbrite ticket (either printed or on your smartphone). With RSVP, each student will receive two drink tickets, $500 in poker chips, and a raffle ticket. The raffle prizes include four tickets for the opening of ANNIE The Musical, a $75 gift card to a restaurant, and a $50 voucher in Bear Hugs. Don’t know how to play card games? Not to worry! You can join a table and learn as you play. RSVP under the Events tab at gpsa.ucsf.edu.
Incoming GPSA Board Voting It is Spring and that means that it is time to vote in the new GPSA board! See candidate stations on GPSA homepage at gpsa.ucsf.edu. At least one candidate is running for each position. Vote for your favorite applicant by Friday, April 17!
Updates
GPSA held its monthly open meeting on Monday, April 6. UCSF Student Housing Discussion UCSF Housing is self-funded, meaning that the housing residents, which include UCSF graduate and professional students, postdocs, and faculty, fund housing. The prohibitively high cost of living in San
GPSA » PAGE 7
Synapse
Jenny Qi | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Taylor LaFlam | SCIENCE EDITOR Bryne Ulmschneider | CAREER EDITOR Hanna Starobinets | STAFF WRITER Akshay Govind | STAFF WRITER Ilka Fensen | STAFF WRITER Yarrow Madrona | STAFF WRITER Yi Lu | STAFF WRITER Anna Nokana | STAFF WRITER Lauren Shields | STAFF WRITER Mayya Shveygert | STAFF WRITER Charllotte Anderson | STAFF WRITER Andrea Villaroman | STAFF WRITER
Dear Mama M,
T here’s all this talk about how the biomedical workforce is shifting, and
there are not enough academic jobs to accommodate all the PhD students currently being trained. PIs, however, are not traditionally supportive of students who want “alternative careers,” partly because they don’t know how to support our career development in these directions, and they don’t want these pursuits to take
time away from lab. I don’t even want to do research after I graduate, but I’m afraid to tell my thesis committee. On the one hand, I want to tell them because I don’t want to waste my time in pursuit of high-profile publications that I don’t need. But what if this changes how they view me, and they don’t want to waste their time guiding a student who doesn’t want to do research? - Living a Lie
Dear Living Liar, I am not sure where to begin sweetie. My head is a bit tangled up withyour inquiry. I tend to see in images and the image I have is a very big ball of dirty yarn. I see you trying to pull out the knots in that ball of yarn, when perhaps you need to throw it out altogether. You don’t need no dirty yarn darlin’! Even if you do get it untangled, it seems to have been left in the yard too long...it is muddy and wet and I don’t think it would make a very good sweater. So put that down for a minute. Your question states much of what you don’t want, but little of what you do want. I think starting with what you want is fresher and cleaner. That is your first task. What do I want? (Note: ignore the voices that try to argue with you about what you can have. Here, you are just stating what you want.) Next, ask yourself: Am I truly “living a lie”? It will be important down the road when you get closer to your true path to be mindful of the words you use. Per Merriam Webster, a lie is “a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood.” “Living a Lie” would mean that your existence, your life force, is organized around an intent to deceive, which does not feel true in the reading of your question.
What I hear is confusion and a desire to tell the truth. If the world worked on total honesty you could simply say to your PI, “You know, I am pretty sure I do not want to do research when I graduate. I am fearful that there may not be jobs where I can be creative and engaged. Can you mentor or help me find a way to focus on a direction that is interesting to me?” You might think that you cannot be this honest with your advisor, for fear of repercussions. But, do you dare be honest with yourself about what you want? What alternative careers are you interested in? Start there! Tell yourself all the truths you can about what you want to do with your education. Do you need a PhD? Have you networked with people who are engaged in the career you seek? Can you find a likeminded mentor in your department who is creative and trustworthy and to whom you can confide your dreams and aspirations? This life is yours. Let your own optimism guide you---there is a place for you to live -work –breathe-be happy and creative. Find your people, sugar!!! With deep compassion for your struggle for truth,
Mama M
500 Parnassus Avenue, Millberry Union 108W, San Francisco, CA 94143 tel: 476-2211 | fax: 502-4537 synapse@ucsf.edu | synapse.ucsf.edu
The UCSF Student Newspaper Staff
| April 16, 2015 | 3
About
Synapse is the UCSF student-run biweekly newspaper which runs on Thursdays during the academic year and publishes online in between print issues. Synapse seeks to serve as a forum for the campus community. Articles and columns represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Board of Publications or the University of California.
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Paid advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views of Synapse. Synapse and its editorial board reserve the right to decline advertisements promoting false or misleading claims, known health risks, or content deemed by the editors to be antithetical to the interests of UCSF students or the UCSF community. Synapse does not accept advertisements from tobacco or alcohol manufacturers, or sexually oriented personal ads. Synapse reserves the right to run any ad Submissions Announcements and letters should be submitted with a disclaimer. seven days before publication. All submissions must be emailed to synapse@ucsf.edu. All material is Visit synapse.ucsf.edu to view the publication schedule and to submit an ad. subjected to editing.
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Features »
Impressing Future Dentists Investing in Science: When Scientific Expertise UCSF Hosts Undergraduate Impressions Conference Pays Off Ivy Fua Mayya Shveygert, PhD Staff Writer
W ithout doubt, people don’t go to graduate school to make money. On the
contrary, graduate students master an art of living on minimal wages while battling envy for the paychecks of their peers that hold ‘real’ jobs. However, several UCSF students decided that they can make money by capitalizing on their scientific knowledge and started an investment fund, which they called EVEXIA Bio Fund. So far, EVEXIA has been incredibly successful, making about 65% profit over the last year. T.J. Hu, a third-year BMS student and the founder of the Fund, attributes their success to the ability to ‘leverage our scientific expertise to beat the market.’ Given that the Bay Area is a biotech hub, it is not surprising that many students at UCSF are interested in investing in biotech. About two years ago, two BMS students, Evan Markegard and Gorjan Hrustanovic, started the Investment Club at UCSF, which organizes educational workshops and regularly brings speakers from local venture capital firms and hedge funds. Thus, when Hu came up with an idea of starting an investment fund, there was already a body of students who were prepared to ‘get their feet wet’ and make their own investment choices. The risk was worth taking - in nine months EVEXIA share price rose from $100 to $165, while the value of the fund went from about S30,000 to $95,000 and grew from eighteen to forty eight members. EVEXIA buys stocks of mostly small to mid-cap biotech companies that have solid science, but are still overlooked by the market. Recognizing a promising company requires the ability to critically evaluate the company’s potential for creating great drugs, which, in turn, necessitates understanding the biology behind the drug. For instance, last year they invested in Medivation, which is a Bay Areabased biotech company that got approval
Contributing Writer
for XTANDI, which is one of the most promising prostate cancer drugs. Several members of the Fund saw XTANDI’s full potential before the market did; as a result they acquired Medivation’s stocks before they doubled in price. Recognizing XTANDI’s potential required reading primary papers on clinical trials, as well as reaching out to UCSF prostate cancer clinicians to ask their opinion about the best lines of treatment. In general, any member of EVEXIA can pitch a company for investment, and members usually follow their research expertise when they select their targets. For instance, Hu studies small RNAs, thus, he proposed to invest in Isis Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in pharmaceutical antisense RNA drugs. The company was promising, but undervalued, and the Fund invested at the share price of $30.22 in May and sold at $65.64 in December. The Fund clearly benefits from its members’ expertise that spans basic life sciences, medicine and pharmacology. Moreover, although EVEXIA mainly consists of scientists from UCSF community, it also has attracted several members from local biotech industry. When asked about his future career plans, Hu says that he is “still very interested in science, but can’t deny that one day he might make use of his graduate school investing experience.” Regardless of whether the members of the fund will one day choose an academic or venture capital track, investing while in grad school is a fun hobby that makes a different use of analytical skills and scientific training. The UCSF Investment Fund meets every first Tuesday of the month at Mission Bay and accepts new members every quarter. If you have any questions, please contact T.J. Hu at Tj.Hu@ucsf.edu. Mayya Shveygert is a third-year Postdoctoral Fellow
O ne hundred and thirty undergraduates from all over California and even some out
of state, came eager to learn about the future of dentistry on February 28 here at UCSF. Each year the Student National Dental Association (SNDA) in conjunction with ADEA and HSDA, host the Undergraduate Impressions Conference aimed at exposing students to the profession of dentistry
by providing them with the tools and inspiration to pursue it as a career. This year’s conference was particularly lively with a record number of attendees in the 8 years the conference has existed. The day was filled with various presentations on dentistry, how to successfully apply to dental school, as well as a number of dental students sharing their knowledge and experiences. Associate Dean of Academic, Research and Graduate Affairs, Dr. Peter Sargent, gave an enthusiastic welcome speech in which he highlighted the top five reasons why UCSF is an amazing place to be. The keynote speaker, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Dr. Mark Kirkland, gave a testimony as to why dentistry is a great profession to pursue. Both Drs. Sargent and Kirkland represented the best of what this profession and UCSF have to offer leaving pre-dental students enriched and motivated. The most anticipated part of the day was the middle of the day in which the participants were taken to the dental simulation lab to get hands on experience drilling tooth
preparations, taking impressions and restoring typodont teeth with composite material. Participants also had the opportunity to speak and interact with current dental students. Conference participants also received a tour of the school, which included a stop in our anatomy lab. Here,
participants had the opportunity to view a number of pro-sections and were able to hear some of the dental students’ lab stories. Participants really enjoyed getting to interact with the students and seeing how it felt to hold the drill for the first time. The day also included presentations on the application process, scholarship opportunities and a student panel. Many participants stayed for the optional personal statement and mock interview workshops that were held after the conference ended. Overall, the day was a great success filled with a great spirit of camaraderie and memorable moments. The SNDA team would like to thank all the volunteers and organizations that made this day possible. The participants loved interacting with everyone and hearing everyone’s experiences. Many noted the welcoming atmosphere and amicable people. They were inspired by our stories and propelled to pursue dentistry. Ivy Fua is a third-year dental student.
Celebrate UCSF’s 150th Anniversary at Parnassus! C elebrate Francisco’s
150 years of UC San rich history, vibrant community, and exceptional staff at the Party on Parnassus, at Millberry Union Gym on the UCSF Parnassus Campus on April 21st, 2015. Free to the entire UCSF community, this event will be buzzing with entertainment, free lunch and cake, a photo booth, and prizes galore. Beginning at 11:30 a.m., the first 4,000 attendees will receive a free lunch, a special giveaway, and a free pass to an evening event at the Exploratorium to celebrate the debut of a partner exhibit between UCSF and the Exploratorium’s Living Systems Gallery. While supplies last, anniversary t-shirts and totes will be given to those who participate in the photo booth and share what they love about UCSF. Check out more information about UCSF’s colorful history, along with
“Many Faces, One Mission” on the 150th anniversary website, www.ucsf.edu/150. In keeping with UCSF’s mission of public service, Blood Centers of the Pacific–the principal supplier of non-patient donated blood to the UCSF Medical Center, UCSF Mt. Zion, and San Francisco General Hospital–will be on site with their blood mobile outside Millberry Union. Those who donate blood on April 21 will receive a t-shirt, hat, and sunglasses. Sign up today by visiting www.bloodheroes.com, click “Donate Blood” and enter sponsor code UCSF150. Mark your calendar, tell your friends, check MUNI and UCSF shuttle times, and plan on being at the Party on Parnassus! For more information, please visit: Events Calendar on ucsf.edu or ucsf.edu/150.
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Columns » Let’s Get Physical...Therapy!
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Ilka Felsen Staff Writer
C arpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is an irritating condition that affects 1-3% of
the general population. UCSF graduate students appear to be at an especially high risk for CTS, although published research has yet to demonstrate this. CTS is characterized by numbness, tingling, burning or pain in the thumb, index and middle fingers. Often pain is not the immediate concern; rather, many individuals with CTS complain of numbness in the middle of the night, relieved by shaking the hand. CTS occurs when the median nerve becomes compressed within the carpal tunnel. Women are three times more likely to be affected than men, thought to be due to their narrower carpal tunnel. Exam findings include slowing of median nerve conduction secondary to nerve compression, and decreased grip strength. Risk factors include older age, obesity, female gender, and comorbidity of another medical condition. Specifically relevant to physical therapy, individuals who have a prior distal upper extremity disorder, engage in recreational hand activities
greater than three hours a week or forceful hand exertions on the job, and use vibrating tools are at a greater risk for CTS. Interestingly, Fan et al. demonstrated in a multi-site cross sectional study that wrist posture and repetitive wrist motions are not associated with an increase in CTS. What you can do about it Typically, conservative treatment involves an honest examination of activities that aggravate symptoms. Avoid repetitive gripping and pinching, and examine your current workplace set up and daily posture. Are you married to your mouse? Hunched over your pipette? Drowning in your computer? If so, that all needs to change now! Your head and neck trialx.com should remain upright throughout the day. The addition of wearing a splint at night may also alleviate symptoms. The splint should be worn throughout the night and maintain your wrist in a neutral position, as this is associated with the lowest carpal tunnel pressure. Lastly, take a break from intensive work activities as often as possible. Intermittent
CARPAL TUNNEL » PAGE 7
UCSF Journal Club Taylor LaFlam Science Editor
D EVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY: Emergence of hematopoietic stem
and progenitor cells involves a Chd1dependent increase in total nascent transcription. Koh, F.M., et al. (RamalhoSantos, M.). PNAS. 2015. Epub ahead of print.
The interior surface of the small intestine is covered with numerous projections called villi, covered with a single layer of epithelial cells. These cells differentiate from stem cells located at the base of the villi and make their way up the villi before being shed.
The long-lasting hematopoietic stem cells that occupy the bone marrow and proliferate and differentiate into new blood cells throughout life arise from endothelium in the embryo. Much is unknown about how this endothelial-tohematopoietic transition is controlled.
Previous research has shown that one of these stem cells can differentiate into both absorptive cells and secretory cells, but what controls the balance between these two fates has been unclear. In this paper, the authors show that a balancing act between two signaling pathways is crucial.
Here the Ramalho-Santos lab reports that the chromatin-remodeling protein Chd1 is essential for this process. Deletion of the Chd1 gene in endothelium leads to anemia and death of the mouse embryo fifteen days after conception. Interestingly, when the gene is deleted hematopoietic cells, the mice survive.
Blocking Notch receptors leads to excessive production of secretory cells due to increased Wnt pathway activity. They show that if the Wnt pathway is also dampened, balance is restored. The authors suggest this Notch-Wnt interaction may be important in other types of stem cells.
The researchers found that as the endothelial cells transition to being hematopoietic, there is an overall increase in transcription. It is this increase that requires Chd1. Once the transition is complete, Chd1 is no longer essential. STEM CELL BIOLOGY: Opposing activities of Notch and Wnt signaling regulate intestinal stem cells and gut homeostasis. Tian, H., et al. (Klein, O.D.). Cell Rep. 2015. Epub ahead of print.
CANCER BIOLOGY: Signalling thresholds and negative B-cell selection in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Chen, Z., et al. (Müschen, M.). Nature. 2015. Epub ahead of print. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) predominantly occurs in children, in which case there is a greater than 80 percent chance of a cure. For adults who develop ALL, however, survival rates are considerably worse.
JOURNAL CLUB » ONLINE
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[Exit, Pursued by Science] History of Science: Discoveries and Re-Discoveries Hanna Starobinets Staff Writer
R eviving Ancient Medicine Bald’s Leechbook is one of the world’s
oldest surviving medical texts. Dating to the 10th century and written in English and Latin in a Benedictine priory in Winchester, England, the text is preserved in the British Library and contains a collection of ancient “charms and potions” that served as remedies for various ailments and conditions. The British Library catalogue translates a Latin note that Bald was the book’s owner who enlisted Cild to write and compile it for him. Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham in England, Christina Lee, whose research encompasses Viking and Anglo-Saxon Studies, has recently translated a thousand-year old recipe for an “eye salve” or eye infection remedy. The eye salve is a concoction of two species of Allium (the genus that includes onion, garlic, chives, scallion, shallot and leek), wine, and oxgall (cow stomach bile), which must be mixed in a brass container, strained and incubated for nine days prior to topical use. Curious to test the ancient remedy, Dr. Lee collaborated with some of the University of Nottingham’s microbiologists to prepare the salve and test it on bacteria in culture, forming the interdisciplinary AncientBiotics team. Staphylococcus aureus was first cultured on collagen in vitro and treated with either the salve or each of its individual ingredients. While none of the individual components had antibacterial effects, the complete salve destroyed 99.99% of the bacterial culture.
It even worked on S. aureus cultured as dense biofilms, which are typically more resistant to antibiotics. When the salve was diluted to concentrations that did not kill the bacteria, the scientists observed that it interfered with the intercellular communication process called quorum sensing. Because this process allows a bacterial population to coordinate gene expression in response to growth density, aiding the formation of antibiotic-resistant biofilms, some groups are already searching for therapeutic agents to block quorum sensing during infection. The salve was further tested on mouse wounds infected with antibiotic-resistant S. aureus by the group of Kendra Rumbaugh at Texas Tech University. The salve performed equally or better than any modern antibiotic in treating these infected wounds, though no treatment was 100% effective. Modern science has certainly improved health orders of magnitude beyond what any ancient remedies could accomplish. Many of those remedies were also products of superstition and fiction, nonfunctional at best and harmful at worst. However, among the many potions concocted without proper controls or statistical power that have been buried by history, we occasionally find those that were clearly designed with a careful and observant trial and error that preceded formal scientific method. Many currently prescribed medications arose from natural products, and pharmaceutical
EXIT SCIENCE » PAGE 7
This Date in UCSF History Taylor LaFlam Science Editor
F rom 35 Years Ago: Vol. 24, No. 23, April 17, 1980: Today, emergency medicine (EM) seems a solidly entrenched and respectable medical specialty. Compared to many specialties, however, it is a latecomer. The first emergency rooms were staffed in an ad hoc fashion by internal medicine and surgery residents. The first dedicated training program in EM was begun at the University of Cincinnati in 1970, and board certification in EM was first offered in 1979. It was in those years of rapidly burgeoning but still nascent field that Synapse ran the article “The rise and fall of emergency medicine” by Susan Stern. The first SFGHbased EM residency had begun in the middle of 1979. Less than two years later, before its first residents had even graduated, a group of UCSF school of medicine administrators and SFGH department chairs decided to end the residency. “None of the emergency medicine faculty or residents, however, were present at the decisive meeting,” reported Stern. H. Barrio Fairley, associate dean of the UCSF school of medicine, attributed the decision
to shutter the program to the departure of its director and associate director. Some provisions were made for the residents, including allowing the thirdyear residents to complete their programs as scheduled, helping interns transfer to other residencies, and cobbling together a mixture of SFGH and Highland rotations to get the second-year residents through their remaining year and a half. It was those second-year residents that felt particularly exposed. One of them, Nancy Gorham, was paraphrased as wondering “whether after this fragmented training they will ultimately be considered board eligible in their specialty and graduates of an accredited program.” She also lamented that she and her fellow residents “are being treated, ‘as if we are less competent, less intelligent, less astute, less dedicated. . . like second-class doctors’” by some other UCSF residents. Although the inciting event for ending the residency may have been the loss of two critical faculty members, Storm’s article made clear that there was significant skepticism of the specialty itself. Donald Trunkey, chair of surgery at SFGH, “says
UCSF HISTORY » PAGE 7
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Articles continued » Lowenstein » FROM FRONT PAGE recognized nationally for our groundbreaking innovations. I’d say [one] of the challenges [has] been the partitioning of our campus. And that’s a challenge that we’re going to continue to face for the foreseeable future. And a second major challenge, and something that I’m particularly concerned about now as EVCP, is the cost of living in the bay area. The general trajectory of the cost of living in the bay area will continue for the foreseeable future, and I see it as probably the single greatest threat to UCSF. It affects every single member of our community. Synapse: You’ve had a hand in many aspects at UCSF in patient care, research and teaching. How much of a role will you continue to have in these areas as you take on your new role as EVCP? Part of the arrangement that I made with the chancellor was that as EVCP I will continue my work in epilepsy research. I’ll also maintain much of the teaching that I’ve been doing over the years, in particular the neuroscience course for medical students. The most difficult part of the decision to take on this new role has been the need to discontinue my clinical practice for at least the coming year. Synapse: Can you tell me more about your research? My work has been primarily in the genetics of human epilepsy. I’ll tell you briefly how we have just started the passage into the era of precision medicine. With many colleagues, we created a project in 2006 that was successful in enrolling more than 4000 people with specific forms of epilepsy. We collected detailed phenotypic information as well as DNA with the goal of doing whole exome and whole genome sequencing to try to discover the genes that contribute to certain forms of epilepsy. The first major success was with a subgroup of the patients who have particularly severe forms of epilepsy that typically begin in early childhood. Our hypothesis was that these children had de novo mutations because their disorders were not inherited in a typical Mendelian fashion. By doing whole exome sequencing and comparing the sequences of the affected children and their normal parents, we were successful
Lunch box » FROM FRONT PAGE to teach 9 classes to 180 students in grades 1-3. Volunteers in each classroom presented elementary school students with fun dental-related activities. The students were excited to learn and answer our questions about healthy nutritional snacking habits. They were even more amazed to learn about plaque build-up and the tooth decay process. Then, all seven labels inside a demo lunch box were presented and explained to the elementary school students. Students learned about the organized dentistry supporting the Lessons in a Lunch Box Program, the proper way to brush teeth, healthy food charts, and Dental Care in a Carrot Case. The case was opened to
in identifying a number of causative mutations. One particular mutation was in a potassium channel subunit named KCNT1. In vitro experiments demonstrated that, surprisingly, the drug quinidine was capable of reversing the dominant mutation effect. Shortly after and based on this finding, quinidine, which is an FDAapproved drug, was used in a child with a KCNT1 mutation and this led to a dramatic improvement in the patient’s epilepsy. The same result has now been observed in other children harboring KCNT1 mutations. I think this is just the beginning of the application of precise diagnostics and the discovery of personalized therapeutics for patients with epilepsy. Synapse: Could you share some of your thoughts on the diversity initiatives at UCSF? On one hand, I’ve seen this campus be a lead institution in terms of recognizing the vital importance of diversity, both in terms of social justice and the impact of a diverse workforce on the quality of healthcare and research. That being said, there’s still so much more to do in terms of creating an environment that fully upholds the principles of equal opportunity and inclusivity. What I see – yet again – is the way our students can open our eyes to a better world. The most recent example, of course, is their white coats for black lives initiative that started last December, and captured the attention of the entire country. I know I speak for the chancellor when I say that the top leadership has taken notice, and is planning concrete steps that will increase our awareness of the centrality of diversity and inclusivity in our mission, and allow our community to become more reflective of the population of California. Synapse: Where do you see UCSF going over the next 5, 10, 20 years? Creativity is at the core of UCSF, and I am sure we will do everything we can to maintain this essence. As a public institution, we have a contract with society that, in exchange for resources we’re given by the taxpayers, we will do everything in our power to ensure that our understanding of the nature of health and disease, and our ability to heal, continue to improve as much as is humanly possible. Lauren Shields is a fourth-year BMS student.
display the contents, which included a toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss. After the large group activities, the volunteers directly demonstrated brushing and flossing techniques on a typodont models with small groups of elementary children. The lunch boxes were distributed to the students at the end of each classroom session. The one-of-a-kind Lessons in a Lunch Box program was first introduced to SNDA through the 2014 NDA National Convention held in New Orleans, LA. The program has now reached 33 states. With the ever expanding commitment of organized dentistry this initiative will have more “boots on the ground” to increase dental health awareness and effectively impact elementary schools in other states. Ivy Fua is a third-year dental student.
Ultrasound
residents that were learning the scan for the first time.
» FROM FRONT PAGE
After the elective celebrated its final scans in February, the first year course participants emerged as the next generation of ultrasound pioneers. Burch, McGinness, and several of their peers quickly registered as an official student group, referred to as POCUS, and acquired funding for the highly anticipated Ultrasound Skills Exposition. The upcoming exposition will be an opportunity for course participants to demonstrate various scans to their peers and to showcase the ways that ultrasound could be integrated into the curriculum.
that it requires no prior experience to start learning.” In September, this declaration was put to the test when the second-year ultrasound crusaders selected sixteen students from the entering class to learn seven high-yield scans. The ultrasound curriculum was judged to be a wholehearted success. “The group of MS2’s did a tremendous job,” gushes Tiesmann, “both in terms of the basic logistics of creating an elective from scratch as well as passing on their knowledge and enthusiasm to the first year students (MS1) who participated.” Indeed, the elective included instruction in technique, as well as complex clinical cases – with standardized patients portrayed by student coordinators - timed to match the first year curriculum. Although the elective had no funding, and nearly all instruction was student led, the participants of the ultrasound elective overwhelmingly report that the elective has enhanced their pre-clinical education. Anelah McGinness, one such MS1, remarks, “There is no better way to apply what I learned about GI and liver anatomy than by looking for the bile duct, the portal and hepatic veins in a real, live patient.” Another elective participant, Libby Burch, enthusiastically describes using her newly acquired ultrasound skills during her preceptorship among interns and even
Career » FROM PAGE 3 for last week. I’ve just received another offer, but Organization #2 remains my top choice. Any insight you could give about where you are in your hiring process would be greatly appreciated.” If you’re a top candidate, their questions will focus on who made you the offer, and your timeframe. They will then get back in touch with you with an offer as well. If you’re not their top candidate, they’ll say they’re uncertain of their timeframe, or don’t plan to make a decision for several weeks. 3. Should I risk turning down Organization #1 and wait for Organization #2? One of the interesting quirks of human nature is the extra positive feeling we get because we’ve chosen between different options, regardless of how good they are. It’s why so many of us take our time to glance over the whole menu at a restaurant. In reality, we’re rarely choosing our optimal choice, but the best choice between the options available to us on the menu. When deciding between positions we recommend a different decision making process: Compare your various job options against your ideal position, rather than between each other. A helpful rule of thumb is that if over 80% of the features of a position meet your criteria of your ideal position, it’s probably is a good fit for you. Consider the factors of your ideal position - what matters to you? Is it location, the day-to-day responsibilities, salary, your boss, autonomy, or room for growth? In this case, rather than wondering if Organization #2’s position would be a better fit for you, ask yourself if Organization #1’s position meets your 80%
The conference comes in the midst of a long-anticipated curriculum overhaul, and both students and faculty hope that the new curriculum somehow incorporates the groundwork laid by POCUS. “I believe ultrasound is a crucial component of any physical exam skills curriculum and would love to see it better incorporated into our future curriculae,” opines FPC Course CoDirector, Dr. Heather Whelan. Whelan, who is not affiliated with POCUS, plans to attend the exposition, along with FPC heavyweights Joshua Stein and Jenny Crawford. Several deans also are rumored to be expected to attend. If you want to attend – any interested students and faculty are invited to join on Friday April 24 from 3-6 pm in the Milberry Union Conference Center. Libby Burch is a first-year medical student.
threshold. If it doesn’t, that’s more reason to wait. Finally, what’s the #1 question students and postdocs ask? 4. Can I accept Organization #1’s position, and then move to Organization #2 if they do ultimately make me an offer? This question is usually paired with the justification that at many organizations, you are an at-will employee, which means that Organization #1 one could fire you at any time. These situations aren’t really comparable to the scenario in this article: accepting an offer, than dropping it for something ‘better.’ It’s not the norm for organizations to make you an offer, only to rescind it a few weeks later because a ‘better’ candidate became available. Can you take a position and leave it in a few weeks if you get another offer you consider to be better? The short answer is that you can, but you probably not without consequences, if not to your career, but also to relationships you consider important. In addition to burning bridges at the Organization #1, your decision may become known to other employers if your hiring manager is well-networked in your field. Finally, there are your references to consider. They may also have contacts at Organization #1. Your decision to renege may also affect their reputation, as they vouched for your professionalism as a reference. Ultimately, they might not agree to serve as a reference for you in the future. As you can see, this decision can be a difficult one. It sometimes helps to talk through your thought process and the factors influencing your decision. If you’d like help, schedule an appointment with an OCPD counselor at (415) 476-4986. Naledi Saul is the director of the Office for Career and Professional Development.
synapse.ucsf.edu
Articles continued » GPSA » FROM PAGE 3 Francisco has been an increasing concern of UCSF students and administration. As a result, the UCSF Housing has been working to increase the number of available housing units to the incoming UCSF students. Due to the high cost of real estate in SF, as well as some longstanding housing contracts with a portion of the current tenants, opening up new housing has been a challenge. Vice Chancellor of Campus Life Services, Clare Shinnerl, came to the Monday meeting to hear student government feedback on issues surrounding housing shortages. Vice Chancellor Shinnerl reassured the GPSA board that the University has begun the long-term process of acquiring new housing. The new strategy is to implement no more than 2-year term limits for students to allow enough time for students to become familiar with the city, and to then to enable the incoming students to reside in the UCSF Housing during their first two years. GPSA posed some ideas on how to improve the housing situation for incoming students. One suggestion was to allocate housing with priority to incoming students over postdocs and faculty. Another suggestion was to make the off-campus housing referral service more robust and streamlined to help connect landlords in the city with UCSF students. Student Services Fee Advisory Committee Update The annual revenue from student fees is gathered and distributed among student service units on campus, such as Office of Career & Professional Development, Student Health, Fitness and Recreation, Family Services, Arts & Events, and Student Life. An annual committee of
Exit Science » FROM PAGE 5
companies continue to search through natural plant and animal products in search of new therapies. It is exciting when history lends a hand to modern discovery, and if further studies of Bald’s eye salve help develop a new treatment for antibioticresistant “superbugs,” a lost 10th century scientist can claim some posthumous glory. These findings were presented at the 2015 Annual Conference of the Society for General Microbiology in Birmingham, England. Sources: University of Nottingham, British Library
Reviving the Woolly Mammoth George Church’s group at Harvard is using CRISPR gene editing to splice woolly mammoth genes into elephant skin cells. Although the work has not been peer reviewed or published, it received a frenzy of media attention in late March due to its futuristic and controversial nature. While some worry about the parallels to Jurassic Park, Church has argued that science should be “both practical and awe-inspiring,” and that one example of genetic “de-extinction” would change the landscape of possibilities for endangered ecosystems. The group is using DNA from woolly mammoth samples extracted from Arctic permafrost and is splicing genes associated
| April 16, 2015 | 7
Solutions »
student leaders and administrative faculty gathers to review financial proposals form each of the units to verify how the funds are utilized, as well as, to review requests for additional funding. The funds from student fees therefore cover hiring personnel needed to run the aforementioned units, as well as, the resources required to run student events. Most units have independent funding sources to supplement student services fees, which are by themselves inadequate to maintain all the services offered on the UCSF campus. Due to the persistent nature of inflation, there is a 4% annual increase in the cost of personnel hiring, which includes salary and benefits increases. This year, the Student Services Fee Advisory Committee (SSFAC) was hesitant to approve any increases in funding. The committee made the decision to remain revenue-neutral, meaning that a funding reserve of about 10% will be retained as a safety net, even if requests to increase funding are received. Any student service unit requiring additional revenue to support annual benefits increases will need to secure independent funding sources. The UC Council on Student Fees convenes on April 11-12 at UC Merced. Student representatives Henock Woldu and Polina Pulyanina of the School of Pharmacy will be in attendance. Volunteers Needed for Inside UCSF Inside UCSF is an annual program that welcomes undergraduate students interested in attending UCSF for a two day orientation. This program allows students to get to know the University from the inside. Student volunteers are needed to help guide visitors during this event. If you are interested in volunteering for Inside UCSF, please email Jennifer Rosko at Jennifer.Rosko@ucsf.edu.
Solution to Crossword: S T A R
W A D E
A C M E
B O I L D P I L O A N E W S T A N S O P R B L E E L E T T O A H U A V E R T E R N
S P N I E C W E T P D I R E A D P E R A C E
T A S T E A N T I S P A M
A I R N D A T E R S E B A G R R R O G O V A K E I N A V F O P O I R O L O T E
S O R T T H I E E T A T O F I E L R E N T R Y
Carpal Tunnel
A G A I N
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» FROM PAGE 5 wrist and finger motion for one minute can lower the pressure in the carpal tunnel. Surgical treatment Surgical decompression of the carpal tunnel has actually been found to be more
UCSF History » FROM PAGE 5
that the country needs fewer emergency physicians -- and emergency rooms -- than emergency medicine proponents claim. He also claims that surgeons are better qualified than emergency physicians, who he calls ‘glorified paramedics,’ to handle trauma cases.” Conversely, Melvin Cheitlin, acting chair of medicine at SFGH, “says that most internists, including Dr.
Solution to Sudoku
Sources: Popular Science, Discovery Magazine, Re/ code, Scientific American, Wired
Hanna Starobinets is a fourth-year BMS student.
Read Synapse Online at synapse.ucsf.edu
Ilka Felsen is a third-year physical therapy student.
Sande, who will soon become chief of medicine at SFGH, feels that internists are better qualified than emergency physicians to take care of primary care patients.” Today, the UCSF-SFGH EM residency is substantial, with 36 full-time faculty and 14 residents per year, according to its website. To get that there, however, required some resuscitation. Taylor LaFlam is a fourth-year BMS / sixth-year MSTP student.
with cold weather resistance such as those regulating hair length and color, fat stores and small ear size. The result at the moment is that somewhere in Boston, Massachusetts is a plate of healthily growing elephant-mammoth hybrid skin cells cranking out mammoth proteins for the first time in 4000 years. Awe-inspiring, indeed.
Speaking of Jurassic Park, there was another flurry of news about paleontologists reviving the Brontosaurus. That revival was figurative, reclassifying Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus into separate genera after they were ruled identical in 1903 by Elmer Riggs. A recent publication in PeerJ by Emanuel Tschopp et al from the New University of Lisbon in Portugal catalogued hundreds of physical features and concluded that the two were, indeed, distinct. Now if only astronomers would revive poor demoted Pluto…
effective than conservative management at restoring nerve conduction and reducing pain, at both six and twelve months post treatment. As improvements are noted in both conservatively and surgically treated patients, conservative care is recommended as the first line of treatment to avoid complications associated with surgery.
Polina Pulyanina is a third-year pharmacy student.
Future plans for the research include in vitro differentiation into other specialized cells and organoids to test their function, followed by growing hybrid embryos in artificial wombs. If successful, this study should produce a cold-resistant hybrid elephant and lead the way to further genetic manipulation to potentially revive a pure mammoth.
UCSF newspaper Synapse ad: 5” x 4”
8 | Arpil 16, 2015
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Puzzles »
Humans of UCSF »
The Crossword
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18 Small salamander 22 Greek letter DOWN 24 Type of hunter 1 Phone button 26 Gridiron play 2 Boggs of 27 Wild about 28 ____ of faith baseball 3 Top spot 30 Understand, 4 Essentially slangily April 2015 - Issue 2 31 Wander about amount (to) 5 Mint or marjoram 33 Like a fairy tale 6 Sample piper 7 Picnic pest 34 Negative prefix 8 March date 35 Send packing 9 Steak request 36 Engine sound 10 Combat flight 37 No more than 11 One more time 39 Window 12 Arm support covering 13 Swamp grass
40 Lotion or talc 44 Word in a sequel title 45 Woodland plant 46 Become swollen 47 Shove off 48 Anesthetic of old 50 In the works 51 Semi-sheer material 53 Track event 54 Junk e-mail 56 In ___ of (rather than) 57 Like some grins 58 Kelly or Hackman 61 Paid athlete
Edited by Margie E. Burke
Difficulty : Medium
Copyright 2015 by The Puzzle Syndicate
Solution to Sudoku
HOW TO SOLVE:
Humans of UCSF is a student-run project aimed at putting a name to the faces we see on campus. View the project on our Facebook page (facebook.com/UCSFsynapse) or on our website (synapse.ucsf.edu/humans-of-ucsf).
Photo by Hanna Starobinets
“I was born and raised in Sri Lanka where I first became fascinated by biology after reading ‘The Selfish Gene’ by Richard Dawkins in high school. I decided that I had to come to the US for college because I really liked the ethos of a liberal arts education. I enrolled at Smith College where in my first year I ran for class president using ‘Vote for Yvanka from Sri Lanka’ as my slogan, and won! While at Smith I realized that I enjoyed the thrill of discovery, and decided to pursue a PhD. Fast forward to the present and I’m a graduate student in the BMS program, working on cardiac reprogramming - I am fascinated by the mechanisms that control cell fate!” —Yvanka de Soysa UCSF Graduate Division Second Year BMS Student
Comics »
Piled Higher and Deeper
By Jorge Cham
(Answer appears elsewhere in this issue)
SOLUTIONS » PAGE 7
xkcd
By Randall Monroe