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All About the Human Microbiome
The human microbiome is a relatively new area of research, and there are numerous questions surrounding it. What is the human microbiome? Can we change it? Does it make us sick? Keep us well? ISB Assistant Professor and microbiome researcher Dr. Sean Gibbons answers these questions — and many more.
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Spotlight on Amy Zamora, ISB Systems Research Scholar
Amy Zamora joined ISB in August as a Systems Research Scholar. The Systems Research Scholars Program provides recent college undergraduates a springboard to become the next generation’s pioneers of interdisciplinary scientific research. In this Q&A, Zamora describes her experiences at ISB, research interests, future aspirations, and much more.
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Spotlight on James Yurkovich, ISB Translational Research Fellow
Dr. James Yurkovich joined ISB this summer as a Translational Research Fellow. The three-year Translational Research Fellows Program provides a unique opportunity for bench-to-bedside translational research with mentorship from experts in systems biology and clinical research. In this Q&A, Yurkovich delves into his research interests, future aspirations, hobbies, and more.
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Dr. Kyle Kinoshita Accepts Valerie Logan Leadership in Science Education Award
Dr. Kyle Kinoshita was honored with the Valerie Logan Leadership in Science Education Award at ISB’s Valerie Logan Luncheon. This award is presented to community leaders who are committed to an educational practice grounded in research, who build educational networks, and who share ISB’s bold vision that all children should have the opportunity to learn science.
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Dr. Wei Wei Joins ISB Faculty
Prior to joining ISB’s faculty, Dr. Wei Wei earned his Ph.D. from Caltech and served as a faculty member at UCLA Medical School. In this Q&A, Wei discusses his research career to date, how research might change over the next decade, and much more.
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Dr. Sean Gibbons joins ISB faculty as WRF Distinguished Investigator
Dr. Sean Gibbons has joined ISB as our newest faculty member. Gibbons’ new position brings a number of changes, including relocating to the Pacific Northwest from the Northeast. Read on for a Q&A with Gibbons that sheds light on his research career to date, areas of study and even a hidden talent.
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Bench to Blackboard: Q&A with Dr. Colleen Sheridan
Once an immunologist focusing on research at ISB, Colleen Sheridan followed her passion and became a tenure-track college biology professor focusing on teaching. Sheridan was awarded the Valerie Logan Leadership in Science Education Award, and describes her professional transformation in this Q&A.
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ISB Q&A: Martin Shelton, Post-Doctoral Fellow
Dr. Martin Shelton is a post-doctoral fellow in the Hood Lab. Q: What are you currently working on? Our project, which I work on jointly with Rhishikesh Bargaje and Kalliopi Trachana, along with many other great collaborators both within and outside of the ISB, involves measuring the changes that occur within individual cells as populations of those cells transition from one state to another. We use, as a model system,…
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ISB Q&A: David Gibbs, Research Scientist
You have to have fun. ISB founder Dr. Lee Hood always reminds staff that it’s important to do great work, and it’s also important to have fun. In that spirit, we feature CatterPlots, a “silly idea” that brought a smile to many scientists. Q: What is CatterPlots and how is it used? David Gibbs: The R programming environment is organized around a large collection of software packages. Many packages are…
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ISB Q&A: Ruth West
Ruth West is a creative catalyst and veteran in the field of art+science integration. Her groundbreaking work Atlas in silico is a physically interactive and immersive virtual reality art+science installation that is driven by data from the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition, a survey of marine microbial communities led by the J. Craig Venter Institute. Atlas in silico offers visitors a dream-like and aesthetic experience of the pioneering science of metagenomics….
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A New Way to View ISB’s Publications
Communicating basic science research to a broad and diverse audience poses a few challenges. The questions that drive ISB’s communications strategy and tactics concern how best to optimize lean resources in order to convey research milestones in ways that are detailed enough to address our scientists’ standards for specificity and also are accessible enough to connect with our lay audience. We constantly ask ourselves how we can take a given…
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Exploring the Invisible Forest
Gallery above: Dr. Anne Thompson and research assistant Allison Lee traveled to Station ALOHA in Hawaii on a research cruise to collect water samples and various species of organisms. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCE-1558924. What’s the “invisible forest” and what does it have to do with environmental research? Dr. Anne Thompson who was in the Baliga Lab at…
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ISB Q&A: Dr. Kalli Trachana
Photo by Hsiao-Ching Chou Dr. Kalli Trachana is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr Lee Hood’s Lab. She recently was featured in the “People in Research” column in the Puget Sound Business Journal (bit.ly/ktpsbj1). She also was accepted into Singularity University’s Global Solutions Program, which takes place over 10 weeks this summer in Mountain View, CA. She will be immersed in incubator-type courses and be surrounded by Silicon Valley tech icons….
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ISB Q&A: Dr. Robert Moritz on Ötzi the Iceman
Ötzi the Iceman: In a study published in the Jan. 8, 2016, issue of the journal Science, researchers from the Moritz group at ISB collaborated with a worldwide consortia headed by Prof. Albert Zink and Dr. Frank Maixner, of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman at the European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC) in Italy; Prof. Thomas Rattei, of the University of Vienna; and Dr. Rudi Grimm, of University of…
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ISB Q&A: Nina Arens and Pop-Up Science
Q: What is your role? A: I am a Research Associate for the Baliga Lab, where I perform genome-wide experiments that feed into the complex, predictive software tools that we create here. One project I work on investigates how microbial communities respond to stressful environmental changes over time. It is challenging research: my model organism—Desulfovibrio vulgaris—is hard to grow at the bench. Desulfovibrio is anaerobic; it likes to grow in…
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ISB Q&A: Nick Newcombe, Director of Development
Q: What is your role as Director of Development? Nick Newcombe: In my role, I plan and implement how and in what ways we are going to deepen our contributor’s connection to ISB and give them the opportunity to further invest in our mission and vision. I empower our science and development/communications staff and volunteers to help carry out this plan. We want our contributors to receive outreach from the…
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ISB Q&A: Cora Chadick, Core Facilities Coordinator
Q: What is your role as Core Facilities Coordinator? Cora Chadick: In the Molecular and Cell (MC) Core, I train researchers how to use and/or I operate for them lab instrumentation such as flow cytometers, fluorescence microscopes, pipetting robots, NextGen sequencers and other various pieces of equipment. I also assist in planning experiments when core instruments are utilized and preform various administrative duties to keep everything running smoothly. Q: What…
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ISB Q&A: Chris Witwer, CIP
Q: What is your role as the Associate Director for Compliance? CW: I am responsible for providing leadership on complex risk management issues, ensuring program accountability, and driving the Institute’s compliance efforts in a complex, often ambiguous, regulatory environment. Primary areas of responsibility include: human subjects research, investigator conflicts of interest, export control, and responsible conduct in research. Q: Why is it necessary and important for ISB to have this…
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