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Life Sciences Division Newsletter

December 2012

In this issue:

Scientific News »

Developing a Quick Way to ID People Exposed to Ionizing Radiation »
Medical Imaging Goes Underground to Map Soil Changes »
Lab Scientists Help Develop Promising Therapy for Huntington’s Disease »
Protein Folding Funnels Apply to Self-Assembly; Should Benefit Biomimicry and Nanosynthesis »
New Study of Response to Low-Dose Radiation »
Patent on Semiconductor Material Issued to Stephen Derenzo and Team »
In the News »
Recent Publications »

Awards & Grants Highlights »

2013 Lab Directed Research and Development Awards Announced »
Celniker Named 2012 AAAS Fellow »
Researchers Claim Their R&D100 Awards »
Life Scientists Honored by American Society for Cell Biology »
Bizarri Wins New Award for Ba-based Scintillators Project »

Divisional News »

Life Sciences Builds Gingerbread House and Support for Ethiopian Project at Holiday Party »
Early Career Scientists Society Elections Held »
Final Results of Runaround Race Posted; Winners in Life Sciences »
Bay Area Congressional and State Legislative Officials' Staff Visit Lab »
Lab Hosts Thousands at Open House; Life Sciences Dives into Biology with Visitors »

Employee News »

Chiolo Exchanges Bay View for Los Angeles’ Hollywood Sign »
Gray Highlighted as All-star Researcher in War on Cancer; Life Scientist Advises on Article »

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Scientific News

Developing a Quick Way to ID People Exposed to Ionizing Radiation

Andy Wryobek (c) with research group

In the aftermath of a dirty bomb or nuclear power plant explosion, emergency personnel will be faced with a deluge of urgent tasks, such as identifying who’s been irradiated, who has an injury-induced infection, and who’s suffering from both. Unfortunately, there isn’t a quick way to screen for exposure to dangerous levels of radiation or distinguish between radiation exposure and infection from injury or chemical exposure. A much faster way could be coming. Research by Lab life scientists could lead to a blood test that detects radiation exposure, measures the dose, and separates people suffering from inflammation injuries — all in a matter of hours.

They report their research in a paper recently published online in the journal PLOS ONE. Life Sciences Andy Wyrobek conducted the research with fellow Life Sciences scientists Helen Budworth and Antoine Snijders, as well as several other scientists from Berkeley Lab and other institutions. More »
Adapted from Today at Berkeley Lab, December 18, 2012

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Medical Imaging Goes Underground to Map Soil Changes

SPECT images of a flow tracer in a sediment column

The same medical imaging technology that doctors use to noninvasively image the heart and brain is now giving scientists a close-up view of the subsurface world. Berkeley Lab scientists are developing a way to use Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, or SPECT, to map 3-D changes in sediment samples without disturbing them. Their work could help improve the clean up of soil contaminants such as heavy metals. It could also help researchers learn how to best store carbon underground, where it can’t contribute to climate change. The latest results of this research, led by Bill Moses of Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division and Peter Nico of the Earth Sciences Division, were reported December 6 at the 2012 meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco. More »
Adapted from Today at Berkeley Lab, December 14, 2012

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Lab Scientists Help Develop Promising Therapy for Huntington’s Disease

neuron isolated from Huntington's disease mouse model

Neuron isolated from a Huntington's disease mouse model (Image by McMurray lab)

There’s new hope in the fight against Huntington’s disease. Researchers in the Life Sciences Division have helped develop a compound that suppresses symptoms of the devastating neurodegenerative disease in mice. The compound is a synthetic antioxidant that targets mitochondria, an organelle within cells that serves as a cell’s power plant. Oxidative damage to mitochondria is implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. Cynthia McMurray and Zhiyin Xun helped lead the effort. More »
Today at Berkeley Lab, November 2, 2012

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Protein Folding Funnels Apply to Self-Assembly; Should Benefit Biomimicry and Nanosynthesis

Jim DeYoreo and Carolyn Bertozzi led a team of researchers at the Molecular Foundry that demonstrated the concept that folding funnels applies equally to individual and ensembles of proteins. Their findings provide important guidelines for future efforts in biomimicry — technological innovation inspired by nature — particularly for device fabrication and nanoscale synthesis. Also working on this study were Seong-Ho Shin, Sungwook Chung, Babak Sanii and Life Sciences Luis Comolli. More »
Today at Berkeley Lab, November 1, 2012

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New Study of Response to Low-Dose Radiation

Andy Wyrobek (l) and Antoine Snijders (Photo by Roy Kaltschmid, LBNL)

Berkeley Lab scientists have identified tissue mechanisms that may influence a woman’s susceptibility or resistance to breast cancer after exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation, such as that used in full-body CT scans and radiotherapy. The research could lead to new ways to identify women with higher or lower risks of breast cancer from low-dose radiation, predictive tools that could help guide the treatment of patients who may be better served by nonradiation therapies. The findings also support the idea that a person’s genes play a big role in determining the risk of breast cancer from low-dose radiation. The research was conducted by Andy Wyrobek, Antoine Snijders, Joe Gray, and other Berkeley Lab scientists. More »
Today at Berkeley Lab, October 17, 2012

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Patent on Semiconductor Material Issued to Stephen Derenzo and Team

Stephen Derenzo

Yetta Eagleman

The patent describes a method for identifying semiconductor radiation detector materials based on the mobility of internally generated electrons and holes. It was designed for the early stages of exploration, when samples are not available as single crystals, but as crystalline powders. Samples are confined under pressure in an electric field and the increase in current resulting from exposure to a high-intensity source of ionization current (e.g., ⁶⁰Co gamma rays) is measured. In the patent a pressure cell device is described to carry out the method. For known semiconductors, the d.c. ionization current depends on voltage according to the Hecht equation, and for known insulators the d.c. ionization current is below detection limits. This shows that the method can identify semiconductors in spite of significant carrier trapping. Using this method and pressure cell, it was determined that new materials BiOI, PbIF, BiPbO₂CI, BiPbO₂Br, BiPbO₂I, Bi₂GdO₄CI, Pb₃O₂I₂, and Pb₅O₄I₂ are semiconductors.

A copy of the patent is available for viewing or free downloading at http://free.patentfetcher.com/Patent-Fetcher-Form.php (enter the patent number 8304748 in the patent search field).

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In the News

A review of Life Sciences researchers, staff, and students who have appeared in the news media. This is but a sampling of our coverage. Please note that some links may expire after time.

An Oct. 3 Nature story looking at the role of arsenic in bacteria reviewed work by Felisa Wolfe-Simon before she arrived at the Lab. The Christian Science Monitor and LiveScience ran similar stories.
http://www.nature.com/news/arsenic-life-bacterium-prefers-phosphorous-after-all-1.11520
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/1003/Startling-discovery-debunked-bacteria-can-t-survive-on-arsenic
http://www.livescience.com/23661-arsenic-bacteria-survive-toxic-lake.html

A Dec. 8 Yahoo!Health story on recent advances in breast cancer research included efforts led by the Lab’s Mark LaBarge.
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/breastcancer/we-now-know-why-risk-breast-cancer-increase-woman-ages

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Recent Publications

What follows is a review of Life Sciences recent publications. It is not a complete list, but only a sampling.

Riddle NC, Jung YL, Gu T, Alekseyenko AA, Asker D, Gui H, Kharchenko PV, Minoda A, Plachetka A, Schwartz YB, Tolstorukov MY, Kuroda MI, Pirrotta V, Karpen GH, Park PJ, Elgin SC. Enrichment of HP1a on Drosophila chromosome 4 genes creates an alternate chromatin structure critical for regulation in this heterochromatic domain. PLoS Genetics, 2012 Sep;8(9):e1002954. Epub 2012 Sep 20. PMID:23028361 Abstract »

Brosey CA, Tsutakawa SE, Chazin WJ. Sample preparation methods to analyze DNA-induced structural changes in replication protein A. Methods Molecular Biology, 2012;922:101-22. PMID: 22976179 Abstract »

Finger LD, Atack JM, Tsutakawa S, Classen S, Tainer J, Grasby J, Shen B. The wonders of flap endonucleases: structure, function, mechanism and regulation. Subcellular Biochemistry, 2012;62:301-26. PMID: 22918592 Abstract »

Liu JS, Farlow JT, Paulson AK, Labarge MA, Gartner ZJ. Programmed cell-to-cell variability in Ras activity triggers emergent behaviors during mammary epithelial morphogenesis. Cell Reports, 2012 Oct 3. pii: S2211-1247(12)00278-1. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23041312 Abstract »

Mroue R, Bissell MJ. Three-dimensional cultures of mouse mammary epithelial cells. Methods Molecular Biology, 2013;945:221-50. PMID: 23097110 Abstract »

Vidi PA, Bissell MJ, Lelièvre SA. Three-dimensional culture of human breast epithelial cells: the how and the why. Methods Molecular Biology, 2013;945:193-219. PMID: 23097109 Abstract »

Luef B, Fakra SC, Csencsits R, Wrighton KC, Williams KH, Wilkins MJ, Downing KH, Long PE, Comolli LR, Banfield JF. Iron-reducing bacteria accumulate ferric oxyhydroxide nanoparticle aggregates that may support planktonic growth. ISME Journal, 2012 Oct 4. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23038172 Abstract »

Schmid TE, Grant PG, Marchetti F, Weldon RH, Eskenazi B, Wyrobek AJ. Elemental composition of human semen is associated with motility and genomic sperm defects among older men. Human Reproduction, 2012 Oct 5. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23042799 Abstract »

Lee DY, Bowen BP, Nguyen DH, Parsa S, Huang Y, Mao JH, Northen TR. Low-dose ionizing radiation-induced blood plasma metabolic response in a diverse genetic mouse population. Radiation Research, 2012 Oct 10. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23051006 Abstract »

Lin CH, Lee JK, Labarge MA. Fabrication and use of microenvironment microArrays (MEArrays). Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2012 Oct 11;(68). pii: 4152. PMID: 23093325 Abstract »

Snijders AM, Marchetti F, Bhatnagar S, Duru N, Han J, Hu Z, Mao JH, Gray JW, Wyrobek AJ. Genetic differences in transcript responses to low-dose ionizing radiation identify tissue functions associated with breast cancer susceptibility. PLoS One, 2012;7(10):e45394. Epub 2012 Oct 15. PMID: 23077491 Abstract »

Limbo O, Moiani D, Kertokalio A, Wyman C, Tainer JA, Russell P. Mre11 ATLD17/18 mutation retains Tel1/ATM activity but blocks DNA double-strand break repair. Nucleic Acids Research, 2012 Oct 17. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23080121 Abstract »

Blakely EA. Lauriston S. Taylor Lecture on radiation protection and measurements: What makes particle radiation so effective? Health Physics, 2012 Nov;103(5):508-28. PMID: 23032880 Abstract »

Baran R, Bowen BP, Price MN, Arkin AP, Deutschbauer AM, Northen TR. Metabolic footprinting of mutant libraries to map metabolite utilization to genotype. ACS Chemical Biology, 2012 Oct 19. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23082955 Abstract »

Alushin GM, Musinipally V, Matson D, Tooley J, Stukenberg PT, Nogales E. Multimodal microtubule binding by the Ndc80 kinetochore complex. Nature Structural Molecular Biology, 2012 Oct 21. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23085714 Abstract

Haight TJ, Jagust WJ. Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Relative contributions of biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Epidemiology, 2012 Oct 23. pii: S1047-2797(12)00364-X. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23102709 Abstract »

Walian PJ, Allen S, Shatsky M, Zeng L, Szakal ED, Liu H, Hall SC, Fisher SJ, Lam BR, Singer ME, Geller JT, Brenner SE, Chandonia JM, Hazen TC, Witkowska HE, Biggin MD, Jap BK. High-throughput isolation and characterization of untagged membrane protein complexes: outer membrane complexes of Desulfovibrio vulgaris. Journal of Proteome Research, 2012 Oct 25. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23098413 Abstract »

Sadanandam A, Lal A, Benz SC, Eppenberger-Castori S, Scott G, Gray JW, Spellman P, Waldman F, Benz CC. Genomic aberrations in normal tissue adjacent to HER2-amplified breast cancers: field cancerization or contaminating tumor cells? Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2012 Oct 27. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23104223 Abstract »

Shi K, Kurahashi K, Gao R, Tsutakawa SE, Tainer JA, Pommier Y, Aihara H. Structural basis for recognition of 5'-phosphotyrosine adducts by Tdp2. Nature Structural Molecular Biology, 2012 Oct 28. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23104058 Abstract »

Wilkinson OJ, Latypov V, Tubbs JL, Millington CL, Morita R, Blackburn H, Marriott A, McGown G, Thorncroft M, Watson AJ, Connolly BA, Grasby JA, Masui R, Hunter CA, Tainer JA, Margison GP, Williams, DM. Alkyltransferase-like protein (Atl1) distinguishes alkylated guanines for DNA repair using cation-p interactions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2012 Nov 13;109(46):18755-18760. Epub 2012 Oct 29. PMID: 23112169 Abstract »

Ciferri C, Lander GC, Maiolica A, Herzog F, Aebersold R, Nogales E. Molecular architecture of human polycomb repressive complex 2. eLife, 2012;1:e00005. Epub 2012 Oct 30. PMID: 23110252 Abstract »

Xun Z, Rivera-Sánchez S, Ayala-Peña S, Lim J, Budworth H, Skoda EM, Robbins PD, Niedernhofer LJ, Wipf P, McMurray CT. Targeting of XJB-5-131 to mitochondria suppresses oxidative DNA damage and motor decline in a mouse model of Huntington's disease. Cell Reports, 2012 Oct 30. pii: S2211-1247(12)00335-X. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23122961 Abstract »

McElwee JL, Mohanan S, Griffith OL, Breuer HC, Anguish LJ, Cherrington BD, Palmer AM, Howe LR, Subramanian V, Causey CP, Thompson PR, Gray JW, Coonrod SA. Identification of PADI2 as a potential breast cancer biomarker and therapeutic target. BMC Cancer, 2012 Oct 30;12(1):500. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23110523 Abstract »

Landau SM, Mintun MA, Joshi AD, Koeppe RA, Petersen RC, Aisen PS, Weiner MW, Jagust WJ; for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Amyloid deposition, hypometabolism, and longitudinal cognitive decline. Annals of Neurology, 2012 Oct;72(4):578-586. PMID: 23109153 Abstract »

Toledo JB, Toledo E, Weiner MW, Jack CR Jr, Jagust W, Lee VM, Shaw LM, Trojanowski JQ; Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Cardiovascular risk factors, cortisol, and amyloid-ß deposition in Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Alzheimer’s and Dementia: the Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, 2012 Nov;8(6):483-9. PMID: 23102118 Abstract »

Kronenberg A, Cucinotta FA. Space radiation protection issues. Health Physics, 2012 Nov;103(5):556-67. PMID: 23032885 Abstract »

Budworth H, Snijders AM, Marchetti F, Mannion B, Bhatnagar S, Kwoh E, Tan Y, Wang SX, Blakely WF, Coleman M, Peterson L, Wyrobek AJ. DNA repair and cell cycle biomarkers of radiation exposure and inflammation stress in human blood. PLoS One, 2012;7(11):e48619. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048619. Epub 2012 Nov 7. PMID:23144912 Abstract »

Vandehey NT, O’Neil JP, Slowey AJ, Boutchko R, Druhan JL, Moses WW, Nico PS. Monitoring Tc dynamics in a bioreduced sediment: an investigation with gamma camera imaging of 99mTc-pertechnetate and 99mTc-DTPA. Environmental Science & Technology, 46(22):12583–12590, November 20, 2012 Abstract »

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Awards & Grants Highlights

2013 Lab Directed Research and Development Awards Announced

Director Alivisatos has announced the awards for the FY2013 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. A total of about $22.3 million was allocated for 85 projects. A significant portion of the projects address the reduction of the impact of energy use at each stage of the carbon cycle, or advance the boundaries of ultrafast photon science in support of laboratory initiatives. Funded projects can be viewed here. Evaluations for the traditional Track 1 proposals used input from area and divisional review committees. A much smaller number of proposals of Lab-Wide significance went through a parallel scientific review process led by the Associate Lab Directors. Out of 31 Lab-Wide proposals submitted, 19 projects were funded (noted with asterisk in list).
Today at Berkeley Lab, December 18, 2012

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Celniker Named 2012 AAAS Fellow

Susan Celniker (Photo by Roy Kaltschmid, LBNL)

Susan Celniker of the Life Sciences Division and Wim Leemans of the Accelerator and Fusion Research Division have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for 2012. Celniker was cited for her “distinguished contributions to the fields of genomics and genetics, particularly for pioneering genomic analysis of Drosophila and discovering novel gene structures and transcript complexity,” and Leemans for his “outstanding contributions to plasma-based laser wakefield acceleration and dynamic leadership at the forefront of laser-plasma particle beam research.” A Fellows Forum will honor all 702 of the 2012 Fellows at the AAAS Boston meeting next February. More »
Today at Berkeley Lab, November 30, 2012

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Researchers Claim Their R&D100 Awards

Doajing Wang (l) accepts R&D100 Award

R&D Magazine honored the top 100 new technologies of 2012 year at its annual awards banquet Nov. 1 in Orlando. Four Berkeley Lab technologies received R&D100 Awards. Accepting Berkeley Lab’s awards were, from left to right, Daojing Wang (LSD) for Multinozzle Emitter Array; Rick Russo (EETD) for Laser Ablation Molecular Isotopic Spectrometry; and Jeff Dickert (PBD) and Simon Morton (PBD) for the Compact Variable Collimator. Not pictured: Mel Piestrup of Adelphi Technologies, Berkeley Lab’s co-nominee, for the High Output Neutron Generator.
Today at Berkeley Lab, November 8, 2012

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Life Scientists Honored by American Society for Cell Biology

Gabriel Lander (l) and Gregory Alushin

Gabriel Lander (left) and Gregory Alushin, a postdoc and graduate student, respectively, in Eva Nogales’ lab, have been honored by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). Lander will receive the 12th annual ASCB Merton Bernfield Memorial Award at this year’s Annual Meeting. The ASCB Newsletter noted: “Lander has contributed substantially to making Berkeley one of the world’s focal points of proteasome research. He has proved impressively productive, poised to make one landmark contribution after another in understanding complex macromolecular machines. Lander is technically flawless, madly prolific, intellectually gifted, and impressively creative in everything he does.”

Alushin will receive the 12th annual ASCB Norton B. Gilula Memorial Award. He was recognized for “his outstanding and reflective potential as an independent researcher of the highest caliber in structural and cell biology.” More »
Adapted from Today at Berkeley Lab, October 19, 2012

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Bizarri Wins New Award for Ba-based Scintillators Project

Greg Bizarri has been awarded funding for his project “Bright Ba-based scintillators as transparent ceramics.” The funding was awarded by the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (NA-20) for a period of three years, through FY15. In the search for low-cost scintillator materials for large-scale deployment needed for national security applications, ceramic materials have a number of advantages over the conventionally grown scintillators. The objective of Bizarri’s project is to further the development of new high performance Ba-based scintillators that have been discovered at Berkeley Lab in transparent ceramic form. This project uses the complementary facilities and expertise of three research teams at Berkeley Lab, to include Edith Bourret-Courchesne of Material Sciences; at Oakridge National Laboratory; and at the College of Optics & Photonics of the University of Central Florida.

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Divisional News

Life Sciences Builds Gingerbread House and Support for Ethiopian Project at Holiday Party

Life Sciences members came together on December 12 in the Potter Street building atrium to celebrate the holidays. They enjoyed food and drinks, Christmas carols song by retired colleague Fred Crenshaw, and Christmas cartoons. Both young and old got their hands dirty and sweet at the gingerbread table where they built a gingerbread house and decorated gingerbread men. Also, in the spirit of sharing, by means of a “make a wish drawing,” Life Sciences members raised $344 for the Rehoboth Economic Development for Women and Children (REDWC). The REDWC, a local non-profit organization whose Director Winou Wakeyo was on site to inform members, provides training and micro-loans to very poor women in Ethiopia, as well as much-needed nutritional and educational support. All proceeds go directly to the women and their children.

Decorator Chris Rosen and Chemical Sciences colleague Dahlia An show "gingerbread man octopus"

Gingerbread table host Kathy Bjornstad with master decorator Benjamin Karpen

Decorator Ken Downing with gingerbread man

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Early Career Scientists Society Elections Held

The Early Career Scientists Society (ECSS), formally Postdoc Society, has held its yearly election at an Open Forum on October 10 and has confirmed the following new officers for a one year term:
President: Aki Minoda (Karpen lab)
Vice-president: Mandana Veiseh (Bissell lab)
Secretary: Walter Georgescu (Costes lab)
Career development coordinator: Nicole Beier (Karpen lab)
Seminar leads: Michael Balamotis (Kohwi-Shigematsu lab) and Christie Canaria (McMurray lab)
Social chair: Christie Canaria (McMurray lab)
Webmaster: Cemal Bilgin (Parvin lab)

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Final Results of Runaround Race Posted; Winners in Life Sciences

The Lab’s 35th annual Runaround took place on Friday, October 19, starting at noon at the firehouse. The Bikearound started 30 minutes earlier. Participants received a souvenir t-shirt and race winners got awards. Were you one of the 643 participants in this year’s Runaround? Now you can find out where you placed among this group by checking out the recently published final results. The success of this annual event is made possible by the many employees who volunteered, from t-shirt and water distribution to time keeping and entertainment. Go here to see a list of those who helped out. And start training now for next year’s race!

Stephen Derenzo (r) with Jay Kaesling at the 2009 Runaround (Photo by Heather Pinto)

A veteran volunteer and participant, finishing first this year in the “70+ men” group, is Life Sciences Stephen Derenzo: “I have participated in the LBNL runaround each of its 35 years from 1978 to 2012. Although a lot slower than by best time of 11:46 in 1983, this year I was still able to place first in my age group.” Derenzo has played an important role in the annual event for over the past 33 year. About his role he says, “Since 1980 I have been the Runaround course and timing coordinator and prepared the results. These can be found on the A-Z index of the LBNL website at the end of the ‘R's’. I am really glad to have helped continue an event that so many at LBNL have enjoyed for so many years.”

The Runaround is only one of many races that keep Derenzo running. “I also ran in four other races this year (mostly half-marathons) and placed well in my age group. In total I have run in 288 races, 110 of them marathons and longer distances. I guess that makes me an ‘exercise fanatic’,” Derenzo confesses.

Other Runaround Life Sciences volunteers included Martin Boswell, Tom Budinger, Helen Jefferson, Qiju Peng, and Bob Smith. Human Resources Tracy Bigelow finished second in her age group.
Adapted from Today at Berkeley Lab, December 3, 2012

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Bay Area Congressional and State Legislative Officials' Staff Visit Lab

On November 27 Berkeley Lab successfully hosted a group of federal and state legislative offices "district staff" for a half day of briefings on top Lab initiatives and tours of the ALS and NCEM. The 15-member group was very engaged and the visit was a great opportunity to highlight the Lab's work in the biosciences, the development of the Richmond Bay Campus and the Lab’s aspirations for a next generation light source. Lab presenters, Aindrilla Mukhopadhyay (JBEI), David Gilbert (JGI), Mark LaBarge (Life Sciences), and Peter Denes did a great job- many thanks to them.

The visiting group included:

Latressa Alford, Field Representative, Office of U.S. Congressman George Miller
Michael Cunningham, VP for Public Policy, Bay Area Council
Colin Foard, Congressional Aide, Office of U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Brian Hooker, Deputy District Director, Office of U.S. Congressman John Garamendi
Andrew Kim, Field Director, Office of U.S. Congressman John Garamendi
ZJ Hull, Congressional Assistant, Office of U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren
Jennifer Tang, Senior Field Representative, Office of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer
Joshua Quigley, Field Representative, Office of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer
Iris Obregon, Office of California State Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan
Mark Chekal Bain, Office of State Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner
Julie M. Waters, Senior Field Rep., Office of State Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner
Mark Herbert, District Director, Office of State Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla
Malia Vella, Field Representative, Office of State Senator Ellen Corbett
Corina Salazar, Office of State Senator Loni Hancock
John Murray, Field Representative, Office of U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein

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Lab Hosts Thousands at Open House; Life Sciences Dives into Biology with Visitors

Nearly 6,000 members of the community came to the Hill on Saturday, October 13, gaining science knowledge and learning more about Berkeley Lab at the annual Open House event.
The 2012 Berkeley Lab Open House featured a number of new exhibits this year, including public tours of the 88” cyclotron and one booth focused on social media. The Lab’s Public Affairs office encouraged visitors to send photos and use Twitter and Facebook to record their experiences. Samples of the day’s photos are available here. The day was also captured by UC Berkeley’s student-run Cal TV, which also covered the unveiling of Perlmutter Road. To see the story, click here.

Dave Shin shares his story

Virtually every division hosted exhibits, including Life Sciences that welcomed visitors in the exhibit “Dive into Biology: Explore How Worms Help Understand Cancer and Aging.” Volunteers from several labs took visitors on a journey to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean with the Alvin submersible diving two miles down to collect Alvinella samples. Dave Shin, who himself had made the actual journey about a decade ago, was present to tell the story first hand. Also, visitors were invited to look through microscopes to observe planaria. Both worms were highlighted as examples of how Berkeley Lab studies worms to learn about human diseases.

Helen Budworth, one of the volunteers, commented that children were fascinated by the regenerative capacity of the planaria worms that are being used to study ageing and neurodegeneration: “The scientist volunteers explained how you could cut a worm into many tiny pieces and each piece could retain the ability to regenerate a whole new worm. Sparked by these enticing statements, one young budding scientist asked ‘How about if you grind them up?’ a question that was investigated by scientists many years ago as they attempted to discover the nature of the worm’s amazing abilities.”

Kathy Bjornstad shows planaria under the microscope

There was a wide variety of visitors, both young and old, and some on a mission, as Budworth explains: “One visitor eagerly greeted me by displaying his ‘I have Huntington’s Disease’ medical card. He was aware of the research on this disease that we are doing at the Lab and he made a special trip to the Open House to visit the Life Sciences division exhibit and talk to the researchers about their work. The Open House provides a wonderful opportunity to meet people who are interested in and affected by the things that we work on here at the Lab.”

Other exhibit volunteers included Kathleen Bjornstad, James Bui, Christie Canaria, Jill Fuss, Ciccina Guagliardo, Ahmed Hassan, David Schild, Gareth Williams, Felisa Wolfe-Simon, and Damir Sudar.
Adapted from Today at Berkeley Lab, October 15 and 16, 2012

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Employee News

Chiolo Exchanges Bay View for Los Angeles’ Hollywood Sign

What follows is an interview with research scientist Irene Chiolo who, as of January 1, 2013, has accepted a new position as assistant professor of biological sciences in the Department of Cellular and Computational Biology, and WiSE Jr. Gabilan Chair, at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, CA. She joined the lab of Division Director Gary Karpen as a postdoc in March 2007 after completing her PhD studies in her homeland, Italy. “So… almost 6 years have passed! They went really fast,” Chiolo reflects.

- What research have you been working on so far? As a PhD student in the lab of Dr. Foiani I worked on the cellular response to double-strand breaks using yeast as a model system. These DNA lesions need to be repaired to prevent genome instability and cell lethality, and repair defects are responsible for cancer and other human disorders. When I came to the Karpen lab, Gary and I decided to address how DNA repair works in heterochromatin. This nuclear domain is particularly interesting because it's highly enriched in repetitive DNA sequences and prone to induce aberrant recombination and genome instability during DNA repair. Repair pathways operating in this domain were unknown.

Irene Chiolo

- What made you decide to take the position at USC? How did it appeal to you? It's a great department. There are major groups working on different questions related to DNA repair and chromatin dynamics, the two main fields I work on. There are also different labs using Drosophila as a model system. It is an ideal scientific environment for starting my independent research lab.

- What will be the research focus of your lab? I'll continue working on heterochromatin DNA repair and hopefully take some of my questions to mammalian cell systems.
- Will you be teaching as well? Yes, I'll teach one undergrad course each year and some graduate classes. We still have not decided what course I'll teach, but it will be late next year. I am looking forward to it!

- How are the preparations going of your setting up your own lab at USC? I have purchased the major equipment, hired my first research technician and gave directions for remodeling the space, but that's about it. The whole adventure will start on January 1st. An empty space is waiting for me....

- How is USC different from the research environment here? They are both great places to work in. The science is amazing at USC, as it is at LBNL. The main difference is that USC is a university, with more undergrads and graduate students, campus life, and teaching, of course.

- You are getting married, congratulations! Where will the wedding be, you know already? No, that's a long story. My fiancée’s family is here (he is from California), my family is in Italy, our friends are in the Bay Area and also pretty much spread everywhere in the world. We initially wanted to have the wedding here in the Bay Area before moving to LA, but there was too much going on, so we decided to take our time.

- What will you miss the most? I'll certainly miss all my friends here. And the view of the Bay from my balcony...

- Will we be hearing more of you? Yes, of course. I'll stay in touch with Gary and other collaborators at LBNL, and I'll pass by to say “hi” to my “extended family LBNL” when I'll be in the area. I am also looking forward to have some interesting new scientific discoveries to talk about!

At USC Chiolo can be reached at chiolo@usc.edu; the Chiolo lab website can be found here.

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Gray Highlighted as All-star Researcher in War on Cancer; Life Scientist Advises on Article

Former Life Sciences Division Director Joe Gray, currently Life Sciences senior scientist, was highlighted in the news article “OHSU’s War on Cancer. How OSHU will use big money, brand new labs, and all-star researchers to launch bold new cancer treatments,” by Jennifer Abbasi, published online November 17 in the Portland Monthly Magazine. The article was written with the help of microscopy expert and Life Sciences Deputy of Technology Damir Sudar. Sudar consulted on the design of the microscopy lab in Oregon Health & Science University’s (OHSU) new Collaborative Life Sciences Building and continues to work with Gray on several collaborative research projects.

From the article: “When scientist Joe Gray reports to a new lab now under construction just north of the Ross Island Bridge, he’ll find himself on some of the firmest ground in the Northwest. His research suite is being designed and engineered to protect some of the world’s most powerful (and expensive) electron microscopes: devices that can create images of individual atoms, and can’t be allowed to vibrate any more than the thickness of a fingerprint on a piece of paper.” Read on here, and be sure to continue to read the profile of Gray on the second page.