Here are just a few of the many honors that have been bestowed upon folks in the University of California community in recent weeks:

 

Top honor for UCSF professor

UCSF molecular biologist Elizabeth H. Blackburn has received the prestigious Lasker Award for the prediction and discovery of telomerase, a remarkable enzyme that synethsizes telemores, the tiny units of DNA that seal off the ends of chromosomes, protecting them and maintaining the integrity of the genome.

The Lasker Award has been given to 71 scientists who subsequently received the Nobel Prize.

Blackburn and co-award winner Carol W. Greider – Blackburn’s former graduate student, now at Johns Hopkins University – were honored for groundbreaking investigations while they were at UC Berkeley in the 1980s. In addition to providing insight into how chromosome ends are maintained, their work laid the foundation for studies that have linked telomerase and telomeres to human cancer and age-related conditions, such as cardiovascular disease.

Today at UCSF’s Mission Bay campus, Blackburn leads a laboratory team that is analyzing telomerase and telomeres in yeasts and in human cancer cells to understand their full roles in cell division processes. She continues to explore how tumor growth can be controlled by either inhibiting or activating telomerase in cancer cells. (Source: UCSF)

 

Number one in biotech transfer

Among universities worldwide, the University of California system averaged the highest level of licensing income annually – almost $100 million – from its research discoveries in biotechnology, according to a new study of biotech-knowledge transfer.

The Milken Institute study, "Mind to Market: A Global Analysis of University Biotechnology Transfer and Commercialization," found that from 1997 to 2003, the University of California system was the most successful university in licensing income from its discoveries and inventions, a total average of about $100 million per year, followed by Stanford University ($50 million) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($33 million).

 

Excellence in scholarly communications

In recognition of its groundbreaking work in scholarly communications, UC recently was named a SPARC Innovator by the Washington, D.C.-based Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition.

The distinction is a new one that recognizes those who challenge the status quo in scholarly communication for the benefit of researchers, libraries, universities, and the public. SPARC representatives said UC has been a leader in helping scholars and researchers regain control of their published work, while exploring innovative means of scholarly communication. "It is no exaggeration to say that UC has made a significant and beneficial contribution to the scholarly communication process while altering the marketplace as well," said SPARC Director Heather Joseph.

The organization praised UC for activities that "developed groundbreaking contracts with publishers which have helped to curtail hyperinflation in the price of online journal subscriptions; developed guidance for faculty on ways to manage intellectual property and retain copyright; developed, through the academic faculty senate, a series of white papers advocating shifts in scholarly communication; established innovative new scholarly publishing programs and forged an electronic publishing alliance between the California Digital Library and the University of California Press; and created a Scholarly Communication Officers group comprising senior librarians at each of the 10 UC campuses to harmonize local and systemwide planning and action."

 

Presidential early career awards

Four young researchers affiliated with the University of California have received the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers from President Bush. Established in 1996, the awards recognize scientists for extraordinary achievement at the outset of their careers, and whose research shows potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge. The UC-affiliated winners this year are:

• UCLA: Shelly Lyne Gable Nayak, nominated by the National Science Foundation, is an associate professor of social psychology who studies marriage and other close relationships. She was recognized for her work in understanding how people interpret ambiguous social information, how people weigh incentives and threats in relationships, and how these factors contribute to an individual's well-being or loneliness.
• UC San Diego: Tracy Lanise Johnson, a biologist, was nominated by the National Science Foundation. Her research focused on how interactions between the molecular machines that synthesize and process ribonucleic acid (RNA) modulate gene expression. Johnson was also recognized for her efforts to increase participation of underrepresented minority students in the sciences.
• UC Santa Cruz: Michael Anthony Zingale, nominated by the Department of Energy, was recognized for his work supporting national security. He contributed to the creation of a state-of-the-art simulator code for solving nuclear astrophysical problems related to exploding stars.
• Los Alamos National Laboratory: Kevin Yosh Sanbonmatsu, nominated by the Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health, was recognized for his work in creating the largest simulation of a biological system to study ribosomal function. Ribosomes are responsible for synthesizing proteins from genetic material. Using LANL's "Q Machine" supercomputer, Sanbonmatsu and his team created a molecular simulation of a cell's ribosome, which was six times larger than any biological simulations performed to that date.

 

National magazine: "UC schools rule"

The Washington Monthly, in its second annual rankings this summer of national universities and liberal arts colleges, found that – in its words – "UC schools continue to rule." Four of UC’s nine general campuses make the top 10, while the rest make the top 80.

What makes the magazine’s rankings unique is that they rate universities and colleges on how well they benefit the country. Among the Washington Monthly’s measures: How well does a college or university perform as an engine of social mobility? How well does it foster scientific and humanistic research? And how well does it promote an ethic of service to country?

"We hope that citizens and elected officials will look at this guide when making decisions on how to subsidize and regulate higher education," the editors write. "After all, almost all the great challenges America now faces … are ultimately tied to actions taken or not taken by America’s colleges and universities."

What would you like to read about the UC system in future editions of "Our University"? Send your feedback and story suggestions to communications@ua.ucop.edu. Produced by Strategic Communications, University Affairs, UC Office of the President.