Simon John garners innovation award

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) named Jackson Laboratory Professor and HHMI Investigator Simon John, Ph.D., to lead one of eight teams of scientists as part of a new, $40 million initiative to spark innovation and collaboration in biomedical research. One of the world's leading researchers in the field of glaucoma, Dr. John will be teaming with engineers at Purdue University to develop new, wireless sensor technology to monitor pressure within the eye. One of the strongest known contributing factors to the nerve damage observed in glaucoma is harmfully high pressure inside the eye. If successful, the technology developed by Dr. John and his collaborators could have a wide range of applications in human medicine, such as monitoring blood pressure around the clock.

Jackson named a top place for postdocs

The Jackson Laboratory recently received note for its excellent postdoctoral training program, ranking 9th in a survey of top places for postdocs in the U.S. in 2008 by The Scientist. Now it has been recognized as one of the best places to work for all researchers.

The Scientist's "Best Places to Work in Academia 2008," released in November, placed the Laboratory 19th overall in an impressive list that includes major universities such as Princeton University, as well as hospitals and independent research institutions such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and The J. David Gladstone Institutes, which placed first overall. Among the primary strengths cited at the Laboratory were pay and job satisfaction.

Two researchers join faculty

The Jackson Laboratory rang in 2009 by welcoming two new principal investigators to its faculty. Chengkai Dai, Ph.D., from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and Matthew Hibbs, Ph.D., from Princeton University, both arrived to begin work at the Laboratory in late December 2008. Dr. Dai provides a new line of research for the National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, while Dr. Hibbs further strengthens the Laboratory's computational biology and data analysis programs.

Dr. Dai will study heat shock proteins and their role in cancer. Heat shock proteins provide vital protection for organisms during times of environmental stress, including excessive heat, as implied in their name. Unfortunately, they are also hijacked by cancer cells, allowing them to divide and grow at a greatly accelerated rate. Heat shock pathways therefore provide potential therapeutic targets to slow or halt cancer progression.

Dr. Hibbs sees his work as a way to contribute to disease research and enhance the entire field's capabilities through applying effective computational biology methods. Vast amounts of data are already being generated in biomedical laboratories, and it is imperative that it be made more accessible-and useful-to the research community. Using machine learning and artificial intelligence, Dr. Hibbs predicts the behavior of genes and proteins and provides the results to biologists for validation in their laboratories.

Jackson Laboratory trustee named one of America's best leaders

David Baltimore, Ph.D., was recently named one of America's best leaders by U.S. News & World Report. The report notes Dr. Baltimore's influence on science, stretching far beyond the Nobel Prize he won in 1975 at age 37. He has since served as president of Rockefeller University and the California Institute of Technology, where he is currently the Robert A. Millikan Professor of Biology.

Dr. Baltimore has extensive ties with the Laboratory, beginning with his participation in the Summer Student Program that he says sparked his interest in biology. The Laboratory honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award at a gala ceremony in New York City in September, and he is currently serving on its Board of Trustees.

Evolving Tastes: Mrs. Charles Darwin's Recipe Book

In 2009 the scientific world is celebrating the achievements of Charles Darwin, who was born 200 years ago and whose theory of evolution, set out in On the Origin of Species 150 years ago, was the foundation for the genetics revolution. But even geniuses have to eat, and a beautiful new publication, co-authored by Jackson Laboratory Trustee Weslie Janeway, provides an intriguing look at the dining habits of the Darwin household.

Victorian ladies of Emma Wedgwood Darwin's class didn't do much cooking themselves, but did manage all aspects of the home economy, including keeping the domestic account books, collecting recipes and planning meals. At the heart of Mrs. Charles Darwin's Recipe Book is Mrs. Darwin's own household notebook, which authors Weslie Janeway and Dusha Bateson have enhanced with historic scholarship, botanical drawings and intriguing insights into the lives and tastes of the Darwins.