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SynapseThursday, Feburary 13, 2014 synapse.ucsf.edu Volume 58, Number 19

The UCSF Student Newspaper

IN THIS ISSUENews Briefs » PAGE 3Journal Club » PAGE 5Puzzles » PAGE 7

FOODDIY LemoncelloMake this simple and elegant Italian liqueur at home » PAGE 6

MIND & BODYHappy Valentine’s DayMessages of love from classmates and colleagues » PAGE 4

Vision Zero is a policy to reduce traffic deaths to zero in 10 years.

OPINION

San Francisco Should Embrace Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Policy

NEWS

Grad Life: Entering Class of 2010

OPINION

Partner Up: Discuss your long-term goals with a trusted friend regularly

By Madeline RaganStaff Writer

On New Year’s Eve, six-year-old girl So-phia Liu was killed while walking in a cross-walk at Polk and Ellis streets in San Francisco. That same night, 86-year-old Zhen Guang Ng was also killed at the intersection of Rolph and Naples streets. Both were struck by cars.

In 2013, San Francisco saw a spike in traf-fic-related deaths, including 21 pedestrians and four bicyclists. These recent deaths high-light the need for a better understanding of road safety and better adherence to the laws of the road, for drivers, pedestrians and bicy-clists. Several leaders in other major U.S. cit-ies have made statements of commitment to Vision Zero, which is a policy to reduce traffic deaths to zero in 10 years.

Until San Francisco embraces such a vi-sion, people, regardless of their mode of transportation, should educate themselves

on the laws and practice safe road etiquette in order to make the roads safer until greater city changes emerge.

If you have ever biked, driven, walked or bused around San Francisco, you have probably seen an accident, near collision or elements of road rage. Oftentimes, these ac-cidents and aggression are a result of mis-

By Akshay GovindAssociate Editor

In last week’s issue of Synapse (February 6), Winnie Chan described a struggle many professional students experience: the effort to maintain the qualities they have always valued in themselves while

working to keep up with the furious pace of their education. Adding to this problem is the self-doubt that naturally occurs from being in an environment where no matter what they do, someone around them has done more and nothing seems like nothing is ever enough.

Ms. Chan beautifully described the discord between tirelessly splashing away without ever feeling like it pushes one far enough for-ward and the disappointment that comes from several months or years gone by while proverbially treading water.

By the end of her piece, Ms. Chan decided she wanted to keep dreaming, setting goals, challenging herself to help the world around her and to lead others in these efforts. Over the past ten years, I have felt many of the same emotions Ms. Chan described as I went through the process of being top dog in my undergrad-uate institution to not even knowing if I was above or below av-erage throughout my professional training. Just as I seemed to

figure out one set of challenges, two more seemed to pop up. About three years ago, a friend and I decided we needed to set aside protected time to check in about our longer term goals that were previ-ously falling by the wayside. Since then, during the first week of almost every month, we talk for between 30 and 60 minutes, going through how the past month has affected our visions and helping each other think through next steps to tangible goals. Some months are humbling – realizations of missed opportunities, recognition of weeks of stag-nancy. But others are uplifting – evidence of progress, each other’s per-spectives on previously internal thought processes. At the very least, it’s kind of a comforting ritual.

There are still feelings of having fallen short of my goals. For in-stance, if I love learning and writing, why don’t I have more than one professional publication (of which I am the eighth author)? Why does closing a simple wound still take me so long? But I have also come to take a bit of pride in the progress I have made, and I suspect so has Ms. Chan and most other people who have been shaken up by their professional training. Do keep dreaming, but when you wake up, write the dreams down and work on what you can do to move toward them.

Akshay Govind is a third-year resident in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. GRAD LIFE » PAGE 3

BICYCLE SAFETY » PAGE 5

Photo by Madeline Ragan/PT2

By Angela CastanietoAssociate Editor

Student 1 FemaleParnassus

T ell me about your experience at UCSF so far.

I’m in my fourth year of the nurs-ing PhD program and it’s been an interest-ing trip. I came in with a specific question or area, and now it is still the same area but with different questions. The coursework is good, but that’s just for the first two years.

The second two years you’re sort of on your own, and that’s been a little lonely. We’re a little bit less connected as a cohort, things are a little bit harder, and it’s harder to find support — but that’s just part of the PhD pro-cess. You’re figuring things out as you go.

From your first year to your fourth, have there been any changes in your attitude to-wards the program?

Sure. I think you come in assuming that you’re going to get everything you need

taught to you or fed to you, and then you’ll know what to do and you’ll be clear. It’s not really like that. The last two years of the pro-gram have been a lot more self-taught, but I think that’s because when you come into a PhD program it isn’t always clear what that really entails. We come frequently to nursing from clinical backgrounds; the clinical Mas-ters degrees that we get are very structured,

and the PhD process isn’t structured — and it shouldn’t be. You’re developing, you’re learn-ing, you’re creating and they can’t make that structured because everybody needs different things. So I feel that my view has changed because in the first two years I expected to be taught everything I needed, the third year I realized I didn’t have everything I needed, and the fourth year I realized that’s probably okay, because it was part of my job to figure out what I needed and to learn it myself.

Are you in a lab? No, our research is not lab based. Some-

thing we have found at UCSF is that nursing PhDs a lot of times will talk to people (about their program) and they will ask “what is that?” with a blank look on their face — and that’s fine! Nursing research is different be-cause it is both clinical and it’s social — it’s al-ways combining those two.

So we have the social sciences program (at UCSF) — medical social sciences — but they’re looking at things from a very socio-logic perspective. We aim for those perspec-tives at times but we need to be able to look at it with a clinical outcome — useful in some general way to the nursing knowledge body. But nursing’s incredibly broad. We have peo-

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EVENTS

Journal Club

MISSION BAY EVENTSFOOD TRUCK THURSDAYS AT MISSION BAY Thursday, Feb. 13, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 4th Street & Nelson Rising Lane, Mission Bay Join the food truck lunch party every Thursday at Mission Bay and explore the tasty culinary options to break up your routine. Each week will feature two different vendors, so there will always be something new. Grab some friends, get some food, and take your lunch experience up a notch.

VALENTINE’S DAY CARD MAKING AND KARAOKEFriday, Feb. 14, noon-1 p.m., Genentech Hall Atrium, Mission BayUCSF staff and students are invited to make Valentine’s Day cards. We’ll bring the supplies and you bring the creativity. We’ll have a karaoke machine available for those who would like to sing a sweet love song from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. There will be snacks and candy while supplies last. Sponsor: Campus Life Services Arts and Events, Retail Services and Student Life at Mission Bay

SYNAPSE NEWSPAPER Friday, Feb. 14, noon-1 p.m., Graduate Division, CC-310, Mission Bay Synapse is looking for student writers, bloggers, photographers and designers. Come to the lunch meeting, share your story ideas and enjoy a free lunch. For more information, email [email protected].

MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES Friday, Feb. 14, 1-2 p.m., Byers Hall, 211, Mission Bay The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) for the UCSF Muslim community every week. Come join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer, lunch and socializing. All are welcome.

MISSION BAY RIPSFriday, Feb. 14, 4-5 p.m., Genentech Hall Auditorium, Mission BayResearch In Progress Seminar is a seminar series at which 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.

ENTREPRENEUR'S CLUB: NETWORKS MATTER: THE FOUNDING OF NANO PRECISION MEDICAL Wednesday, Feb. 19, 5:30-7:30pm, Mission BayAdam Mendelsohn, 2011 UCSF PhD in Bioengineering, got his start by competing in the Berkeley Business Plan Competition in 2008. Several competitions later, he co-founded and became CEO of Nano Precision Medical. He will talk about the role key advisors have played and how his network at UCSF helped the company get off to a running start. He’ll reveal the most unexpected thing he found about startup life and who will thrive as an entrepreneur. Sponsored by Morgan Lewis. Register at eventbrite.com/e/entrepreneurs-club-networks-matter-the-founding-of-nano-precision-medical-tickets-9738481059

PARNASSUS EVENTS

ASUC AND GSA VALENTINE’S DAY

CARD MAKING AND MUNCHIESThursday, Feb. 13, 5:15-7 p.m., Nursing Mezzanine, ParnassusJoin ASUC and GSA to celebrate Valentine's Day by making a card for a special person in your life. Card making supplies, food and drinks will be provided so all you need to bring is your creativity. Come by after class or clinic and bring your friends. Great food and fun.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH RECEPTIONThursday, Feb. 13, 3-5 p.m., Lange Reading Room, ParnassusThe UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach hosts a Black History Month Celebration and Reception, with special recognition and appreciation to the Physicians Medical Forum for its continued support of UCSF faculty, students and trainees, and Michael A. LeNoir, President, National Medical Association.

PET A PUP AT DOG DAY FRIDAYSFriday, Feb. 14, noon-2 p.m., Millberry Union, 111W, ParnassusThere will be a pup every Friday in February, so don’t miss out. Take time to de-stress with Toby, a Golden Doodle, from Animal Assisted Therapy of SPCA. Enjoy some tea or hot chocolate, and leave your stress at the door.

MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES Friday, Feb. 14, 1-2 p.m., Medical Sciences, 168, Parnassus The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) for the UCSF Muslim community every week. Come join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer, lunch and socializing. All are welcome.

CAMPUS EVANGELISTIC FELLOWSHIPFriday, Feb. 14, 7-10:30 p.m., Nursing, 517, ParnassusJoin the Campus Evangelistic Fellowship for its weekly meeting, with Bible study, hymn singing and fellowship.

AROUND THE WORLD MULTICULTURAL SHOWTuesday, Feb. 18, 6-9 p.m., Millberry Union Gym, ParnassusCome sample a variety of dishes representing individual cultural groups and see a multicultural show. Around the World celebrates and promotes diversity at UCSF and encourages interprofessional events. Sponsors: Vietnamese Student Association (VSA), Latino Association of Pharmacy Students (LAPS), Pilipinos of USCF Student Organization (PUSO), Chicano/Latinos in Health Education (CHE), Indian Student Association (ISA), Chinese Health Professional Student Association and the Black Students in Health Alliance (BSHA).

PHI DELTA CHI BAKE SALE Wednesday, Feb. 19, 8 a.m.-1 p.m., Health Sciences West, Lobby, ParnassusCome to the HSW lobby for a bake sale. There will be cookies, brownies, pastries, fruits and other sweets. PDC will also be selling cups of lychee black tea and mango peach pineapple green tea. Enjoy a delicious snack and contribute towards a good cause. A portion of the proceeds will benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This bake sale is hosted by the Phi Delta Chi pharmacy fraternity. All students, faculty staff, friends and family welcome.

PARNASSUS FARMERS’ MARKET Wednesday, Feb. 19, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., ACC, 400 Parnassus Ave. Shop the Farmers’ Markets on Wednesdays to pick up locally grown produce and more. Sponsor: Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association.

SYNAPSE NEWSPAPER Wednesday, Feb. 19, noon-1 p.m., Millbery Union 123W, ParnassusSynapse is looking for Mission Bay and Parnassus writers, bloggers, photographers and designers. Come to the lunch meeting, share your story ideas and enjoy a free lunch. Email for more information and to RSVP: [email protected].

CONFLICT RESOLUTION: NAVIGATING THE SEA OF INTERPERSONAL INTERACTIONSWednesday, Feb. 19, 5-6 p.m., Heath Sciences West, 302, ParnassusConflict happens. The challenge is how to respond confidently and effectively when faced with a situation where you and someone else have different perspectives about things you care about. How do you choose your response, and what strategies can facilitate a more productive outcome? This one-hour workshop, led by Ellen Goldstein from Office of the Ombuds, will introduce key skills and concepts for approaching interpersonal conflict more successfully. Free dinner with RSVP. [email protected].

IMN MIDWEEK MEDITATION HOURWednesday, Feb. 19, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Library, 211, ParnassusThe Integrative Medicine Network 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. Both regular meditators as well as amateurs are welcome.

HOME PREPAREDNESS IN EARTHQUAKE COUNTRYWednesday, Feb. 19, noon-1 p.m., Medical Sciences, 214, ParnassusMatt Springer, Associate Professor of Medicine, will talk about precautions that can be taken to lessen the damage from an earthquake at home and work. His one-hour presentation includes many photos of preparations in his own home and suggests measures ranging from simple to complex to prepare for the next temblor. Sponsored by the Office of Environmental Health & Safety.

UCSF RUN CLUB Wednesday, Feb. 19, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Millberry Union Central Desk, ParnassusPlease drop by and join UCSF Fit & Rec for a run. Each Wednesday night, the Run Club runs various distances (from 3-6 miles) at 9 to 11 minutes per mile.

ENGLISH CORNERWednesday, Feb. 19, 6-8:30 p.m., Clinical Sciences, 130, ParnassusEnglish Corner is an informal conversational English class given as a free community service and provided on 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 United States.

OFF-CAMPUSOFF THE GRID: UPPER HAIGHT Thursday, Feb. 13, 5-9 p.m., Stanyan and Waller Streets, SFOff the Grid is a roaming mobile food extravaganza that travels to different locations daily to serve delicious food, with a free side of amazing music, craft and soul.

ANNOUNCEMENTSCALL FOR PROPOSALS: UP TO $20K AVAILABLE FOR PEER-TO-PEER PROGRAMMINGSubmit your proposal for a Student Mental Health Peer-to-Peer Programming Mini-Grant. Open to all RCOs, student groups or programs/departments. Grant proposals must focus on one of the following topics utilizing a student-to-student approach: mental health awareness, suicide prevention, outreach or mental illness stigma reduction. Deadline for submission: Friday, Feb. 28. Funded by the CalMHSA/Prop. 63 Student Mental Health Initiative (SMHI) Grant. Learn more at studenthealth.ucsf.edu

UCSF COMMUNITY DENTAL CLINIC TOILETRY DRIVE 2014The Community Dental Clinic is holding its annual toiletries drive for two weeks on Feb. 10-21. We are collecting donations for the homeless population staying at the Multi-Service Center in San Francisco. Any soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Please, no sharps or used products. There will be collection boxes in the Medical Sciences Lobby, Nursing Mezzanine, Millberry Union gym and all four floors of the Dental Clinic building by the elevators.

OCPD PSR: USING ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR TO CREATE SCIENTIFIC FIGURES REGISTRATION DEADLINE FEB. 19Thursday, Feb. 20, 3-5 p.m., Library, 220, ParnassusFeaturing Joe DeRisi, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Learn the basics of creating scientific figures and graphics by getting how-to instructions for common graphic elements, including modifying a published (pdf) figure for presentation or teaching purposes and creating a new scientific figure. Admission $17 for UCSF trainees/$27 for others. ocpd-illustrator-p.eventbrite.com.

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: CRAVE NIGHTLIFE Thursday, Feb. 13, 6-10 p.m., Cal Academy, Golden Gate ParkNightLife pays tribute to Valentine’s Day while exploring the science of cravings—from quirky desires to total taboos. Get hands-on at a “Build-A-Vibe” vibrator workshop hosted by the pleasure seekers at CRAVE SF. Beer, sex, and chocolate—oh my! Dive into the science behind our cravings with experts on all things desirable. http://bit.ly/NightLifeTickets, http://bit.ly/CLSDiscounts.

CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION Saturday, Feb. 15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Grant Avenue between California to Broadway Streets, SFImmerse yourself in the sights and sounds of San Francisco’s exhilarating Chinatown during one of most exciting times of the year. You will find over 80 booths and concessions, making this a shopper's paradise. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce has planned activities and entertainment for all ages. Enjoy Chinese folk dancing, opera, drumming and much more at the entertainment stage on Washington St. below Grant Ave.

CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADESaturday, Feb. 15, 5:15-8 p.m., Kearny between Post and Washington, SFNamed one of the top ten parades in the world by the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), the Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade is one of the grandest night-illuminated parades in the country. Parade highlights include elaborate floats, lion dancers, folk dancers, costumed elementary school groups, marching bands, stilt walkers, Chinese acrobats and a 268-foot-long Golden Dragon (Gum Lung).

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synapse.ucsf.edu | February 13, 2014 | 3

STAFFYi Lu | EDITOR

Jenny Qi | EXECUTIVE EDITOR Angela Castanieto | ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Akshay Govind | ASSOCIATE EDITORSteven Chin | MANAGING EDITOR

About Synapse is the UCSF student-run weekly newspaper, which runs on Thursdays during the academic year and monthly during the summer. 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.

Submissions Announcements and letters should be submitted six days before publication. All submissions can be either emailed or mailed. All material is subject to editing. Letters to the Editor must be signed by the author.Subscriptions Subscriptions cost $20/year ($40/outside US).

Advertising 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 with a disclaimer.

500 Parnassus Ave. Millberry Union 108W

San Francisco, CA 94143tel: (415) 476-2211 | fax: (415) 502-4537

[email protected]

SynapseThe UCSF Student Newspapersynapse.ucsf.edu

NEWS BRIEFSGenome Editing Goes Hi-Fi

Sometimes simply a one-letter change in the human genetic code is the difference between health and a deadly disease. Even though doctors and scientists have long stud-ied the often devastating disorders caused by these tiny changes, replicating these changes in the lab in order to study them in human stem cells has proven challenging. But now, scientists at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes have found a way to efficiently edit the human genome one letter at a time — not only boosting researchers’ ability to model human disease, but also paving the way for therapies that cure disease — by fixing these so-called “bugs” in a patient’s genetic code.

Led by Gladstone investigator and profes-sor in the UCSF School of Medicine, Bruce Conklin, MD, the research team describes in an issue of Nature Methods how they have solved one of science and medicine’s most pressing problems: how to efficiently and ac-curately capture rare genetic mutations that cause disease – as well as how to fix them.

“Advances in human genetics have led to the discovery of hundreds of genetic changes linked to disease, but until now we’ve lacked an efficient means of studying them,” ex-plained Conklin. “To meet this challenge, we must have the capability to engineer the hu-man genome, one letter at a time, with tools that are efficient, robust and accurate. And the method that we outline in our study does just that.”

Study Shows Babies Can Pick up on Stress from Mothers

Babies not only pick up on their moth-er’s stress, but they also show corresponding physiological changes, according to a UCSF-led study.

“Our research shows that infants ‘catch’ and embody the physiological residue of their mothers’ stressful experiences,” says lead re-searcher Sara Waters, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in the UCSF Department of Psychia-try. The findings are published in Psychologi-cal Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

“For many years now, social scientists have been interested in how emotions are transmitted from one person to another,” said senior author Wendy Berry Mendes, PhD, the Sarlo/Ekman Associate Professor of Emotion at UCSF. “Our earliest lessons about how to manage stress and strong negative emotions in our day-to-day lives occur in the parent-child relationship.”

Scientists Call for ScreeningMammography Every Two Years for Most Women

The adoption of new guidelines recom-mending screening mammography every two years for women ages 50 to 74 would result in breast cancer screening that is equally effec-tive, while saving the United States $4.3 bil-lion a year in health care costs, according to a study led by UCSF.

The study compares three possible mam-mography screening strategies with a model of current U.S. screening practices. The article appears in the Feb. 4 edition of Annals of In-ternal Medicine.

The authors call for the adoption of guide-lines developed in 2009 by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Under those guidelines, in addition to biennial screen-ing for women age 50 to 74, women age 40 to 49 would be screened according to other risk factors, and women 75 and older would be screened depending on the presence or ab-sence of other diseases. The study was led by Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA, professor of surgery and radiology at UCSF.

» FROM HOME PAGEGrad Life: Entering Class of 2010ple in our cohort who do bench research. We have people who do qualitative interviews with focus groups. So it really depends — there’s a huge range of research in nursing. It’s very similar to PhD programs in that you take some classes, but then you don’t go to a lab. You set up your own studies — whether it’s recruiting and interviewing your own pa-tients, or whether it’s secondary data analysis, but you’re asking a broader sociologic ques-tion that has medical and nursing implica-tions.

I think sometimes we in the nursing PhD program feel like we’re in this world where nobody really knows what we do — they think of us as clinicians, but we’re sitting here doing research that isn’t all bedside — it isn’t all monitor based. A lot of it is about experi-ence, about prevention of medical problems — spanning what should be medicine and what should be sociology — and we have our fingers in every pie.

Is your current experience what you expect-ed it to be?

No, and I think that was partly because none of us know what the PhD experience is supposed to be until we’re in it. I expected it to be farther along, maybe asking a different question, but I’m ok with where it is.

Any obstacles that you’ve had to overcome? Funding is tricky in nursing. In a lot of

other PhD programs you get taken under the wing of somebody, and you’re included in their lab, and some of your cost is covered, and it doesn’t really work that way for us. We have mentors and advisors, but you have to find your own funding or pay out of pocket.

The other thing that’s different about us is that a lot of nursing PhD students enter the program later [in life] because we practice clinically for a while. And that’s not techni-cally a requirement — we now have a lot of people going straight from their bachelors or a masters into the PhD program — but in general there’s this clinical time period that makes us come into the program a bit later, so often we have kids, are married or have mort-gages. So the loss of income that the PhD re-quires is a huge barrier for some people, and I think that’s another thing that sort of sepa-rates us and makes us less visible — we can’t

really go to things like Trivia Night — we have to go home and take care of our families.

In some ways that makes it a bit trickier. For me, I’m not married and I don’t have kids yet, so it hasn’t been quite as bad, but I have had to quit my full-time nursing work, which is a nice wage, and go back to living the way I did as an undergraduate student, eating ra-men noodles and things like that, and search-ing for my own money.

I actually applied for NIH funding, and a lot of us applied for fellowships and training grants, and that’s a huge undertaking. I’m not sure that everybody does that, but it’s all in the PhD program at UCSF. There’s sort of a funding issue that’s been a little overwhelm-ing at times. And some people just choose to continue to work full time while they’re in the PhD program, and then it takes them much longer.

So I feel like there are some implications about the way that funding is given in the uni-versity overall. You want people to be able to finish, and you want them to be able to finish in a reasonable amount of time so that their lifetime as productive researchers is greater. I’m in my 30s. Some people are entering in their 40s or 50s — they have maybe 10 years, maybe 20 or 30. But if you spend 10 years getting your PhD now your functional pro-ductive lifespan is much shorter.

A sociology PhD student told me that while you don’t want to be here forever, you do want to be here as long as you need to be here. And that’s also a funding issue — if you can only get funding for five years, you’re forced to finish in five years. You may need seven to be the best researcher that you could be, and if that’s not available, then you’re stuck. So some of us are finishing too slowly and some of us are finishing too quickly, and it’s all related to funding.

What advice do you have for students start-ing out?

Form tight groups from the beginning and stay in contact with people. Living near-by and having friends in The City has really been helpful. Being able to get help, hang out, have emotional and moral support — those have all been important things. You have to form your own support network. Make sure your advisor is a good fit. In our program you

don’t go into a lab necessarily, but sometimes (advisors are) your only lifeline. Also, make sure you’ve thought about the monetary im-plications.

Student 2FemaleParnassus Tell me about your experience at UCSF so far.

It’s been good. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve grown as a scientist, and I’ve met a lot of great people. Not to say it’s been without its trou-bles, but overall it’s been positive.

How is your current lab experience different from what you expected going in?

I feel like when I was rotating, I maybe didn’t pick up on the interpersonal dynamics as much. To be fair, I didn’t know if that was a fault of my own because when you’re rotat-ing you’re balancing classes, you’re learning new techniques and stuff, but I feel like that’s been the most interesting thing to kind of ad-just to.

I’m not in a huge lab, and I’m also not in a tiny lab. I’m in a medium-sized lab and I feel like if you get that many people working that closely together there are going to be person-ality conflicts. So learning to deal with that has been the most different from what I ex-pected.

Also, the lab I was in [before] coming to grad school science-wise was a little differ-ent. Now I’ve had to deal with science just not working, and trying to figure out why. I don’t think I had to do nearly as much of that in my previous lab.

Are there any specific obstacles that you’ve had to overcome?

There have been nitty-gritty science ones. We’ve been wanting to answer this one ques-tion so we go about it this way, but we just can’t do it this way, so we go about it this way — but we can’t do that either. I think my big-gest obstacle has been doing this science — stuff ’s not working and I’m not quite sure why and things just keep piling up, which is grad school, right?

Any advice for grad students or those think-ing about grad school?

In my first year I was kind of afraid to talk to a lot of faculty. But most of the people here are nice and want to help you, so don’t be afraid to talk to them. At the same time, make friends with upper years because they can help you.

It’s awesome hanging out with your class because you’re all going through the same thing, but knowing upper years helps be-cause they’ve been through what you’re go-ing through and if you get multiple people’s opinions on what’s worked for them, you can figure out what would work for you. They can also get you the inside scoop on which facul-ty to not have on a committee, for example, or which faculty members are easier to ap-proach.

And if you’re considering grad school, just be sure this is what you really want to do. Talk to someone in the third or fourth, or even fifth, year of grad school — some-one going through the “slump.” It’s impor-tant to hear what they have to say to make an informed decision.

Also, make friends outside of grad school. I have hobbies and things that I do where I hang out with people with whom I can’t talk about work because they won’t have a freak-ing clue about what I’m talking about. I’ll say “oh, I did this really cool thing,” and they’re like “oh, that’s neat,” and that’s as far as I can go. It’s nice to have a life outside of lab.

Angela Castanieto is a fifth-year Tetrad student.

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HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

♥♥♥

Dear Kenyeah Ladies,I love y'all! Thanks for making me come

here.-Gmail

Dearest Lisa,Roses are #FF0000Violets are #0000FFAll my baseAre belong to you

Love,Your Valentine

Dear Alekist,You are the most genuine and caring per-

son I've ever met. I'm so lucky to be your friend.-A Friend

♥♥♥

Babe,You make this whole med school thing

worth it. Well, you and Helga and Olga. F.J.

Dear Leslie,Your intellect, your enthusiastic utteranc-

es, your concise and interactive presentations. You are the reason I come to lecture every day.-MS1

I'm in love with the passion in your eyes and the motivation in your soul that wakes you in the morning, though the work we are preparing for is so daunting. Keep moving forward because each day you inspire me and I am grateful for you. -3373

Bonobo, After five (ish) years, I still get giggly when you look at me. Every moment with you is so precious — I can't wait for a time when I get to wake up every day next to you. I love you.

To My lovely family back in Korea and LA (and Happy)

Wish you all a Happy Valentines day! Let’s power through 2014! Hwaiting!

♥♥♥

TL, You asked me if I’d ever written about you,

and I said no. I should have added that it’s because I never write about things that make me happy. –JA

Dear Elizabeth,Five years later and it still feels like not a

day has passed.Through our ups and our downs, I know

that you and I shall forever last.Your beauty radiates like the sun through

your heart-warming smile.Your laugh, your touch, and your embrace

make it all worthwhile.And since I can't think of a sappier way

for this poem to end,Will you please be my Valentine (again,

again, and again)?Love,Christopher

To Yuumi Miyazawa (P2)It's our 2nd Valentine's Day together!

Happy Happy :D

Dear new friend,I think you are tots adorbs.

♥♥♥

My agonist,Your perfect structure turns me on! So,

bind with me?<3 Your Receptor

NEWS

Earthquake Preparedness Lecture Schedule SetStaff Report

Come to Dr. Matt Springer’s annu-al earthquake preparedness talk to learn about simple but essential pre-

cautions you can take in the event of a de-structive earthquake.

The 50-minute lecture, now in its seventh year, is sponsored by the UCSF Office of En-vironmental Health & Safety.

Guests do not need to RSVP. The current UCSF and SF Public Library schedule is listed below, though subject to changes.

Thursday, February 13: Laurel Heights, Room 263, noon

Wednesday, February 19: Parnassus, Med. Sciences S 214, noon

Friday, March 7: Mission Bay, Genentech Hall N 114, 3 p.m.

Friday, March 14: Mt. Zion, 2340 Sutter, Lurie Room, noon

Thursday, April 10: SFGH, Carr Audito-rium, Bldg 3, noon

Thursday, June 5: SF Public Library, Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Room, 6:30 p.m.

Friday, June 27: SF Veteran’s Affairs Hos-pital, Bldg 7, Room 112, noon

Friday, July 11: Mission Center Building, Room 126, noon

TBA: SF Public Library branches, includ-ing Mission Bay

The most up-to-date schedule will be available at earthquake.matthewlspringer.com/schedule.html

Page 5: Synapse (02.13.14)

synapse.ucsf.edu | February 13, 2014 | 5

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Bicycle Safety » FROM HOME PAGE UCSF JOURNAL CLUB

Recent research by UCSF scientistsBy Taylor LaFlamStaff Writer

REGENERATIVE MEDICINE: Small molecules facilitate the reprogramming of mouse fibroblasts into pancreatic lineages. Li, K., et al. (Ding). Cell Stem Cell. 2014. 14(2):228-236.

For nearly a century, insulin therapy has allowed those with Type 1 diabetes to live long lives, albeit through frequent monitoring and treatment and with heightened risks of a variety of health problems. Pursuit of a practical, permanent cure continues.

In the past decade, groups have differentiated insulin-producing pancreatic β cells from in-duced pluripotent stem cells and directly from hepatocytes and a few other cell types. However, no group had developed a general method for direct differentiation of non-endodermal cells into β cells, which might be useful for reliably and safely producing large numbers of them.

In this article, the authors show that they have directly reprogrammed mouse fibroblasts into definitive endoderm-like cells and then used several small molecules to further develop these into pancreatic-progenitor-like cells. When transplanted into mice, these cells developed into β-like cells that made enough insulin to control blood sugar.

NEUROSCIENCE: Phonetic feature encoding in human superior temporal gyrus. Mesga-rani, N., et al. (Chang). Science. 2014 Jan. 30. Epub ahead of print.

The smallest meaningful speech sounds are called phonemes: such as the difference be-tween pat and bat. The superior temporal gyrus of the brain has previously been found to be important in processing speech, but the way in which speech sounds are mapped to this re-gion was unclear.

In this paper, Mesgarani and colleagues report on their study of six subjects implanted with multi-electrode arrays as part of clinical examination of their epilepsy. Researchers observed the subject's patterns of brain activity as they listened to a large number of sentences that in-cluded all the phonemes in American English.

The researchers found that rather than each phoneme having its own brain region, there were different regions for different phonetic features, such that one region was activated by sounds such as s and z and another by sounds such as p, b, and d.

BIOCHEMISTRY: An allosteric Sec61 inhibitor traps nascent transmembrane helices at the lateral gate. MacKinnon, A.L., et al. (Taunton). eLife. 2014. 3:e01483

Membrane proteins in eukaryotes are typically integrated into the membrane of the endo-plasmic reticulum as they are translated. Their entry is facilitated by a translocation channel that includes Sec61.

Although it has long been known that the Sec61 channel laterally directs the new protein's transmembrane domain into the membrane, the exact way in which this occurs has remained hazy.

The authors here present new insights into this process obtained using a selective Sec61 in-hibitor, which they found to likely bind near the lumenal plug. Before exiting the channel, the transmembrane domain interacts with Sec61 near the cytosolic tip of the lateral gate, resulting in shifts in this gate that permit the transmembrane domain to integrate into the membrane.

STEM CELL BIOLOGY: Re-entry into quiescence protects hematopoietic stem cells from the killing effect of chronic exposure to type I interferons. Pietras, E.M., et al. (Passegué). J Exp Med. 2014 Feb. 3. Epub ahead of print.

In the time it takes to read this sentence, your body will produce several million red blood cells, a process ultimately dependent on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Most of the time, however, a given HSC is quiescent: not actively dividing.

Type I interferons are a family of cytokines associated with antiviral responses and used in treating select infections and blood cancers. Previous research found they tend to depress production of blood cells but do not kill HSCs, in fact appearing to induce greater HSC pro-liferation.

In this paper, the authors clarified this somewhat confusing situation. They found that al-though initially exposure to type I interferon causes HSCs to proliferate, they soon return to quiescence. They then remain safe from the cytotoxic effects of chronic interferon unless forced into the cell cycle, at which point they die in a p53-dependent manner.

Taylor LaFlam is a fifth-year MSTP student.

understanding of the rules of the road. For example, the right turn can be a cause of con-fusion for drivers and bikers. When a car turns right through a bike lane, the driver is supposed to merge into the bike lane, and the biker should exit the bike lane, and pass on the left. If the bike lane is occupied by con-struction work or a delivery truck, a biker can merge out of the bike lane.

If there is no bike lane, a biker is allowed full use of the lane; however, two bikers can-not ride side by side in a lane unless they are traveling the speed of traffic. If a car wants to pass a biker, there needs to be at least three feet between the car and bike. And, while rarely practiced, all vehicles — cars, bikes and roller-bladers included — need to come to a full stop at a stop sign. If you are on a bike, this includes unclipping a foot and placing it on the ground.

For most people, it has been years since they’ve revisited traffic rules, especially those that pertain to bicycles. Luckily, there are a lot of resources in the Bay Area community that address bike law and bike safety. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (sfbike.org) offers bicycle maps, including bike parking and bi-cycle law information.

The organization also offers classes focus-ing on urban biking, family biking and traf-fic skills. There are several resources on 511.org (http://bicycling.511.org), including bike

maps, bike safety videos and a list of local classes and resources. In addition, Bay Area Bicycle Law (bayareabicyclelaw.com) and their Facebook page (facebook.com/SanFran-BicycleAccidentLawyer) provide up-to-date information on bicycle law and happenings in San Francisco, including updates for new laws that come into affect.

I have been an avid bicycle commuter in San Francisco for the last four years, and in that time I have seen the city transform such that each time I hit the road, I see a new bike path that hadn’t previously been there. When I started biking, it was very rare to see green separated bike paths anywhere. The roads are getting safer, but at the end of the day, the roads are only as safe as the drivers, pedestri-ans and bikers using them.

I can’t say that I come to a complete stop, unclip and put my foot on the ground at ev-ery single stop sign I have ever encountered, but I can say that when I do, I see some of the most amazing reactions. Once, a pedestrian even clapped for me because, he said, he had “never seen a biker stop at a stop sign.” Imag-ine what this city might look like if all driv-ers, bikers and pedestrians took a moment to re-educate themselves on the laws of the road, and tried, just a little more, to slow down and watch out.

Madeline Ragan is a second-year physical therapy student.

Page 6: Synapse (02.13.14)

6 | February 13, 2014 | synapse.ucsf.edu

FOODDIY LemoncelloBy Matthew NordstromStaff Writer

In the last year I may have unknowingly boarded the DIY train and now I’m not sure how to get off, or even if I want to.

It started off simple with some home-infused vodkas. I then upped the ante by mak-ing my own citrus and old-fashioned bitters. Then about a month ago I started two projects at the same time: kombucha and lemoncello. I’m not sure why all my DIY projects are things I can drink. Strange.

Lemoncello is a wonderful Italian liqueur that strikes the perfect balance between tangy, sweet and boozy — making it one of the few liqueurs that I can enjoy sipping straight, yet fla-vorful enough to mix with some fizzy water for a refreshing cocktail. It’s the perfect liqueur to have hanging around the house. It can just sit in the freezer and when people come over you can effortlessly offer them a drink that takes about two seconds to make and you come off fancy as hell.

Now you may be asking yourself, “Matt, what about the kombucha!?” Well, it is wonder-ful. But it looks like a creepy slime mold growing on top of tea. And who wants to see a pic-ture of that? No one.

Louise Emerick for Americas Test Kitchen The Feed

Ingredients:2 lbs. organic unwaxed lemons1 750-ml. bottle of grain alcohol1 cup of plain sugar

Directions:Lemoncello is traditionally made with grain alcohol — Everclear, as an example — but that

can be hard to come by. The next best thing is 100 proof vodka.Start with organic lemons, to avoid pesticides and the waxed coating of conventional lem-

ons. If you don’t have a choice then just make sure to scrub and clean them very well. Peel the lemons with a vegetable peeler, trying to minimize the amount of white pith. If some pith remains on the zest strip, then take a small sharp paring knife and scrape it off. This part does not have to be perfect but the less pith present, the less bitter the lemoncello. Place all the zest strips in a glass or ceramic bowl that has at least a 3½-cup capacity. Pour

the alcohol over the zest. Cover and store in a cool dark place for four weeks. If you are in a rush, two weeks will make an okay batch, but four is by far the best.

After the four long weeks are up, strain it through a fine mesh sieve, pressing on the zest to extract as much liquid as possible. Make a simple syrup by mixing 1 cup of sugar into 1 ½ cups of water. Heat on the stovetop until sugar is completely dissolved. Let cool and add it to the infused alcohol. It may turn cloudy when you do this. That is completely normal and healthy.

Pour the mixture into the bottles you wish to use, and let rest at room in a cool dark place for at least five days to mellow it out. Then place in the freezer and enjoy.

Matthew Nordstrom is a second-year medical student.

Lemoncello is a wonderful Italian liqueur that strikes the perfect balance be-tween tangy, sweet and boozy.

MIND & BODY

Let’s Get Physical...Therapy! Minimalist Shoe Running

By Ilka FelsenStaff Writer

Have you ever wondered what’s up with people running around in bare feet? Or eyed those funky looking

“shoes” with five separate toes?

What’s the scoop on minimalist shoe run-ning?

In a nutshell, minimalist running shoes look a lot like socks with some extra padding on the soles. Minimalist shoes are designed to mimic running in bare feet, a concept that has become a hot topic since the publication of Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall.

Basically, McDougall’s best seller puts forth an interesting theory: that running with shoes alters the natural biomechanics of the foot, when humans are evolutionarily de-signed to walk and run barefoot.

In fact, wearing cushy, expensive run-ning shoes is a relatively new thing — thanks to Nike. Indeed, before supportive, super high-tech running shoes became a big thing, marathon runners in the 70s wore pretty minimalist-looking shoes.

So why run barefoot?Proponents of barefoot running argue

that wearing the clunkier, traditional running shoes encourages a heel strike pattern. The newest research indicates that striking the ground with the heel first actually results in a greater ground reaction force, which means more load going through the ankles and

knees. Ouch. Running barefoot or in mini-malist shoes discourages a heel strike pattern, so that runners instead land on their midfoot, which is supposed to reduce forces going up through the leg. Proponents of minimalist running also argue that barefoot running in-creases spatial awareness of foot joints (a very good thing!), and increases foot strength (also great!).

So should I go out and buy a pair of mini-malist shoes? How about I just run without shoes?

The number one reason why runners switch to minimalist running is because of pain. (Note that the number two reason is McDougall’s book Born to Run.) But experts recommend an 8-12 week transition period from traditional shoes to minimalist shoes. This is because the foot is not conditioned to run in nothing, after spending a lifetime shod.

There are numerous websites out there, each with their own recommended training regimens. The important thing is to gradu-ally build up to running full time in minimal-ist shoes.

The other essential things to do are: strengthen your calves like crazy, because minimalist running requires superman-size calves, strengthen your intrinsic foot muscles and do not run in minimalist shoes or bare feet if you do not have full sensation on the sole of your foot.

Ilka Felsen is a second-year physical therapy student.

Photo by Matt Nordstrom/MS2

Page 7: Synapse (02.13.14)

synapse.ucsf.edu | February 13, 2014 | 7

PUZZLES

THE STRENGTH TO HEAL

To learn more, call (650)347-3967 or visitSan Mateo Medical Recruiting Center400 S. El Camino Real, STE 450San Mateo, CA 94402Email: [email protected]

You can begin training for the career you’ve always dreamed of withfinancial assistance from the U.S. Army. Through the Health ProfessionsScholarship Program (HPSP)*, you could be eligible to receive a fulltuition scholarship for an accredited medical program.

The HPSP provides reimbursement for books, laboratory equipmentand academic fees. You’ll also receive a sign-on bonus of $20,000 and amonthly stipend of $2,157. During breaks, you’ll have the opportunity totrain alongside other members of our health care organization.

starts with our scholarship.

*Certain requirements and eligibility criteria apply.©2013. Paid for by the United States Army. All rights reserved. Information subject to change.

www.goarmy.com/amedd.html

Capt. Ana Morgan, M.D., HPSP Medical RecipientBrooke Army Medical Center, Texas

Parnassus Poets

Philip Seymour Hoffman, RIP

What red painwere you trying to darkenthrough your vein? All blackness now.

~ William Vlach, Ph.D.

HUMOR/FAKE NEWS

Grad Student in Shock After Intern Spills Months’ Worth of Protein Isolate

Week of 2/10/14 - 2/16/14

ACROSS1 Wedding

shower?5 Dandy dresser8 Lion's share

12 Tylenol target13 All lit up15 Field of study16 Hustler's game17 Bank offerings18 Engaged19 Squid's spray20 Choral piece22 Felix, for one23 Willis movie

series25 Waterboarding,

e.g.27 Gridiron line29 Bicuspid's

neighbor30 Title holder?31 Probate concern32 Batman and

Robin, e.g. 61 Homes for 7 Alfredo 34 Business costs35 Ironfisted drones alternative 36 Make like new37 Wine choice 62 Hightail it 8 Scratch up 39 Cochlea site38 Broker's advice 63 Swirling current 9 Prophetic 40 Louver piece41 Cut, as ties 64 Palindromic 10 Split up 42 Prepare for 44 Pick pockets "before" 11 Torn's partner publication45 Place to call 65 Look after 13 Scaremonger 43 Sunday speak-

home 14 Creamy er, slangily49 Patio of sorts confection 45 Garage job51 Far from DOWN 20 Summer 46 Bitty bite

important 1 Rafting thrill getaway 47 Sway on a 52 Volcanic 2 Easily 21 Battle needs curve

residue identifiable 24 Friendly 48 Pleased as 53 Carrot feature 3 Type of greetings Punch55 Bikini part necklace 26 Stroller rider 50 Secret store56 Dance lesson 4 Snakelike fish 28 Formation fliers 54 Split apart58 Type of terrier 5 Italian import 31 Surroundings 57 Be a snoop59 Help in mischief 6 Richly 32 Aversion 59 Toward the 60 Sign of sadness decorated 33 Not tried out stern

by Margie E. BurkeThe Weekly Crossword

Copyright 2014 by The Puzzle Syndicate

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15

16 17 18

19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26

27 28 29

30 31

32 33 34 35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42 43

44 45 46 47 48

49 50 51

52 53 54 55

56 57 58 59

60 61 62

63 64 65

Week of 2/10/14 - 2/16/14

Edited by Margie E. Burke

HOW TO SOLVE:

(Answer appears elsewhere

in this issue)

Solution to Sudoku

Copyright 2014 by The Puzzle Syndicate

Difficulty : Medium

Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com

title: "Running Behind" -­ originally published 1/15/2014

By Staff Humorist

UCSF grad student Sara Patel is still at a loss for words after a high school intern carelessly dropped 15 mil-

liliters of protein isolate that had taken two months to purify and concentrate.

According to a postdoc in a neighboring lab who witnessed the event, the clumsy sum-mer intern, who shall remain anonymous, was talking about how she and her best friend weren’t speaking for the third time this week when the 15 milliliter conical slipped from her grasp and spilled its precious contents across the putrid lab floor.

Patel’s jaw dropped open in mute horror, and according to the postdoc witness, has been slowly gaping open and closed in a fu-tile attempt to find words ever since.

When we asked Patel for a comment on how it felt to have hundreds of hours of her labor amount to nothing, thanks to the dopey summer intern, her only response was to be-gin silently weeping.

“Airhead” intern has since gone into hid-ing, but was available for comment via email. When asked about her next step, Airhead said she planned on staying in hiding until at least April, adding, “I’m such a klutz, LOL. Feel better, Sara. XOXO”

Page 8: Synapse (02.13.14)

8 | February 13, 2014 | synapse.ucsf.edu

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Mission Bay: 550-B Gene Friend Way, Mission Bay, 415.865.0423Mon-Fri 7:00 am-9:30 pm / Sat-Sun 8:00 am-9:00 pm

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You may qualify if you:

Are between 25 and 69 yrs of age Are physically inactive Would like to be more physically active Have access to a home or mobile phone

Commitment: 12 Months 7 Office Visits & 2 Blood Draws

Phone: 415-322-0520 email: [email protected]

UCSF mPED research study is comparing pedometers and mobile applications in motivating

women to increase daily physical activity

Physically Inactive Women Needed!

Week of 2/10/14 - 2/16/14

Edited by Margie E. Burke

HOW TO SOLVE:

(Answer appears elsewhere

in this issue)

Solution to Sudoku

Copyright 2014 by The Puzzle Syndicate

Difficulty : Medium


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