CONGRATULATIONS Lucas Gutierrez (CXPT Program, Dr. Houda Alachkar, advisor) presented his poster on "Midostaurin Reduces Regulatory T Cell Population in Healthy and Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells” at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in Atlan-ta, GA.

Larry Rodriguez (PSCI Program, Dr. Daryl Davies, advisor) presented his poster titled, “Cross-talk between P2X4 and NMDA Receptors: Implica-tions in Alcohol Addiction and Dis-ease” at the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) in Washington, DC. Larry also received the 2017 Trainee Profession-al Development Award from SFN for his poster.

Amelia Spinrad (MS Reg Sci Program, Dr. Nancy Smerkanich, advisor) presented her poster on “Improving the quality of clinical trials conducted in academia” at 10th Annual Confer-ence on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation. Amelia also presented her poster at the Keck Interprofessional Research Poster Symposium and won 1st place!

David Tyrpak (PSCI Program, Dr. Andrew MacKay, advisor) presented his poster titled, “A novel Molecular tool for the study of cell signaling and Trafficking” at the Multifunctional Materials and Structures Gordon Research Conference in Venture, Ca.

Vijaya Pooja Vaikari (CXPT Program; Dr. Houda Alachkar advisor) present-ed her poster on "Interaction be-tween FLT3 and CD99 in Acute Mye-loid Leukemia” at the American Socie-ty of Hematology Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA.

Tian Zhang (CXPT Program; Dr. Hou-da Alachkar advisor) presented her poster on "APOC2 is upregulated in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and presents a novel therapeutic target.” at the American Society of Hematolo-gy Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA.

NEWS Bi-annual School of Pharmacy Research and Graduate Education Retreat was a success!

The SOP Research Retreat took place at the Terranea Beach Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA on January 4th and

5th. The retreat was attended by SOP Faculty and a select group of students representative of programs in the School

to discuss "Celebrating our Differences." Keynote speaker Dr. Shaun Harper, Executive Director from the USC Equity

and Race Center, gave an excellent presentation on the challenges of diversity and equity in higher education and how

to advance the School’s recruiting efforts to increase diversity both in the student and faculty populations. The retreat

also hosted several faculty presentations that exemplified cross-collaborations at the School of Pharmacy. Finally, the

retreat included several break-out sessions that addressed “Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Research and

Scholarship” and “Translating Research Discoveries/Innovations into the Health system to benefit patient care.”

SOP Graduate Students defended their PhD dissertations in December of 2017!

Tao Bi (MPTX Program, Dr. Julio Camarero, advisor) defended his doctoral dissertation last month titled, “Using

the Cyclotide Scaffold to Target Intracellular Protein-Protein Interaction.” During his doctoral career Dr. Bi

published one first–author publication titled, “In-cell production of a genetically-encoded library based on the

Theta-defensing RTD-1 using a bacterial expression system” and he co-authored two additional publications. We

congratulate Dr. Tao Bi as he proceeds to the next level of his career as a scientist!

Grant Dagliyan (DRSc Program, Reg Sci, Dr. Frances Richmond, advisor) defended his doctoral dissertation

titled, “Implementation of Good Manufacturing Practice Regulations For Positron Emission Tomography

Radiopharmaceuticals: Challenges and Opportunities Perceived by Imaging Thought Leaders.” During his

graduate career Dr. Dagliyan was a co-author on five publications. Dr. Dagliyan is currently Associate Director for

the USC Molecular Imaging Center. Congratulations Dr. Dagliyan!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

School of Pharmacy Pharmaceutical & Translational Sciences Graduate Program Interview Weekend, Friday-Saturday, January 26-

27, 2018: Top prospective applicants for PHTS will be invited for an on-campus interview and have the opportunity to listen to faculty research presentations,

participate in lab tours, a graduate student poster session and dinner. Applicant interviews will be on Friday, January 26th. Prospective students will have the

opportunity to mingle with faculty and graduate students during the poster session on Friday, January 26th at 4:30 pm. Sign up to present your poster by emailing

Liz.Aguiniga@usc.edu. The program ends Saturday with brunch in Pasadena that includes current graduate students. For more information contact rsoltero@usc.edu.

HSC PhD Career Series to begin next month, Various Dates, February–April 2018: The HSC PhD Career Series is for all graduate students on the

Health Science Campus and is co-sponsored by the School of Pharmacy, Keck School of Medicine, Public Health Sciences and the Graduate School. Most seminars will be

held during lunch time and lunch will be provided for all attendees. Please RSVP for workshops at http://bit.ly/2BYl41n

“CV/Resume Writing &Review” Tuesday, February 13 at 11am-1pm in NRT LG 503/504

“Interviewing and Negotiating Job Offers” Wednesday, March 28 at 11am-1pm in the Hastings Auditorium

“Tips for Effective Networking” Thursday, April 5th at 12-2pm in PSC 112

“LinkedIn” social media presence Friday, April 13th from 11am-1pm in SSB 115/116

UPCOMING EVENTS

Connect with Gilead – Info and Recruitment Session, Wednesday, January 31, 2018, 5–9pm: The Biotech Connection in Los Angeles (BCLA) is

co-hosting a recruitment session with Gilead this month! The Gilead Recruitment Session will solely focus on recruiting candidates for entry level positions within the

Research Department at Gilead's Foster City location. These positions require a PhD or Masters level of education with experience and/or background in Chemistry,

Pharmacology, Chemical Engineering, Medicinal Chemistry/Formulation. We highly encourage PhD and Master candidates close to finishing their program or

have recently graduated, Postdocs, entry level Research Scientists currently looking for job opportunities in the biotech industry to attend this event. This is a highly

anticipated event and space is limited so we urge you to RSVP now! UPC, 1050 Childs Way, Los Angeles, CA 90089 (USC RRI Hall). RSVP Here: https://

connectwithgilead.eventbrite.com

Across the STEMverse: A GWIS-LA Industry Careers Conference, Saturday, February 3, 2018, 9am—3pm: This free STEM career

conference aims to give scientists in the LA-wide area the opportunity to meet, seek advice, and to network with experienced pro fessionals working

outside of academia. The conference also aims to connect individuals from different fields, schools, and backgrounds to fost er collaboration. Across

the STEMverse will feature a diverse array of STEM professionals, including but not limited to: CEOs and CSOs; Engineering project managers; Medical

science liaisons; Patent attorneys and agents; Data scientists; Scientific directors; Licensing and tech transfer associates; and Senior scientists. This

event is organized by the Graduate Women in Science (GWIS), Los Angeles Chapter. USC Town & Gown, 665 West Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90089.

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/across-the-stemverse-a-gwis-la-industry-careers-conference-tickets-39238237625

BCLA’s 3rd Annual Bioscience Talent Connection (Career Fair), Friday, February 23 2018, 10am–3pm: All life science professionals

in academia, industry, or students interested in learning about career development tips and/or looking for local opportunities should look to participate in BCLA’s 3rd

Annual Biosciences Talent Connection! It is a full day event which will commence with career development discussions followed by a showcase of life

science companies in the SoCal area. Register now for free and take advantage of this opportunity to learn tips on how to advance your career and to meet local biotech

companies face-to-face! UPC 3715 McClintock Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90089 (USC Leonard Davis). RSVP Here: https://btc2018.eventbrite.com

Student Seminars (Wednesdays at noon in PSC-104):

Jan 17: Aida Kouhi (PSCI, MacKay lab)

Jan 24: Rebecca Lim (PSCI, Xie lab)

Jan 31: Albert Lam (PSCI, Zhang lab)

Feb 7: Jordanna Jayne (CXPT, Beringer lab)

Feb 14: Julianna Chen (PSCI, Zhang lab)

USC School of Pharmacy Office of Research and Graduate Programs Associate Dean: Annie Wong-Beringer, PharmD

Newsletter Editor: Liz Aguiniga, PhD; Contributors: Rosie Soltero, Wade Thompson-Harper

Photo credit: Isaac Mora (Media Dept.), Michele Keller, Director of Communications and Marketing

Email: PHARgrad@usc.edu

Website: https://pharmgradprograms.usc.edu/ 1985 Zonal Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90089

Dr. Tao Bi Dr. Grant Dagliyan