Daily Business Report-May 19, 2020
Alba Grifoni, an instructor in the Sette lab and the study’s co-first author, tests the T cell response in blood samples collected from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.(Image courtesy of La Jolla Institute for Immunology)
First detailed analysis of immune
response to SARS-COV-2 bodes well
for COVID-19 vaccine development
Scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine to protect against COVID-19 infection, and epidemiologists are trying to predict how the coronavirus pandemic will unfold until such a vaccine is available.
Yet, both efforts are surrounded by unresolved uncertainty whether the immune system can mount a substantial and lasting response to SARS-CoV-2 and whether exposure to circulating common cold coronaviruses provides any kind of protective immunity.
A collaboration between the labs of Alessandro Sette and Shane Crotty, Ph.D., at La Jolla Institute for Immunology is starting to fill in the massive knowledge gap with good news for vaccine developers and is providing the first cellular immunology data to help guide social distancing recommendations.
Published in the May 14 online edition of Cell, the study documents a robust antiviral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in a group of 20 adults who had recovered from COVID-19. The findings show that the body’s immune system is able to recognize SARS-CoV-2 in many ways, dispelling fears that the virus may elude ongoing efforts to create an effective vaccine.
“If we had seen only marginal immune responses, we would have been concerned,” says Sette, a professor in the Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, and adds, “but what we see is a very robust T cell response against the spike protein, which is the target of most ongoing COVID-19 efforts, as well as other viral proteins. These findings are really good news for vaccine development.”
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A brave new virtual world of work?
Expert on teleworking discusses the impact
By Christine Clark | UC San Diego
The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in remote work on an unprecedented scale. UC San Diego, like other employers and organizations around the globe, has had to pivot toward telework for staff and faculty members alike. Will this sudden transition shape the future of a new world of work? Will things ever go back to “normal,” or will we enter a “new normal”?
Elizabeth Lyons, an assistant professor of management at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, predicts the latter, while noting both its benefits and drawbacks.
“Many organizations have now made large investments in both physical capital for employees to work from home (e.g. laptops, software), and organizational capabilities required to facilitate this as a result of the pandemic,” said Lyons, an expert on teleworking best practices. “Because the pandemic forced this large, fixed-cost investment required for remote work that many organizations were not otherwise able or willing to make or were putting off, remote work will be easier to facilitate going forward.”
However, to be clear, she said, remote work during the pandemic should not be indicative of what it might look like post-pandemic. “With schools closed and other challenges we face, productivity is suffering,” Lyons said. “Decisions on remote work capabilities should not be made without taking these factors into consideration.”
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The Ivy multifamily development
site sold in downtown Escondido
The Ivy, a proposed multifamily development site in downtown Escondido, has been acquired by MAAC Ivy LLC for an undisclosed sum. The Ivy is anticipated to consist of 127 new residential units comprising studio-, one- and two-bedroom units, plus basement and main level parking. The seller was Touchstone MF Fund I LLC.
The Ivy is anticipated to consist of 127 new residential units comprising studio-, one- and two-bedroom units, plus basement and main level parking.
Matt Davis and Terry Jackson of Cushman & Wakefield’s Land Advisory Group in San Diego represented the seller in the transaction.
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County seeking applications for people wanting
to serve on Independent Redistricting Commission
The opportunity only comes once every 10 years – a chance to redraw the boundaries of the San Diego County’s five supervisorial districts.
The county is taking applications now for people who can serve on its Independent Redistricting Commission. Members will redraw the district lines to reflect the new numbers in the federal census.
Why is that important? District lines can shape a community’s ability to elect the representative of their choice.
The 2020 census numbers will reveal new data on residents and whether one district is more populated than the others. Each supervisor should represent a diverse population of about 650,000 residents.
Redistricting Commission members will re-shape the district boundaries to meet community needs. The commission will act independently from the Board of Supervisors.
The County’s Clerk of the Board will take Redistricting Commission applications through July 31.
To qualify, volunteers must be San Diego County residents who were registered to vote with the same political party or listed as no party preference for the last five years. And they must have voted in at least one of the last three statewide elections. Applicants must not have been active in political circles for the last 10 years. They must be impartial and demonstrate analytical skills.
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Engineers develop low-cost, high-accuracy
GPS-like system for flexible medical robots
Roboticists at the University of California San Diego have developed an affordable, easy to use system to track the location of flexible surgical robots inside the human body. The system performs as well as current state of the art methods, but is much less expensive. Many current methods also require exposure to radiation, while this system does not.
The system was developed by Tania Morimoto, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, and mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Connor Watson. Their findings are published in the April 2020 issue of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.
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General Atomics awarded contract for aircraft
launch and arresting gear systems
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has been awarded a contract for ongoing engineering and logistics sustainment of Gerald R. Ford-class Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) systems by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent, MD.
GA-EMS will provide critical engineering, technical, configuration management and program support for EMALS and AAG systems installed aboard Ford-class carriers.
“We are proud to continue our working relationship with the Navy and extend our support for these critical technologies as the program advances into a new phase,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “This contract signals the program is now moving from the design and development phase, and into concurrent production and sustainment phase, providing sustaining engineering, material and maintenance support for all Ford-class aircraft carriers.”
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Scripps Research awards doctoral
degrees to members of class of 2020
Scripps Research awarded doctoral degrees to 44 graduate students who completed the rigorous academic and research requirements of the institute’s Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences. The degree recipients comprise the 28th graduating class of Scripps Research’s graduate program.
In lieu of the traditional annual commencement ceremony on the La Jolla campus, a virtual celebration for the class of 2020 will be held in July in consideration of public health restrictions imposed in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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Cox Communications Supports
Frontline Organizations
Cox Communications is helping feed families and put technology in students’ hands during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company recently granted a $25,000 donation from The James M. Cox Foundation to Feeding San Diego, and just this week Cox awarded $250,000 to Computers 2 Kids, San Diego to help the nonprofit refurbish and distribute 20,000 devices this year to low-income students and families.
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MiraCosta College to hold commencement
ceremony online on Friday
MiraCosta College will hold its first-ever virtual commencement ceremony on Friday at 5 p.m. “With obvious differences from a traditional ceremony, the college is committed to recognizing the achievements of our students and we will strive to make the virtual event a memorable one that enables graduates to remotely share this monumental achievement with family, friends, and the academic community,” the college said in its announcement.
Graduate Celia Ramirez will deliver this year’s commencement address. Ramirez shares how she has overcome challenges in her life to pursue her education. Ramirez credits her father with her commitment to education and for being a role model in her life. He taught her how important it was to be there for your children and the importance of education. She experienced homelessness with her husband and children, but Ramierz persevered, and once the family got back on their feet, she enrolled at MiraCosta College, in pursuit of a better life and a career change.
For more information about the virtual commencement ceremony, visit miracosta.edu/commencement.
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Governor could see sports returning
without fans in June
With speculation about the 2020 NFL season running rampant right now, Gov. Gavin Newsom shared some good news on Monday. During a briefing, Newsom said he could see professional sports return without fans as early as the first week of June.
That’s a surprising development considering how strict the state’s current guidelines are regarding the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a positive development for the Rams, however, who will play eight games at SoFi Stadium next season and one additional game in California against the 49ers.
Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to all 32 teams last week about a soft reopening of facilities on May 19, allowing no more than 50 percent of the staff in the building at a time. The total number of people in each team’s facilities is not to exceed 75.
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Michelle Goncalves named culinary
vice president at Luna Grill
Luna Grill in San Diego has named industry veteran Michelle Goncalves as its culinary vice president. Coming most recently from Qdoba Mexican Eats where she served the past four years directing product marketing and culinary innovation, Goncalves has held management positions in product development, culinary innovation, restaurant operations and product marketing at some of the world’s best-known brands for more than 20 years.
Prior to her time at Qdoba, Goncalves spent 17 years in various capacities with Taco Bell, a category leader in product innovation. Goncalves’ work is reflected in product innovations like the Crunchwrap Supreme and the Border Bowl line, both generating large global sales layers.
She also served as director of growth channels, new product implementation and menu readiness. Her efforts became the framework for customer programs across YUM locations (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC) both domestically and internationally.
Early career work for Goncalves also includes time with Jenny Craig, Carls Jr. and Jack in the Box, all in the product development sphere. She has a bachelor’s degree in foods and nutrition from California Polytechnic University, is an accredited Pastry Chef and earned the 2017 Harold Meyberg Award for excellence in the culinary arts.
