Daily Business Report: Monday, Jan. 9, 2023
SPOTLIGHT ON NEW BUSINESS
A new public relations firm is formed in San Diego
After working for more than 30 years in San Diego public relations firms, public agencies and tourism organizations, Derek Danziger has decided to step out on his own to form Danziger Public Relations (DanzigerPR.com).
“I love working alongside clients to develop strategic communications programs. I hope to be top-of-mind when people are in need of strategic PR counsel, media training or crisis support,” says Danziger, whose last two positions were as president of Katz & Associates and a vice president at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker.
Danziger also served as vice president of marketing and communications for the former Centre City Development Corporation, media center director for LEGOLAND California’s grand opening, and media and public relations director for the Super Bowl XXXII Host Committee in 1997/98.
Danziger says his guiding principle in running his own PR firm is “to be intentional, honest and strategic.” “I look forward to working on projects and programs, and with people who are making a positive impact on our community. I hope to share their stories in effective, meaningful and creative ways.”
A well-known leader in the San Diego business and economic development community, Danziger has extensive public relations, marketing, media relations, and communications experience in the public sector, real estate, and development arenas, and has worked for nonprofit organizations and promoted major civic events.
In 2006, he was named “PR Professional of the Year” by the San Diego/Imperial Counties chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. He’s a graduate of LEAD San Diego’s “Influence and Impact Programs” and currently serves on the board of directors for the United Way of San Diego County and Vets Community Connections.
“I’m genuinely interested in people, creative storytelling and connecting and ideas,” says Danziger, a graduate of UC San Diego. “By working with me, you will find someone who is well-connected and experienced in the San Diego business and political communities, but who also genuinely cares about the future success of our great city.”
UC San Diego leads $50.5 million center for computing
By Ioana Patringenaru and Katie E. Ismael
Researchers led by Tajana Simunic-Rosing, a computer science professor at the University of California San Diego, received a $35 million grant from the Semiconductor Research Corporation to make computing orders of magnitude faster and more efficient. A group of 10 universities will band together and contribute additional funds to create the $50.5 million UC San Diego-led Processing with Intelligent Storage and Memory center, or PRISM.
PRISM will create new systems that ensure computation happens where the data is — in-memory and near-memory and storage —resulting in maximum performance and efficiency, but not requiring changes at the application level, Rosing said.
This will solve the key problem leading to low performance in today’s systems, which spend as much as 90 percent of the time moving data between memory and processors.
Number of homeless in Downtown San Diego
reaches record high for fifth straight month
The number of homeless people living without shelter in Downtown San Diego is approaching 2,000 and has hit a record high for the fifth straight month, a monthly count has revealed. Numbers released Friday by the Downtown San Diego Partnership show 1,839 people were counted living on sidewalks or in vehicles on the night of Dec. 29. The count in November found 1,706 people living without shelter downtown, and the homeless population is growing at a faster pace each month.
The number of homeless people in downtown encampments has been rising for the past few months despite an increase in shelter beds that have opened this year.
General Atomics Scientists use DOE
supercomputers to advance fusion energy
Scientists at General Atomics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego have been awarded highly sought-after computing time on two of the most powerful supercomputers in the world as part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment program. The award will allow the team to perform simulations to predict energy losses in fusion plasmas and help optimize plasma performance for the next generation of fusion energy reactors. General Atomics scientist Emily Belli will lead the project, along with General Atomics Theory and Computational Science Director Jeff Candy and scientist Gary Stabler; UC San Diego software developer Igor Sfiligoi; and ORNL computational scientist Reuben Budiardja.
PSAR Realtors group hosts happy-hour mixer
The Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors (PSAR), one of the largest real estate trade organizations for San Diego-area Realtors with more than 4,000 members, will host a happy-hour networking mixer showcasing the various PSAR committees from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, at Liberty Call Distilling, 1985 National Ave., in San Diego’s Barrio Logan area. The mixer, titled “Cocktails and Committees,” will be a one-stop opportunity for PSAR members and nonmembers to learn more about PSAR’s committees and councils. Admission is free, along with free appetizers. A cash bar will offer happy-hour drink specials. For information, call PSAR at (619) 421-7811, or visit www.psar.org.
Startup Shield AI lands $60 million
to build AI ‘pilots’ for military aircraft
A nod to San Diego’s growing expertise in artificial intelligence (AI), local startup Shield AI has raised $60 million to build AI “pilots” for military aircraft. The company uses sophisticated algorithms that act as an autonomous pilot for military drones and manned aircrafts that enable them to make dynamic flight maneuvers on their own.
SDMAC reports $56 billion
economic impact of local military
San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC)’s newly released 2022 Military Economic Impact Report outlined an increae of 9,000 military-related jobs and a 1.8 percent increase in spending, bringing the industry’s economic impact to $56 billion. A cornerstone of our regional economy, the military represents almost one-quarter of all jobs in the county and a quarter of the economy.
FDA grants approval for Gilead’s
multi-drug resistant HIV-1 treatment
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted approval for Gilead Sciences’ Sunlenca plus other antiretrovirals to treat human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection.
The treatment is indicated for adult patients who are heavily treatment-experienced with multi-drug resistant HIV-1 infection. This approval is backed by findings from the multicentre, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, international Phase II/III CAPELLA clinical trial of lenacapavir plus an optimised background regimen.
FDA approves Mirati’s lung cancer drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Mirati Therapeutics Inc’s lung cancer drug adagrasib, the company said, sending its shares up more than 8 percent in extended trading on Dec. 12, 2022. Mirati’s drug has been approved for treating adult patients with advanced lung cancer as determined by an FDA-approved test, who have received at least one prior systemic therapy. Adagrasib, an oral drug, is designed to target a mutated form of a gene known as KRAS that occurs in about 13 percent of non-small cell lung cancers, the most common form of the disease, and less frequently in some other solid tumors.
Balboa Park the most photographed landmark in U.S., Canada
Balboa Park is the most photographed landmark in the United States and Canada, according to Yelp, which said it topped its top 50 list with over 10,000 photos. Every landmark on the list has at least 700 photos on their Yelp page and the top 10 spots have more than 5,000 photos each. Read more…
Realty Income announces $1 billion multicurrency term loan
Realty Income Corporation (Realty Income announced that it has closed on a $1 billion multicurrency unsecured term loan. The loan initially matures in January 2024 and includes two twelve-month extensions that can be exercised at the company’s option. A total of nine lenders are participating in the loan. Toronto Dominion (Texas) LLC is acting as the administrative agent. The company is structured as a REIT, and its monthly dividends are supported by the cash flow from over 11,700 real estate properties owned under long-term net lease agreements with commercial clients.
Arthrosi announces positive results from clinical
study of drug for the treatment of chronic gout
Arthrosi Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced positive topline results from its Phase 2b clinical study of AR882 for the treatment of chronic gout, providing a strong foundation to advance into Phase 3 clinical development. The Phase 2b study was a global, multicenter, 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 140 gout patients who met the gout classification according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR).
