Daily Business Report: March 15, 2024
Matthew Dominick makes history as first USD
alumnus to dock at the International Space Station
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick has made history as the first University of San Diego alumni to journey into outer space. On March 6, Dominick, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission, successfully docked at the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Dominick, 42, earned a dual BS/BA degree in electrical engineering from USD’s Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering. He was selected out of more than 18,300 candidates to join NASA as part of its 2017 astronaut candidate class of 12. The class also included fellow USD alumnus Jonathan (Jonny) Kim.
Dominick’s journey into space started at USD, where he cultivated an unquenching passion for learning. Professor of electrical engineering Mikaya Lumori recalls serving as Dominick’s advisor from 2002-05.
“He came to USD through the ROTC program,” he said. “He was very interested from his freshman year in becoming an astronaut — he was always coming [to class] in his uniform and working hard on software.”
Top photo: NASA Astronauts (from left) Jeanette Epps, Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. (Photos provided by NASA)
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Nierenberg Prize awarded to biochemist Katlin Karikó
for pioneering research on COVID-19 vaccines
By Karissa Duran | UC San Diego
Hungarian-American biochemist and researcher Katalin Karikó has been selected by Scripps Institution of Oceanography as the recipient of the 2023 Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest. Karikó also recently received last year’s Nobel Prize in medicine for her groundbreaking work on COVID-19 vaccines, alongside co-collaborator Drew Weissman, a renowned physician and researcher at Penn Medicine.
She is best known for her research on messenger RNA — the genetic material that tells our bodies how to make proteins — and the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Karikó and Weissman MD, invented the modified mRNA technology used in Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection.
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Cal State San Marcos receives $20 million gift from
Epstein family and Price Philanthropies Foundation
In a historic moment, Cal State San Marcos (CSUSM) announced two philanthropic donations totaling $20 million – the largest gifts in its 35-year history.
A transformative grant of $10 million from Price Philanthropies Foundation will create a first-of-its-kind, three-year accelerated bachelor’s degree and workforce pipeline for behavioral and mental health.
As part of this groundbreaking milestone and becoming the largest donors to CSUSM, visionary philanthropist Daniel J. Epstein – a director of the CSUSM Foundation Board – and his wife, Phyllis, have committed to an additional gift of $10 million. Their contribution will serve as a unique dollar-for-dollar matching gift opportunity for all CSUSM donors to double their impact across campus.
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SDG&E’s supply chain boosts economy by $2.6 billion in 2023
San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) said its procurement program generated $2.59 billion in direct economic impact in 2023, contracting with more than 2,000 businesses for goods and services to deliver on the comp\any’s mission to serve the 3.7 million people in its service area with increasingly clean, safe and reliable energy infrastructure.
More than 43 percent of SDG&E’s total expenditures were with diverse suppliers – enterprises owned by minorities, women, LGBT individuals, service-disabled veterans and persons with disabilities, according to the company’ annual supplier diversity report submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission.
Nearly 600, or a third of the suppliers who did business with SDG&E in 2023, were diverse businesses. In 2023, SDG&E’s spending with diverse businesses reached $450.6 million in San Diego County and $950.7 million in California.
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Hammer Ventures acquires Sorrento Mesa building for $9.1 million
Hammer Ventures has acquired a 19,618-square-foot research and development building in Sorrento Mesa for $9.1 million. The seller was Ohana Kala LLC. Todd Holley of Voit Real Estate Services’ San Diego office, directed the sale.
In 2016, Holley represented Ohana Kala in their acquisition of the building. As Biosero outgrew their facility, Holley assisted them in relocating to a Kearny Mesa building with twice the square footage.
The property is located at 9560 Waples.
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Realty Income declares monthly common stock dividend increase
Realty Income Corporation announced it has declared an increase in the company’s common stock monthly cash dividend to $0.2570 per share from $0.2565 per share. The dividend is payable on April 15, 2024, to stockholders of record as of April 1, 2024. This is the 124th dividend increase since Realty Income’s listing on the NYSE in 1994. The ex-dividend date for April’s dividend is March 29, 2024.
Poseida Therapeutics announces FDA Orphan Drug Designation
Poseida Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage cell and gene therapy company advancing a new class of treatments for patients with cancer and rare diseases, announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to P-BCMA-ALL01 for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The company is investigating P-BCMA-ALL01 in partnership with Roche for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
Marta Miletic of SDSU wins a NASA Space Tech Catalyzst prize
Marta Miletic of San Diego State University is one of the first winners of NASA’s Space Tech Catalyst prize to expand engagement with underrepresented and diverse individuals in the space technology sector. The winners are receiving $25,000 eah to create more inclusive space technoloy ecosystems. To increase collaboration between NASA and its community partners, each winner will attend an in-person event at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Acadia Pharmaceuticals to participate in the UBS Virtual CNS Day
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it will participate in the UBS Virtual CNS Day on Monday, March 18, 2024 at 11 a.m. Pacific time. The conference will be held virtually. A live webcast of Acadia’s presentation will be accessible on the company’s website, Acadia.com, under the investors section and an archived recording will be available on the website for approximately one month following the presentation.
Orion launches ‘PulseCheck’ behavioral finance tool
Orion, a provider of transformative wealthtech solutions for fiduciary advisors, launched “PulseCheck,” live from its flagship event Orion Ascent, in San Diego on Wednesday.
This sophisticated behavioral finance tool, developed by Orion’s Chief Behavioral Officer Dr. Daniel Crosby and his team, considers investors’ personal well-being and fulfillment as part of the financial planning process.
Cornerstone First Mortgage, with Calque, launches ‘The Trade-In Mortgage’
San Diego-based Cornerstone First Mortgage has partnered with Calque to launch The Trade-In Mortgag in markets nationwide. Customers can now conveniently submit non-contingent offers, giving them a significant edge in bidding for homes amidst low inventory and persistently high prices. Despite current real estate market conditions consisting of low inventory and relatively high mortgage interest rates, homeowners are sitting on unprecedented equity.
CENIC honors Ilkay Altintas with Distinguised Service Award
UC San Diego’s Ilkay Altintas, chief data science officer of the San Diego Supercomputer Center and founding fellow of the the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, has been selected to receive CENIC’s 2024 Christine Haska Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her visionary and foundational contributions to the field of data science. Altintaş’s role at UC San Diego and the SDSC has paved the way for numerous groundbreaking achievements.
Realtors group hosts annual Circle of Excellence Awards Ceremony
The Greater San Diego Association of Realtors (SDAR) is hosting its annual Circle of Excellence Awards Ceremony on Saturday, March 16. Real estate professionals will convene to be a part of a night when the top performers in San Diego real estate are honored. Taking place at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, this event will feature awards for Volunteer of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Real Estate Video of the year, 2023 Broker of the Year, 2023 Realtor of the Year and SDAR Service Award.
Drawbridge Realty completes Class A building construction
Drawbridge Realty, an investor in strategic corporate facilities nationwide, announced the completion of 16707 Via Del Campo Court in Rancho Bernardo. The three-story, Class A office/R&D property is the first speculative office building to be constructed in San Diego’s popular Rancho Bernardo market in more than a decade. The building has large, efficient floor plates with 15-foot floor-to-floor ceiling heights and expansive window lines to allow maximum natural light into workspaces.
ResMed funds next Innovators Lab artist residency
The New Children’s Museum in Downtown San Diego announced that the ResMed Foundation has provided a $10,000 grant to fund the museum’s next Innovators Lab artist residency. Running from March 8 through April 3, the program will coincide with the opening of Octavia E. Butler: Seeding Futures, the inaugural exhibition in NCM’s new two-year programmatic arc, Science Fiction Creates the Future.
