Daily Business Report-April 18, 2018
New UC San Diego molecular biologist Omar Akbari stands in his laboratory among hundreds of mosquito cages. (Photo by Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications)
Taking Aim at Mosquitos and Disease: A New
UC San Diego Biologist Joins the Campus
Campaign Against Disease Transmission
By Mario C. Aguilera| UC San Diego
Enter Omar Akbari’s insect zoo and it’s immediately clear that you’ve entered a different world. It’s not that you’ve passed through several layers of containment that keep the bugs securely locked away… nor the fact that the temperature has just escalated 20 degrees… nor that the room is kept at 60 percent humidity—just the way mosquitoes like it.
Rather, what becomes immediately apparent is Akbari’s unmistakable affinity for the pests and an ability of knowing just about everything there is to know about them.
Having just arrived on the UC San Diego campus as a faculty member in the Division of Biological Sciences, Akbari comes armed with a unique skill set aimed squarely at disease-carrying insects and the potential to revolutionize how we fight them. Just as canine experts can unmistakably identify this Lhasa Apso and that Shih Tzu, and how to breed each, Akbari’s mosquito expertise affords him uncanny perspectives on how to stop mosquitoes from spreading disease.
With a quick glance inside one of the stacked cages in his lab, Akbari deftly identifies a mosquito’s species… its sex… mating habits…. feeding regimen… and what a mosquito is doing at any given moment. To the casual observer, it might appear as a bunch of bugs sitting idly around a cage. But through Akbari’s lens, this scenario is much more. Years of getting to know these blood-lusting creatures tells Akbari that these males are passionately waiting for the opportune moment a female is ready to mate, a situation accelerated when Akbari kick starts the mating ritual with a quick blast of air to get things stirred up.
He can carefully describe the process through which a mosquito pierces human skin and extracts blood, and with it the potential of transmitting pathogens. And he explains all of this while a hungry mosquito is feeding off of his blood.
For the love of mosquitos
Omar Akbari’s story doesn’t trace the typical narrative of an emerging biologist. No early attraction to science. No stories of youthful adventures as a backyard wilderness explorer. Shockingly, not even a bug-collecting kit.
His story starts in the placid town of Idaho Springs, Colorado. Set in the mountains an hour’s drive from Denver, Akbari grew up the proud son of the owner of the town’s only movie theater. His passion for science began to blossom in high school but didn’t shift gears until he attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where he took a job in a lab that exposed him to the wonders of science.
An insect geneticist with field and laboratory training, Omar Akbari specializes in devising ways to genetically halt the spread of disease-causing pathogens.
“I started reading scientific papers and quickly began to love science,” said Akbari, who speaks in deceptively hushed tones but gradually ensnares his audience with the confidence that they are listening to someone who has clearly found his passion and purpose in life. “The ability to explore questions was really interesting to me. The idea that you could actually solve real-world problems became what I’m most interested in—the ability to save lives.”
During his four summers in Reno earning combined bachelor’s and master’s degrees, he found a job that taught him all there is to know about eradicating pathogen-carrying bugs, known as “vector control.” He recalls the thrill of going into the field and bringing back mosquitoes to test for West Nile virus and other pathogens.
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Project MOST Helps Minority-Owned,
Nonprofit Businesses Succeed
By Jose A. Alvarez | County of San Diego Communications Office
Six people sit in a small room on the second floor of the Jacobs Center in San Diego’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.During the day, they own or run small businesses or nonprofit organizations. But on this evening, they’re students. They’re here for a lab on how to pitch their business to potential investors, and how to develop strategic goals and a successful business plan. The goal is to manage and grow their businesses so they can be more successful and have a greater impact in their communities.
The lessons of the night are part of Project MOST: the Minority-Owned Support and Technical Assistance Project. The county established the program in partnership with RISE San Diego to provide training and other help to minority-owned businesses and nonprofit organizations in low-income communities. The county Health and Human Service Agency’s Community Action Partnership administers the program and RISE San Diego gives the trainings.
Project MOST began as a pilot project in the Mid-City and southeastern regions of the city of San Diego in 2015 and was expanded countywide at the beginning of this year after the county secured an additional federal grant for $450,000. The new funds will allow the trainings and technical assistance to continue through June 2022.
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San Diego County Credit Union
to Present Free Seminar on Cybersecurity
San Diego County Credit Union will present “Cybersecurity,” a free educational seminar with financial expert Jim Stickley as guest speaker, from 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, at Embassy Suites La Jolla located at 4550 La Jolla Village Drive. The free seminar is open to the public, but seating is limited and reservations are required. To register or for details, visit sdccu.com/seminar or call (877) 732-2848.
Stickley will provide insight into methods of cyber-attacks that criminals use and how to reduce your risk by showing examples of real cases and more. The presentation is one of an ongoing series of seminars for the community offered by SDCCU.
Stickley has stolen credit cards, hacked Social Security numbers, robbed banks, created fake ATMs, broken into armed government facilities and stolen from teenagers. Fortunately for all victims involved, he is a cybersecurity expert with over 20 years in the industry who was hired to perform these attacks by corporations testing their security, and news agencies interested in knowing just how easy it is to commit identity theft. His job is to find security flaws before the real criminals find them and educate people and organizations about what they can do to protect themselves. Today, Stickley is the CEO of Stickley on Security.
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USD International Business Program Ranked
No. 2 in California and No. 8 in United States
The University of San Diego School of Business undergraduate international business program is among the top 10 international business programs in the nation for the second year in a row, according to the 2018 ranking by College Factual, a leading source of college data analytics with a strong focus on student outcomes.
The USD School of Business undergraduate program ranks eighth in the U.S. out of 143 on the list, putting the program among the top 10 percent international business programs in the nation. The international business degree is also the second- highest ranked international business program in California. USD School of Business’s undergraduate real estate, accounting and management programs were also recognized by College Factual this year. The real estate program was ranked No. 1, accounting was ranked No.19, and the business administration and management program was ranked No. 34. Poets&Quants also recently ranked USD School of Business undergraduate programs No. 3 in California and No. 45 in the nation.
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Cal State San Marcos Earns
Military Friendly School Silver Award
California State University San Marcos has earned the Military Friendly School designation, receiving a Silver Award for scoringwithin 30 percent of the 10th-ranked organization.
Institutions earning the Military Friendly School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. For the first time, student survey data was taken into consideration for the designation. More than 1,400 schools participated in the survey.
The Military Friendly Schools list will be published in the May issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.
Among the unique programs offered by CSUSM’s Veteran Services was the Energy System Technology Evaluation Program (ESTEP), a workforce development program funded by the Office of Naval Research. The success of ESTEP served as a catalyst for Veterans To Energy Careers(VTEC).
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San Diego State Named a Top
Value University by Forbes
When it comes to value, San Diego State University is among the top universities in the nation, according to Forbes magazine. SDSU is ranked No. 45 in Forbes’ 2018 ranking of the 300 best value colleges and universities in the United States.
Forbes evaluated colleges and universities based on alumni earnings, net price, net student debt, school quality, timely graduation and the number of Pell Grant recipients. For-profit institutions were not included, and in-state tuition was used to evaluate each state university and college.
The ranking places SDSU No. 1 within the California State University system and No. 10 in California.
SDSU’s rankings are attributed to its high four-year graduation rate, low average student debt at graduation, abundant financial aid, low tuition cost and overall value. SDSU reported record-high graduate rates during the 2016-17 academic year. More than 75 percent of first-time freshmen who entered SDSU in fall 2011 graduated in six or fewer years. The national average six-year graduation rate for four-year public universities is 59 percent.
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La Mesa Chamber Hosts 2018
Spring Fling Business Expo
The La Mesa Chamber of Commerce will host its “2018 Spring Fling Business Expo” from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, at the La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Drive, La Mesa. The fourth annual event, open to the public, will showcase more than 40 exhibit booths featuring chamber members as well as a silent auction, raffle prizes, door prizes and food and beverages. Cost to attend is $20 per person. Tickets may be purchased online at www.lamesachamber.com, or by calling the chamber office at (619) 465-7700.
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Rady and Jacobs Schools at UC San Diego
Announce Two New Endowed Chairs
The Rady School of Management and Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego announced two new endowed chairs aimed at strengthening the partnership of the schools in entrepreneurship education, startup creation, and the commercialization of innovation. These endowed chairs were made possible by the generosity of Irwin and Joan Jacobs.
The Jacobs Family Chairs in Engineering Management Leadership have been awarded to the two professors leading the UC San Diego Institute for the Global Entrepreneur, which is the centerpiece of the collaboration between the Jacobs School of Engineering and the Rady School of Management. The awardees are electrical and computer engineering professor Sujit Dey and Rady School of Management professor Vish Krishnan. Their endowed chair professorships are reserved for faculty with joint appointments between the Jacobs School of Engineering and the Rady School of Management.
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Grossmont Healthcare District Awards
$90,000 in Scholarships to High School Seniors
The Grossmont Healthcare District has awarded $90,000 in scholarships to 40 high school seniors who have expressed interest in a career as a health care professional. The students from 21 local high schools in the East County were selected by school administrators for their academic excellence, outstanding citizenship and a desire to serve in the health care field. Students from each high school will receive either $1,500 or $3,000 at the end of their first successfully-completed semester of college.
The district has honored local high school students interested in a health care career with scholarship grants since 1999. Over the years, hundreds of local high school students have received individual scholarships totaling more than $1 million.
The students and their schools: Hannah Taggart, Jaelyn Henige (Christian); Tatyanna McKee-Cartwright (Diego Valley Charter); Destiny James (Innovation High); Sarah Ali, Sarah Yaqoob (El Cajon Valley); Kamrie Toney, Marwa Mohammad Azim (El Capitan); Malia Nowlen, Kendra Patterson (Foothills Christian); Brooke Johnson, Haley Willhelm (Granite Hills); Merna Nissan, Joseph Williams (Grossmont); Brianna Robbins, Theresa Slaiwa (Grossmont Middle College); Faith Mendoza, Omar Yusuf (Helix Charter); Kate Hummel, Michael Estrada (IDEA Center High); Symeon Elkins, Rita Al Ankawy (Liberty Charter); Ariana Mae Gaeta, Lauren Lee Simpson-Long (Monte Vista); Roseline Annang, Sabrina Martinez (Mount Miguel); Luisa Tamez, Audrey Bennett (Mountain Empire); Chanel Sosa-Pineda, Abril Sosa-Pineda (Patrick Henry); Zoe Dickinson, Dakota Hacker (River Valley Charter); Taha Alani, Joshua Long (Santana); Virginia Roberson, Sebastian Castillo (Steele Canyon Charter); Carly Swavely, Mary Anthony (Valhalla); Sabrina Major, Lauren Lines (West Hills).
