La Casa de los Amigos project to have S.D. Planning Commission hearing
More than a year after it underwent local reviews, a project to replace a house known as La Casa de Los Amigos at 6110 Camino de la Costa in La Jolla will go before the San Diego Planning Commission during its meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 8.
The meeting at City Hall will be streamed online.
The project calls for demolition of the 100-year-old blufftop “Friends House” in La Jolla’s Lower Hermosa neighborhood and replacing it with a nearly 10,000-square-foot residence.
The plan has been discussed and debated several times since it was originally presented in November 2022, when applicant representative Matthew Segal said La Casa de los Amigos’ footings and foundation are failing, making it unsafe.
In January 2023, the San Diego Historical Resources Board designated the property as historic. The La Jolla Community Planning Association voted in July 2023 to support the plans for its replacement.
The decision of the Planning Commission will be final unless appealed to the San Diego City Council.
Salk Institute given $3.6M to study aging
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has awarded the La Jolla-based Salk Institute for Biological Studies $3.6 million to fund a Shared Resources Laboratory focused on stem-cell-based models of aging and neurodegeneration.
CIRM dedicated $27 million to help establish six new Shared Resources Laboratories, each designed to foster collaboration among California researchers.
The CIRM funding will enable Salk experts to share their tools and expertise with labs across the state. The resulting collaborations could help accelerate the discovery of new therapies, biomarkers and drug candidates for age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
“By investing in Shared Resources Laboratories, we are not only providing essential infrastructure for stem-cell research but also positioning California at the forefront of this transformative research,” said Rosa Canet-Aviles, vice president of scientific programs and education at CIRM. “Through these awards, CIRM will continue to drive progress, now focusing on cutting-edge disease modeling using human stem cells.”
La Jolla scientists look at lung cells affected by COVID virus
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys and UC San Diego in La Jolla, along with their international collaborators, recently reported that more types of lung cells can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) than previously thought, including those without known viral receptors.
The scientists used a technique to transform cells taken from patients into cells resembling stem cells. These embryo-like cells — known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs — can then be turned into other types of human cells. The team caused them to develop into a grouping of various lung-cell types in a pattern that mimics the human lung at a smaller scale.
They observed that SARS-CoV-2 was able to acutely infect many previously undescribed cell types in the mini lungs. That held true when testing different strains of SARS-CoV-2, though it was clear that certain strains were more effective at infecting specific cell types.
The mini-lung system may help the team predict patient outcomes.
In addition to demonstrating how the virus infects cells previously thought to be safe, the scientists said they found a way to block the virus’s unexpected flanking maneuver. The team demonstrated that apilimod — a drug being studied as a potential treatment for cancer, ALS, dementia and various viral infections — effectively blocked the backdoor entry of SARS-CoV-2 into cells lacking traditional entry points.
In another surprising result, the team said it discovered that the mini lungs have their own intrinsic “first response” system in reaction to sensing SARS-CoV-2. Though the mini lungs lack any connection to an immune system, the study indicated that lung cells can initiate many of the same biologic and cell-signaling changes in response to a viral threat that are observed when the immune system is present.
SBP scientist awarded $2.9M to study cellular recycling
Caroline ku*msta, an assistant professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys in La Jolla, has been awarded a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health.
The funding will advance research to better understand how the body’s cellular recycling system needs to be activated to produce long-term health benefits.
“This award will enable us to take a deeper dive into the fascinating concept of hormesis, where mild, sublethal stress leads to improved health and a longer life span,” ku*msta said. “Our goal with this grant is to learn more about how this is regulated, which may lead to healthier aging and improved treatments for age-related conditions.”
ku*msta’s lab previously showed how brief exposure to heat shock early in life triggers autophagy (a type of cellular recycling), which is crucial for maintaining cellular health and function.
La Jolla Music Society gets $325,000 grant from Prebys Foundation
The Conrad Prebys Foundation recently announced that the La Jolla Music Society is one of three recipients of a $325,000 grant — part of $5.7 million overall being distributed among 38 area arts nonprofits over the next two years.
The San Diego Museum of Art and The Old Globe theater also received $325,000 grants. Other large grants went to San Diego Arts Matters ($260,000), the Museum of Us ($250,000) and the San Diego Opera, Cygnet Theatre, Friends of Friendship Park, the Asian Culture and Media Alliance and Fleet Science Center ($200,000 each).
“When combined with Prebys 2023 arts grantees, these organizations paint a more comprehensive picture of the region’s arts and culture ecosystem, reflecting our commitment to fostering a robust and inclusive cultural landscape,” Grant Oliphant, chief executive of the Prebys Foundation, said in a statement.
Local mariachi group wins state competition
Mariachi Juvenil, a youth ensemble that includes La Jolla Music Society Community Music Center students, recently won first place at the California State Fair Youth Mariachi Competition in Sacramento.
The July 21 event brought 10 top student mariachi ensembles from around the state to compete for the top prize of $5,000.
Mariachi Juvenil was established in 2001 by Serafin Paredes, a music educator who has been director of the La Jolla Music Society Community Music Center in Logan Heights for 25 years. The 16 participating students who won the competition came from schools including Logan Memorial Educational Campus, San Ysidro High School, Mission Bay High and Our Lady’s School, plus two from Southwestern College and one from San Diego State University.
The Community Music Center provides free instruments and free group lessons three days a week in seven instrument families for students in grades 4-12. Students also participate in two recitals each year.
Walking tour of La Jolla churches coming this month
As a complement to its current exhibition “Sacred Architecture of San Diego/Tijuana,” the La Jolla Historical Society will present a walking tour of La Jolla churches at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29.
The 90-minute tour will start at the Historical Society, 780 Prospect St., and be led by local historian Carol Olten. The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is requested through eventbrite.com by searching for “Historic La Jolla churches.” ♦
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