Important Announcement Regarding Foreign
National Access to Department of Energy Facilities
As many of you are aware the Department of Energy has issued a new
International Science & Technology Engagement Policy to be implemented
across the DOE complex, including labs, sites and plants. This policy comes in
response to increasing intelligence about the targeting by foreign entities of
U.S.-funded basic research and technology for international economic and
national security advantages.
The specific details and mechanisms to support these changes are still under
discussion and being defined. Senior leadership at SLAC and Stanford are
actively working with DOE to address and understand potential impacts of this
policy. So far the main impacts of supporting this policy include:
- Foreign nationals coming to SLAC to conduct onsite-work will have
to submit a CV, which will be registered into the DOE foreign access system. On
the CV please ensure that all academic and employment activities since college
(Associate/Bachelor or equivalent) are listed chronologically with no gaps in
time, including month/year and relevant area(s) of science or technology. Do
NOT include protected personal identification information such as birth date,
government ID or passport/visa numbers. This requirement will not apply to users with valid SLAC
ID badges until they need to check in at the VUE Center to renew their
badge.
- New user registration requests and beam time/support requests
listing proposal team members who plan to be on-site must be submitted at least
14 days before any planned visits.
- Anticipate that user check-in at the SLAC VUE Center/Badging Office
will take longer.
- Beginning on March 1, 2019, we anticipate additional impacts to new
user check-in outside regular business hours (Monday-Friday, 7 am - 5 pm),
particularly for foreign nationals traveling from outside of the US on a B-1 or
Visa Waiver Program (ESTA/WB visa).
Please also reference Foreign Visitors: Documents Required for Check-in at
SLAC
Science
Highlights
Mechanism of Thiopurine Resistance in Acute Lymphoblastic
Leukemia – Contacts: Chelsea L. Dieck, Liang Tong, and
Adolfo A. Ferrando, Columbia University
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an aggressive malignancy of the bone
marrow that currently stands as the most common form of cancer in children. DNA
sequencing studies comparing diagnostic and relapse patient samples have
identified relapse-driving mutations in the cytosolic 5’-nucleotidase II
(NT5C2) gene. The role of the NT5C2 enzyme is to degrade purines so
they can be exported from the cell. NT5C2 can also degrade and inactivate
thiopurine chemotherapy molecules, causing resistance to ALL treatments.
Read more...
Structural Basis of Neurosteroid Anesthetic Action on
GABAA Receptors – Contact: Pei Tang, University
of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
General anesthetics like alphaxalone (5α-pregnan-3α-ol-11,20
dione) bind to type A γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAARs),
which are gated ion channels that reduce the potential of neurons to fire.
Experimental evidence points to GABAAR’s transmembrane domain
(TMD) as the allosteric site of drug binding. The TMD is known to be
responsible for allowing the ion channel to transition between the resting,
activated, and desensitized states. A team of scientists has studied where
alphaxalone binds to GABAAR and how this affects its function.
Read more...
SSRL-Related News
NIST Metrology Initiative
Excerpt from February 4, 2019 SLAC Today article by Glennda
Chui
A metrology initiative begun five years ago by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) and Stanford University is now part of the SSRL
Directorate. Called the
Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology, or JIMB (pronounced Jim Bee),
it’s now being operated by SLAC in partnership with NIST.
The initiative brings together experts from NIST, Stanford, SLAC and Silicon
Valley to advance metrology – the scientific study of measurement –
by creating foundational measurement tools and standards for bioscience and
biotechnology in support of NIST’s mission to promote U.S. innovation and
industrial competitiveness.
“The goal is to make our amazing measurement capabilities more
reliable, informative and trustworthy so scientists can share their results
with more confidence and make faster progress,” says Marc Salit, the
center’s co-founder and director.
“JIMB represents an exciting opportunity for SLAC to partner with
NIST,” says Kelly Gaffney. “Analytical methodology and measurement
is at the heart of SLAC’s and SSRL’s mission, making NIST a natural
partner. We also look forward to using JIMB’s activity to broaden our
interactions with industry.”
JIMB is funded by NIST under a 5-year interagency agreement with DOE.
Announcement
New Multi-Technique Proposals (Pilot)
A new Multi-Technique Proposal mechanism has been created for structural
biology-related projects that require the use of two or more scientific
techniques available at SSRL (both x-ray and electron based). The pilot
proposal mechanism will initially cover Small Angle X-ray Scattering,
Macromolecular Crystallography and Cryo-Electron Microscopy. A goal is to
expand the mechanism in its permanent phase to include additional techniques
available at LCLS and spectroscopy and imaging methods at SSRL.
The new pilot proposals will require a thorough justification for the
requirement of using two or more techniques. The proposals will be reviewed by
an ad hoc Proposal Review Panel comprised of members from the SSRL SMB and
Cryo-EM PRPs. The new proposal template will be available June 1 and the first
deadline for submission will be July 1.
Upcoming Events and Courses
U.S. Particle Accelerator School June 17-28, 2019
The next program of the university-style credit courses will be sponsored by
the University of New Mexico to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico on June
17-28, 2019. website
Joint SSRL/LCLS Users’ Conference September 25-27, 2019
– Call for Workshop Topics by March 18
We are beginning to plan for the next joint SSRL/LCLS Users' Conference
to be held here at SLAC September 25-27, 2019, and we need your input!
Please send us suggestions for full or half-day workshop topics for the
conference. Include a working title, brief description of the science area or
topics that could be discussed, and potential organizers. We would also
appreciate your suggestions for keynote talks or potential speakers. Please
contact SSRL UEC members or the User Office to share your input.
EMSL Integration 2019 – Plants, Soil and Aerosols:
Interactions that tell stories of Ecosystems, Climate and National
Security” October 8-10, 2019 announcement
User Research Administration
Proposal Deadlines
SSRL
- April 1, 2019 – Macromolecular Crystallography
- May 1, 2019 – X-ray / VUV
- July 1, 2019 – Macromolecular Crystallography (standard) and
Multi-Technique Proposals for SAXS, MC and Cryo-EM (see announcement
above)
See SSRL Proposal & Scheduling Guidelines
Cryo-EM
- June 1, 2019 – Stanford-SLAC Cryo-EM Center
(S2C2) Program (see Project Application and Training)
- July 1, 2019 – Multi-Technique Proposals for SAXS, MC and
Cryo-EM (see announcement above)
LCLS
Submit proposals for all three facilities through the User
Portal.
_____________________________________________________________________
The Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) is a third-generation
light source producing extremely bright x-rays for basic and applied
research. SSRL attracts and supports scientists from around the world who
use its state-of-the-art capabilities to make discoveries that benefit society.
SSRL, a U.S. DOE Office of Science national user facility, is a Directorate of
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, operated by Stanford University for the
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. The SSRL Structural
Molecular Biology Program is supported by the DOE Office of Biological and
Environmental Research, and by the National Institutes of Health, National
Institute of General Medical Sciences. For more information about SSRL science,
operations and schedules, visit http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu.
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Questions? Comments? Contact
Lisa Dunn
