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SCRIPPS FLORIDA FUNDING CORPORATION

ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

DAVID J. GURY, CHAIRMAN ∙ DR. PAMELLA DANA, VICE CHAIRMAN C. GLEN GED ∙ C. GERALD GOLDSMITH ∙ MARK J. KASTEN RICHARD M. LUCERI, M.D. ∙ EDWARD SABIN ∙ ART WOTIZ

SARA MISSELHORN, PROJECT DIRECTOR

130 SCRIPPS WAY, SUITE B41 JUPITER, FL 33458 (561)655-9669

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Scripps Florida Funding Corporation 2

Annual Report 2015

Scripps Florida Funding Corporation Annual Report

For Year Ended September 30, 2015

INTRODUCTION

Florida Statute 288.955 (the “Enabling Statute”) created Scripps Florida Funding Corporation (“SFFC”)

to facilitate the establishment and operation of a biomedical research institution for the purposes of

enhancing education and research and promoting economic development and diversity. In addition, the

Enabling Statute charged SFFC with the obligation to assure the compliance by The Scripps Research

Institute (“TSRI”) with the Enabling Statute and the agreement between SFFC and TSRI (the “Operating

and Funding Agreement”). The Enabling Statute provides that SFFC shall prepare or obtain certain

reports, audits, and evaluations of TSRI’s compliance with the performance expectations and

disbursement conditions contained in the Enabling Statute. As such, SFFC is submitting this Annual

Report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House, as required by the

Enabling Statute to be submitted by December 1 of each year. This SFFC Annual Report addresses the

activities and outcomes of SFFC and Scripps Florida (“SF”) for the fiscal year ended September 30,

2015 (“Fiscal 2015”). The Scripps Florida Annual Report addressed the activities and outcomes of

Scripps Florida for the year ended June 30, 2015, and SFFC received the Scripps Florida Annual Report

on August 31, 2015. The information in the Scripps Florida Annual Report was informally updated for

this SFFC Annual Report.

The SFFC Annual Report is presented in two parts: first, a summary that highlights the substantial

events that have occurred during the year ended September 30, 2015; and second, an itemized report that

corresponds with the applicable sections of the Enabling Statute.


Annual Report 2015

About the Scripps Florida Funding Corporation In November 2003, Governor Bush signed into law an historic piece of legislation that laid the

framework for The Scripps Research Institute to expand its world-renowned scientific research and

endeavors into Florida. The bill, passed by the Florida Legislature during special session, provided a

one-time investment of $310 million from federal economic stimulus monies to create Scripps Florida

and pay certain expenses for the first seven years, specifically salaries and equipment purchases. In June

2006, The Scripps Research Institute revised the Scripps Florida business plan and the SFFC and TSRI

revised the scheduled disbursements from the SFFC, which expanded grant funding to December 16,

2013.

To oversee the investment and spending of the State’s investment in Scripps Florida, the Florida

Legislature created the Scripps Florida Funding Corporation, hereto referred to as SFFC, a non-profit

entity comprised of a nine-member Board of Directors and one ex-officio member. The role of SFFC

was enunciated by Governor Bush: “My vision for this board is that it manages the financial portion of

our partnership, but lets Scripps do what it does best – conduct biomedical research.”

SFFC Board of Directors Of the nine-member Board of Directors, three Directors are appointed by each of the Governor,

House Speaker and the Senate President. Mr. David Gury serves as Chair of the Board of

Directors and Dr. Pamella Dana as Vice-Chair. The full Board of Directors consists of the Chair

and Vice Chair and Mr. Charles Glen Ged, Mr. C. Gerald Goldsmith, Mr. Mark Kasten, Dr.

Richard M. Luceri, Mr. Ed Sabin and Mr. Art Wotiz.

About The Scripps Research Institute The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the world's largest independent, not-for-profit

organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its

contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for

cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps

Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs

about 3,000 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists—

including two Nobel laureates—work toward their next discoveries. The institute's graduate program,

which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation.

For more information, see www.scripps.edu.

About Scripps Florida Scripps Florida, in the Town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, sits on 100 acres adjoining the

Florida Atlantic University campus. Over 580 scientists, technicians, and administrative staff work in

the 345,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art biomedical research facility which opened in March 2009.

Scripps Florida focuses on basic biomedical science, drug discovery and technology development. In

addition to the one-time grant from the State of Florida, Palm Beach County provided an economic

package that included funding for land and construction of the current permanent facility.

http://scrippsresearchinstitute.pr-optout.com/Tracking.aspx?Data=HHL%3d8.%3b2%3c%26JDG%3c%3a7%3c%2f92%3e%26SDG%3c90%3a.&RE=MC&RI=4253872&Preview=False&DistributionActionID=1820&Action=Follow+Link


Annual Report 2015

Scripps Florida Overview and Significant Highlights for the Year Ended September 30, 2015

With over a ten-year presence in Florida, Scripps Research Institute has made definitive impressions on

the community, state, national and international level. The initial narrative section of this annual report

highlights the major scientific accomplishments of the past year. Palm Beach County is fortunate to

reap the benefits of having this biomedical powerhouse located in Jupiter and this report showcases the

personal impact the Institute has on its surrounding area in terms of education and jobs and for all of

mankind with its important research, which has been awarded over $475m since its inception.

There are more than 200 principal investigators at The Scripps Research Institute and in Florida, there

are six departments, namely the:

Cancer Biology Department, headed by Thomas Kodadek,

Chemistry Department, chaired by Dale Boger,

Immunology & Microbial Science Department, chaired by Dennis Burton,

Metabolism and Aging Department, headed by Roy Smith,

Molecular Therapeutics Department, of which Don Phinney is the Active Chair; and

Neuroscience Department, headed by Ronald Davis.

One of the many standout research areas of Scripps in Florida is the Scripps Research Institute

Molecular Screening Center which uses Scripps Florida's high throughput robotics to screen discoveries

made in laboratories in La Jolla and Jupiter, as well as other research institutions, against various

biological targets. The goal is to uncover "proof-of-concept molecules" that could be useful in

developing new treatments for a large number of human diseases. The center has been a recipient of an

$80 million National Institutes of Health Molecular Libraries grant and $3 million in equipment support

from the State of Florida.

The Scripps center is one of only four such large centers nationwide. Together with five smaller

specialized centers, they comprise the Molecular Libraries Production Centers Network, a part of the

NIH's strategic funding plan, the Roadmap Initiative. This Center is headed by Tim Spicer and Louis

Scampavia, Ph.D., whose wife, Deborah Leach-Scampavia serves as the Educational Outreach

Coordinator for the Florida campus.

The outreach program has been a robust endeavor since 2005 when Scripps Florida launched several

programs for teachers, students in high school and in undergraduate studies as well as overall

community outreach to expose the public to the high level research the campus conducts. During the

summer of 2015, the Scripps Florida campus saw ten high school students who committed to a six-week

research program and 15 undergraduates who participated in ten-week program, many of which of

whom are return participants.

The Institute has made an impact on all ages: from young children who witnessed the results of a

chemical reaction during the CELLebrate Science Day at the Gardens Mall or high school interns who

have been retained to continue their research activities even when their required time had ended to

graduate students from all over the world. Scripps embarks on endeavors that have inspired a whole

new generation of researchers and offers many of them an opportunity to pursue their love of science.

Next, please read about two important events that have impacted the Institute as a whole.


Annual Report 2015

Collaborative Announcement between TSRI, FAU and Max Planck

In March 2015, Florida Atlantic University and the globally acclaimed Max Planck Florida Institute and

The Scripps Research Institute, announced that the three institutions will build on existing relationships

to further scientific discovery and education through shared resources and facilities. The three

institutions will provide undergraduate and graduate students the unprecedented opportunity to enroll in

unique degree programs in collaboration with Max Planck and Scripps Florida at the MacArthur

Campus in Jupiter, Florida.

The initiative will allow students to work and study alongside some of the world’s leading scientific

researchers as part of their degree programs, while undergraduate research projects will be mentored by

these same scientists. The Institutes will collaborate to develop premier STEM programs — Science,

Technology, Engineering, Math — and combine FAU Jupiter’s existing strengths in STEM areas, with

support from the arts, to create a leading STEAM initiative.

FAU President John Kelly said the alliance will help cure diseases, develop drugs, educate students and

generate jobs. FAU’s economic impact on Florida’s economy during 2010-2011, the most recently

available data, was $6.3 billion. This initiative creates unique opportunities for FAU’s colleges of

science, medicine, and engineering and computer science to greatly increase that number, Kelly said.

“This initiative comes from the core of economic development,” Kelly said. “FAU, Max Planck

and Scripps will solve real-world problems and take strides to improve human health. We will

create the knowledge economy of the future,” he said. “Moreover, we will provide students

unique scientific research programs that will be the envy of the world.”

A shared facilities environment will provide students access to state-of-the-art scientific equipment. Max

Planck and Scripps Florida researchers will have access to FAU faculty, teaching space, and research

equipment.

James Paulson, acting president and CEO of The Scripps Research Institute, said the Scripps mission is

to build a world-class biomedical research presence in Florida for the benefit of human health and to

train the next generation of scientists.

“We believe this new agreement strengthens our existing collaboration with FAU and the Max

Planck Institute and enables us to work more closely with our local partners to achieve these

critical goals,” Paulson said.

David Fitzpatrick, CEO and scientific director at Max Planck, said, importantly, the collaboration will

increase research funding in areas of common interest. The Max Planck Florida Institute’s research

focus is neuroscience, specifically, gaining insights into brain circuitry. The institute utilizes some of the

world’s most advanced technologies in brain research.

“Combining our resources makes this collaboration a potent force in the scientific and healthcare

fields,” Fitzpatrick said. “The advances we can take in many important research areas will be

significant. Together, FAU, Max Planck and Scripps will train the scientific leaders of

tomorrow,” he said.


Annual Report 2015

In September 2015, TSRI named their new leadership team appointing chemist Peter G. Schultz

as CEO and biologist Steve A. Kay as President

Schultz is currently a member of the TSRI faculty, as well as Director of the California Institute for

Biomedical Research (Calibr). He is also a successful entrepreneur and has led major drug discovery

efforts in both the commercial and nonprofit sectors. Kay, a former TSRI faculty member, is currently

dean of the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California

(USC). His work has been highlighted in Science magazine’s “Breakthroughs of the Year” on three

separate occasions.

"I am delighted that Pete and Steve will assume leadership roles at TSRI," said Dick Gephardt,

Chair of the TSRI Board of Trustees and President/CEO of Gephardt Government Affairs.

"Their shared vision of creating a unique position for the Institute at the forefront of basic and

translational research is tremendously exciting. I expect great things to come.”

"After 16 years on the faculty, I am delighted with the opportunity to give back to the Institute in a

leadership role," said Schultz. "I have a tremendous respect for TSRI’s commitment to scientific

excellence, and the collegiality and entrepreneurial spirit of the faculty. These qualities are key as we

move forward into a new era of biomedical research in which TSRI will play a leadership role. There is

a lot to be done, and I look forward to working with Steve, the Board, faculty and staff as a team to

further expand the footprint of Scripps in science and medicine."

“I welcome the opportunity to return to Scripps,” said Kay, “and to realize a vision of combining the

Institute’s world-class reputation in basic biological and chemical sciences with the ability to advance

novel therapeutics for major unmet medical needs. I look forward to working together with Pete and

TSRI’s board, faculty, staff, administration, postdocs, students, friends and donors to enhance the

Institute’s contributions to biomedical research, graduate education and human health.”

Gephardt noted that Schultz will take the lead in developing long-term strategy and external alliances,

with a focus on building “bench-to-bedside” research capabilities, while Kay will spearhead the

academic and operational activities of the Institute. Schultz and Kay will work together to further

enhance the Institute’s scientific reputation and build a strong financial base for the Institute. Schultz

assumes his role immediately, while Kay will begin as president-elect as he transitions from USC.

Peter G. Schultz

Peter Schultz graduated from Caltech with a B.S. in Chemistry and continued there for his doctoral

degree in 1984. After a postdoctoral year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he moved to the

University of California, Berkeley, where he was a Professor of Chemistry, a Principal Investigator at

the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and an Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical

Institute. He moved to TSRI in 1999, where he is currently the Scripps Family Chair Professor of

Chemistry.

Schultz’s research is at the interface of chemistry and biology. He has pioneered technologies to make

and characterize molecules and materials hundreds to millions at a time—work that has dramatically

impacted our ability to create new medicines and materials. He has led the development of new drugs

that affect endogenous stem cells for neurodegenerative diseases and diseases of aging, and has directed

efforts that have resulted in breakthrough therapies for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune and


Annual Report 2015

infectious disease. Most recently his laboratory has successfully created new “synthetic” organisms in

which the evolutionary constraints of the 20-amino acid genetic code are lifted, allowing scientists to

create biomolecules with new activities that are not possible using Mother Nature’s code.

Schultz has coauthored roughly 600 scientific publications and trained more than 300 coworkers, many

of whom are on the faculties of major institutions throughout the world. He is a founder of nine

biotech/tech companies that have pioneered the development and application of new technologies to

challenges in energy, materials and human health. In 1999 he founded the Genomics Institute of the

Novartis Research Foundation (GNF), one of the world's leading translational research institutes, and in

2012 he formed the nonprofit biomedical research institute Calibr as a new model to accelerate the

discovery of medicines for unmet needs.

Schultz has received numerous awards including the Alan T. Waterman Award, National Science

Foundation (1988), the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in Pure Chemistry (1990), the Wolf

Prize in Chemistry (1994), the Paul Erhlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Award (2002), the ACS Arthur C.

Cope Award (2006), and the Solvay Prize (2013). He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences,

USA (1993) and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (1998).

Steve A. Kay

Steve A. Kay, a graduate of the University of Bristol, United Kingdom (BSc, 1981; PhD, 1984; DSc,

2014), conducted postdoctoral work at The Rockefeller University with Professor Nam-Hai Chua. He

was subsequently appointed a member of the faculty at Rockefeller and then joined the University of

Virginia in 1992.

In 1996, he moved to TSRI, where he rose to become professor in the Department of Cell Biology,

chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, director of the Institute for Childhood and Neglected

Diseases and chairman of the Scripps Florida Steering Committee. During this time (1999-2004), he was

also director of discovery research at GNF, where he helped build research programs applying human

genome science to biomedical research and drug discovery.

In 2007, Kay joined the University of California (UC), San Diego, where he was dean of biological

sciences and Richard C. Atkinson Chair in Biological Sciences. In 2012, he joined USC as dean of

Dornsife College, also holding the Anna H. Bing Dean’s Chair. While at USC, Kay was responsible for

building large-scale academic programs and was widely recognized for prolific fundraising to support

his vision.

An internationally renowned expert on genes and circadian rhythms, Kay has published more than 250

papers and was recently named by Thomson Reuters as a Highly Cited Researcher. He was elected a

member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2008 and a fellow of the American Association for the

Advancement of Science in 2009. In 2010, he was awarded the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Associates

Faculty Award for Excellence in Research. In recognition of his pioneering work in plant sciences, Kay

was chosen to receive the 2011 Martin Gibbs Medal by the American Society for Plant Biology.

Kay also has founded several biotechnology companies, most recently Reset Therapeutics, a San

Francisco-based drug development corporation.


Annual Report 2015

Scripps Florida Scientific Accomplishments

This section highlights Scripps Florida scientists’ research findings that were published in noted

scientific journals and then outlines major financial awards from October 1, 2014 through September 30,

2015. Please note at that the sourcing of funding is indicated in several of these scientific endeavors,

demonstrating the wide variety of grants and awards earned by Scripps Florida scientists. Additionally,

Scripps Florida scientists keep record of each of their personal and lab’s scientific outreach efforts. A

detailed report of those activities is included at the end of this section.

Scientific Publications

New Clinical Trial Data: Scripps Research Institute MS Drug Candidate Also Shows Promise for

Ulcerative Colitis

Positive new clinical data were released on a drug candidate for ulcerative colitis that was first

discovered and synthesized at TSRI. According to recent results from a Phase 2 study of 199 patients

with active, moderate to severe disease, the drug candidate RPC1063 has potential to significantly

improve the treatment paradigm for ulcerative colitis patients. The latest results show that, after eight

weeks of treatment with a 1 mg dose of RPC1063, 16.4 percent of patents were in clinical remission, as

compared to 6.2 percent of patients on placebo.

“We are delighted that RPC1063 is showing promise for ulcerative colitis patients in addition to its

already significant efficacy and safety data in multiple sclerosis,” said TSRI Professor Hugh Rosen, who

together with Professor Ed Roberts led the team that discovered RPC-1063. “Research carried out at

TSRI since 2002 has led to the discovery of fundamental mechanisms that can be modulated for

potential treatments of a variety of autoimmune diseases including ulcerative colitis and multiple

sclerosis, and the unique multidisciplinary environment in chemistry and biology at TSRI allowed this

progression to clinical trials.” The clinical trial, sponsored by Receptos, Inc., the San Diego

biotechnology company now developing the drug, also showed that RPC1063 was generally well

tolerated.

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic condition that involves inflammation and sores in the inner lining of the

digestive tract. Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease, which, along with Crohn’s disease,

affects more than one million people nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. Some people have mild disease, while others are affected with life-threatening

complications. While existing medications for ulcerative colitis do help some patients, 23 to 45 percent

of ulcerative colitis sufferers progress and eventually require surgical removal of all or part of the colon,

according to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.

The drug candidate RPC1063 was derived from a screening “hit” from the National Institutes of Health

molecular library at Scripps Florida’s Molecular Screening Center, using assay technology from the

Rosen lab in La Jolla. The Roberts and Rosen labs then developed significant medicinal chemistry to

turn that hit into a validated lead, and then ultimately a drug candidate. TSRI then licensed the

compound to Receptos, which is developing RPC1063 for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration.


Annual Report 2015

Scripps Florida Scientists Uncover Major Factor in Development of Huntington’s Disease

Scripps Florida scientists uncovered a major contributor to Huntington’s disease, a devastating

progressive neurological condition that produces involuntary movements, emotional disturbance and

cognitive impairment.

Using an animal model of Huntington’s disease, the study shows that signaling by a specific protein can

trigger onset of the disease and lead to exacerbation of symptoms. These findings, published in the

October 28, 2014 issue of the journal Science Signaling, offer a novel target for drug development.

It has been more than 20 years since scientists discovered that mutations in the gene huntingtin cause

Huntington’s disease; the product of the gene, Huntingtin protein, is widely expressed is almost all of

the cells in the body.

Scripps Florida Scientists Unveil New Targets and Test to Develop Treatments for Memory

Disorders

In a pair of related studies, Scripps Florida scientists identified a number of new therapeutic targets for

memory disorders and have developed a new screening test to uncover compounds that may one day

work against those disorders. The two studies, one published in the journal Proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the other in the journal ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies,

could lead new approaches to some of the most problematic diseases facing a rapidly aging world

population, including Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases and dementia.

“We are actively looking at molecules critical to memory formation, so these two studies work in

parallel,” said Sathyanarayanan V. Puthanveettil, a TSRI biologist who led both studies. “In one study,

we’re reaching for a basic understanding of the process, and in the other, we’re finding new ways to

identify drug candidates so that we can cure these diseases.”

“This shows for the first time how kinesins expressed in the same neurons can carry substantially

different cargos,” said Research Associate Xin-An Liu, the first author of the study. “We can use this

approach to identify what molecules may be targeted for memory and in major disorders. The next step

is to find how the synaptic proteome changes in neuropsychiatric diseases.”

Scripps Florida Scientists Determine Structure of a Molecular Complex Critical for Joining Cells

Together

Scientists have for the first time determined the structure of a large molecular complex that plays a vital

role in cell adhesion, the force that binds cells together in all animals, including humans—without it,

there would be a tendency for them to simply fall apart. The study, led by Scripps Florida Associate

Professor T. Izard, was published December 8, 2014, and highlighted in an “In this Issue” article by the

Journal of Cell Biology.

This critical cell binding is done through specialized cell surface adhesion complexes called adherens

junctions (which direct the formation of tight, Velcro-like contacts among cells), other structural

proteins called F-actin (the “F” stands for filament) and focal adhesion complexes. This process is

necessary for cell migration and morphogenesis, the shaping of tissues and organs that is an important

part of development.


Annual Report 2015

In the study, the scientists produced an x-ray crystallography image of the cytoskeleton protein vinculin,

an essential regulator of adherens junctions and focal adhesion, binding with a fat or lipid known as

PIP2, a major component of all cell membranes. The images revealed that PIP2 binding alters vinculin

structure to direct oligomerization—the linking together of a few protein or nucleic acid

macromolecules—which, in turn, stabilizes focal adhesion complexes.

Scripps Research Institute Scientists Uncover New, Fundamental Mechanism for How Resveratrol

Provides Health Benefits

Resveratrol, the red-wine ingredient once touted as an elixir of youth, powerfully activates an

evolutionarily ancient stress response in human cells as found by Scripps Florida scientists. The finding

should dispel much of the mystery and controversy about how resveratrol really works.

“With these findings we have a new, fundamental mechanism for the known beneficial effects of

resveratrol,” said lead author Mathew Sajish, a senior research associate in the Schimmel laboratory.

The discovery was reported in the advance online edition of Nature on December 22, 2014.

Resveratrol is a compound produced in grapes, cacao beans, Japanese knotweed and some other plants

in response to stresses including infection, drought and ultraviolet radiation. It has attracted widespread

scientific and popular interest over the past decade, as researchers have reported that it extended lifespan

and prevented diabetes in obese mice and vastly increased the stamina of ordinary mice running on

wheels.

Scripps Florida Scientists Develop Novel Platform for Treatment of Breast, Pancreatic Cancer

TSRI scientists from Florida identified a novel synthetic compound that sharply inhibits the activity of a

protein that plays an important role in in the progression of breast and pancreatic cancers. In the new

study, published in the February 2015 print edition of the journal Molecular Pharmacology, the

scientists showed that the compound, known as SR1848, reduces the activity and expression of the

cancer-related protein called “liver receptor homolog-1” or LRH-1.

“Our study shows that SR1848 removes LRH1 from DNA, shutting down expression of LRH-1 target

genes, and halts cell proliferation,” said Patrick Griffin, chair of the TSRI Department of Molecular

Therapeutics and director of the Translational Research Institute at Scripps Florida. “It’s a compound

that appears to be a promising chemical scaffold for fighting tumors that are non-responsive to standard

therapies.”

LRH1 plays a crucial role in breast cancer through its regulation of genes involved in hormone synthesis

and cholesterol metabolism—also key risk factors in cardiovascular disease. LRH-1 has also been

implicated as a tumor promoter in intestinal and pancreatic cancer. Overexpression of LRH-1 has been

shown to promote invasiveness and metastasis, the usually lethal spread of the disease.

Scripps Florida Scientists Establish that Drug Candidates Can Block Pathway Associated with

Cell Death in Parkinson’s Disease

In a pair of related studies, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI)

have shown their drug candidates can target biological pathways involved in the destruction of brain

cells in Parkinson's disease. The studies, published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and Scientific

Reports, suggest that it is possible to design highly effective and highly selective (targeted) drug


Annual Report 2015

candidates that can protect the function of mitochondria, which provide the cell with energy, ultimately

preventing brain cell death. These drug candidates act on what are known as the JNK (pronounced

“junk”) kinases—JNK1, JNK2 and JNK3—each an enzyme with a unique biological function. JNK is

linked to many of the hallmark components of Parkinson's disease, such as oxidative stress and

programmed cell death.

“These are the first isoform selective JNK 2/3 inhibitors that can penetrate the brain and the first shown

to be active in functional cell-based tests that measure mitochondrial dysfunction,” said Philip

LoGrasso, a TSRI professor who led both studies. “In terms of their potential use as therapeutics,

they’ve been optimized in every way but one—their oral bioavailability. That’s what we’re working on

now.”

The new studies raise the hope that such a therapy could prevent the gradual degeneration of brain cells

in Parkinson's disease and halt these patients’ decline.

Scripps Florida Scientists Discover a Key Pathway That Protects Cells Against Death by Stress

When it comes to protecting cells from death brought on by the calamities of environmental stress, the

human body is particularly ingenious. From cellular components that suck up misfolded proteins to a

vigilant immune system, the ways we protect our cells, and ourselves, are many and mysterious.

Scientists from the Florida campus have now uncovered the workings of another cell-protection device,

one that may play a major role in a number of age-related diseases, including diabetes and Parkinson’s,

Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases. The study, led by Srinivasa Subramaniam, a TSRI assistant

professor, and Solomon H. Snyder, a neuroscience professor at Johns Hopkins University School of

Medicine, was published February 5, 2015 in the journal Cell Reports.

The study focuses on a new pathway through which Rheb, a regulator that many believe is active in the

brain’s ability to change in response to learning, actually plays two roles, rather than one—stimulating

and inhibiting protein synthesis. The interplay between the two roles may be the key that enables cells

to alter protein synthesis and protect the cell in response to varying environmental stresses. “We found

Rheb acts like the gas pedal in a car,” Subramaniam said. “It can either increase translation or decrease

it. And because translation is a fundamental process that is affected in a lot of diseases, we now think

that Rheb may act like a switch in some disease states—helping to turn them off and on.”

Microbes Prevent Malnutrition in Fruit Flies—and Maybe Humans, Too

Microbes, small and ancient life forms, play a key role in maintaining life on Earth. As has often been

pointed out, without microbes, we’d die—without us, most microbes would get along just fine. A study

by scientists from the TSRI Florida campus sheds significant new light on a surprising and critical role

that microbes may play in nutritional disorders such as protein malnutrition.

Using fruit flies—Drosophila melanogaster—as a simple and easily studied stand-in for humans, these

new findings advance our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying microbial

contributions to metabolism and may point to long-term strategies to treat and prevent malnutrition in

general. In the study, published February 12, 2015 in the journal Cell Reports, a team led by TSRI

biologist William Ja showed that Issatchenkia orientalis, a fungal microbe isolated from field-caught

fruit flies, promotes nutritional harvest that rescues the health and longevity of undernourished flies.


Annual Report 2015

Using a range of radioisotope-labeled dietary components such as amino acids (the components of

proteins and the basic building blocks of the body) and sucrose (sugar) to measure the transfer of

nutrients from food to microbe to fly, the study shows that the microbes first harvest amino acids

directly from the fly’s food sources and then transfer that protein to the fly—by being eaten.

“Flies in the wild carry microbes to every surface they touch,” said Research Associate Ryuichi

Yamada, who spearheaded the study in the Ja lab. “As flies land on low-protein fruit, they deposit

microbes, which take up and concentrate the available amino acids. By eating the microbes, flies gain a

much needed source of dietary protein.”

Scripps Florida Scientists Announce Anti-HIV Agent So Powerful It Can Work in a Vaccine

In a remarkable new advance against the virus that causes AIDS, scientists from TSRI have announced

the creation of a novel drug candidate that is so potent and universally effective, it might work as part of

an unconventional vaccine. The research, which involved scientists from more than a dozen research

institutions, was published February 18, 2015 online ahead of print by the prestigious journal Nature.

The study shows that the new drug candidate blocks every strain of HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIV (simian

immunodeficiency virus) that has been isolated from humans or rhesus macaques, including the hardest-

to-stop variants. It also protects against much-higher doses of virus than occur in most human

transmission and does so for at least eight months after injection.

“Our compound is the broadest and most potent entry inhibitor described so far,” said Michael Farzan, a

professor on TSRI's Florida campus who led the effort. “Unlike antibodies, which fail to neutralize a

large fraction of HIV-1 strains, our protein has been effective against all strains tested, raising the

possibility it could offer an effective HIV vaccine alternative.”

New Study Shows Decreased Aggressive Behavior Toward Strangers in Autism Spectrum

Disorder Model

While aggression toward caregivers and peers is a challenge faced by many individuals and families

dealing with autism, there has been much speculation in the media over the possibility of generally

heightened aggression in those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. A new study by scientists from

the Florida campus of TSRI found no evidence of increased aggressive behavior toward strangers in an

animal model of the condition.

In fact, the study, published recently online ahead of print in the journal Genes, Brain and Behavior,

found these animals showed decreased aggressive behavior toward strangers and, instead, engage in

more repetitive behavior than normal mice.

“These mice show traits relevant to autism, such as an overgrown brain and reduced social interaction,”

said Damon Page, a TSRI biologist who conducted the study with Research Associate Amy Clipperton

Allen. “What we don’t see in this model is a general increase in aggressive behavior.”

Autism spectrum disorder is a highly inheritable condition characterized by impaired social behavior

and communication skills and a tendency towards repetitive patterns of behavior. A 2010 survey of

eight-year-olds in 11 communities across the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and


Annual Report 2015

Prevention (CDC) found a rate of autism spectrum disorder of approximately one in 68 children. Boys, it

found, are at four- to five-times greater risk than girls.

Scripps Florida Scientists Find a Defect Responsible for Memory Impairment in Aging

Everyone worries about losing their memory as they grow older—memory loss remains one of the most

common complaints of the elderly. But the molecular reasons behind the processes remain unclear,

particularly those associated with advancing age.

Scripps Florida scientists have discovered a mechanism that causes long-term memory loss due to age in

Drosophila, the common fruit fly, a widely recognized substitute for human memory studies. The new

study, published recently in The Journal of Neuroscience, describes in detail the loss of connectivity

between two sets of neurons that prevents the formation of long-term memory.

“We show how long-term memory is impaired with age in Drosophila,” said Ron Davis, a TSRI

professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience who led the study. “This isn’t due to any

functional defects, but to connectivity problems between neurons.”

Scripps Research, Mayo Clinic Scientists Find New Class of Drugs that Dramatically Increases

Healthy Lifespan A research team from TSRI, Mayo Clinic and other institutions has identified a new class of drugs that

in animal models dramatically slows the aging process—alleviating symptoms of frailty, improving

cardiac function and extending a healthy lifespan. The new research was published March 9, 2015

online ahead of print by the journal Aging Cell. The scientists coined the term “senolytics” for the new

class of drugs.

“We view this study as a big, first step toward developing treatments that can be given safely to patients

to extend healthspan or to treat age-related diseases and disorders,” said TSRI Professor Paul Robbins,

PhD, who with Associate Professor Laura Niedernhofer, MD, PhD, led the research efforts for the paper

at Scripps Florida. “When senolytic agents, like the combination we identified, are used clinically, the

results could be transformative.”

Senescent cells—cells that have stopped dividing—accumulate with age and accelerate the aging

process. Since the “healthspan” (time free of disease) in mice is enhanced by killing off these cells, the

scientists reasoned that finding treatments that accomplish this in humans could have tremendous

potential. The scientists were faced with the question, though, of how to identify and target senescent

cells without damaging other cells.

Scripps Florida Scientists Confirm Key Targets of New Anti-Cancer Drug Candidates

Ribosomes, ancient molecular machines that produce proteins in cells, are required for cell growth in all

organisms, accomplishing strikingly complex tasks with apparent ease. But defects in the assembly

process and its regulation can lead to serious biological problems, including cancer. In a study

published in the March 16, 2015 issue of The Journal of Cell Biology, scientists from TSRI’s Florida

campus have confirmed the ribosome assembly process as a potentially fertile new target for anti-cancer

drugs by detailing the essential function of a key component in the assembly process.


Annual Report 2015

“This study confirms that ribosome assembly is a good therapeutic target in cancer,” said Katrin

Karbstein, a TSRI associate professor who led the study. “Whether or not we have pinpointed the best

molecule remains to be shown, but this is a vindication of our basic research. There should be effort

devoted to exploring this pathway.” In the new study, Karbstein and her group—working closely with

three labs across the state of Florida, including the laboratory of William Roush at Scripps Florida—

used Hrr25, the yeast equivalent of Casein kinase 1δ (CK1δ) and CK1ε, as a research model.

The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the

ThinkPink Kids Foundation, the PGA National Women’s Cancer Awareness Days and the Swiss

National Foundation

New Compound Prevents Type 1 Diabetes in Animal Models—Before It Begins

TSRI scientists have successfully tested a potent synthetic compound that prevents type 1 diabetes in

animal models of the disease.

“The animals in our study never developed high blood sugar indicative of diabetes, and beta cell damage

was significantly reduced compared to animals that hadn’t been treated with our compound,” said Laura

Solt, Ph.D., a TSRI biologist who was the lead author of the study.

Type 1 diabetes is a consequence of the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the

pancreas. While standard treatment for the disease aims to replace lost insulin, the study focuses instead

on the possibility of preventing the initial devastation caused by the immune system—stopping the

disease before it even gets started. In the study, published in the March 2015 issue of the journal

Endocrinology, the scientists tested an experimental compound known as SR1001 in non-obese diabetic

animal models. The compound targets a pair of “nuclear receptors” (RORα and RORg) that play critical

roles in the development of a specific population (Th17) of immune cells associated with the disease.

“Because Th17 cells have been linked to a number of autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis,

we thought our compound might inhibit Th17 cells in type 1 diabetes and possibly interfere with disease

progression,” said Solt. “We were right.”

Scripps Florida Scientists Reveal Unique Mechanism of Natural Product with Powerful

Antimicrobial Action

Scripps Florida scientists have uncovered the unique mechanism of a powerful natural product with

wide-ranging antifungal, antibacterial, anti-malaria and anti-cancer effects. The new study, published

online ahead of print by the journal Nature Communications in March 2015, sheds light on the natural

small molecule known as borrelidin.

“Our study may help the rational design of compounds similar to borrelidin with a range of useful

applications, particularly in cancer,” said Min Guo, a TSRI associate professor who led the study.

Guo and his colleagues were interested in borrelidin because it inhibits a specific type of enzyme known

as threonyl-tRNA synthetase (ThrRS), ultimately impeding protein synthesis. Compounds similar to

borrelidin have been used as treatments for microbial infections. For example, the natural product

mupirocin is approved as a topical treatment for bacterial skin infections and febrifugine (the active

component of the Chinese herb Chang Shan (Dichroa febrifuga Lour)) has been used for treating

malaria-induced fever for nearly 2,000 years.


Annual Report 2015

Scripps Florida Scientists Uncover How Molecule Protects Brain Cells in Parkinson’s Disease

Model

Scientists from the Florida campus of TSRI have found how a widely known but little-studied enzyme

protects brain cells in models of Parkinson’s disease. These findings could provide valuable insight into

the development of drug candidates that could protect brain cells in Parkinson’s and other

neurodegenerative diseases. The study, published recently online ahead of print by the journal

Molecular and Cellular Biology, focuses on the enzyme known as serum glucocorticoid kinase 1

(SGK1).

“The overexpression of SGK1 provides neuron protection in both cell culture and in animal models,”

said Philip LoGrasso, a TSRI professor who led the study. “It decreases reactive oxygen species

generation and alleviates mitochondrial dysfunction.”

The LoGrasso lab plans to continue to explore SGK1 as a therapeutic possibility for Parkinson’s disease.

The work was supported by the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the Michael J

Fox Foundation/23&Me, the Saul and Theresa Esman Foundation and a gift from the McCubbin Family.

Scripps Florida Scientists Uncover Surprising New Details of Potential Alzheimer’s Treatment

Taking a new approach, scientists from TSRI’s Florida campus have uncovered some surprising details

of a group of compounds that have shown significant potential in stimulating the growth of brain cells

and memory restoration in animal models that mimic Alzheimer’s disease. The new study points to

promising new directions using a known therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer’s disease—a disorder that

will affect nearly 14 million Americans by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. The study,

which was led by TSRI Associate Professors Courtney Miller and Gavin Rumbaugh, appeared online

ahead of print in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology in April 2015.

This new study builds on previous findings from Miller and Rumbaugh demonstrating the memory-

rescuing potential of inhibiting histone deacetylases (HDACs), a family of signaling enzymes that act

like molecular switches, silencing gene expression by controlling access to the cell’s nuclear cache of

tightly compacted DNA. Mutations in HDACs genes have been associated with health problems

including cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, metabolic disorders and loss of memory

function.

Scripps Florida Scientists Show Antitumor Agent Can Be Activated by Natural Response to Cell

Stress Findings Point to New Therapy Against Prostate and Other Cancers

Scientists from the Florida campus of TSRI have found that a drug candidate with anticancer potential

can be activated by one of the body’s natural responses to cellular stress. Once activated, the agent can

kill prostate cancer cells.

“There is no proven drug right now with these activities,” said Ben Shen, vice chair of TSRI’s

Department of Chemistry and senior author of the new study, “so this points the way toward a new

therapeutic opportunity.”

The study, published in June 2015 by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences, highlights the potential of the natural compound called leinamycin (LNM) E1 for development


Annual Report 2015

as a “prodrug,” a medication converted through a metabolic process in the body to become an active

therapy. Shen’s research has focused on developing natural products into potential therapies. As part of

this effort, he heads the Natural Products Initiative at TSRI, a library available for screening with 500

pure natural products, 2,000 fractions, and 7,500 crude extracts, prepared from 4,000 Actinomycetals.

Among these are “antitumor antibiotics” like LNM, which are produced by species of the soil dwelling

bacterium Streptomyces and are known to impede cancer cell growth and multiplication. Some

antitumor antibiotics are already in use as chemotherapy agents.

New Study Brings Together Neuroscience and Psychology to Paint More Complete Picture of

Sleep and Memory

In Macbeth, Shakespeare describes sleep as “the death of each day’s life,” but he may have gotten it

wrong. Sleep, as it turns out, may be the one thing that keeps our memories alive and intact. A new

study from Scripps Florida integrates neuroscience and psychological research to reveal how sleep is

more complex than the Bard might have imagined. The new research, published online ahead of print by

the journal Cell, shows in animal models that sleep suppresses the activity of certain nerve cells that

promote forgetting, insuring that at least some memories will last.

“Many scientists have tried to figure out how we learn and how our memories become stabilized,” said

Ron Davis, chair of the TSRI Department of Neuroscience and senior author of the study. “But far less

attention has been paid to forgetting, which is a fundamental function for the brain and potentially has

profound consequences for the development of memory therapeutics. Our current study merges the

neuroscience of forgetting, that is, the brain mechanisms that lead to forgetting, and the psychology of

forgetting into an integrated picture.”

Scripps Florida Scientists Uncover Unique Role of Nerve Cells in the Body’s Use of Energy

While it is well-known that weight gain results from an imbalance between what we eat and our energy

expenditure, what is not obvious is the role that the nervous system plays in controlling that energy

balance. Scientists from the Florida campus of TSRI have shed light on that question.

“Our new study has identified novel populations of nerve cells that regulate appetite, thermogenesis and

physical activity,” said TSRI Professor Baoji Xu, who led the research. “We think these neurons could

be targets for drug development.”

The findings were published by the journal Cell Metabolism online ahead of print on June 11, 2015. In

the new study, Xu and his colleagues examined several groups of neurons that express a substance

called “brain-derived neurotrophic factor” (BDNF) within a small brain region called the paraventricular

hypothalamus. BDNF is an extremely important protein in the brain and is involved in a number of

functions. It has been shown that deleting the BDNF gene causes significant problems, among them,

dramatically increased appetite (hyperphagia) and severe obesity.

Scripps Florida Scientists Identify a Potential New Treatment for Osteoporosis

Scripps Florida scientists have identified a new therapeutic approach that, while still preliminary, could

promote the development of new bone-forming cells in patients suffering from bone loss. The study,

published in the journal Nature Communications, focused on a protein called PPARy (known as the

master regulator of fat) and its impact on the fate of stem cells derived from bone marrow


Annual Report 2015

(“mesenchymal stem cells”). Since these mesenchymal stem cells can develop into several different cell

types—including fat, connective tissues, bone and cartilage—they have a number of potentially

important therapeutic applications.

The scientists knew that a partial loss of PPARy in a genetically modified mouse model led to increased

bone formation. To see if they could mimic that effect using a drug candidate, the researchers combined

a variety of structural biology approaches to rationally design a new compound that could repress the

biological activity of PPARy. The results showed that when human mesenchymal stem cells were

treated with the new compound, which they called SR2595 (SR=Scripps Research), there was a

statistically significant increase in osteoblast formation, a cell type known to form bone.

“These findings demonstrate for the first time a new therapeutic application for drugs targeting PPARy,

which has been the focus of efforts to develop insulin sensitizers to treat type 2 diabetes,” said Patrick

Griffin, chair of the Department of Molecular Therapeutics and director of the Translational Research

Institute at Scripps Florida. “We have already demonstrated SR2595 has suitable properties for testing in

mice; the next step is to perform an in-depth analysis of the drug’s efficacy in animal models of bone

loss, aging, obesity and diabetes.”

Scripps Florida Study Points to Drug Target for Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s disease attacks the part of the brain that controls movement, destroying nerves with a

barrage of toxicity, yet leaves other parts relatively unscathed. Scripps Florida scientists have

established conclusively that an activating protein, called “Rhes,” plays a pivotal role in focusing the

toxicity of Huntington’s in the striatum, a smallish section of the forebrain that controls body movement

and is potentially involved in other cognitive functions such as working memory.

“Our study definitively confirms the role of Rhes in Huntington’s disease,” said TSRI Assistant

Professor Srinivasa Subramaniam, who led the study. “Our next step should be to develop drugs that

inhibit its action.”

The study was published recently online ahead of print by the journal Neurobiology of Disease.

In an earlier study, Subramaniam and his colleagues showed that Rhes binds to a series of repeats in the

huntingtin protein (named for its association with Huntington’s disease), increasing the death of

neurons. The new study shows deleting Rhes significantly reduces behavioral problems in animal

models of the disease.

Small RNAs Found to Play Important Roles in Memory Formation

Scripps Florida scientists found that a type of genetic material called “microRNA” plays surprisingly

different roles in the formation of memory in animal models. In some cases, these RNAs increase

memory, while others decrease it.

“Our systematic screen offers an important first step toward the comprehensive identification of all

miRNAs and their potential targets that serve in gene networks important for normal learning and

memory,” said Ron Davis, chair of TSRI’s Department of Neuroscience who led the study. “This is a

valuable resource for future studies.”

The study was published in the June 2015 edition of the journal Genetics.


Annual Report 2015

Scripps Florida Scientists Pinpoint Mechanism for Altered Pattern of Brain Growth in Autism

Spectrum Disorder

As early as 1943, when autism was first described by psychiatrist Leo Kanner, reports were made that

some, but not all, children with autism spectrum disorder have relatively enlarged heads. But even

today, more than half a century later, the exact cause of this early abnormal growth of the head and

brain has remained unclear. Scripps Florida scientists have uncovered how mutations in a specific

autism risk gene alter the basic trajectory of early brain development in animal models.

The study, published in the July 15 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, focused on the

gene PTEN (Phosphatase and tensin homolog), which is mutated in around 20 percent of individuals

with autism spectrum disorder and enlarged heads (macrocephaly). In new research, the team led by

Scripps Florida biologist Damon Page found that mutations in the mouse version of PTEN, which

approximate those found in a subgroup of individuals with autism spectrum disorder, lead to dynamic

changes in the number of two key cell types that make up the brain—neurons and glia. At birth,

neurons are more abundant than normal. Surprisingly, in adulthood the number of neurons in the brains

of mutant animals is virtually the same as normal, and glia (which provide support for neurons) are

overrepresented.

“In the adult brain, excess glia are a primary cause of the overall change in brain size,” Page said.

“This raises the intriguing possibility that these excess glia may, in fact, contribute to abnormal

development and function of brain circuitry when PTEN is mutated.”

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social deficits and

communication difficulties, repetitive behaviors and interests, as well as cognitive delays in some

individuals. The disorder affects in approximately one percent of the population; some 80 percent of

those diagnosed are male.

Scripps Research Institute-Designed Drug Candidate Significantly Reduces HIV Reactivation

Rate AIDS Study Points to 'Functional Cure'

HIV-infected patients remain on antiretroviral therapy for life because the virus survives over the long-

term in infected dormant cells. Interruption of current types of antiretroviral therapy results in a

rebound of the virus and clinical progression to AIDS. But now, scientists from TSRI’s Florida

campus have shown that, unlike other antiretroviral therapies, a natural compound called Cortistatin A

reduces residual levels of virus from these infected dormant cells, establishing a near-permanent state

of latency and greatly diminishing the virus’ capacity for reactivation.

“Our results highlight an alternative approach to current anti-HIV strategies,” said Susana Valente, a

TSRI associate professor who led the study. “Prior treatment with Cortistatin A significantly inhibits

and delays viral rebound in the absence of any drug. Our results suggest current antiretroviral regimens

could be supplemented with a Tat inhibitor such as Cortistatin A to achieve a functional HIV-1 cure,

reducing levels of the virus and preventing reactivation from latent reservoirs.”

The study was published in the journal mBio in July 2015 and this work was supported by the National

Institutes of Health and by amfAR, a foundation for AIDS research.


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Scripps Florida Scientists Collaborate to Determine First Structure of Crucial Plant Hormone

An international collaboration including scientists from Scripps Florida has determined the structure of

a plant hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating plants’ responses to insects and disease-causing

microorganisms as well as normal growth and development. The new study, published by the

journal Nature in August 2015, focused on a plant hormone called jasmonate and two proteins

involved in its molecular signaling, MYC and JAZ. Previous attempts to determine a three-

dimensional picture of this interaction were frustrated when scientists had great difficulties forming

crystals of MYC and JAZ bound to one another—a necessary step to determine molecular structure

using a high-resolution technique called x-ray crystallography.

“The outstanding question answered in the study is why the protein complex crystallization between

MYC and the JAZ motif was so difficult, given the binding affinity is so tight,” said Patrick R. Griffin,

chair of the Department of Molecular Therapeutics and director of the Translational Research Institute

at Scripps Florida. “As a collaborative effort, the study revealed structural intricacies in the MYC

factor that are highly flexible.”

The study included scientists from Michigan State University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

(HHMI), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Nanjing Agricultural

University, Van Andel Research Institute, Western Michigan University and Northwestern University.

Griffin’s laboratory contributed to the study with its leading-edge expertise in HDX (short for

hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry), an advanced method of examining alterations in

the dynamics of proteins and how these changes relate to protein function. With the help of HDX, the

team was able to show that the structural conformation of the MYC factors changes profoundly when

bound to one of the JAZ repressors. This key finding led to the making of a JAZ-MYC fusion

construct, resulting in high quality crystals.

This research was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the China Scholarship

Council, Van Andel Research Institute, the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy,

Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Technology Tri-Corridor.

Scripps Florida Scientists’ Structural Discoveries Could Aid in Better Drug Design

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed

ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. Scientists from TSRI’s Florida

campus have found the biological equivalent of that idea or something very close. For the first time,

they have uncovered the structural details of how some proteins interact to turn two different signals into

a single integrated output. These new findings could aid future drug design by giving scientists an edge

in fine tuning the signal between these partnered proteins—and the drug’s course of action.

“Thyroid, vitamin D and retinoid receptors all rely on integrated signals—their own signal plus a partner

receptor,” said TSRI Associate Professor Kendall Nettles, who led the study with TSRI colleague

Associate Professor Douglas Kojetin. “These new findings will have important implications for drug

design by clearly defining exactly how these signals become integrated, so we will be able to predict

how changes in a drug’s design could affect signaling.”

The study was published in August 2015 in the journal Nature Communications. The work was

supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Frenchman’s Creek Women for Cancer Research, the


Annual Report 2015

James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program, the Florida Department of Health and the State of

Florida.

Scripps Florida Scientists Move Closer to a Personalized Treatment Solution for Intellectual

Disability

Scripps Florida Scientists produced an approach that protects animal models against a type of genetic

disruption that causes intellectual disability, including serious memory impairments and altered

anxiety levels. The findings, which focus on treating the effects of mutations to a gene known

as Syngap1, have been published online ahead of print by the journal Biological Psychiatry.

“Our hope is that these studies will eventually lead to a therapy specifically designed for patients with

psychiatric disorders caused by damagingSyngap1 mutations,” said Gavin Rumbaugh, a TSRI

associate professor who led the study. “Our model shows that the early developmental period is the

critical time to treat this type of genetic disorder.”

Damaging mutations in Syngap1 that reduce the number of functional proteins are one of the most

common causes of sporadic intellectual disability and are associated with schizophrenia and autism

spectrum disorder. Early estimates suggest that these non-inherited genetic mutations account for two

to eight percent of these intellectual disability cases. Sporadic intellectual disability affects

approximately one percent of the worldwide population, suggesting that tens of thousands of

individuals with intellectual disability may carry damaging Syngap1 mutations without knowing it.

As a result of these studies, Rumbaugh and his colleagues are now developing a drug-screening

program to look for drug-like compounds that could restore levels of Syngap1 protein in defective

neurons. They hope that, as personalized medicine advances, such a therapy could ultimately be

tailored to patients based on their genotype.

Scripps Florida Scientists Determine How Antibiotic Gains Cancer-Killing Sulfur Atoms

In a discovery with implications for future drug design, Scripps Florida scientists have shown an

unprecedented mechanism for how a natural antibiotic with antitumor properties incorporates sulfur into

its molecular structure, an essential ingredient of its antitumor activity. This new discovery could open

the way to incorporating sulfur into other natural products, potentially advancing new therapies for

indications beyond cancer. The study, which was led by TSRI Professor Ben Shen, was released online

ahead of print by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA in August 2015.

“We found a novel mechanism to incorporate sulfur into natural products, which is unprecedented,”

Shen said. “Until our study, we didn’t really know how sulfur atoms are incorporated into a natural

product—now we have discovered a new family of enzymes and have a workable mechanism to account

for sulfur incorporation into a larger class of natural products, known as polyketides, that include many

drugs such as erythromycin (antibacterial) and lovastatin (cholesterol lowering).”

Sulfur is critical not only to human life, but to plants and bacteria as well, and is one of the most

abundant elements in the human body by weight. A number of compounds that contain sulfur have

proven useful in the treatment of conditions ranging from acne and eczema to arthritis and cancer.


Annual Report 2015

Scripps Florida Scientists Make Strides in Therapy Preventing Addiction Relapse by Erasing

Drug-Associated Memories

Single Injection of Drug Candidate Prevents Meth Relapse in Animal Models

Recovering addicts often grapple with the ghosts of their addiction—memories that tempt them to

relapse even after rehabilitation and months, or even years, of drug-free living. Scientists from TSRI’s

Florida campus have made a discovery that brings them closer to a new therapy based on selectively

erasing these dangerous and tenacious drug-associated memories.

“We now have a viable target and by blocking that target, we can disrupt, and potentially erase, drug

memories, leaving other memories intact,” said TSRI Associate Professor Courtney Miller. “The hope is

that, when combined with traditional rehabilitation and abstinence therapies, we can reduce or eliminate

relapse for meth users after a single treatment by taking away the power of an individual’s triggers.”

The new study, published in August 2015 online ahead of print by the journal Molecular

Psychiatry, demonstrates the effectiveness of a single injection of an early drug candidate called

blebbistatin in preventing relapse in animal models of methamphetamine addiction.

The new study builds on previous work in Miller’s lab. In 2013, the team made the surprising discovery

that drug-associated memories could be selectively erased by targeting actin, the protein that provides

the structural scaffold supporting memories in the brain. However, the therapeutic potential of the

finding seemed limited by the problem that actin is critically important throughout the body—taking a

pill that generally inhibits actin, even once, would likely be fatal.

In the new study, Miller and her colleagues report a major advance—the discovery of a safe route to

selectively targeting brain actin through nonmuscle myosin II (NMII), a molecular motor that supports

memory formation. To accomplish this, the research used a compound called blebbistatin that acts on

this protein. The results showed that a single injection of blebbistatin successfully disrupted long-term

storage of drug-related memories—and blocked relapse for at least a month in animal models of

methamphetamine addiction.

Scripps Florida Scientists Show How Aging Cripples the Immune System, Suggesting Benefits of

Antioxidants

Scripps Florida Scientists have shown how aging cripples the production of new immune cells,

decreasing the immune system’s response to vaccines and putting the elderly at risk of infection. The

study goes on to show that antioxidants in the diet slow this damaging process. The research, published

August 6, 2015 in the journal Cell Reports, focused on an organ called the thymus, which produces T

lymphocytes, critical immune cells that must be continuously replenished to respond to new infections.

“The thymus begins to atrophy rapidly in very early adulthood, simultaneously losing its function,” said

TSRI Professor Howard Petrie. “This new study shows for the first time a mechanism for the long-

suspected connection between normal immune function and antioxidants.”

Scientists have been hampered in their efforts to develop specific immune therapies for the elderly by a

lack of knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of this process. To explore these mechanisms, Dr.

Petrie and his team developed a computational approach for analyzing the activity of genes in two major

thymic cell types—stromal cells and lymphoid cells—in mouse tissues, which are similar to human

http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/2013/20130910miller.html


Annual Report 2015

tissues in terms of function and age-related atrophy. The team found that stromal cells were specifically

deficient in an antioxidant enzyme called catalase, which resulted in elevated levels of the reactive

oxygen by-products of metabolism and, subsequently, accelerated metabolic damage.

This work was supported by U.S. Public Health Service grants.

Scripps Florida Scientists Identify a Key Morphine Regulator that May Reduce Risk of Pain-

Killer Abuse and Addiction

Once used in the 18th

century as currency to reverse the trade imbalance between China and Britain,

opiates that contain morphine have been misunderstood and misused almost continually ever since.

Morphine works its euphoric effect by acting on a specific protein that has been part of vertebrate

anatomy for nearly a half-billion years. Despite that lengthy pedigree, regulation of these receptor

proteins has never been well understood.

A study led by Kirill Martemyanov, an associate professor at Scripps Florida, has shown that a specific

molecule controls morphine receptor signaling in a small group of brain cells. The findings could lead to

a new drug target for developing less-addictive pain medications and even offer a clue to the genetic

predisposition of patients to addition before treatment. The study was published in September 2015

online ahead of print by the journal Biological Psychiatry.

The molecule in question is known as a regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) protein, which controls

the morphine receptor (mu opioid receptor). Using genetically modified animal models lacking a

particular RGS protein called RGS7, a protein abundant in the brain, the study showed that eliminating

the protein enhanced reward, increased pain relief, delayed tolerance and heightened withdrawal in

response to self-administered morphine doses. In other words, without the protein, the animals were

predisposed to morphine addiction.

“The mu opioid receptor acts as a conductor of the drug’s effects, while RGS7 acts as a brake on the

signal,” Martemyanov said. “The animals could press a lever to receive an infusion of morphine. We

looked at the number of lever presses to determine how much they liked it and, judging from this test,

mice lacking RGS7 craved the drug much more than their normal siblings.”

RGS7 appears to exert its effects by regulating morphine-induced changes in excitability of neurons and

plasticity of synapses—the ability of the synapse, the junction between two nerve cells, to change its

function.

Scripps Florida Scientists Identify Promising Drug Candidate to Treat Chronic Itch that Avoids

Side Effects

If you have an itch, you have to scratch it. But that’s a problem for people with a condition called

“chronic intractable itch,” where that itchy sensation never goes away—a difficult-to-treat condition

closely associated with dialysis and renal failure. Scientists from the Florida campus described a class

of compounds with the potential to stop chronic itch without the adverse side effects normally associated

with medicating the condition.

“Our lab has been working on compounds that preserve the good properties of opioids and eliminate

many of the side effects,” said TSRI Professor Laura Bohn. “The new paper describes how we have


Annual Report 2015

refined an aspect of signaling underlying how the drugs work at the receptor so they still suppress itch

and do not induce sedation. Developing compounds that activate the receptors in this way may serve as a

means to improve their therapeutic potential.”

The study, which was published in the journal Neuropharmacology, used a compound called

isoquinolinone 2.1 to target the kappa opioid receptor, which is widely expressed in the central nervous

system and serves to moderate pain perception and stress responses. The compound was effective in

stopping irritant-induced itch, without causing sedation, in mouse models of the condition.

Scripps Florida Scientists Identify Key Neurotransmitter Receptor as Potential Target for

Individualized Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Grant of $2.4 Million Will Support Further Research

Scripps Florida scientists uncovered a significant—and potentially treatable—relationship between a

chemical that helps transmit signals in the brain and genetic mutations present in a subset of individuals

with autism spectrum disorder.

The new research findings, which were published recently in the journal PLoS One, focus on the role

that the neurotransmitter serotonin plays in the development of social behavior. Serotonin, together with

the serotonin receptors it activates in the brain, plays a significant role in neurological processes,

including mood, anxiety, aggression and memory. The study made use of an animal model of mutations

in the gene Pten, a risk factor present in a subgroup of individuals with autism. Treatment of this model

with a drug that suppresses the activity of a particular serotonin receptor, 5-HT2cR, can have a dramatic

effect.

“We found a striking contrast between the effects of dialing down the activity of the receptor using a

drug, which improved social deficits in the Pten model, versus removing the receptor completely by

mutation, which actually impaired social behavior,” said TSRI Assistant Professor Damon Page, who

led the study. “Important issues will be uncovering the mechanism by which modulating serotonin

receptor activity can influence autism-relevant symptoms and identifying the time window and dose

range where targeting serotonin receptors is most effective.”

Page was awarded a $2.4 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health of The

National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further study the relationship between abnormal patterns of brain

growth, neurotransmitter signaling and the behavioral and cognitive symptoms in individuals with

autism spectrum disorder.

“The new grant will let us expand our research into the relationship between specific risk factors,

altered brain development and key neurotransmitter systems, with the ultimate goal of moving

toward individualized treatments for particular subgroups of individuals with autism spectrum

disorder,” he said.


Annual Report 2015

Grant Awards

$60 million was awarded from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015 and the major awards are

highlighted on the next several pages.

Scripps Florida Scientists Win $1.5 Million to Study New Strategies for Parkinson’s Disease and

Other Disorders

Scripps Florida Scientists were awarded nearly $1.5 million from the National Institute of General

Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health to explore the therapeutic potential of a class of

proteins that play essential roles in the regulation and maintenance of human health. These proteins

are expressed throughout the body, including the central nervous system during brain development,

and are associated with conditions including Parkinson’s disease, inflammation, arthritis, cancer,

metabolic disorders (dyslipidemia, obesity, diabetes) and cardiovascular disease.

“These protein receptors have not been well studied, particularly in terms of small-molecule

compounds that could affect their function,” said TSRI Associate Professor Douglas Kojetin, who is

the principal investigator of the new four-year study. “We’ve found several natural small-molecule

binding partners for a particular orphan receptor called Nurr1. It’s called an orphan receptor because

natural small-molecule binding partners for this receptor are currently unknown, and this new grant

will help uncover important details of the process. This study will potentially open up an entire new

class of compounds that could affect millions of people with crippling diseases such as Parkinson’s.”

Kojetin’s laboratory focuses on the mode of action of small-molecule ligands (molecules that bind to

other molecules and alter their function). In particular, the team studies how these ligands change the

structure and dynamics of the proteins they target and how this contributes to biological function,

disease and drug discovery.

Scripps Florida Scientists Receive $2.8 Million to Develop Innovative Approach to Latent HIV

Infection

Scientists from TSRI’s Florida campus were awarded a pair of grants totaling nearly $2.8 million from

the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of The National Institutes of Health to

develop a new therapeutic agent to reduce latent levels of HIV that hide from the immune system in

infected individuals. TSRI Associate Professor Susana Valente will be the principal investigator of the

multiyear grants.

“Our approach is aimed at a novel antiviral target, a protein known as a potent activator of HIV gene

expression,” Valente said. “With this new funding, we can continue to develop our approach to the

difficult problem of HIV latency, finding a way to suppress the virus in these latently infected cells.”

Valente’s research is focused on blocking the Tat protein, which is essential for viral amplification. In

the new project, Valente’s team will explore the potential of didehydro-Cortistatin A (dCA), a

molecule closely related to a natural compound isolated from a marine sponge, to reduce the size of the

latent reservoir pool of HIV by blocking ongoing viral replication, reactivation and replenishment.


Annual Report 2015

Scripps Florida Scientists Awarded $3.5 Million to Expand Development of New Diabetes

Therapies

Scientists from the Florida campus were awarded $3.5 million from the National Institute of Diabetes

and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health to accelerate development of a

new class of anti-diabetic compounds. Patrick R. Griffin, chair of the Department of Molecular

Therapeutics at Scripps Florida and a leader in the field, is the principal investigator of the new five-year

grant.

“Effective management of diabetes and the complications associated with the disease remains a

significant medical challenge,” Griffin said. “Due to significant safety concerns, a class of drugs that

have proven effective at improving the body’s response to insulin (insulin sensitizers known as

glitazones) has essentially been removed from the arsenal of therapeutics used to treat type 2 diabetes.”

Over the past decade, the Griffin lab along with the Kamenecka lab has focused on the molecular details

of the mode of action of insulin sensitizers. Using this information, the scientists have made significant

advances in developing drug candidates targeting a receptor known as peroxisome proliferator-activated

receptors gamma (PPARG). These drug candidates inhibit the receptor, a unique mode of action

compared to the glitazones. This new award will fund deep dissection of the molecular mechanism of

the new class of compounds developed at TSRI, and this information will help pave the path toward

clinical development. In addition, the Griffin lab, in collaboration with researchers at the University of

Toledo, will look at the effects of these compounds on bone, an emerging safety issue with the

glitazones.

Diabetes affects more than 29 million people in the United States, according to the American Diabetes

Association 2012 report. Between 2010 and 2012, the incidence rate was about 1.7-1.9 million per year,

and in 2013, the estimated direct medical costs were $176 billion.

Scripps Florida Scientists' 'Mad Cow' Discovery Points to Possible Neuron Killing Mechanism

Behind Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases

$1.4 Million Grant Will Enable Team to Follow Up with Search for Drug Candidates

Scripps Florida scientists have for the first time discovered a killing mechanism that could underpin a

range of the most intractable neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS.

The new study, published recently in the journal Brain, revealed the mechanism of toxicity of a

misfolded form of the protein that underlies prion diseases, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy

(“mad cow disease”) and its human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

“Our study reveals a novel mechanism of neuronal death involved in a neurodegenerative protein-

misfolding disease,” said Corinne Lasmézas, a TSRI professor who led the study. “Importantly, the

death of these cells is preventable. In our study, ailing neurons in culture and in an animal model were

completely rescued by treatment, despite the continued presence of the toxic misfolded protein. This

work suggests treatment strategies for prion diseases—and possibly other protein misfolding diseases

such as Alzheimer’s.”

In the study, the scientists used a misfolded form of the prion disease protein, called TPrP, a model they

had previously developed, to study misfolded protein-induced neurodegeneration in the laboratory.


Annual Report 2015

Misfolded proteins are the common cause of the group of diseases comprising prion, Alzheimer’s,

Parkinson’s diseases, ALS and other conditions.

A recent $1.4-million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

will support further work to look for drug candidates based on the new findings. Lasmézas and Louis

Scampavia, a TSRI associate professor of molecular therapeutics, will be co-principal investigators for

the new three-year study, whose team will also include Tom Bannister, a TSRI associate scientific

director at Scripps Florida’s Translational Research Institute. The scientists have developed several

primary tests for compounds that could restore NAD+ and plan to begin those tests at Scripps Florida’s

High Throughput Screening facility.

Since it was established in 2005, the Scripps Florida High Throughput Screening facility has screened

more than 200 targets in more than 235 industrial and academic collaborations—several of these

collaborations have produced successful clinical trial candidates. The drug discovery facility is currently

capable of routinely screens one quarter of a million compounds in a single day.

Scripps Florida Scientists Win $3.3 Million Grant to Accelerate Development of Treatments for

Intellectual Disability, Autism, Epilepsy

Scripps Florida scientists were awarded $3.3 million by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to

identify biomarkers to accelerate drug development for disorders including autism spectrum disorder,

epilepsy and some types of intellectual disability. Gavin Rumbaugh, a TSRI associate professor, is the

principal investigator of the new five-year project.

“Our long-term goal is to increase the success rate of therapies translated from animal models to

patients,” Rumbaugh said. “By validating biomarkers in mice and using this information in combination

with pharmacological or genetic treatment strategies, we hope to create a set of tools and methods that

can be used successfully to develop new therapeutics.”

Rumbaugh has been a pioneer in the study of Syngap1, one of the most commonly disrupted genes in

patients with sporadic developmental disorders of the brain. His work in animal models has shown that

life-long cognitive disruptions are caused by isolated damage to developing neurons in the forebrain (in

humans, the forebrain is responsible for higher cognitive processes, such as language and reasoning).

Rumbaugh and his colleagues plan to validate several highly quantifiable biomarkers of brain damage

that occur in these animal models during a critical period of early development. Because abnormal

cognition in these models can be traced to this early developmental window, these measures have the

potential to provide a roadmap of cognitive ability to guide drug design.

Scripps Florida Scientists Win $2.4 Million to Expand Development of New Pain Therapies

Scripps Florida scientists were awarded $2.4 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of The

National Institutes of Health to expand development of new pain medications with fewer side effects

than those currently available. Professor Laura Bohn, who has been a leader in the development of pain

therapies, will be the principal investigator of the new five-year grant.

“We are developing substitutes for narcotic pain killers with less risk for overdose and fewer side

effects,” Bohn said. “The new grant enables us to study how these potential drugs, which utilize the


Annual Report 2015

same biological target as morphine, fundamentally differ from the current pain medications in how they

engage neuronal signaling.”

Adverse side effects of current opioid drugs such as morphine and oxycodone can be serious and include

respiratory suppression, constipation and addiction. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control,

nearly two million Americans abused prescription painkillers in 2013; almost 7,000 people are treated

each day in hospital emergency rooms for abuse of these drugs.

While the new compounds under development activate the same receptor as morphine—the mu opioid

receptor or MOR—they do so in a way that avoids recruiting the protein beta-arrestin 2. Genetic studies

have shown that animal models lacking beta-arrestin 2 experience robust pain relief with diminished

side effects.

“The difference in the way that these new compounds work results in greater pain relief without as much

respiratory suppression (overdose risk) and persistent constipation in preclinical studies,” said Bohn.

“We are hoping to dial out dependence liabilities as we pursue bringing these drugs to clinical trials.”

Scripps Florida Scientists Win $2.3m Grant to Uncover Ways to Erase Toxic PTSD Memories

The Department of Health and Human Services of the National Institutes of Health awarded $2.3 million

to Scripps Florida to better understand how memories are stored in the hopes of eventually being able to

treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by erasing traumatic memories without altering other, more

benign ones. Courtney Miller, a TSRI associate professor, is the principal investigator for the new five-

year study.

“We hope this new study will make a significant contribution to the goal of developing new and more

effective treatments for mental illness,” Miller said.

While literally thousands of mechanisms for how a memory initially forms have been identified, only a

few mechanisms are known for how the brain stores these memories for weeks to years. To produce a

memory, a lot has to be done, including the alteration of the structure of nerve cells via changes in the

dendritic spines—small bulb-like structures that receive electrochemical signals from other neurons.

Normally, these structural changes occur via actin, the protein that makes up the infrastructure of all

cells. Miller is investigating the possibility that microRNAs, naturally occurring small RNAs that act to

suppress the production of proteins, may be capable of coordinating the complexity required for the

brain to maintain this actin-based structural integrity of a long-lasting memory.

“Our study will investigate the microRNA profile of a PTSD-like memory, with the idea that the

persistence of a traumatic memory is maintained by the recruitment of a unique set of microRNAs

within the amygdala—the brain’s emotional memory center and a critical participant in PTSD,” Miller

said.

An understanding of how the brain actually stores these toxic memories should result in the

development of new targets that can then be exploited to selectively target harmful memories, as in the

case of PTSD, or to preserve fading memory, such as with age-related cognitive decline. In 2013, Miller

and her colleagues were able to erase dangerous memories associated with drugs of abuse in mice and

rats, without affecting other more benign memories. That surprising discovery, published in the journal


Annual Report 2015

Biological Psychiatry pointed to a clear and workable method to disrupt unwanted memories while

leaving others intact.

Scripps Florida Scientists Win $2.2 Million to Expand Study of Innovative Obesity Therapy

Scientists from the Florida campus were awarded nearly $2.2 million by the National Institute of

Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance an

innovative approach to the treatment of obesity, a serious health problem that affects more than one-

third of all Americans. Anutosh Chakraborty, a TSRI assistant professor, is the principal investigator of

the new five-year project.

Obesity, especially when combined with type 2 diabetes, leads to conditions including coronary heart

disease, stroke, hypercholesterolemia, fatty liver, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, certain cancers and various

other diseases. If current trends continue, the number of Americans who are obese could reach 50

percent by 2030, according to the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

According to Britain’s Fiscal Times, the estimated cost of obesity in the United States is already $305.1

billion annually. Current medications have limited success. In an effort to address this dilemma,

scientists want to identify relevant proteins, especially enzymes, to target with new and more effective

drug candidates.

“Anti-obesity drugs generally work on reducing how much you eat or absorb,” Chakraborty said. “We

investigate the problem from a different perspective.”

Chakraborty and his colleagues discovered that an enzyme called inositol hexakisphosphate kinase-1

(IP6K1) plays a significant role in promoting the action of insulin on energy/fat storage. Mice without

IP6K1 are not only lean on regular chow diet, they are also protected against high-fat-diet-induced

obesity and insulin resistance.

In addition to gaining a broader understanding of the fundamental mechanism by which IP6K1 regulates

metabolism, Chakraborty and his colleagues—including Scripps Florida’s Ted Kamenecka, assistant

professor and associate scientific director of the Translational Research Institute, and Michael Cameron,

associate professor of molecular therapeutics and DMPK—are working on the development of drugs

which are expected to treat obesity, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases via IP6K1 inhibition.

Scripps Florida Scientists Win $2.1 Million to Study Protein Linked to Parkinson’s Disease

Scientists were awarded $2.1 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

of The National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study a protein that has been closely linked in animal

models to Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Assistant Professor Srinivasa Subramaniam

will be the principal investigator of the new five-year grant. The focus of the study is a multifunctional

protein known as rapamycin (mTOR), which is involved in embryonic development, cancer and

diabetes. Malfunction in mTOR activity—either too much or too little—has also been linked to a variety

of brain dysfunctions such as epilepsy, mental retardation, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s

disease.

In the new project, the researchers will use a wide variety of techniques to examine the role and

regulation of this protein in a brain region called the striatum, which controls motor, psychiatric and


Annual Report 2015

cognitive functions. Subramaniam’s long-term goal is to understand the system well enough to advance

new therapies.

“Even though mTOR is widely expressed throughout the body, its brain-specific regulation and function

remain unclear,” Subramaniam said. “While we know that inhibiting mTOR protects against symptoms

of Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases in animal models, the new grant will help us answer two

critical questions: ‘How is mTOR regulated, and what happens when it is depleted selectively in the

striatum?’ ”

Scripps Florida Scientists Win $1.5 Million Grant to Develop New Cancer Drugs The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded $1.5 million to Scripps Florida scientists to develop

drug candidates that could treat cancer and neurodegenerative disease. Derek Duckett, a TSRI associate

professor of molecular therapeutics, is the co-principal investigator for the three-year study, along with

John Cleveland of the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida (formerly head of the Cancer Biology

Department at TSRI). Duckett, Cleveland and their teams will look for compounds that affect a key

enzyme involved in the degradation and ultimate recycling of damaged cellular material.

This process, called “autophagy,” is an ancient, cannibalistic (literally “self-eating”) pathway that acts as

the main recycling center of all cells. In autophagy, bulk cytoplasmic material and aged or damaged

organelles are recycled via the lysosome to recoup essential building blocks and adenosine triphosphate

(ATP) as a survival strategy during times of stress or nutrient limitation. Autophagy is an important cell

survival pathway, and any defects in its regulation can lead to a variety of disorders, including

neurodegenerative disorders, liver disease and cancer. The study is focused on targeting a particular

enzyme, UNC-51-like kinase-1 (Ulk1), a critical on-off switch that regulates this pathway.

“Using these funds, we will identify new inhibitors of Ulk1,” Duckett said. “Developing selective

molecular probes that function as Ulk1-specific inhibitors would improve our understanding of the

autophagy pathway, its relationship to cancer and its utility as a target that could augment conventional

or targeted anti-cancer treatments.”

Duckett and his colleagues plan to use the high-throughput screening facilities at Scripps Florida and the

Scripps Drug Discovery Library and its 650,000-plus library of small-molecule compounds.

Scripps Florida Scientists Awarded $1.2 Million to Find Drug Candidates that Could Treat a

Wide Range of Cancers

Scientists from the Florida campus were awarded $1.2 million from the National Cancer Institute of the

National Institutes of Health (NIH) to accelerate the development of drug candidates to curb one of the

most important drivers of human cancer. TSRI Associate Professors Joseph Kissil and Louis Scampavia

will be co-principal investigators for the three-year grant, which will focus on the “Hippo-YAP

signaling pathway.”

“This pathway, which was discovered less than a decade ago, appears to regulate processes that are

closely linked to an increasing number of cancers,” Kissil said. “The more we study it, the more we see

its involvement. This new grant will help expand our investigation.”


Annual Report 2015

The Hippo-YAP signaling pathway has been found active in breast, colorectal and liver cancers, in

hepatocellular and squamous cell carcinoma, and in melanoma of the eye. Cancers initiated through this

pathway tend to thrive and proliferate, relatively immune to destruction from programmed cell death.

Kissil, Scampavia and their colleagues plan to use Scripps Florida’s ultra-high-throughput screening

resources and the campus’s library of more than 600,000 compounds to develop a series of screens to

identify and optimize compounds to target the pathway and combat cancer.

Scientific Meetings

The following are some of the national and international events that Scripps Florida scientists attend to

promote their own research and foster collaborative efforts. Florida scientific outreach events are

presented in Subsection (9) (f).

Date Scientist Event and location 1-Oct-14 Doug Kojetin Seminar, Emory University, Department of Biochemistry

Oct-14 Chakraborty The Obesity Society Scientific Review Committee Conference Call

Oct-14 Niedernhofer Attended the 5th Annual Mayo Clinic Aging Conference, Rochester, MN

Oct-14 Ja Attended "Annual Student Symposium", Lake Arrowhead, CA

2-Oct-14 C. Miller NIH/BRLE Center for Scientific Review Meeting, Invited Guest Participant

3-Oct-14 Roy Smith Conf call with Bill Zollers, Aratana Pharmaceuticals

10/3/2014 Chakraborty EGG Grant review and decision

4-Oct-14 Davis and E.

Petersen

Neurofly 2014 - European Fly Neurobiology, Conference, Crete Greece

6-Oct-14 Paul Robbins Participant - Korean Society of Gene and Cell Therapy - Seoul Korea

7-Oct-14 C. Rader Invited Speaker at 2014 Osong BioExcellence Conference at Osong New Drug

Development Center in Osong, Korea

8-Oct-14 C. Rader Invited Speaker at Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

12-Oct-14 Matt Disney ALS TDI Leadership Summit Discussion

14-Oct-14 M. Farzan 2014 Strategies for an HIV Cure at NIAID, Bethesda, MD

14-Oct-14 Martemyanov External Seminar Series, TSRI, La Jolla

14-Oct-14 Kendall

Nettles

Invited Speaker: Predicting Phenotypes for Estrogen Receptor Ligands, UT

Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, TX

16-Oct-14 Patrick Griffin DMP Study Section, New Orleans, LA

16-Oct-14 Laura Bohn Functional Selectivity at NIDA, Seminar, Washington, DC

20-Oct-14 Karbstein Reviewer - NSF Biology REU Panel 150222, Arlington, VA, USA

21-Oct-14 Doug Kojetin AHA Lipids Basic Science # Committee Spring 2015

23-Oct-14 Matt Disney Keynote speaker SUNY Albany RNA Center

23-Oct-14 Paul Robbins Participant - Mayo-Groningen - Rochester MN

24-Oct-14 Ben Shen The 8th Sino - US CBDD, Changsha

25-Oct-14 Roy Periana University of Tokyo, and Keio University, Murai Symposium

27-Oct-14 Kate Carroll Mike Radtke, NIH SBCA Review Meeting, New Orleans, LA

28-Oct-14 Brock Grill NIH/NDPR study section, Arlington VA

29-Oct-14 C. Rader Invited Speaker at TSRI La Jolla, California on 10/29/14

30-Oct-14 Hyeryun Choe Dr. Jonathan Abraham, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

30-Oct-14 Karbstein Speaker - M-LSA Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

30-Oct-14 Patrick Griffin CDRD Board of Directors Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada

31-Oct-14 C. Miller NPR Interview

Nov-14 Niedernhofer Attended/Presented "R24 Geroscience Network Coordinating Group Meeting and GSA

Meeting", Washington, DC


Annual Report 2015

Nov-14 Niedernhofer Attended/Presented/Meeting Co-organizer "5th US-EU Conference on Repair of

Endogenous DNA Damage", Santa Fe, NM

Nov-14 Niedernhofer Presented at "The Xeroderma Pigmentosum Family Support Group", Kansas City, MO

4-Nov-14 Roy Smith Prader Willi Syndrome Annual Meeting, Invited Guest

4-Nov-14 Chakraborty Attended Obesity Week, Boston, MA

5-Nov-14 Jun-Li Luo NIH Review Board

5-Nov-14 Paul Robbins Participant - R24 Geroscience Network Coordinating Group Meeting - Washington DC

6-Nov-14 Ron Davis Molecular Psychiatry Association - San Francisco Conference, California

6-Nov-14 Paul Robbins Participant - Xeroderma Pigmentosum Family Support Group - Kansas City MO

7-Nov-14 Matt Disney ALS TDI Leadership Summit Talk

9-Nov-14 C. Rader Invited Speaker at 2014 Cold Spring Harbor Engineering & Phage Display Course,

Cold Spring Harbor, New York

10-Nov-14 Laura Bohn Anesthesiology Research Seminar, St. Louis, MO

11-Nov-14 Paul Robbins Participant - US EU DNA Repair Meeting - Sante Fe NM

14-Nov-14 C. Miller NIH/NIDA Frontiers in Addiction Research Mini Convention, Invited Guest Participant

14-Nov-14 Martemyanov Mt. Sinai Medical School, New York

14-Nov-14 Matt Disney C9 orf72 discussion with Target ALS group

14-Nov-14 see list SFN Annual Meeting, Washington DC. Participants: Ron Davis, Jacob Berry, Germain

Busto, Yunchao Gai, Ze Liu, E. Nick Petersen, C. MacMullen, C. Miller, Seth Tomchik

15-Nov-14 Rumbaugh NIH Study Section

15-Nov-14 Rumbaugh SFN Meeting

17-Nov-14 Paul Robbins Participant - Baxter Meeting - Chicago IL

19-Nov-14 C. Rader Meeting with Institute of Biochemistry, University of Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland re:

collaboration

19-Nov-14 Damon Page Rhett Syndrome Review Board, Chicago, ILL

20-Nov-14 C. Rader Meeting with Department of Medicine II-Hem/Onc, University of Würzburg,

Würzburg, Germany

20-Nov-14 Kodadek Lecture at UTSW Dept. of Pharmacology Seminar Series, Dallas, TX

21-Nov-14 Kodadek Lecture at UTD Chemistry Seminar Series, Dallas, TX

22-Nov-14 Tina Izard Meeting with collaborator, Dr. Michael Rossman with Perdue University

Dec-14 Niedernhofer Attended FASEB Board of Directors Meeting, Arlington, VA

7-Dec-14 C. Miller ACNP Annual Meeting (American College of Neuropsychopharmacology)

8-Dec-14 Seth Tomchik Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN “Mechanisms of memory encoding in

Drosophila”

9-Dec-14 Roy Smith The Conference on Bioactive Peptides for Cell-Cell Communication, Invited Guest,

Kyoto, Japan

10-Dec-14 Matt Disney Discussion with NIH

11-Dec-14 C. Rader Invited Speaker , Prof. Shabat Graduate Class, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

14-Dec-14 C. Rader Invited Speaker - TAU Research Group, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

15-Dec-14 C. Rader Meeting with Dr. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, TAU Research Group, Tel Aviv University

15-Dec-14 Matt Disney Talk Brainstorming DM

15-Dec-14 Scott Hansen NIH Common Fund High Risk-High Reward Research Symposium, Bethesda, MD

17-Dec-14 Roy Smith Conf Call with Bill Zollers at Aratana Pharmaceuticals

22-Dec-14 Matt Disney Visit from Patrick Brannely from the TAU Consortium

11-Jan-15 Gardner Presentation and Talk at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

11-Jan-15 Ben Shen NP Discovery & Development, SIMB, San Diego, CA

13-Jan-15 Kodadek TSRI Faculty Lecture, La Jolla, CA

14-Jan-15 Patrick Griffin Invited speaker to the Canada Foundation for Innovation Multidisciplinary Assessment

Committee, Ottawa, Canada

19-Jan-15 C. Miller Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Invited Guest Speaker

21-Jan-15 Matt Disney Tau Consortium meeting, San Francisco, CA

27-Jan-15 Karbstein Attended Peer Review Committee for RNA Mechanisms in Cancer, Atlanta, GA


Annual Report 2015

31-Jan-15 Laura Bohn Gordon Research Conferences, Ventura, CA

1-Feb-15 Martemyanov University of Texas, Houston

7-Feb-15 Doug Kojetin Biophysical Society 59th Annual Meeting

8-Feb-15 Kate Carroll Mike Radtke, NIH SBCA Review Meeting, Washington, DC

8-Feb-15 Paul Robbins Seminar - GRC Mammalian DNA Repair - Ventura CA

10-Feb-15 C. Miller Interview with Ozy.com

12-Feb-15 Matt Disney Seminar Department of Chemistry University of Alabama Birmingham

12-Feb-15 Doug Kojetin NIH MSFB study section

12-Feb-15 Patrick Griffin DMP Study Section, Washington, DC

15-Feb-15 Rumbaugh UCI Seminar Presentation

15-Feb-15 Shen, Davis,

Smith, Bohn

Frontiers in Biomedical Research Symposium, Indian Wells, CA

17-Feb-15 Matt Disney Seminar Novartis in San Francisco, CA

18-Feb-15 M. Gardner Present at AIDS Vaccine Research Lab in Madison, WI

18-Feb-15 Matt Disney Seminar: Chemistry, Chemical Engineering & Biochemistry, Stanford University

18-Feb-15 C. Miller Neurotherapeutics Discovery and Development Course, Invited Participant

18-Feb-15 Paul Robbins Participant - Exosome Meeting - Italy

19-Feb-15 Baoji Xu NIH Neurological Sciences and Disorders B study section

21-Feb-15 M. Farzan Presenter: Conference on Retrovirology and Opportunistic Infections , Seattle, WA

22-Feb-15 Laura Bohn NIH Grant R01 DA031927, University of Kansas

26-Feb-15 Patrick Griffin Invited speaker at University of Missouri (Host Stefanos Sarafinos, PhD)

Mar-15 Niedernhofer Host Dr. Janine Kruit (expert in endocrinology and metabolism), Assistant Professor,

University Medical Center of Groningen, to help with experiments

Mar-15 Ja, Deshpande Attended "56th Annual Drosophila Research Conference", Chicago, IL

2-Mar-15 Matt Disney AstraZeneca Seminar Cambridge, MA

3-Mar-15 Mark Sundrud Reviewer - NIH/NIAID Review Special Emphasis Panel, Bethesda, MD, USA

4-Mar-15 Gardner Present at Palm Springs Symposium on HIV/AIDS in Palm Springs, CA

4-Mar-15 Baoji Xu Seminar presenter at University of Alabama at Birmingham

8-Mar-15 Paul Robbins Participant - MIRM Retreat - Nemacolin Woodlands

9-Mar-15 Hyeryun Choe Reviewer, ISF (The Israel Science Foundation) Research Grants

10-Mar-15 Ron Davis NIH/NINDS Review Panel Meeting, Arlington VA

12-Mar-15 Kodadek Lecture at Sigma-Aldrich

12-Mar-15 Matt Disney Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation Science Advising

13-Mar-15 Lovell Behavior, Biology and Chemistry: Translational Research, San Antonio, TX

15-Mar-15 Martemyanov ASPET Conference

15-Mar-15 Rumbaugh NIH Study Section

15-Mar-15 Patrick Griffin Invited speaker – University of Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona

20-Mar-15 Matt Disney Seminar at Johns Hopkins Medical Center

21-Mar-15 M. Farzan Presentation at Keystone Symposia in Banff, Canada

21-Mar-15 Bohn, Disney American Chemical Society Symposium, Denver, CO

23-Mar-15 Jun-Li Luo NIH Review Board

23-Mar-15 Patrick Griffin Invited speaker at Keystone Symposia, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

24-Mar-15 Huang Wiring the Brain Meeting at Cold Spring Harbor, New York

24-Mar-15 Kodadek DARPA Review Meeting, Arlington, VA

25-Mar-15 Matt Disney Discussion with Rutgers University regarding collaborative project

26-Mar-15 Matt Disney Discussion with NIH

27-Mar-15 Bohn & Stahl Experimental Biology 2015 Annual Meeting, Boston, MA

28-Mar-15 Brock Grill Co-Chair: ASPET Annual Meeting in Boston, MA

29-Mar-15 Tina Izard 2015 ASBMB Annual Meeting

29-Mar-15 Patrick Griffin Invited speaker at ASPET (American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental

Therapeutics) Symposium 2015, Boston, MA

29-Mar-15 Mi Ra Chang Attended ASPET Conference - presented poster, Boston, MA

30-Mar-15 Patrick Griffin Molecular Pharmacology Editorial Board meeting


Annual Report 2015

30-Mar-15 Tina Izard Meeting with collaborator, Dr. Robert Stroud, University of California, San Francisco

31-Mar-15 Matt Disney Margaux's Miracle Foundation about Childhood Ewing's Sarcoma Research

1-Apr-15 C. Miller NIH/NIDA Special Emphasis Review Panel

2-Apr-15 Karbstein Invited Speaker & Editorial Board member , ASBMB Annual Meeting, Boston, MA

9-Apr-15 Patrick Griffin Invited speaker - University of Texas, Arlington, Texas

13-Apr-15 Baoji Xu Keystone Symposium, Snowbird, Utah

13-Apr-15 Matt Disney Seminar Chemistry and Biosciences Departments University of Chicago

14-Apr-15 Matt Disney Target ALS Meeting NYC

15-Apr-15 Puthanveettil Columbia University Presentation, New York

20-Apr-15 Morgenweck Kappa Therapeutic Conference 2015 Third Conference on the Therapeutic Potential of

Kappa Opioids in Pain and Addiction, Chapel Hill, CA

23-Apr-15 Kodadek NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Review meeting

23-Apr-15 Patrick Griffin CDRD Board of Directors Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada

24-Apr-15 Lasmezas Presentation for the Scripps Florida Luncheon series "Food for thoughts"

24-Apr-15 C. Miller Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology (SNIP), Invited Participant

30-Apr-15 Roy Smith Conference Call with Claudio Pietra, Helsinn Therapeutics

May-15 Niedernhofer Attended/Presented/organizer "Geropathology Research Network Symposium",

University of Washington South Lake Union Campus, Seattle, WA

May-15 Niedernhofer Attended "Frontiers in Aging and Regeneration Research", Marine Biological

Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA

4-May-15 Kate Carroll Drs. Derek Tan and Alex Kentsis, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY

5-May-15 Kate Carroll Drs. Tom Muir and Dr. Van Zandt Williams, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

6-May-15 Doug Kojetin AHA Greater Southeast Affiliate Research Committee

6-May-15 Paul Robbins Participant - R24 Pathology of Aging Network Symposium - Seattle

8-May-15 Howard Petrie Attend American Association of Immunologists "Immunology 2015" Annual Meeting

in New Orleans, LA

8-May-15 Matt Disney NIH Pioneer Appicant Stage 2 Review

13-May-15 M. Farzan Guest speaker - Merck Cure Roundtable, Philadelphia, PA

13-May-15 see list International Meeting for Autism Research in Salt Lake City, UT. Participants: Damon

Page, Amy Clipperton Allen, Youjun Chen, Wen-Chin Huang

15-May-15 Puthanveettil Washington State University Seminar Presentation

16-May-15 Laura Bohn ASCEPT-BPS Joint Scientific Meeting, Hong Kong

19-May-15 Lasmezas Continuous Medical Education Presentation at VA Medical Center, West Palm Beach

26-May-15 Lasmezas Prion 2015 Working Conference, Ft. Collins, CO

26-May-15 Karbstein Attended 20th Annual Meeting of RNA Society, Madison, WI, USA

26-May-15 D. Phinney ISCT 2015 Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada

29-May-15 Roy Smith iHuman Institute at Shanghai Tech, Invited Guest Speaker

30-May-15 Matt Disney Tau Consortium Deep Dive, Cambridge MA

31-May-15 Ben Shen ASM Meeting, New Orleans

31-May-15 Goswami,

Dharmarajan

ASMS Meeting - presented poster, St. Louis, MO

31-May-15 Patrick Griffin ASMS Board of Directors Meeting, St. Louis, MO

1-Jun-15 Nettles 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, IL

Jun-15 Ja Attended "3rd Biennial Conference of the North American Society for Comparative

Endocrinology", Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

2-Jun-15 M. Farzan Present at NIAID Development of Monoclonal Antibodies for HIV in Rockville, MD

2-Jun-15 Roy Periana ADHOC2015 International Symposium Speaker, Madison, WI

3-Jun-15 Laura Solt NIH Study Section Participant

4-Jun-15 Paul Robbins Participant : Mayo - C-Sig Minisymposium , Rochester MN

10-Jun-15 Kate Carroll Mike Radtke, NIH SBCA Review Meeting, Seattle, WA

10-Jun-15 Doug Kojetin NIH MSFB study section

14-Jun-15 Matt Disney Gordon Research Conference Invited Speaker

15-Jun-15 Rumbaugh Korean KAVLI Conference


Annual Report 2015

19-Jun-15 M. Farzan Present at Gordon Research Conference - Viruses & Cells in Girona, Spain

24-Jun-15 D. Phinney Participant in Science Webinar - Sourcing Niche Cell Populations: Techniques for

Isolating and Characterizing Progenitor Cells

24-Jun-15 Baoji Xu 15th International Symposium by the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America,

Taipei, Taiwan

24-Jun-15 Patrick Griffin CDRD Board of Directors Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada

29-Jun-15 Mark Sundrud Speaker - Pathology Seminar Series, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY

30-Jun-15 Matt Disney Gordon Research Conference Invited Speaker

Jul-15 Niedernhofer Invited speaker "Aspen Cancer Conference", Aspen, CO

Jul-15 Niedernhofer Attended/Presented "2015 International Family Medical Conference for Cockayne

Syndrome", Atlanta, GA

3-Jul-15 Kate Carroll Imperial College London, Aston University and University of Glasgow, Proxomics

Project -- Novel Tools and Technologies for Studying Cells and Tissues

14-Jul-15 Brock Brill Ad Hoc Reviewer for NIH, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Neuroscience

(MDCN) study section

15-Jul Min Guo Invited Speaker: "“Chemical Translation of Human Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases into

Disease Therapy” Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of

Sciences, Shanghai

16-Jul-15 Joseph Kissil Grand Rounds at University of Miami School of Medicine

21-Jul-15 Tina Izard Meeting with collaborator, Dr. Gerard Bricogne, with Global Phasing Limited

22-Jul-15 Subramaniam Alzheimer's Association International Conference AAIC

22-Jul-15 Laura Bohn NIH Study Section SEP reviewer

25-Jul-15 Tina Izard 2015 ACA Annual Meeting and Poster Presentation - Philadelphia, PA

25-Jul-15 Scott Hanson Gordon Research Conference

30-Jul-15 S. Valente NIH ADDT Meeting

31-Jul-15 Niedernhofer NIH Undiagnosed Disease Program to establish a funded collaboration

Aug-15 Niedernhofer Invited speaker NIH Workshop: Genetic and molecular pathways in human aging and

longevity

Aug-15 Niedernhofer Meeting with collaborators at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

3-Aug-15 Phinney ISCT MSCT Committee Meeting

5-Aug-15 Karbstein Seminar – The roles of Rok 1 and Rrp5 in 40S, Ribosome Assembly, University of

Muenster, Germany

6-Aug-15 C. Miller SYNGAP Board Member Site Visit

10-Aug-15 M. Farzan Plenary Speaker at the Conference on Cell & Gene Therapy for HIV Cure 2015, Seattle,

WA

19-Aug-15 C. Miller Conference Call with Corey McCann of Pear Therapeutics

19-Aug-15 Roy Smith Fei Xu, iHuman Institute, Shanghai

20-Aug-15 Gardener Meet with representatives from the International AIDS Vaccine Institute, New York,

NY

Sep-15 Min Guo AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference, New York, NY

Sep-15 Niedernhofer Invited Speaker at 2015 Metabolomics Program Consortium Meeting , University of

Kentucky, Lexington, KY

Sep-15 Niedernhofer Invited speaker: 6th Annual Alliance for Healthy Aging Conference, Newcastle,

England

Sep-15 Keith Murphy Attended "Neurobiology of Drosophila Meeting", Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Sep-15 Bill Ja Attended "Annual Student Symposium", Lake Arrowhead, CA

1-Sep-15 Subramaniam Scripps, Genzyme, Rhes & Huntington's Disease web meeting

10-Sep-15 Roy Peiana Attend workshop on Catalysis for Qatar Environment and Energy Institute

13-Sep-15 Kate Carroll Redox Biology Conference on "ESF-EMBO Thiol-based Redox switches in life

sciences", Vrije Universiteit, Brussels

14-Sep-15 Lasmezas Peer Review Panel of the EU Joint Programme -- Neurodegenerative Disease Research

for the JP co-fuND, Helsinki Finland


Annual Report 2015

16-Sep-15 Laura Bohn Invited Speaker - Vanderbilt University, Seminar for Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical

Biology (VICB), Nashville, TN

17-Sep-15 C. Miller Invited Speaker, Janelia Farms Behavioral Epigenetics Conference

18-Sep-15 Ben Shen The 2nd Annual Symposium of Purdue Center for Drug Dscovery

18-Sep-15 Brock Grill Invited Speaker: Rutgers, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers, NJ

20-Sep-15 Gardener Presenter at Harvard Medical School 23rd Fields Prize in Microbiology, nominated for

award, Boston, MA

29-Sep-15 Seth Tomchik Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories Neurobiology of Drosophila Conference, New York

12/30/2014-

01/03/2015

Niedernhofer Hosted to Dr. Robert Sobol, University of Pittsburgh

12-14-Nov-14 Ben Shen Iowa State University, Seminar

1-4-May-15 Niedernhofer Host Dr. Simon Watkins Chair of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh

16-19-Nov-14 Mark Sundrud Speaker - Concordia/NDSU, Moorshead, MN

19-20-Feb-15 Niedernhofer Reviewer, NIA/NIH Study Section Cellular Mechanisms of Aging and Development

21-24-Mar-15 Roy Periana,

Michael

Konnick,

Brian

Hashiguchi

249th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, Denver, CO

2-3-June-15 Niedernhofer Reviewer NIA/NIH K99 Biology of Aging Review Committee B study section

28-Jun to 3-

Jul-15

Scott Hansen FASEB - Ion Channel Regulation

29-31-Jan-15 Niedernhofer Attended/presented at PPG "Cell autonomous and nonautonomous mechanisms of

aging", University of Pittsburgh

4-5-Aug-14 Niedernhofer NIH study section: Member Conflict: Cell Biology, Development and Aging

7/12-7/15/15 Paul Robbins 23rd Annual American Association of Cancer Research

7/13-7/14/15 Ron Davis Speaker: UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX

7/15-7/17/15 Patrick Griffin Invited speaker/member, Genome Canada Oversight Committee

7/1-7/4/15 Baoji Xu Xiamen, Genetic dissection of the neural basis for BDNF-regulated appetite and body

weight, Fujian, China

7/19-7/21/15 Ilaria Drago Cell Symposia: Multifaceted Mitochondria, Chicago, IL

7/19-7/22/15 S. Valente 8th IAS (International AIDS Society) Conference on Pathogenesis, Treatment &

Prevention, Vancouver

7/21-7/25/15 Ron Davis Drug Discovery and Therapy World Congress 2015, Boston, MA

7/23-7/24/15 Rumbaugh NIH Study Section

7/25-7/29/15 Ben Shen Annual Meeting of the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP 2015), Copper

Mountain Resort and Conference Center, Copper Mountain, CO

7/27-7/29/15 Disney Tau Consortium Investigator's Meeting-San Francisco, CA

7/8-7/12/15 Martemyanov IBRO Conference in Buenos Aires

7/9-7/11/15 Paul Robbins Cosmetic Bootcamp

8/12-8/14/15 Paul Robbins Mayo Clinic Visit

8/15-8/17/15 Patrick Griffin Invited speaker - ACS Meeting, Boston, MA

8/16-8/20/15 Ben Shen ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA

8/17-27/15 Rumbaugh ISN Meeting in Cairns Australia

8/18-8/19/15 Roy Periana,

Michael

Konnick,

Brian

Hashiguchi

Attend the quarterly review meeting at Hyconix, Chicago, IL

8/19-8/23/15 Karbstein 10th EMBO Conference on Ribosome Synthesis, Brussels, Belgium

8/21-8/22/15 Paul Robbins Vail Scientific Summit, Regenerative & Translational Medicine: A Collaborative

Vision

8/23-8/26/15 Paul Robbins Cockayne Syndrome Meeting


Annual Report 2015

8/26-8/27/15 Brian Paegel Ohio State University

8/31-9/3/15 Kodadek &

Paegel

Fold F(x) Review Meeting-DARPA grant, Utah*

8/5-8/6/15 Disney Annual Blavatnik Science Symposium-NY, NY

8-13-Feb-15 Niedernhofer Session chair, Gordon Research Conference "Mammalian DNA Repair"

9/13-9/16/15 Cameron Invited Speaker - European Soxiety of Toxicology

9/14-9/17/15 Madoux HTRF 2015 Symposium, Cape Cod, USA

9/15-9/16/15 Damon Page ERA-NET Neuron (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) grant review

9/16-9/17/15 Kodadek Seminar at University of Pittsburgh

9/18-9/19/15 Disney 2015 Annual MDF Conference, Washington, DC

9/20-9/23/15 Brock Grill AXON 2015 European Conference on Axon Guidance, Circuit Development and

Regeneration, Klosterneuburg Austria

9/22-9/30/15 Martemyanov Ribbon Synapses Conference in Germany

9/24-9/26/15 Patrick Griffin ASMS Board of Directors Meeting, Houston, TX

9/25-9/27/15 Paul Robbins NIH Common Fund - Metabolomics Symposium

9/29-10/05/15 Paul Robbins 6th Annual Alliance for Healthy Aging Conference

9/7-9/10/15 Subramaniam GTC World Bio Conference, Philadelphia, PA

9/7-9/9/15 Patrick Griffin Invited Speaker - Ohio State University

9-10-Mar-15 M. Farzan Meet with Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA

May 31-June

01, 2015

Niedernhofer Attended "FASEB Animals in Research and Education Subcommittee Meeting; Science

Policy Symposium; and Board of Directors Meeting", Arlington, VA

Monthly Niedernhofer Conference call with Geropathology Network

Monthly Niedernhofer Geropathology Network

Monthly Niedernhofer Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Monthly Niedernhofer NCATS regarding clinical trials for Cockayne syndrome

Monthly Niedernhofer Board of Directors of FASEB

Monthly Niedernhofer American Society for Clinical Investigation

yearlong P. Griffin Elected Treasurer, ASMS (American Society of Mass Spectrometry)

yearlong P. Griffin Molecular Pharmacology Editorial Board member

yearlong P. Griffin JMB Editorial Board Member

yearlong P. Griffin DMP Study Section Member

yearlong P. Griffin CDRD (Centre for Drug Research and Development) Board Member

Yearlong D. Phinney Editor - Cytotherapy

Yearlong D. Phinney Member - ISCT MSCT Committee

Yearlong D. Phinney Editor, Cytotherapy

Yearlong Laura Bohn Editorial Board Member - Journal of Biological Chemistry, ASBMB Journals

Yearlong Laura Bohn Molecular Pharmacology, ASPET Journals - Editoral Board Member

Yearlong Laura Bohn ASPET Neuropharmacology Division Executive Committee - Elected Chair & Program

Committee Representative

Yearlong Laura Bohn Gordon Research Conference on Molecular Pharmacology - Conference Organizer


Annual Report 2015

Itemized Report for the Year Ended September 30, 2015

INTRODUCTION

Florida Statute 288.955, referred to as the Enabling Statute, sets forth certain information that is required

to be included in the SFFC Annual Report. The information that follows has been organized to

correspond to the sections of the Enabling Statute that address information to be included in the SFFC

Annual Report. As not every section of the Enabling Statute relates to the SFFC Annual Report, only

the sections of the Enabling Statute that apply are referenced herein. For convenience, the text of the

Enabling Statue that describes the information to be reported in the SFFC Annual Report is set forth

next to each Enabling Statute section reference.

Florida Statute 288.955

Subsection (14) ANNUAL REPORT

By December 1 of each year, the corporation shall prepare a report of the

activities and outcomes under this section for the preceding fiscal year. The

report, at a minimum, must include:

Subsection (14) (a) A description of the activities of the corporation in managing and enforcing

the contract with the grantee.

Scripps Florida Funding Corporation Board of Directors Meetings

Purpose: To oversee the disbursement of the State’s funds invested in Scripps Florida, the Florida

Legislature created the Scripps Florida Funding Corporation, hereto referred to as SFFC, a non-profit

entity governed by a nine-member Board of Directors and one ex-officio member.

Membership: Of the Board of Directors, three members each were appointed by the Governor, the

House Speaker and the Senate President. Former Governor Bush’s appointees are Mr. David Gury,

former President and CEO of Nabi Pharmaceuticals, of Boca Raton, and Dr. Pamella Dana, Senior

Strategic Advisor for Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, of Destin. Governor Crist re-

appointed Mr. David Gury in March 2008 and Dr. Pamella Dana in February 2009. Governor Scott

appointed Mr. Art Wotiz, CEO of Novabone, of Jacksonville on March 25, 2013. Former Senate

President Jeff Atwater named Mr. Ed Sabin, Vice-President Biomet, Inc., of Palm Beach Gardens, on

February 9, 2009 and Mr. Gerry Goldsmith, former Chairman of First Bank of the Palm Beaches, of

Palm Beach, on November 15, 2009. Former Senate President Mike Haridopolos appointed C. Glen

Ged, a founding partner of Ellis, Ged, & Bodden, P.A., of Boca Raton on November 5, 2012. Former

speaker Dean Cannon appointed Dr. Richard M. Luceri, former Vice President of Healthcare Services

for JM Family Enterprises, Inc., and Mr. Thomas G. Kuntz, retired President and CEO of SunTrust

Bank, Florida, on August 3, 2011 who resigned his position on December 31, 2014. Speaker Will

Weatherford reappointed Dr. Luceri on January 24, 2013 to serve until November 14, 2016. Speaker

Weatherford appointed Mr. Mark J. Kasten, CEO of Kasten Insurance, of Tequesta on August 9, 2013.

The head of the Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity or his designee may serve as an ex-

oficio member of the SFFC meetings. Beth Walker from the DEO office has called in for the SFFC

BOD and Audit Committee meetings.

mailto:[email protected]?subject=WEBSITE%20REQUEST

mailto:[email protected]?subject=WEBSITE%20REQUEST


Annual Report 2015

Meetings and activities: From October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015, the SFFC Board of

Directors (“BOD”) met once on November 24, 2014 at the Scripps Florida campus in Jupiter, FL. Board

members in attendance were Chairman Mr. Dave Gury, Vice-Chair Dr. Pamella Dana, Mr. Gerry

Goldsmith, Mr. Ed Sabin, Dr. Richard Luceri, and Mr. Mark Kasten as well as Project Director Ms. Sara

Misselhorn, SFFC counsel Ms. Kathy Deutsch. Phoning in was Mr. Scott Porter, the outside auditor

from Caler, Donten, Levine, et al. Chairman Gury reviewed the future of the SFFC emphasizing that a

critical component of the future was the availability of SFFC operational funding. Ms. Misselhorn

covered the major components of the SFFC budget, followed by a BOD discussion. Questions arose on

the obligations of the BOD to continue to exist under the agreement (with or without funding) and what

the time frame was under the agreement for continued State oversight. Staff explained that under the

agreement timeline, the SFFC would no longer be receiving operational funding beyond what funds

were remaining in its account. At the expenditure rate of approximately $100k per year, the SFFC

existing funds could only sustain operations for four more years. Ms. Deutsch explained that if SFFC

was to dissolve, then any remaining money in its account would go into the Biotech fund established by

the Legislature, and that the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) would then assume all rights

and obligations under the agreement. It was agreed that a letter from the SFFC should be sent to the

DEO to explain this situation. The BOD also discussed the Compliance Report and the need for Staff to

add components to it to evaluate royalty payments back to the State of Florida, since that part of the

requirement was now in effect. Staff was also requested to put language in the cover letter to the annual

report about the substantial amount of interest income that was generated on the funds invested by the

State of Florida into Scripps Florida, as held by the State Board of Administration and distributed to

Scripps Florida over ten-years.

SFFC Committee Meetings

Investment Committee

Purpose: The Investment Committee receives and reviews monthly investment reports from the State

Board of Administration (SBA) to ensure that SFFC’s investments are consistent with the objectives

established in the Trust Agreement and that the SFFC is able to make the disbursements anticipated in

the Operating and Funding Agreement between SFFC and TSRI.

Meetings and activities: Since the grant monies at the State Board of Administration had been

apportioned through the last disbursement and that last disbursement was made on December 2013, the

investment committee did not meet.

Audit Committee

Purpose: The Audit Committee reviews financial information and monitors the financial condition of

TSRI and Scripps Florida. The Audit Committee also engages the SFFC auditor, provides oversight for

the annual audit of SFFC and compliance monitoring of TSRI and Scripps Florida with the terms of the

Operating and Funding Agreement. The Audit Committee provides direction on the scope of the audit

engagements and reviews any finding or recommendations related to the audits. The Audit Committee,

in turn, reports its recommendations on the reports to the full Board.


Annual Report 2015

The SFFC receives and the Audit Committee reviews the following reports:

TSRI and Scripps Florida unaudited quarterly financial statements

TSRI and Scripps Florida audited annual financial reports

TSRI and Scripps Florida annual budgets

Scripps Florida Annual Report

Scripps Florida Annual Scientific Report

There are three types of annual audit reports that are received and reviewed by the Audit Committee:

I. Scripps Florida and TSRI provide the following reports to SFFC:

1) Audited financial statements of TSRI, including the operations of Scripps Florida.

2) Audited financial statements of Scripps Florida as a separate division, including a

report on internal control and compliance in accordance with Government Auditing

Standards.

3) A Federal Single Audit of TSRI in accordance with OMB Circular A-133.

The audits are prepared by Deloitte and Touche (“D&T”), the independent auditors for TSRI.

SFFC’s independent auditor has been granted access to the D&T workpapers in order to assess

the application of generally accepted accounting principles and the significant assumptions made

by TSRI management in the preparation of its financial statements.

II. SFFC receives the following reports prepared by an independent auditor engaged by the SFFC:

1) Audited financial statements of SFFC, including a report on internal controls and

compliance in accordance with Government Auditing Standards.

2) A Federal Single Audit of SFFC in accordance with OMB Circular A-133.

III. A contractual monitoring and compliance audit of the Operating and Funding Agreement

between TSRI and SFFC (“contractual monitoring and compliance audit”) to address the

Monitoring Checklist (Exhibit A-1 to the Funding and Program Agreement between OTTED

(now known as the Department of Economic Opportunity) and SFFC). The contractual

monitoring and compliance audit is completed by an independent auditor contracted by the SFFC

who verifies many of the items covered in this Annual Report, including, but not limited to:

the number of jobs created

the salaries and their consistency with the approved Business Plan

designation of a person to assist in collaborative efforts with OTTED and compliance

with OTTED’s requests for cooperation

purchase of equipment consistent with the approved budget

achievement of collaborative efforts with Florida universities

The independent auditor contracted by the SFFC also prepares the annual not-for-profit organization tax

return (Form 990) for SFFC, which is reviewed by the Audit Committee prior to submission to the

Internal Revenue Service.

Membership: Mr. Ed Sabin was appointed as the Chairman of the Audit Committee in January 2013.

Dr. Pamella Dana and Mr. Gerry Goldsmith serve on the Audit Committee. Other participants in the

Audit Committee meetings include SFFC’s auditor, Mr. Scott Porter from Caler, Donten, Levine, Porter


Annual Report 2015

& Veil, P.A., TSRI’s Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Donna Weston and TSRI’s Controller Mr. Jared

Machado.

Meetings and activities: During Fiscal 2015, the Audit Committee met on October 24 and November

24, 2014. At the October meeting, the audit committee reviewed and accepted the audit engagement

letter and then Ms. Donna Weston reviewed the March 31, 2014 and June 30, 2014 unaudited financial

statements. SFFC staff noted that there were to be some changes to the compliance audit based on the

funding being completely distributed, so they would be working on those. At the end of this meeting,

Ms. Weston commented that Scripps had received some positive national press news as TSRI was the

primary people who created the ZMapp drug which was being used to treat Ebola. In November, the

audit committee met to review the SFFC audit for inclusion in the annual report. They also discussed

possible changes in the compliance report. It was agreed that legal counsel needed to weigh in on some

of the matters to be included in the compliance report so the committee agreed to work on the

compliance report engagement letter once Ms. Deutsch had returned and reviewed it.

Reports Committee

Purpose: The predominant purpose of the Reports Committee is to review, edit and approve the SFFC

Annual Report before it is reviewed and approved by the SFFC Board of Directors.

Membership: Mr. David Gury served as the head of this committee in 2012 and in January 2013, Dr.

Luceri and Mr. Ged agreed to serve on the Reports Committee.

Meetings and Activities: The Reports Committee reviewed drafts of the annual report.

Subsection (14) (b) An accounting of the amount of funds disbursed during the preceding fiscal

year to the grantee.

The final disbursement was made in December 2013 and consequently, the SBA and SFFC agreed to

terminate their contract in early 2014. The total amount disbursed to Scripps Florida from 2003 to 2013

was $351,977,664.39, which included interest in the amount of $41,977,664.39.

Subsection (14) (c) An accounting of the expenditures by the grantee during the fiscal year of

funds disbursed under this section.

Category Amount

Scientific Salaries & Benefits $ 8,246,521

Supplies $ 220,154

Scientific Equipment $ 2,465,758

External Affairs & Other Program Support $ 3,717,905

Project Commencement, Facilities, Administration & Capital Expenditures $ 7,434,639

Total $ 22,084,977

This schedule reflects cash expenditures charged to the grant from the State of Florida from October 1,

2014 through September 30, 2015. The expense categories set forth above reflect those used by Scripps

to report grant activity to grantors. This schedule excludes unpaid commitments, unspent grant funds


Annual Report 2015

received of approximately $64 million (including interest income) and expenditures funded by other

sources.

Subsection (14)(d) Information on the number and salary level of jobs created by the grantee,

including the number and salary level of jobs created for residents of this

state.

On September 30, 2015, Scripps Florida employed 528 full-time people.

Position

Employee Count

as of September 30, 2015

Year 10 Target

(December 31, 2013)

Faculty 49 > 38

Scientific Staff

322 > 298

Administration

158 > 89

Current Total 529 Job Creations Target 545

In the above chart, faculty includes tenure track professors, associate professors and assistant

professors. Scientific staff includes non-tenure track scientists (research faculty and staff scientists),

research associates/ post-docs, lab technicians, and Scripps paid graduate students. Administration

includes all other support personnel.

Scripps Florida hired 81 employees between October 1, 2014 and September 30, 2015. Of the 81

employees, 27 were Florida residents of which 14 were Palm Beach County residents at the time of hire.

Category

(as set forth in the

Revised Business Plan)

Hired

in

Fiscal

2015

Required

Salary

Range

(using CPI

6.30.15)

Actual

Salary in

Fiscal 2015

Florida

Residents

Palm

Beach

Co.

Residents

Professors /

Chairs 0 $163,357 -

$390,637 n/a

n/a n/a

Associate

Professors 0 $99,434 -

$209,523 n/a

n/a n/a

Assistant

Professors 0 $85,230 -

$152,704 n/a

n/a n/a

Research Faculty 0 $85,230 -

$313,694 n/a

n/a n/a

Staff Scientists 0 $63,923 -

$133,763 n/a

n/a n/a

Research

Associates 37 $40,248 -

$65,106 $37,000 -

$53,019 3 2

Administration* 44 $57,531 $41,492** 24 12

TOTAL 81 27 14


Annual Report 2015

* Administration is a combination of Scientific Support (non-Ph.D.) and Administrative Support

positions, including newly hired graduate students. The average expected salary for this employee

category is given, rather than the range that would result in combining all Administrative position

salaries. An expected average salary, rather than a range, is a better representation because the various

job classifications and range of salaries are broad.

** This average salary represents the amount for new hires only, not for all Administration employees,

and includes the value of graduate student tuition remission. When all Administration employees are

counted, the average is approximately $54,047 at September 30, 2015.

The required salary range is adjusted annually from that stated in the revised Business Plan based on

increases in the CPI for the annual period. The base salary of all persons employed in a particular

category falls within the range for that category, as adjusted by the cumulative change to the CPI. The

CPI adjustment to salary ranges for June 2014 was 2.1%. Certain employees of Scripps Florida may

receive additional compensation for assuming administrative responsibilities beyond their scientific

duties. For example, a faculty member who also serves as an Associate Dean of the Graduate School

will receive additional compensation for that service. The ranges set forth above do not incorporate

such additional compensation.

Subsection (14) (e) Information on the amount and nature of economic activity generated

through the activities of the grantee.

The Business Development Board of Palm Beach County is undergoing a comprehensive analysis of the

biotech industry in Palm Beach County, as part of this analysis, SFFC is working to conduct an

economic analysis of Scripps Florida and its cumulative economic effects on the County and State. This

report will cover the economic activity of the project since its inception to offer the bigger picture of its

economic impact. This report will be sent to the Governor, Speaker of the House, President of the

Senate, government agencies such as DEO and OMB, and any other entity which requests it when

completed in 2016.

Subsection (14) (f) An assessment of factors affecting the progress toward achieving the

projected biotech industry cluster associated with the grantee’s operations,

as projected by economists on behalf of the Executive Office of the Governor.

This subsection was completed with information provided by a variety of local, regional and state life

science, economic development and life science support organizations. Following the final

organization’s synopsis, there is a listing of all the community outreach activities committed to by

Scripps Florida scientists and administrators.

BioFlorida 525 Okeechobee Blvd, Ste. 1500 (561) 653-3839

West Palm Beach, FL 33401 www.bioflorida.com

BioFlorida is the voice of Florida's life sciences industry, representing nearly 5,500 establishments

and research organizations in the biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices/diagnostics and

bioagriculture sectors that collectively employ nearly 80,000 Floridians (Source: Battelle/BIO State

Bioscience Jobs, Investments and Innovation 2014). BioFlorida’s member driven initiatives provide a

http://www.bioflorida.com/


Annual Report 2015

strong business climate for the advancement of innovative products that improve lives and promote

economic benefits to the state.

This past October, BioFlorida hosted its annual conference in Ft. Lauderdale. Key influencers from

emerging and established companies, universities, research institutions, economic development

agencies, investment community and the state legislature participated in the expanded programming

highlighting Florida's leading-edge science, business innovations and public policy debates. The

Conference followed three tracks: BioBusiness, BioScience and BioTrends. During the Conference,

BioFlorida emphasized the organization's successful efforts to advocate and facilitate the growth of the

industry. This included highlighting regional companies and research institutions that have

experienced success this past year. BioFlorida recognized significant achievements awarding the

BioFlorida Leadership Award, the Weaver H. Gaines Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Legislator of the

Year Awards and the David J. Gury Company of the Year Award. Nova Southeastern University was

also honored for their 50th anniversary of academic excellence.

Business Development Board of Palm Beach County

310 Evernia Street (561)835-1008

West Palm Beach, FL 33401 www.bdb.org

The Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, Inc. (“BDB”) is a public-private partnership

established in 1982 to be the official economic development organization for Palm Beach County. It is a

non-profit organization that is funded in part by the Palm Beach County Board of County

Commissioners and in part by private corporate members. BDB is the official partner of Enterprise

Florida, Inc. in Palm Beach County.

The BDB explains that five municipalities and Palm Beach County drafted an Interlocal Agreement to

establish a Bioscience Research Protection Overlay to protect portions of land for biotechnology and

biosciences land uses that are in proximity to Scripps and Max Planck. Furthermore, several

municipalities have adopted expedited permitting initiatives for life sciences companies. Scripps has

supported, collaborated and even partnered with several of the successful companies in Palm Beach

County. Some examples of those successful companies include: Anspach Synthes, Atlas Spine,

BIOMET 3i, BioTools, Biotest Pharmaceuticals, CHS Pharma, Dyadic International, Cytonics, Envoy

Therapeutics, Opko Health and Sancilio and Company. There is a 46,000 square-foot innovation center

less than a quarter mile from Scripps Florida which holds state-of-the-art wet labs are available for lease,

with shared office and administrative services.

Palm Beach County is home to one of only four biotech investment banks nationwide: Dawson James in

Boca Raton. There are numerous angel investor networks in Palm Beach County, as well as venture

capital firms. Two in particular include New World Angels and the Gold Coast Venture Forum. New

World Angels, a group of private investors dedicated to providing equity capital to early-stage

entrepreneurial companies in the state of Florida, has chapters in South Florida and the Tampa Bay area

and is typically a lead or co-investor in transactions totaling between $0.5 million and $2.5

million. Members of NWA have extensive experience in founding, building, and managing companies

in a wide variety of industries. In addition to providing funding, NWA members make their expertise

and resource networks available to portfolio companies. The Gold Coast Venture Forum is designed to

facilitate the flow of information between entrepreneurs and investors. Created by the Gold Coast

http://www.bdb.org/


Annual Report 2015

Venture Capital Association, the Forum provides start-up, early stage, and expansion or second stage

companies, with a venue to reach funding sources, i.e; angel investors, venture capital companies,

investment bankers, fund managers, etc. The Forum also provides these companies with the opportunity

to meet professionals such as attorneys, CPAs, financial consultants, management consultants, business

plan consultants, marketing specialists, service providers, and other entrepreneurs.

The BDB supports this industry with zest and as noted in Subsection (14)(e) is in the process of

undergoing a comprehensive analysis of the life science industry in Palm Beach County.

Enterprise Florida, Inc.

800 N. Magnolia Ave., Suite 1100 (407)956-5600

Orlando, FL 32803 www.eflorida.com

Enterprise Florida, Inc. (“EFI”) is a public-private partnership serving as Florida's primary organization

devoted to statewide economic development. The organization’s mission is to facilitate job growth for

Florida's businesses and citizens leading to a vibrant statewide economy. EFI accomplishes this mission

by focusing on a wide range of industry sectors, including clean energy, life sciences, information

technology, aviation/aerospace, homeland security/defense, financial/professional services,

manufacturing and beyond. In collaboration with a statewide network of regional and local economic

development organizations, EFI helps to improve Florida's business climate, ensuring the state's global

competitiveness.

As a target industry within Florida, the life sciences are heavily supported by EFI. EFI reports that

Florida is home to more than 260 biotech companies and R&D institutes specializing in therapeutics,

diagnostics, industrial/ag biotech and other areas. Florida boasts the #3 largest medical device

manufacturing industry in the U.S. and nearly 19,000 Floridians work in this industry. Florida’s 220+

pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing companies specialize in the development and manufacture

of novel treatments, generics, nutraceuticals and OTC drugs. These companies employ nearly 4,500

researchers, engineers, technicians and workers. EFI’s web site connects to the University of Florida’s Sid Martin Biotech Database’s Fall 2015 State of

the Industry Report. In this, it points to recently released reports from Ernst & Young and Nature

Biotechnology which indicated that the expansion of the US biotechnology sector finally turned the

corner in 2014 with a 7.2% growth rate in the number of companies during the previous 12 months. This

is the strongest nationwide showing in 5 years with an overall growth rate of 43.6% since 2008. Notably,

Florida’s biotechnology industry has grown by more than 92% over the same time period with an 8.7%

increase in the number of companies in 2014.

Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research

3651 FAU Blvd., Suite 400, Boca Raton, FL 33431 (561)368-8889

747 SW 2nd

Ave, Suite 258, Gainesville, FL 32601 www.florida-institute.com

The Institute for Commercialization of Public Research (“Institute”), formed in 2007, works

collaboratively with technology licensing officers across the state to create new companies and jobs in

industries that are driving the global economy. The Institute’s proven, two-pronged approach includes

both company building and company funding programs, ensuring that the most promising start-ups

http://www.florida-institute.com/

http://www.florida-institute.com/programs/company-building

http://www.florida-institute.com/programs/company-funding


Annual Report 2015

receive the support and capital they need in order to grow. With funding from the State of Florida

through the Department of Economic Opportunity, and through the generosity of mentors, advisors and

donors, the Institute connects the dots between research, discovery and commercialization to build

companies that are solving some of today’s toughest challenges.

The Institute's mission is economic development through the commercialization of new discoveries

generated from publicly funded research. Success is measured by the number of companies and jobs that

are created and the amount of capital invested into new ventures. Through the Institute, Florida will

build a critical mass of technology-based companies upon publicly supported research, manifesting a

globally-recognized science and technology economy.

Throughout the year, the Institute finalized first-round funding agreements with a variety of companies,

held several “lunch and learn” sessions, assisted companies in raising seed money and participated in

state- and nation-wide conferences.

Palm Beach State College

Eissey Location - 3160 PGA Boulevard (561)207-5059

Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410 www.palmbeachstate.edu

Palm Beach State College (“PBSC”) is Florida's first public community college. Established in 1933,

PBSC has been recognized as a premier two-year institution, lauded for achievement at the local, state

and national level. PBSC has over 48,000 students enrolled in over 100 programs of study. Currently,

PBSC offers an Associate in Science degree, Associate in Arts degree and a College Credit Certificate in

Biotechnology. PBSC has four campuses in Palm Beach County: Belle Glade, Boca Raton, Lake Worth

and Palm Beach Gardens. Plans for a fifth PBSC campus to be built in Loxahatchee Groves were

recently announced.

PBSC’s BioScience and Technology Complex opened for classes Spring 2008: this 90,000-square foot,

$15 million science and technology complex features two wings connected by a multi-media lecture hall

and courtyard. The building encompasses state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories for the core

science classes (biology, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, physics and chemistry). The second

wing houses biotechnology, environmental science, and environmental horticulture classrooms and labs.

The new innovative center will lead in the training of future science-related professionals. These

components are vital for the success of students entering into the science and biotechnology workforce

in South Florida.

Companies interested in renting laboratory space for R&D or academic biotechnology startup activities

may rent bench and office space in this facility, demonstrating how PBSC helps support the industry not

only through education, but also through providing incubator space at a nominal fee.

Scripps Florida scientists serve as Adjunct Professors in the Biotechnology Program and provide

valuable input regarding curriculum development and internships. Palm Beach State offers AA and AS

degree programs, a Biotechnology College Credit Certificate (CCC) and a non-credit Advanced

Laboratory Techniques in Biotechnology program is also available through Palm Beach State's

Corporate and Continuing Education Department. This outstanding division offers students the ability to

expand their laboratory skills and techniques, at an advanced level, while using our extensive biotech


Annual Report 2015

equipment, including a DNA sequencer and bioreactors, housed in our state of the art labs. Palm Beach

State's biotech business partnership, consisting of over 25 different biotech firms, allows our students

unique internship opportunities which develop the skills and gain the experience required for a

successful career in the biotechnology field.

The Biotechnology program has seen significant gains in student employment following graduation. In

2015, students and recent and graduates received full-time employment offers from numerous county

biotechnology companies including Sancilio & Company (Riviera Beach), Akron Biotech (Boca Raton),

Biotest Pharmaceuticals (Boca Raton), Dyadic International (Jupiter), as well as Scripps Florida

(Jupiter).

Research Park at Florida Atlantic University

3651 FAU Boulevard, Suite 400 (561)416-6092

Boca Raton, FL 33431 www.research-park.org

The Research Park at Florida Atlantic University is the only state university affiliated research park in

South Florida, and is home to 22 high tech, high wage companies and five support organizations. In

addition, the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University operates the premier Technology Business

Incubator (TBI) in the region, which is managed by a very successful regional economic development

engine, Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida (EDC). Also housed in the TBI are two

organizations: New World Angels, a structured angel investor group and the Institute for the

Commercialization of Public Research, a clearinghouse for Florida’s technology transfer offices and

other publicly funded research institutes.

In 2000, responding to a lack of available resources for local entrepreneurs and early stage companies,

the Research Park started the region’s first business incubator, and the Technology Business Incubator

(TBI) was born. The TBI works closely with start-ups and middle-stage companies, providing cost-

effective space solutions, valuable mentoring and resources, and a deep network of professionals

dedicated to growing the entrepreneurial base in the region.

2014 marked a pivotal turning point in the Research Park ecosystem with the establishment of Florida

Atlantic University’s Tech Runway initiative. Conveniently located within the Research Park and close

to the TBI, Tech Runway is the heretofore missing link in South Florida’s entrepreneurial supply chain.

By establishing a place and program dedicated to helping students, faculty, and alumni move past the

ideation stage of business development and provide budding entrepreneurs a boot-camp approach to the

start-up process, Tech Runway is filling the gap between entities that are too early-stage for the

incubator, and scaling them to middle-stage growth. After this period of pre-incubation, these companies

are ready to grow into the Technology Business Incubator and eventually the broader Research Park.

This entrepreneurial ecosystem allows the Research Park to cultivate local talent, attract global

entrepreneurs, and keep the region at the forefront of economic growth and technological innovation.

For 2014, the FAU Research park boasted total employment of 1,798 with an average salary of $87,077

18 research park companies, 37 new patents received, $49.1m in New Capital Raised and a total

economic impact of $755.3m.

http://www.research-park.org/


Annual Report 2015

CareerSource Palm Beach County

3400 Belvedere Road (561)340-1060

West Palm Beach, FL 33401 http://www.careersourcepbc.com

CareerSource Palm Beach County’s dedicated team of career counselors, business coaches and training

providers – and career centers in West Palm Beach and Belle Glade – help area businesses stay

competitive through training grants and talent acquisition, and job seekers find new jobs through career

assessments, training and employment assistance. CareerSource Palm Beach County is chartered by the

state of Florida to develop and retain a high quality workforce system in Palm Beach County. Its career

centers are instrumental in placing thousands of entry-level through executive suite job seekers.

CareerSource Palm Beach County works with organizations such as BioFlorida and the Life Science

Technology Hub; educational entities such as Florida Atlantic University, Scripps Florida, Palm Beach

State College and the Banner Center for Life Sciences; and a multitude of companies that have

collaborated to advance the life sciences in Palm Beach County. The Business Development Board is a

close partner and spearheads the Life Sciences Strategic Steering Group with the goal of furthering the

economic and talent development of the life sciences.

The following are some of the activities in which Scripps Florida scientists interact with the community:

Date Participant(s) Event / Location 1-Oct-14 Kodadek Focus Group Meeting with Margaret Wilesmith

2-Oct-14 Kodadek Moments of Change Conference at The Breakers

6-Oct-14 Kodadek Kravis Center Forum Club

6-Oct-14 Kodadek Homeless Coalititon Event

8-Oct-14 Niedernhofer Lunch & Scripps Tour with Philanthropy guest Diane Trout

16-Oct-14 Smith, Miller,

Robbins,

Niedernhofer

Philanthrophy Event: BMO/Harris Bank - Aging Presentations

16-Oct-14 Niedernhofer BMO Cocktail Reception and tour of Scripps

17-Oct-14 Kodadek LPBC Bowl-a-thon

20-Oct-14 Kodadek Palm Beach Civic Association meeting

21-Oct-14 Paul Robbins District 18 Congressional Debate

24-Oct-14 Kodadek Leadership Palm Beach County

30-Oct-14 Kodadek Keynote speaker at Ballenisles LGA Welcome Back Lunch

3-Nov-14 Ron Davis Meeting and Tour with Community Foundation (D. Houston), Scripps Florida

10-Nov-14 Niedernhofer Scripps tours for philanthropy

11-Nov-14 Thomas Kodadek Frenchman's Creek Cancer/ALS Event

11-Nov-14 Matt Disney Night at Frenchmen's Creek

13-Nov-14 Thomas Kodadek Address North County Development Board Meeting

13-Nov-14 Ron Davis Community Foundation presentation at Palm Beach Yacht Club, West Palm Beach

1-Dec-14 Martemyanov,

Puthanveettil

O'Keefe Symposia

3-Dec-14 Ron Davis Alzheimer’s presentation at Palm Beach Yacht Club, West Palm Beach, FL

5-Dec-14 Thomas Kodadek Leadership Palm Beach County

9-Dec-14 Paul Robbins Philanthropy Lunch & Learn Presentation

10-Dec-14 Thomas Kodadek Frenchman's Creek Lab tour and lunch

11-Dec-14 Niedernhofer "Smith College Club", EastPointe Country Club, Jupiter, FL Guest speaker

17-Dec-14 Christoph Rader Klorfine Foundation, Scripps Florida Campus


Annual Report 2015

29-Dec-14 Thomas Kodadek Venture Meeting

5-Jan-15 Thomas Kodadek BCG interview on cancer immunotherapy and innovation waves in oncology

7-Jan-15 Thomas Kodadek PGA National Forum

12-Jan-15 Thomas Kodadek Economic Forum of PBC at the Kravis

13-Jan-15 Ron Davis Alzheimer presentation at Mandel Jewish Community Center, Palm Beach Gardens

14-Jan-15 Ron Davis Ryan Licht Sang Symposium: Onset Bipolar Medical Briefing Luncheon, Palm Beach

14-Jan-15 Niedernhofer Hunters Run TSRI Tour

16-Jan-15 Thomas Kodadek Leadership Palm Beach County meeting

20-Jan-15 Roy Smtih Philanthrophy: Women of Vision PNC Event

22-Jan-15 Thomas Kodadek LPBC Reception at Scripps

22-Jan-15 Matt Disney Leadership Palm Beach County

23-Jan-15 Thomas Kodadek Hosted Frenchman's Creek Women's Cancer Association dinner

28-Jan-15 Niedernhofer Women's Foundation of Palm Beach County Meeting

1-Feb-15 Martemyanov Neuroscience Symposia

3-Feb-15 Hyeryun Choe Infectious Diseases in Children, NJ

3-Feb-15 Ron Davis Meeting and Tour with Community Foundation (D. Hanley), Scripps Florida

10-Feb-15 Thomas Kodadek Meeting at Lewis Center-Food for Homeless

12-Feb-15 Thomas Kodadek PGA Women's Cancer Awareness Days Luncheon

15-Feb-15 Martemyanov,

Puthanveettil

O'Keefe Symposia

19-Feb-15 Thomas Kodadek Greenwich CT Public radio station interview regarding BioMedical Research

21-Feb-15 Thomas Kodadek Black Ties & French Fries in Wonderland

22-Feb-15 Thomas Kodadek Hosted Families First dinner

26-Feb-15 Thomas Kodadek Presentation to the Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce

26-Feb-15 Davis, Page, Grill O'Keeffe Neuroscience Symposium

26-Feb-15 Niedernhofer Scripps tour for American Association of University Women of Palm Beach County

27-Feb-15 Thomas Kodadek Frenchman's Creek Focus Group

9-Mar-15 Thomas Kodadek Palm Beach State College Congressional Awards

10-Mar-15 Courtney Miller The Society of the Four Arts, Guest Speaker

11-Mar-15 Ron Davis Mass General Alzheimers Presentation - Lake Pavillion, West Palm Beach, FL

12-Mar-15 Patrick Griffin Presentation/discussion on diabetes presented to Mandel JCC

15-Mar-15 Martemyanov,

Puthanveettil

Carol Mostad Group

15-Mar-15 Kirill

Martemyanov

Northern Trust Event

15-Mar-15 Gavin Rumbaugh Society for the 4 Arts Presentation

16-Mar-15 Damon Page Autism Speaks Town Hall Meeting, Palm Beach Country Club, Palm Beach, FL

21-Mar-15 Mark Sundrud Speaker - Crohn's & Colitis Foundation education program, Jupiter Medical Center

22-Mar-15 Davis, Smith Scripps Science will make 80 the new 50 at Palm Beach Country Club, Palm Beach

25-Mar-15 Davis, Page, Grill O'Keeffe Neuroscience / Northern Trust March Session Neurological Issues

presentation, Scripps Florida

31-Mar-15 Thomas Kodadek Meeting w/ Margaux's Miracle Foundation about Childhood Ewing's Sarcoma Research

31-Mar-15 Damon Page Autism Event at Palm Beach Yacht Club, West Palm Beach, FL

1-Apr-15 Ron Davis,

Damon Page

O'Keeffe Neuroscience Symposium Dinner "Brain Health: Understanding Brain

Disorders", Scripps Florida

1-Apr-15 Niedernhofer TSRI Aloha event

10-Apr-15 Seth Tomchik Palm Beach Mental Health Association Lunch and Learn

14-Apr-15 Ron Davis Sea Colony Tour, Scripps Florida

14-Apr-15 Davis, Smith Quantum Foundation, Scripps Florida

15-Apr-15 Thomas Kodadek Presentation to the Jewish Community Center

16-Apr-15 Thomas Kodadek Families First

18-Apr-15 Roy Smith Prader Willi Florida Chapter, Invited Speaker


Annual Report 2015

23-Apr-15 Paul Robbins Meeting with June Jones at Scripps

24-Apr-15 Thomas Kodadek LPBC Excellence Award

24-Apr-15 Gill PNC Food for Thought Lunch Series

28-Apr-15 Thomas Kodadek PGA National gift presentation to Scripps Cancer Biology department

28-Apr-15 Patrick Griffin,

Chakraborty

Diabetes presentation and receptioin @ Scripps Florida

28-Apr-15 Ja, Niedernhofer Invited Speaker, Palm Beach Yacht Club

28-Apr-15 Paul Robbins Presentation at Palm Beach Yacht Club

5-May-15 Niedernhofer Presenter at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy graduation

6-May-15 Thomas Kodadek Lewis Center

7-May-15 Thomas Kodadek Presentation to The Nexus Society

11-May-15 Thomas Kodadek BDB Life Sciences & Healthcare Task Force

11-May-15 Niedernhofer Radio Show interview by Scott Greenberg, OMG my mom's getting older and so am I!

11-May-15 Niedernhofer FAU Medical School Celebration at the home of Sydell Miller, Palm Beach

16-May-15 Thomas Kodadek Central Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce

18-May-15 Niedernhofer Vice Mayor Mary Lou Berger tour of Scripps

18-May-15 Paul Robbins Vice Mayor Berger visit

28-May-15 Niedernhofer Attended BioFlorida "Raising Capital for Biotech Ventures in Florida", Scripps-Florida

3-Jun-15 Davis, Page,

Berry, Pryor

Community Foundation at Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, FL

8-Jun-15 Niedernhofer Videographer/Interview for TSRI

9-Jun-15 Thomas Kodadek Faculty representative for the Community Relations Group Meeting at Scripps

10-Jun-15 Thomas Kodadek Address Economic Forum at the Kravis Center

15-Jun-15 Martemyanov,

Puthanveettil

Foundations Symposia

17-Jun-15 Thomas Kodadek North Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce

17-Jun-15 Niedernhofer Business Before Hours - State of the Chamber: Game Changer Edition

23-Jun-15 Niedernhofer TSRI Tours for Philanthropy

Jul-15 Niedernhofer NCNC Tour of Scripps

Jul-15 Niedernhofer North Palm Beach Chamber hYPE Steering Council

2-Jul-15 Ron Davis Iris and Junming Le Foundation Tour, Scripps Florida

8-Jul-15 Scampavia, Spicer HTS laboratory presentation: Dr. Fred Sanfilippo, Marcus Foundation

9-Jul-15 Seth Tomchik O'Keeffe Seminar Demonstration at Scripps, "Watching Memories Form in the Brain"

9-Jul-15 Davis, Page, Grill O’Keeffe Neuroscience Symposium - Foundations, Scripps Florida

15-Jul-15 Donald Phinney North Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce Meeting

15-Jul-15 Thomas Kodadek North Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce Breakfast

17-Jul-15 Brock Grill Podcast participation: People behind the science. McNeely host.

28-Jul-15 Roy Smith Dept Chairs Roundtable Discussion with Paul Bradshaw and Jerry McDaniel

28-Jul-15 Robbins,

Niedernhofer

NCNC Tour of Metabolism & Aging

Aug-15 Niedernhofer CBS News program

5-Aug-15 Courtney Miller Press interview with Michael Miller, Washington Post

7-Aug-15 Courtney Miller Press interview with Mike Kasper, KCBS San Francisco

10-Aug-15 Courtney Miller Press interview with Caroline Gregoire, Huffington Post

11-Aug-15 Courtney Miller Press interview with Ellie Robins, The Fix

13-Aug-15 Brian Paegel Palm Beach County Science Symposium

27-Aug-15 Thomas Kodadek CBS News Interview

1/28-31/15 Scripps Faculty CELLebrate Science Reception, Gardens Mall, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

10/20-

27/14

Davis, Page, Grill,

Chen

O'Keeffe Neuroscience Symposium

Monthly Niedernhofer Community Relations Group Scripps FL, Meetings


Annual Report 2015

Monthly Niedernhofer Scripps Florida representative to the Northern Palm Beach County Chamber, Trustee

Monthly Niedernhofer Faculty Philanthropy Committee

Monthly Niedernhofer Organizer of WFPBC GLI-STEM, monthly organizational meetings

Quarterly Niedernhofer Meeting with Ms. June Jones, Scripps benefactor

Subsection (14) (g) A compliance and financial audit of the accounts and records of the

corporation at the end of the preceding fiscal year conducted by an independent certified public

accountant in accordance with the rules of the Auditor General.

Please see the “SFFC Audit 2015” file at the end of this report.

Subsection (14) (h) A description of the status of performance expectations under subsection (9)

and the disbursement conditions under subsection (10).

Subsection (9) PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS

Subsection (9) (a) The number and dollar value of research grants obtained from the Federal

Government or sources other than this state.

Between October 1, 2014 and September 30, 2015, Scripps Florida scientists were awarded 64 research

grants from non-Florida sources. Those 64 grants were for a total of $60,066,416.

Subsection (9) (b) The percentage of total research dollars received by TSRI from sources other

than this state which is used to conduct research activities by the grantee in

this state.

For fiscal 2015, the percent of research funding from sources other than SFFC was 85%.

Subsection (9) (c) The number or value of patents obtained by the grantee.

In fiscal 2015, 37 foreign and domestic patent applications were filed. Since inception, 85 “families” of

patent applications have been filed covering Scripps Florida technology, with each family containing 2-6

patent applications. The patents are still under review and no value has been assigned to them.

Subsection (9) (d) The number or value of licensing agreements executed by the grantee.

Two license agreements were executed during fiscal 2015 with respect to Scripps Florida technologies.

Subsection (9) (e) The extent to which research conducted by the grantee results in commercial

applications.

Because of the early stage of the technology being developed at Scripps Florida, no commercial

applications have emerged to date. Several research reagents developed at Scripps Florida are now

commercially available through license agreements.


Annual Report 2015

Subsection (9)(f) The number of collaborative agreements reached and maintained with

colleges and universities in this state and with research institutions in this

state, including agreements that foster participation in research

opportunities by public and private colleges and universities and research

institutions in this state with significant minority populations, including

historically black colleges and universities.

The Scripps Research Institute has developed a template entitled the Joint Cooperation Agreement

(JCA) to encourage and support research collaborations with Florida institutions. Provisions are

included to make it easier to collaborate on filing patents for jointly developed technologies and to share

revenues from commercialized innovations. By executing these agreements in advance, TSRI expects to

streamline the scientific collaboration process between Florida organizations and Scripps Florida as they

work together on biomedical research. Nine Florida institutions have currently executed this formal

agreement with TSRI: Florida International University, University of Florida, Florida Atlantic

University, University of Central Florida, University of Miami, Florida State University, Nova

Southeastern University, University of South Florida and Max Planck Florida Institute.

Scripps Florida Institutional

Collaborator Collaborator Institution Description of Collaboration William Roush Gregg Fields FAU Design and synthesis of inhibitors of metallomatrix

proteinases

William Roush Dimitriy Minond TPIMS Design and synthesis of inhibitors of metallomatrix

proteinases (MMP’s and ADAM’s)

William Roush Nagi Ayad U Miami Design, synthesis and biological characterization of

inhibitors of Wee1degradation

William Roush Daiqing Liao U of FL Design, synthesis and biological characterization of

inhibitors of class I HDACs and lysine acetyl transferase

P300

Karbstein Elizabeth

Stroupe

FSU Electron microscopic analysis of pre-ribosomal complexes

and ribosome assembly factors.

Karbstein John Cleveland Moffit Cancer

Center

The role of CK1delta in ribosome maturation and

tumorigenesis

Puthanveettil Tom Capo U Miami Aplysia Aging

Puthanveettil Lynne Fieber U Miami Aplysia Aging

Puthanveettil Leonid Moroz U of FL Aplysia Genome

Puthanveettil Robert Stackman FAU Long-term memory storage

Puthanveettil Long Yan MPFI Super Resolution Microscopy

Mark Sundrud Maria T Abreu U Miami Immunophenotypic analysis of inflammatory immune cells

in Crohn’s disease patient tissues

Niedernhofer William

Hauswirth

U of FL Aging-related loss of vision

Niedernhofer Janet Blanks FAU Aging-related loss of vision

Niedernhofer Michal

Masternak

UCF Role of the somatotroph axis in aging

Christoph

Rader

Eduardo

Sotomajor

H. Lee Moffitt

Cancer Center &

Research Institute

(Tampa, FL)

Antibody-drug conjugates targeting mantle cell lymphoma


Annual Report 2015

Christoph

Rader

Lori A.

Hazlehurst

H. Lee Moffitt

Cancer Center &

Research Institute

(Tampa, FL)

Chemically programmed antibodies targeting multiple

myeloma

Christoph

Rader

Ronan T. Swords University of

Miami Miller

School of Medicine

(Miami, FL)

Biomarker discovery in acute myeloid leukemia

Michael Farzan Dr. Ron

Desrosiers, Dr.

Deshraim

Ashana

U of Miami Therapeutic effector functions of AAV-expressed transgenes

Brock Grill Ken Dawson-

Scully

FAU Circuit and molecular mechanisms of electroconvulsive

seizure in the nematode C. elegans

Martemyanov Yuquin Li U of FL Use of genetic mouse models

Martemyanov Ryohei Yasuda Max Planck

Florida Institute

Imaging neuronal signaling

Martemyanov Samuel Young Max Planck

Florida Institute

Electrophysiological characterization of mouse models

Matthew

Disney

Leonard

Petrucelli

Mayo Clinic,

Jacksonville, FL

Inhibitors of c9RAN Translated Peptides and Toxicity in

c9FTD/ALS

Thomas

Bannister

Claes

Wahlestedt

U of Miami Nociceptin Receptor Agonists for Cocaine Abuse and PTSD

Thomas

Bannister

John L.

Cleveland

Moffitt Cancer

Center- Tampa

Targeting Slc16a/Mct Lactate Transporters in Cancer

Therapeutics

Thomas

Bannister

Shouguang Jin University of

Florida College of

Pharmacy

Countering beta-lactam resistance in Pseudomonas

aeruginosa

Susana Valente Jay McLaughlin University of

Florida

dCA inhibition of Tat neurological activity

William Ja Ken Dawson-

Scully

FAU Drosophila aging and nutrition

Shuji Kishi Matthew Gill,

William Ja, and

Anutosh

Chakraborty

TSRI; Kailiang

Jia, FAU; and

Jun-Yong Cho,

Rosalind

Franklin

University of

Medicine and

Science

FAU Cross-species genetics of Spinster genes in development and

senescence/aging

Min Guo John Cleveland Moffit Cancer

Center

Fluorophore-NanoLuc BRET Reporters Enable Sensitive In

Vivo Optical Imaging and Flow Cytometry for Monitoring

Tumorigenesis.

Min Guo Alan Marshall Florida State

University

Structural and Functional Studies of LysRS in Mast Cell

Activation


Annual Report 2015

Donald Phinney Dr. Elliott University of

Miami, Miami,

Florida

Scripps provides mesenchymal stem cells derived from the

bone marrow of inbred, transgenic or knockout mice isolated

via immune-depletion and expanded in a closed, low oxygen

(5%) system

Patrick Griffin Dr. Gary Laco The Roskamp

Institute, Sarasota,

Florida

HDX collaboration on HIV drug target

Donald Phinney Dr. Singla University of

Central Florida,

Orlando, FL

Scripps provides recombinant retroviral expression vectors

and UCF transfects or infects the constructs and virus

containing the constructs into human ES and iPS cells

maintained in his lab

Scampavia Shouguang Jin UF Countering beta-lactam resistance in Pseudomonas

aeruginosa

Scampavia Dimitriy Minond TPIMS HTS for selective inhibitors of Meprin alpha and beta

Paul Robbins Ghivizanni U of F Arthritis gene therapy

Paul Robbins Ricordi, Camillo U of Miami Diabetes therapies, exosomes

Paul Robbins Michal

Masternak

University of

Central Florida

Mesenchymal stem cells from fat vs. bone marrow to treat

aging

Scott Hansen Noam Alperin,

Kenneth Weiss

University of

Miami, Miami, FL

The effects of intracranial pressure on headache

Scott Hansen Xianlin Han Sanford Burnham

Institute Orlando,

Orlando, FL

Role of signaling lipids in anesthesia

Scripps Florida scientists hosted, participated and presented in a variety of forums, conferences and

meetings in the local area and throughout the State of Florida from October 1, 2014 through September

30, 2015.

Date Participant Event 10/1/2014 Ja Presented at "PNC Food for Thought Lunch Series", Scripps-Florida, Jupiter, FL

10/3/2014 Brock Grill Speaker: University of South Florida, Tampa Bay, FL

10/7/2014 C. Miller Meeting with FAU Neuroscience Guest Speaker, David Dietz

10/8/2014 H. Choe Dr. Sharon Isern, Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers, FL

10/10/2014 H. Choe Dr. Sirish Namilae, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL

10/22/2014 C. Rader Invited Speaker, Department of Infectious Diseases, TSRI-Florida

10/24/2014 Roy Smith Sancilio & Co Scientific Advisory Board Meeting

11/1/2014 Ja Attended "Florida Biomedical Career Symposium", Scripps-Florida, Jupiter, FL

11/18/2014 C. Miller Karen Dodge meeting

12/5/2014 H. Choe Reviewer, CFAR Pilot Grants, HIV-1 Vaccines and Immunology

12/12/2014 M. Sundrud Speaker - VGTI Florida, Port St. Lucie, FL

12/13/2014 Roy Smith MPFI Neuroscience Discovery Day

12/17/2014 M. Gardner Presentation at the University of Miami

12/19/2014 Niedernhofer Presented at the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Dept. Seminar Series at University of

Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL

1/9/2015 Brock Grill Speaker: TINNS Seminar Series, FAU Jupiter, FL

1/23/2015 Niedernhofer Invited speaker Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida

1/30/2015 Ron Davis FAU Poster Event - Synapse 2015 - Jupiter, FL

2/5/2015 T. Kodadek Neil DeGrass Tyson seminar and lunch at the Kravis

2/6/2015 M. Sundrud Speaker - FAU, Department of Basic Sciences, Boca Raton, FL

2/27/2015 Matt Disney Frenchman's Creek Luncheon Invitation


Annual Report 2015

3/1/2015 Murphy Attended "MPFI Sunposium 2015: Neural Circuits and Sunshine", Palm Beach Gardens, FL

4/1/2015 Ja Attended "Flies on the Beach Conference", FAU Jupiter Campus, Jupiter, FL

4/9/2015 S. Tomchik Host Scripps - Florida External Seminar Series Speaker, Shawn Xu

4/13/2015 Brock Grill Speaker: University of Miami Dept of Biology Seminar Series, Miami FL

4/16/2015 S. Tomchik Talk LSSF Webinar

4/18/2015 See list of

participants

2015 Flies on the Beach, FAU Boca Raton Florida. Participants: Damon Page, Ron Davis,

Germain Busto, Ilaria Drago, Anna Phan, Isaac Cervantes-Sandoval, Jacob Berry, Ze Liu,

Yunchao Gai, Sophie Ziegler-Himmelreich

4/22/2015 M. Gardner University of Miami

5/21/2015 M. Farzan Eli Gilboa, Director of the Dodson Interdisciplinary Immunotherapy Institute, Miami, FL

6/1/2015 Damon Page Speaker: FAU CARD - Autism Breakfast, FAU Boca Raton, FL

6/15/2015 Martemyanov FASEB Meeting

6/23/2015 T. Kodadek Speaker at American Peptide Symposium, Orlando, FL

7/27/2014 Damon Page Speaker: Florida Brain Project Symposium, Tallahassee, FL

3/30/2015 See list of

participants

Max Planck Florida Institute Sunposium 2015 at PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

Participants: Ron Davis, Germain Busto, Tugba Guven-Ozkan, Ilaria Drago, Anna Phan,

Isaac Cervantes-Sandoval, Jacob Berry, Ze Liu, Yunchao Gai, Nathaniel Noyes, Sophie

Ziegler-Himmelreich, Andrew Giles, Scott Baker, Youjun Chen, Amy Clipperton-Allen,

Wen-Chin Huang, Julien Sejourne, Courtney Miller, Seth Tomchik

4-31-May-

15

Andrew Giles University of South Florida - College of Marine Science: Software Carpentry, St.

Petersburg, FL

10/9/2014 Doug Kojetin National High Magnetic Field Laboratory User Committee meeting, Tallahassee, FL

Jan-Feb-15 Niedernhofer Interviewer for the TSRI Graduate Program

Monthly Niedernhofer Supervisory role for TSRI Histology Core

ongoing Phinney,

Haga

Life Science Technology Hub Meetings

ongoing Brock Grill Faculty Search Committee, FAU Jupiter, FL

13-15-

Sept-14

Niedernhofer Attended/Presented "Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society 45th Annual

Meeting", Orlando, FL

8/28/2014 Paul Robbins Univesity of Miami Visit to meet with Dr. Camillo Ricordi

10/28/2014 Paul Robbins Meeting with Exiqon - exosomes advances, biomarker discovery and pipeline validation

12/19/2014 Paul Robbins University of Miami - seminar - Diabetes Research Institute

5/11/2015 Paul Robbins To The Point Interview - Radio Show

5/28/2015 Paul Robbins Participant - BioFlorida

07/2014-

present

Bill Ja Mentor Keith Murphy, Graduate Student, FAU

07/01/14 -

06/30/15

Laura Bohn Intern/Thesis Advisor to 1 FAU undergraduate

7/2/2015 Smith,

Grande,

Levine

Prader Willi Syndrome Foundation

7/9/2015 L.Scampavia,

Tim Spicer

Meeting with Shouguang J.; Langaee T. University of Florida

7/10/2015 S. Valente CFAR Miami, Florida State Pilot Awards Reviews

7/22/2015 Joseph Kissil Basic research Grand Rounds at Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL

8/10-12/15 P. Griffin ASMS Board of Directors Meeting, Clearwater, FL

8/18/2015 X. Pan Attend the 250th American Chemical Society National Mtg & Exposition

8/19/2015 Kamenecka Attend the Orexin-1 Antagonist for Smoking Cessation Project planning meeting

8/20/2015 S. Valente Jennifer Rainho Thesis Defense, Mario Stevenson Laboratory, University of Miami,

External Thesis Seminar


Annual Report 2015


Tim Spicer

Unnasch T.R. Department Chair of Global Health, USF

8/26/2015 Christoph

Rader

Meeting with collaborators at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of

Miami, Miami, FL, on the topic “Antibody drug and target discovery in acute myeloid

leukemia”


Tim Spicer

Schatzle J,. Director of Basic and Population Science Shared Resources at Moffitt Cancer

Center

9/5/2015 C. Bailey Present at University of Miami - Miami, FL

9/10/2015 Ron Davis Speaker at FSU, Biological Science Colloquium, Tallahassee, FL

September

16-17,

2015

Valente,

Mousseau,

Houssier,

Kessing

BTS (Bridging the Sciences) Ft Lauderdale

Subsection (9) (g) The number of collaborative partnerships established and maintained with

businesses in this state.

Scripps Florida continues to maintain collaborative relationships with these Florida based biotechnology

companies:

Dyadic

A collaborative effort between scientists at Scripps Florida and Dyadic was established to provide a

complete annotation of the genome of Dyadic's proprietary fungal organism, Chrysosporium

lucknowense ("C1"). The knowledge gained from this effort is expected to facilitate further development

of the C1 Host Technology as a robust platform for the discovery, development and production of

various materials for medical and industrial applications. Furthermore, this collaboration promotes the

development of a successful biotechnology cluster in South Florida as Dyadic International, Inc. is a

global biotechnology company based in Jupiter, Florida.

Florida Power and Light

Scripps is collaborating with Florida Power and Light, a Juno Beach, Florida-based power utility that is

the principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc., to develop novel and proprietary technology which may

yield cheaper and more effective ways at producing fuels and other commodities from natural gas

Opko Health

Opko Health, Inc., based in Miami, is a publicly traded healthcare company involved in the discovery,

development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, vaccines and diagnostic products.

Opko and Scripps are currently collaborating in three major areas: the area of novel diagnostic products

to detect Alzheimer’s and other diseases, the development of novel drug candidates to treat Parkinson’s

Disease, and the discovery of novel antibodies.

Vova Ida Therapeutics

Vova Ida Therapeutics is a Palm beach County-based company founded in 2013 to commercialize

research from Corinne Lasmeza’s lab at Scripps Florida. Lasmeza is a professor in the Department of

Infectious Diseases and her lab researches neurodegenerative diseases.


Annual Report 2015

Subsection (9) (h) The total amount of funding received by the grantee from sources other than

the State of Florida.

Since inception, Scripps Florida has been awarded approximately $473 million from non-State fund,

including state and federal agencies, such as the NIH, foundations, pharmaceutical companies and other

grantors.

During fiscal 2015, Scripps Florida received the following grants:

GRANT AWARDS ($472,554,164 since inception) 1 $60,066,416

OTHER REVENUE SOURCES 2 ($289,808)

CONTRIBUTIONS AT NET PRESENT VALUE 3 $3,669,283

TOTAL $63,445,891 1This amount includes federal funding of $43,516,138 for fiscal 2015.

2Other Revenue Sources:

Other $929,605

Investment Income on Florida funds ($1,219,413)

Total ($289,808) 3Contributions include gifts not dedicated to a specific type of research; grants typically have a

dedicated area of research or are awarded to a specific scientist.

Please note: Palm Beach County provided the funding for the land and buildings for Scripps Florida.

The County funds expended to date by fiscal year are as follows: 2004 - $1,713,494, 2005 -

$11,419,527, 2006 - $12,557,455, 2007 - $59,215,156, 2008 - $90,353,050, 2009 - $34,810,750, for a

total of $210,069,431. Palm Beach County has completed work on the permanent facilities so it is

unlikely that there will be a change in the total amount of funds expended by the County in future years.

Subsection (9) (i) The number or value of spin-off businesses created in this state as a result of

commercialization of the research of the grantee.

The three Florida companies that spun off from Scripps Florida and the additional Florida company

located in Jupiter to access Scripps Florida - Envoy Therapeutics - are described in Section (9)(g). In

February 2011, CuRNA, based on research by Claes Wahlestedt, a Professor in Molecular Therapeutics

Department of Scripps Florida, was one of the first spin-offs from Scripps Florida and was purchased by

Miami-based Opko Health for $10,000,000. In November 2012, Envoy Therapeutics was purchased by

Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals for $140,000,000.

Subsection (9) (j) The number or value of businesses recruited to this state by the grantee.

To assign a numerical value to business recruitment activities is virtually impossible. Scripps Florida is

extensively involved in local, state and national efforts to promote and develop the biotech industry in

the State of Florida. Please see the detailed list of outreach activities to businesses in Subsection (10)(l).


Annual Report 2015

Subsection (9)(k) The establishment and implementation of policies to promote supplier

diversity using the guidelines developed by the Office of Supplier Diversity

under s. 287.09451 and to comply with the ordinances, enacted by the County

and which are applicable to this biomedical research institution and campus

located in this state.

Scripps Florida has adopted the following Mission and Vision Statements for Supplier Diversity:

Mission: Scripps Florida’s Supplier Relations and Diversity Program will integrate small and diverse

businesses into the procurement process - creating awareness, ownership, and an understanding of the

principals of a competitive supply base. These partnerships will maximize cost savings and efficiencies

within Scripps Florida’s internal processes and supply chain.

Vision: Scripps Florida recognizes the importance of a diverse supply chain and strives to develop

relationships with small and diverse life science and service suppliers who can assist in achieving

Scripps Florida’s biomedical research goals. Also, Scripps Florida expects its strategic suppliers to

establish business opportunities for small and diverse suppliers.

Subsection (9) (l) The designation by the grantee of a representative to coordinate with the

Office of Supplier Diversity.

Mr. Adrian Orozco serves in this position as the Sourcing Manager/Supplier Diversity Coordinator. He

represents Scripps in working with small and minority business enterprises in the State of Florida, and is

actively involved in many state and local supplier diversity outreach shows. These shows help Scripps

Florida to identify diverse businesses that can provide goods and services to the institute at a competitive

price. Participation in these shows has resulted in partnerships with local companies that provide

furniture, pipette calibrations, refrigeration services, relocation services, dry ice services, landscaping

and irrigation services, building maintenance services, printing services, shredding services and more.

Subsection (9) (m) The establishment and implementation of a program to conduct workforce

recruitment activities at public and private colleges and universities and

community colleges in this state which request the participation of the

grantee.

Scripps Florida has extended workforce recruitment efforts to Florida’s higher education institutions

throughout the state.

Subsection (10) DISBURSEMENT CONDITIONS

Subsection (10)(a) Demonstrate creation of jobs and report on the average salaries paid.

See reply to Subsection (14) (d).

Event Location Date Attendee

Career Fair Statewide, Orlando FL 5/14/2015 Jennifer Brown


Annual Report 2015

Subsection (10)(b) Beginning 18 months after the grantee’s occupancy of its permanent facility,

the grantee shall annually obtain $100,000 of non-state funding for each full-

time equivalent tenured-track faculty member employed at the Florida

facility.

There were 49 faculty employed on September 30, 2015 and the award total was $60,066,416, therefore

in this fiscal year each Scripps Florida faculty obtained about $1,225,845 in non-Florida funding.

Subsection (10) (c) No later than 3 years after the grantee’s occupancy of its permanent facility,

the grantee shall apply to the relevant accrediting agency for accreditation of

its Florida graduate program.

The re-accreditation of the Scripps Ph.D. program was successfully completed in early 2011, which is

approximately two years after Scripps Florida’s occupancy of its permanent facility. The Kellogg

School of Science in Technology is a bi-coastal Ph.D. program, reflecting the “one institution/two

campus” makeup of The Scripps Research Institute. Owing to the larger size and earlier date of

establishment of the Ph.D. program on the La Jolla campus, the reaccreditation process was handled by

WASC (the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges

and Universities). The re-accreditation process included a specific site visit and assessment of the

Scripps Florida graduate program in October 2010, by Dr. Karen Holbrook, Senior Vice President for

Research, Innovation & Global Affairs, University of South Florida, and President, University of South

Florida Research Foundation. As a result of the overall review and re-accreditation process, the Kellogg

School of Science and Technology—including the graduate program at Scripps Florida—received re-

accreditation for a 10-year period, effective March 7, 2011.

Subsection (10) (d) The grantee shall purchase equipment for its Florida facility as scheduled in

its contract with the corporation.

The Scripps Florida business plan requires $10 million in equipment purchases within 18 months of

occupancy of the permanent facility and Scripps occupied the permanent facility on March 31, 2009, so

the effective date for the $10 million required equipment purchase was September 30, 2010. The

amount of equipment purchased as of September 30, 2010 was $10.7 million, thereby meeting the

required amount.

Additionally, Scripps Florida was required to purchase a total of $45m of equipment over the term of the

contract. The total cost of equipment purchased by Scripps Florida from inception through contract year

end January 29, 2013 was $53,895,431 and thus the requirement was fully satisfied. $2,709,216 of

equipment was acquired with State grant funds this fiscal year.


Annual Report 2015

Subsection (10)(e) No later than 18 months after occupying its permanent facility, the grantee

shall establish a program for qualified graduate students from Florida

universities permitting them access to the facility for doctoral, thesis-related

research.

Scripps Florida has established a Ph.D. program in 2005 as part of Scripps’ Kellogg School of Science

and Technology, well ahead of the September 2010 deadline, which was 18 months after the anticipated

occupancy of the permanent facility.

Forty-nine (49) graduate students are currently enrolled in the Scripps Florida graduate program. A total

of 20 students have now completed Ph.D. degrees at Scripps Florida since the establishment of the Ph.D.

program in 2005 and 14 new graduate students entered the program on August 1, 2015. Of the 14 new

students, one has an undergraduate degree from Florida Atlantic University Honors College campus in

Jupiter. Of the 54 graduate students who will be in the Scripps Florida graduate program as of

September 2015, at least seven will have a Florida connection (undergraduate degrees from Florida

colleges and universities, or is a native Floridian who took her/his undergraduate degree out of state).

Please see a detailed listing in Subsection (10) (g) of Scripps Florida scientists who have participated in

assisting doctoral candidates in their thesis research and defense.

Subsection (10) (f) No later than 18 months after occupancy of the permanent facility, the

grantee shall establish a summer internship for high school students.

Since 2005, high school students, teachers, and university undergraduates have been provided an

opportunity to work with world-class scientists at Scripps Florida in a six-week summer research

internship program. In the summer of 2015, ten high school students participated in the summer

internship program. Students were placed in the Departments of: Neuroscience, Infectious Diseases,

Cancer Biology, Metabolism and Aging, Molecular Therapeutics, Chemistry and the Translational

Research Institute. Support for the internship program has been provided by the William R. Kenan, Jr.

Charitable Trust, TSRI’s Graduate Studies Program, and the Ballen Isles Charities Foundation, Inc.

These students are placed at the research bench with the faculty, post-docs, and Ph.D. students working

at the cutting edge of basic biomedical research. The program culminated in a public presentation at the

Scripps Florida campus where each student presented their research findings to an audience that

contained Scripps research mentors, parents, teachers, and Palm Beach County students. During the

course of the internship, the participants may attend faculty seminars, and a comprehensive list of those

seminars may be found in Subsection (10)(k). High school students must be 16 year old or older,

beginning their junior or senior year in a Palm Beach County school in the Fall preceding their summer

internship and have a GPA of 3.0. They are awarded a gross compensation of $8.00 per hour for the

six-week summer program.

Scripps Florida Education Outreach Director, Ms. Deborah Leach-Scampavia, continues to work in

collaboration with the Palm Beach County School District, to insure that all county high schools,

principals, science teachers, science supervisors, and parents are aware of the annual high school

program. Faculty presentations, undergraduate “ambassadors” from the high school program, and

correspondence with department Chairs at targeted academic institutions provide information about the


Annual Report 2015

sponsored undergraduate program. Detailed descriptions and on-line applications can be found on the

Scripps Florida Education Outreach web pages.

Special emphasis is placed on providing opportunities for students from underrepresented populations

(i.e., female, minority). Since its inception in 2005 the eight year average for underrepresented

participation in the Scripps Florida summer internship programs is ~ 68%.

The Kenan Fellows Facebook page continues to allow Scripps Florida to maintain contact and track

alumni from the high school program. To date, 100% of the college age alumni are pursuing or have

completed post-secondary degrees at top-tier universities throughout the United States. Of those who

have completed their baccalaureate degrees, 30% are enrolled in MD graduate programs and 25% are

enrolled in doctoral graduate programs in biomedical research fields.

Additional Education Outreach Programs at Scripps Florida

The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, The Berlin Family Foundation, the Ballen Isles Charitable

Foundation and The Gardens Mall (Forbes Company) supply funding for the following K-12 education

programs developed through the efforts of Scripps Florida education outreach staff, faculty and research

staff. The extensive participation by Scripps Florida scientists and administration in educational

programs for the community, schools and colleges of Florida is evident through these programs and is

detailed in Subsection (10) (g).

The Scripps Florida Biotechnology Tour

An up-close view of the biomedical technologies used in the battle against human diseases at Scripps

Florida continues to be presented to Science Saturday high school students. The “Biotechnology Tour”

provides students an opportunity to see basic biology and chemistry research laboratories. As students

move through the laboratories, they gain an understanding of how genomics based research and the

processes of organic synthesis lead contemporary efforts in the therapeutic drug discovery process.

The Scripps Florida – Middle School Wow Chemistry

The middle school Wow Chemistry is now a part of Scripps Florida’s annual science festival,

“Cellebration.” This allows SF education outreach programs to reach not only middle school students,

but their families as well, as their goal is to enlist parents and guardians in encouraging their children to

study science in school. Student interaction is encouraged and the exciting demonstrations include:

chemical clock reactions, vacuum experiments with eggs, freezing and shattering objects with liquid

nitrogen, and exploding hydrogen balloons!

The Scripps Florida High School Career Panel

In an after-school interactive panel with Scripps Florida Ph.D. graduate students and post-doc fellows,

Scripps scientists share experiences about their undergraduate and graduate careers and the type of

research they are conducting at Scripps. The intent is to demystify the higher education/science process,

encourage relationships, and answer student questions. The panel concludes with a tour of the Scripps

Florida research laboratories.


Annual Report 2015

Scripps Florida Middle School Genomics with Kenan High School Fellows

High school students from the summer intern program visit Palm Beach County middle schools, sharing

their love of science, their experience as a summer researcher at Scripps and a lesson in genomics,

geared for the middle school classroom. The high school students are enthusiastic role models for the

younger students and are well received by the classroom teachers.

CELLebrate Science Day with Scripps Florida

Since 2009, Scripps Florida researchers have hosted an annual public science day, sponsored by and

held at the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. More than 100 Scripps Florida research

faculty, post doctoral fellows, graduate students and staff interact with thousands of Palm Beach County

students, parents, teachers and interested community members - all excited to learn about the science of

Scripps and to have an opportunity to meet research scientists.

Six fun, interactive science booths dot the mall grand court, each themed around Scripps Florida’s

research and technology. These booths include:

“Chemistry”- with an interactive chemistry demonstrations, including an electronic periodic

table,

“Technology” – showing engineering and robotics,

“Science of Safety” – trying on a lab coat, goggles and respirator to see how safe science is done

in the lab,

“Model Organisms” – questioning what zebra fish, fruit flies, worms and slugs tell us about

human biology and disease,

“Disease Biology” – demonstrating the difference between a viral and bacterial infection and

how Scripps scientists study and use each to understand disease, and

“Inner Life of a Cell” – crawling inside a human cell, an inflatable dome, with animation from

Harvard University and narration by Scripps Florida PhD students and postdoctoral fellows.

Scripps Florida also uses their CELLebrate day to provide a public opportunity for Palm Beach County

School District middle and high school Science Fair winners to display their winning posters before

moving on to the Florida state competition.

Scripps Florida Undergraduate Internships

In addition to high school internships, Scripps Florida provides internship opportunities for a variety of

undergraduate students. The ten-week undergraduate program continues to elevate the intensity and

independence of the research experience. Working with faculty and post-doc mentors, students are

provided the research and laboratory experience needed to successfully compete in graduate school

admissions and gain valuable experience outside the context of basic undergraduate laboratory

instruction. The program culminates in a Scripps-wide research poster competition.

Students return to their academic institutions possessing the knowledge and experience to participate in

campus undergraduate poster sessions, to act as ambassadors for the research and graduate programs

offered at Scripps Florida, and to enjoy an enhanced knowledge base as they continue their classroom

instruction.


Annual Report 2015

This past year, three of the undergraduate summer interns were accepted to present their research posters

at national scientific conferences. Six alumni of undergraduate summer program are now PhD graduate

students in the TSRI Kellogg School of Science and Technology. The Undergraduate Facebook page

allows Scripps Florida to continue their mentorship with this talented group of students and promote an

ongoing interest in the research and graduate efforts at Scripps Florida.

In April 2014, a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant was awarded to Cancer Biology Associate

Professor Katrin Karbstein, from the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) national program.

Funds from the grant support Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) on the Scripps Florida

campus. Titled “SURFing the Interface between Chemistry and Biology”, the program runs

concomitantly with other undergraduate programs sponsored by the Kenan Trust and TSRI.

Sponsored Undergraduate Internships

In the summer of 2015, 17 undergraduates participated in the sponsored internship program.

Undergraduates are awarded gross compensation of $12.50 per hour for the ten-week summer program,

housing support and a weekly meal allowance of $80.00.

Summer Undergraduate Interns

In addition to the sponsored summer undergraduate initiative on the Scripps Florida campus, Scripps

Florida attempts to accommodate as many students as possible who contact them for research

opportunities during the summer months. Eight undergraduate students worked with Scripps Florida

scientists in the summer of 2015.

FAU Wilkes Honors College Program

In 2005, Scripps Florida established an intern program for FAU Honors College students to perform

research in the laboratories of Scripps Florida faculty members. The students receive FAU academic

credit or a stipend for research performed during the school term or summer months. During the fiscal

year, 34 FAU undergraduate students participated in research internships at the Scripps Florida research

facility.

Palm Beach State College (PBSC)

PBSC offers two degree programs in biotechnology in response to the community need for research

technicians and associates. Students enrolled in the PBSC program can receive academic credit for

additional experience in the laboratory. To help students gain this experience, internships have been

made available at the Scripps Florida facility as space has been available. Three PBSC biotechnology

students have participated in this program each year since its inception in 2013.

Undergraduate Travel Award

The undergraduate poster competition awards the top three students an opportunity to submit their

winning research poster to a national conference of the intern and faculty mentor’s choice. Expenses are

paid for registration, travel, and housing for the intern and their faculty advisor so that the undergraduate

student intern may present their poster.


Annual Report 2015

Subsection (10) (g) No later than 3 years after occupancy of the permanent facility, the grantee

shall establish a research program for middle and high school teachers.

Scripps has established a professional development science workshop for secondary science teachers

and middle school math and science teachers. In addition, Scripps Florida offers summer internships to

secondary science teachers.

Scripps Florida High School Teacher Summer Internship Program

Continued support from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, has allowed Scripps Florida

Education Outreach to continue to expose teachers to current laboratory techniques and procedures,

provide information on a variety of contemporary issues in basic biomedical research, create ties and

linkages to working scientists who can assist them in curriculum development, and create opportunities

for teachers to share information and knowledge with their peers.

High school science teachers in the Palm Beach County School District conduct basic biomedical

research in a laboratory under the supervision of a Scripps Florida scientist. The program emphasizes

the scientific process, research planning, bench experience, experimental design, data analysis and

interaction with laboratory personnel. As an adjunct to their day-to-day responsibilities, participants are

required to attend specially designed seminars throughout the course of the summer. In addition to the

intensive, hands-on six-week summer program, teachers are expected to use the laboratory experience as

a springboard to create opportunities in discovery-based learning for their students, affect change in their

classrooms and serve as a resource for other educators. Each participant gives a presentation and writes

a scientific abstract on his/her project at the end of the summer.

Edwin Meagher, a teacher at Atlantic High School in Delray Beach, worked in Dr. Brock Grill’s

laboratory in the Department of Neuroscience this summer. Edwin worked on designing and

implementing protocols for using C. elegans to do in class experiments on genetics, behavior and

neuroscience.

Scripps Florida Secondary and Middle School Teacher Workshops

Scripps Florida is directing greater efforts to address the needs of the classroom science teacher by

establishing Teacher Workshops in basic science, math and laboratory skills. The “InSPIRE” programs

(Instructional Support Program for Innovative Research Education) programs offer direct interaction

with the bioscience researchers at Scripps Florida and provide greater professional development

opportunities for pre-service and in-service middle and high school science teachers in a supportive

engaging environment. Institutes are designed around curriculum units that integrate lessons, activities

and laboratory-based biological and chemical experiments designed by research scientists at Scripps

Florida. Portability of the lessons allows teachers to leverage the institute curriculum to their own

classrooms during the course of the school year.

The programs provide opportunities for teachers from all of the secondary and middle schools within the

Palm Beach County school district to attend the Teacher Workshops. Through its partnership with the

school district, Scripps Florida emphasizes teacher recruitment from schools with limited resources in

rural and urban Palm Beach County, particularly in areas with large underrepresented and disadvantaged

student populations.


Annual Report 2015

Scientists at Scripps Florida have offered education outreach programs to Palm Beach County’s middle

and high school science teachers and students since 2004. The programs described in Subsections

(10)(f) and (10)(g) define the goals of Scripps Florida’s K-12 education programs: to work directly with

students and teachers, to help develop instructional materials, and to contribute to science literacy in

Palm Beach County and the State of Florida. Since initiating its outreach program, Scripps Florida has

been invited to speak about its efforts in science education with Florida State Department of Education,

Florida Council of 100, and the State University System of Florida Board of Governors. To date, more

than ten thousand students, teachers, and community members of Palm Beach County have participated

in the Scripps Florida Education Outreach programs.

For Fiscal 2015, the following is a detailed list of some of these educational outreach activities:

Date Scientist Event / location 9-Oct-14 Miller Children's Service Council/PBS Panel - Raising America

10-Oct-14 Matt Disney Discussion with postdoctoral associates on career opportunities

28-Oct-14 Nettles Invited Presenter: Nuclear Receptors & Disease, Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Nov-14 Niedernhofer Teaching in TSRI Graduate Program Investigations in Molecular Biology

7-Nov-14 Rader Florida Biomedical Career Symposium, Scripps Florida Campus

7-Nov-14 Laura Bohn Florida Biomedical Career Symposium, Jupiter, FL

8-Nov-14 see list Science Family – DNA Isolation, Elliot Museum at Martin County. Attendees: Dr. Rosie

Albarran-Zeckler, Deborah Leach-Scampavia, and Kristin Lidinsky

13-Nov-14 see list High School Teacher Workshop at Scripps Florida. Participants: Drs. Xin-An Liu,

Kymberly Lovell, Jenny Morgenweck, Akaitz Dorronsoro, Heike Fuhrmann-Stroissnigg,

Sarbani Goshal, Rosie Albarran-Zeckler; and Deborah Leach-Scampavia

25-Nov-14 Brock Grill Ph.D. thesis committee meeting for Scott Baker (University of Minnesota)

7-Dec-14 Laura Bohn American College of Neuropsychopharmacology

17-Jan-15 Scripps-wide Neuroscience Saturday. Participants: Deborah Leach-Scampavia and Jennifer Kabis, and

Drs. Ilaria Drago, Xin-an Liu, Komolitdin Akhmedov, and Rosie Albarran-Zeckler

26-Jan-15 Graduate

students:

Sany Hoxha,

Walter Rogal,

Zachary J.

Tickner

High School Students/Career panel at Scripps

29-Jan-15 Matt Disney Graduate Faculty Town Hall Meeting

30-Jan-15 Students from 5th and 6th grades / Rosarian Academy – Career Day. Invitation made

through Dr. Matthew Pipkin, Deborah Leach Scampavia, and Rosie Albarran-Zeckler

14-Feb-15 Paul Robbins Grad recruiting brunch

18-Feb-15 Gill, Leach-

Scapavia, and

Albarran-

Zeckler

Jerry Thomas Elementary School – Science Fair

21-Feb-15 Leach-

Scapavia,

Albarran-

Zeckler

Inlet Grove Community High School – Careers in medical field day

24-Feb-15 Brock Grill Visit to Loxahatchee High School C. elegens course in Loxahatchee, FL

26-Feb-15 Damon Page Renaissance Learning Center Board Meeting, West Palm Beach, FL

1-Mar-15 Tina Izard Development of Weiss Middle School 2016 School Year Science and Lab curriculum


Annual Report 2015

7-Mar-15 Teachers/ Dr. Paegel's Microscopy Teacher Workshop – Beta testing Day 1 . Participants:

Dr. Brian Paegel, Marie Malone, Wes Conchrane, Jennifer Kabis, Rosie Albarran-Zeckler

15-Mar-15 Puthanveettil Mandel Public Library Lectures

17-Mar-15 Karbstein FIU Undergraduate Research Conference - Quality Control Mechanisms in Ribosome

Activity, Miami, FL

17-Mar-15 Marra,

Albarran-

Zeckler

Florida International University Research Undergraduate Conference

1-Apr-15 Izard, Leach-

Scampavia

and Albarran-

Zeckler

Middle school students/ Weiss School – Dr. Izard’s outreach project

16-Apr-15 Albarran-

Zeckler and

Kabis

Leadership Youth Visit to SF

17-Apr-15 Albarran-

Zeckler and

Kabis

Undergraduate Students/ Visit from PBSC North Campus

4/22/2015 Niedernhofer Teaching in TSRI Graduate Program Cancer Biology

30-Apr-15 Damon Page Renaissance Learning Center Board Meeting, West Palm Beach, FL

5-May-15 Kodadek Education Foundation

8-May-15 Baoji Xu Chao Chen Thesis Defense at Georgetown University, Washington, DC

16-Jun-15 Miller Thesis Committee External Examiner, Univ of Miami Medical School Graduate Program

23-Jun-15 PBSC's MSI Program participants/ Visit to SF and lab tour. Leaders: Dr. Pedro Reis

Rodrigues, Rosie Albarran-Zeckler, Jennifer Kabis

25-Jun-15 Damon Page Renaissance Learning Center Board Meeting, West Palm Beach, FL

30-Jun-15 Albarran-

Zeckler

Girls Excelling in Math and Science at Science Center in WPB. Scripps Florida's Speaker:

Dr. Heike Fuhrman

Jul-15 Bill Ja Lead discussion on Grant/Fellowship Writing Mentoring Session

1-Jul-15 Miller Invited Speaker to talk to TSRI-FL SURF Summer Interns

18-Sep-15 Cari Kessing Research Fest 2015 at Scripps Florida

1-4-2015 Ja Mentor Shivani Patel, Undergraduate Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU

1/2015-

Present

Niedernhofer Mentor Clayton Sims, Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU

01-15-

Present

Niedernhofer Mentor Rachael Candela, Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU

01/2015-

Present

Ja Mentor Diana Singkornrat, Intern, FAU

01/2015-

Present

Bill Ja Mentor Diana Singkornrat, Intern, FAU

3-6-2015 Niedernhofer Mentor Jolanta Czerwinska, Graduate Student Intern, Institute of Biochemistry and

Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

3-8-2015 Niedernhofer Mentor Junaid Raya, Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU

5-13-5/2015 Niedernhofer Teaching in Frontiers in Aging and Regeneration Research, Woods Hole, MA

5-7-2015 Niedernhofer Mentor Margo Orlen, Intern, Spanish River Community High School

5-8-2015 Niedernhofer Mentor Sanjay Chandrasekhar, Undergraduate Intern, University of Pennsylvania

5-8-2015 Ja Mentor Keuri Reis Santos, Intern, Universidade Federal do ABC, Sao Bernardo do Camp,

São Paulo, Brasil

5/15-

Present

Niedernhofer Mentor Jamie Harris, Intern, Atlantic High School

05/2015-

Present

Ja Mentor Margaux Ehrlich, Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU


Annual Report 2015

05/2015-

Present

Bill Ja Mentor Margaux Ehrlich, Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU

06/0815 -

08/14/15

Laura Bohn Mentor, SURF REU Undergraduate - Brenna Appleton

06/15/15 -

08/27/15

Brock Grill Host high school teacher Edwin Meagher

07/2014-

present

Ja Mentor Keith Murphy, Graduate Student, FAU

8/14-5/2015 Niedernhofer Mentor Srigita Madiraju, Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU

08/2014-

Present

Niedernhofer Mentor to interns from Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU: Danielle Hennessy-Wach,

Jonathan Kato, Stephanie Lazo, Mariya Muravia, Erin Wade,

8/15-

Present

Bill Ja Mentor Chenchen Su, Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU

09/2012-

Present

Shuji Kishi Mentor Delacia Ingram, Intern/Lab Helper, FAU

09/2013-

Present

Ja Mentor Tania Rodriguez, Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU

9/14-1/2015 Kishi Mentor Luke Otfinowski, Undergraduate Intern, FAU

9/14-6/2015 Kishi Co-Mentor Jiwon Kong, Graduate Student, Seoul National University

9/14-6/2015 Niedernhofer Mentor Tommy Vo, Intern, SunCoast High School

10/13-12/14 Ja Mentor Cathy Ray, Intern, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College/FAU

1/15 – 5/15 Tomchik mentor to undergraduate interns Brandon Gilliland and Alisha Goldberg

2 -3-Apr-15 Baoji Xu External Graduate Student Seminars at Georgetown University, Washington, DC

2014-2015 Niedernhofer Thesis Committee member, Visiting Graduate Student Jing Zhao

1/15 – 5/15 Damon Page Mentor to undergrad interns Dalina Laffita and Stacy Cabral

3-5-Mar-15 Ben Shen Seminar speaker, Boston College

5/11/15 -

6/30/15

Paul Robbins Mentor Christina Bukata, graduate student

6/5-30/15 Paul Robbins Mentor Heather Nick, undergraduate student

6/8-30/15 Paul Robbins Mentor to High School students: Robert Halfon, Jordan Vo, Devon Wasche

7/14 - 6/15 Paul Robbins Mentor Jing Zhao, graduate student

7/14-8/14 Ja Mentor Alina Soto Obando, Trainee, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru

7/14 - 4/15 Paul Robbins Mentor Priscilla Tang, graduate student

8-30-Jun-15 Scripps

Faculty

Kenan High School intern program - Rosie Albarran-Zeckler

8-30-Jun-15 Scripps

Faculty

SURF Undergraduate intern program - Rosie Albarran-Zeckler

1-8/ 2015 Karbstein Mentoring high school interns, Maria Dattolo (Jupiter, FL) and Ethan Ward (Manhattan

Beach, CA)

7/14 -6/15 Chakraborty Mentor Hector Mora, intern, FAU

2014-2015,

monthly

Niedernhofer Mentor Savannah Barkdull, undergraduate, University of Virginia

Monthly Niedernhofer Mentoring session for M&A Post-doctoral fellows

Monthly Niedernhofer Mentor Michael Rohr, FAU honors student

11/14-2/15 Chakraborty Mentor to Arushi Thaper, undergraduate intern, FAU

Subsection (10) (h) No later than 18 months after occupancy of the permanent facility, the

grantee shall establish a program for adjunct professors.

Many current Scripps Florida faculty have received adjunct faculty appointments with the University of

Florida, University of Miami and/or Florida Atlantic University. Such adjunct appointments are

intended to provide a mechanism for graduate students enrolled in Florida research universities to


Annual Report 2015

collaborate with, to be co-mentored by, and to perform research in the laboratories of a Scripps Florida

faculty member.

A mechanism has been established for faculty members at Florida institutions who have established

collaborative research programs with Scripps Florida faculty to be appointed to an Adjunct Professor

position. The process is initiated by a Scripps Florida faculty member who submits a nomination to

his/her department chair. If the chair concurs, the chair submits the nomination to the Office of the

President for review and approval. Current adjunct faculty are:

Dr. Chris Liang of Xcovery in West Palm Beach, FL

– Adjunct Associate Professor, Molecular Therapeutics

Dr. Andrew Hodge of BioMotion Institute in Jupiter, FL

– Adjunct Professor, Metabolism and Aging

Dr. Samuel Young of Max Planck Florida Institute in Jupiter, FL

– Adjunct Assistant Professor, Neuroscience

Dr. Jason Christie of Max Planck Florida Institute in Jupiter, FL


Dr. James Schummers of Max Planck Florida Institute in Jupiter, FL


Dr. Thomas Burris of Saint Louis School of Medicine in Saint Louis, MO

– Adjunct Professor, Molecular Therapeutics

Dr. Stephan C. Schurer of University of Miami in Miami, FL

– Adjunct Associate Professor, Molecular Therapeutics

Dr. Gregg Fields of Florida Atlantic University, FL

– Adjunct Professor, Chemistry

Dr. Scott Snyder of University of Chicago, IL

– Adjunct Associate Professor, Chemistry

Subsection (10) (i) No later than 6 months after commissioning its high throughput technology,

the grantee shall establish a program to allow open access for qualified

science projects.

Scripps Florida initiated the “Access to Technologies” program in January of 2006 to invite scientists

from Florida universities and other academic research institutions to use state-of-the-art screening

technologies at Scripps Florida’s facilities in Jupiter for qualifying projects. An additional “Core”

platform is now available at the Scripps Florida facility that combines basic research with advanced

technology.

Access to Technologies

Scripps Florida was created to interface cutting-edge high throughput technologies with pioneering

research programs relevant to current medical needs in human diseases. One of its key goals is to

develop dynamic relationships with Florida institutions to foster a knowledge-based economy that will

transcend traditional barriers to moving scientific discoveries into the clinic. Florida scientists who may

not have these technologies available at their respective institutions are encouraged to open the links to

learn more about these core technologies and opportunities to access them online. A list of collaborative

Florida researchers can be found in Section (9)(f) - Collaboration with Florida Colleges and

Universities.


Annual Report 2015

X-ray Crystallography Facility

The macromolecular x-ray crystallography core facility of Scripps Florida offers state-of-the-art

equipment and resources to scientists inside and outside of the Scripps Florida campus by providing

crystallographic analysis of chosen biological macromolecules. This past funding year, the core facility

increased experimental capability to include services for small molecule X-ray crystallography by

commissioning a new diffraction system with a molybdenum sealed X-ray tube.

The core facility offers and operates as a full service core by performing protein crystallization, x-ray

diffraction data collection (both in-house and at various synchrotron sources) and processing, phasing,

crystallographic refinement, model building, and visualization. The structural data obtained by the core

provide scientists with a wealth of information including but not limited to biological functions, 3D-

folding, ligand binding (small molecule or protein), or mutational effect of target macromolecules of

their interest.

This past year, the core facility researchers produced four publications in major peer-reviewed research

journals and an additional five manuscripts are in preparation for publication. The core facility

researchers supported six intramural and two external laboratories for their on-going grant researches. In

addition, this core facility also supported three laboratories for their new grant application processes.

The researchers were also actively involved in preliminary studies for grant applications of these

laboratories. Finally, the core successfully initiated a collaboration with an external laboratory that will

continue until 2016.

Genomics Core

The Scripps Florida Genomics Core was established to enable access by Scripps Florida and external

investigators to the latest technologies for next generation sequencing and microarray analysis. These

technologies allow for interrogation and subsequent comparison of the role genetics play in disease state

at the global level, or at specified locations in the genome. Gene expression analysis provides a profile

of active and inactive genes in a given tissue sample or cell type. The technologies used in the

Genomics Core allow for a wide range of cost effective options for discovery on multiple platforms.

The Cell Based Screening Core

Researchers in the Cell-Based Screening Core leverage high-throughput technologies towards a

systematic description of the function of genes encoded by the human genome, and a more

comprehensive understanding of the genetic basis for human disease. The CBS group provides Scripps

investigators, as well as select outside collaborators, with access to genome-wide collections of cDNAs

and siRNAs that can be used to interrogate cellular models of signal transduction pathways and

phenotypes.

The Proteomics Core

The Proteomics Core at Scripps Florida offers a wide range of mass spectrometry-based proteomics

services to assist with protein characterization, identification and quantification. It is essential to

examine the expression and action of proteins and other gene products during normal conditions as well

as disease state. The core provides support to Scripps faculty and staff who focus on such questions. In

particular, the scientists concentrate on developing and applying the techniques of mass spectrometry for

discovery and quantitative proteomic experiments. The core also supports the small molecule mass

spectrometry needs of the institute and collaborators.


Annual Report 2015

The Flow Cytometry Core

Flow cytometry measures and analyzes the characteristics of single particles, normally cells, as they

move in a stream and are passed through a laser. Thousands of cells can be analyzed by a flow

cytometer in a single second. Among the measurements derived from flow cytometry are the size,

relative fluorescence and complexity of the particle. Flow cytometry can be used for a variety of

applications including complex cell analysis and cell sorting.

The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Core

Nuclear magnetic resonance, known as NMR, uses the magnetic properties of certain nuclei to study

molecular structure. A wide variety of information can be gathered using NMR including protein and

nuclei acid structure and function. The Scripps Florida NMR core facility boasts three state-of-the-art

machines that run 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. By connecting these highly sensitive instruments

to the Internet via a proprietary Scripps Florida server, scientists can access the data produced from their

office or the laboratory.

High Throughput Screening Core

High Throughput Screening (HTS) is a drug-discovery process widely used in the pharmaceutical

industry. It leverages automation to quickly assay the biological or biochemical activity of a large

number of drug-like compounds. It is a useful for discovering ligands for receptors, enzymes, ion-

channels or other pharmacological targets, or pharmacologically profiling a cellular or biochemical

pathway of interest. Typically, HTS assays are performed in “automation-friendly” microtiter plates

with a 96, 384 or 1536 well format.

Capabilities: The Lead Identification group at Scripps Florida has set-up a state-of-the art HTS

operation to support Scripps’ intramural HTS efforts. This Core has both HTS and compound

management automation, and expertise in adapting biological and biochemical bench-top assays

into high-throughput screens.

HTS users include: Dimitry M. Minond from Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies,

Daiqing Liao from the University of Florida, and Corinne Lasmezas, Kate Carroll, Derek

Duckett, Joseph Kissil, Sathyanarayanan Puthanveettil, Gavin Rumbaugh, Ronald Davis and Min

Guo, all from Scripps Florida.

Behavior Core

The Behavior Core at Scripps Florida provides state-of-the-art equipment and software for measuring

rodent behavior. All behavioral rooms are fully equipped and supplied. Many of the behavioral tasks

are completely automated, with software providing control over hardware and trial protocols. Standard

protocols for the behavioral tasks have been developed by the Director; expertise for the development of

custom protocols is available. The behavioral experiments can be fully conducted by Behavior Core

staff, or individual labs can utilize the rooms and equipment for their own experiments. Training and

consultation are provided free of charge. Behavior Core resources are also available to non-Scripps

Florida scientists through collaboration with the Director.

The Behavior Core officially opened for business in June 2011. In the past year, the Behavior Core

resources and/or personnel have been included on multiple Scripps Florida Faculty grant applications


Annual Report 2015

(many of which have been awarded funding), and data collected in the Behavior Core has been included

in multiple publications.

An Advisory Committee comprised of faculty members was formed in March 2013 to advise the Core

Director regarding research progress and future directions for the Core. As a result of this committee’s

input, equipment was updated to better meet the needs of the faculty, including the addition of some new

equipment. In 2014, the Behavior Core added an additional staff member (research Technician) to assist

with the daily upkeep and maintenance of the Behavior Core and with experiments performed by the

Behavior Core.

Metabolic Core

The Metabolic Core offers prompt access to validated in vitro and in vivo tests to help advance the

metabolic characterization of genetic and pharmacological research models of metabolic diseases,

cancer, circadian rhythms, aging, inflammation and more. This Core has analytical and in-vivo

laboratories with a number of applications ranging from feeding, sleep, temperature, blood pressure,

body composition and metabolic monitoring in mice, to cellular metabolism and in-depth chemical

analysis of hormones, nutrients, inflammatory mediators and more. Additionally, it assists users with

trainings, experimental design and data analysis as needed and promptly responds to their

troubleshooting requirements during experimentation.

The Informatics Core

The Informatics Core provides data management and analysis services for the Scripps research

community as well as for external collaborators. The Core offers scientific and technical support to

assist in the collection, analysis, integration and dissemination of biomedical data and knowledge.

Projects will often vary in time and cost depending on the scientific goals of the work, and the desired

level of detail. The Core’s goal is to use existing software, tools developed by the group, along with

open source software to support and advance the science of TSRI’s faculty in a cost-effective manner.

The Informatics Core has expertise analyzing data and building tools across many different scientific

areas – however, the Core has identified four specific focus areas: genomics data analysis, proteomics

data analysis, cheminformatics data analysis, and custom software development.

Histology Core

The Histology Core at Scripps Florida was established in 2014 to provide full histological services as

well as technical support for the investigators inside and outside of the Scripps FL campus. The Core

facility is equipped with a Sakura VIP 5 tissue processor, Biocare Decloaking Chamber, Shandon rotary

microtome and embedding center, routine/special stain center, a Leica CM1950 Cryostat, and a Leica

BOND-MAX Automated Immunostainer.

The cryostat is available for use at an hourly rate by anyone who has had proper training by the Core

staff. The Histology Core is capable of processing and staining investigator’s specimens for routine

analysis as well as many special stains or Immunohistochemical/Immunofluorescence techniques.

These are available services provided by the Histology Core: fixation techniques, tissue processing,

embedding, paraffin sectioning, H&E’s, special stains, Immunohistochemistry / Immunofluore-scence,

cryostat embedding and sectioning, and decalcification of bone specimens.


Annual Report 2015

The Histology Core provides a broad range of special stains for paraffin or frozen sections of fixed

tissues. Some of the special stains offered are Congo Red, Crystal Violet, Gram Stain, Luxol Fast Blue,

Masson Trichrome, Oil Red O, Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) and Safronin O. Additional stains are

available upon request. The Core also offers optimization of antibodies and protocols for double and

triple staining Immunohistochemistry and Immunofluorescence techniques. In addition, the Core offers

consultation in staining methodology to customize the protocols in order to obtain “publication quality”

results.

Researchers can apply for access to Scripps expertise through the “Access to Technologies” program.

Subsection (10) (j) Beginning June 2004, the grantee shall commence collaborative efforts with

Florida public and private colleges and universities, and shall continue

cooperative collaboration through the term of the agreement.

See the reply to Subsection (9) (f).

Subsection (10) (k) Beginning 18 months after the grantee occupies the permanent facility, the

grantee shall establish an annual seminar series featuring a review of the

science work done by the grantee and its collaborators at the Florida facility.

External Seminars

External seminars are part of the institute series, inviting prominent researchers from national and

international institutions to speak. The seminars serve as a major foundation for creating knowledge-

and technology-sharing opportunities, team building, and collaborations among biomedical researchers

between Scripps Florida, Florida, and other research and academic institutions and companies. The

sessions are open to interested professionals within the Scripps Florida and Florida scientific

communities.

The presenters and their lecture titles are listed below:

October 23, 2014 David Schneider, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology,

Stanford University

Title: Warping disease space to improve recovery from infections

October 30, 2014 Matthew Goldberg, Assistant Professor of Neurology & Neurotherapeutics,

Psychiatry University of Texas, South West Medical Center

Title: Analysis of Knockout Rat Models of Parkinson's Disease and LRRK2

Oligomerization

November 6, 2014 Wilfred van der Donk, Prof. of Chem., Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne

Title: Biosynthesis of Cyclic Peptide Antibiotics

November 13, 2014 Frank Schroeder, Research Group Leader, Boyce Thompson Institute

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology,

Cornell University

Title: The Chemical Language of Worms: A Modular Library of Small

Molecule Signals

November 20, 2014 Julien Sage, Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Cancer Biology) and of

Genetics, Stanford University

Title: Novel Therapeutic Approaches in Lung and Pancreatic Cancer


Annual Report 2015

December 4, 2014 Michael VanNieuwenhze, Associate Professor, Chemistry, Indiana

University, Bloomington

Title: Novel Chemical Probes for Use in the Study of Bacterial Peptidoglycan

Biosynthesis

December 11, 2014 Anna Mapp, Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Program in Chemical

Biology, University of Michigan

Title: Allosteric modulators of protein-protein interactions

January 8, 2015 Angelica Gonzalez, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Yale

University

Title: Engineered Human Microvasculature: Composite Cellular and Matrix

Structures Regulate Leukocyte Recruitment

January 15, 2015 Charles Chavkin, Professor of Pharmacology, University of Washington

Title: Therapeutic Potential of Kappa Opioids in Pain and Addiction

January 22, 2015 Gregg Fields, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry,

Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, Scripps

Florida

Title: Using the Mechanism of Collagenolysis to Develop Novel Matrix

Metalloproteinase Probes

January 29, 2015 Paul Hanson, Professor of Chemistry, University of Kansas

Title: Developing a Discovery Platform for Novel Electrophilic Probes:

Emerging Chemotypes in Chemical Biology

February 5, 2015 Ian Wilson, Hansen Professor of Structural Biology Chair, Dept. of

Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, Skaggs Institute for

Chemical Biology

The Scripps Research Institute, California

Title: Broad Neutralization of Viral Pathogens and Implications for Vaccine

Design

February 12, 2015 Thomas Schwarz, Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology, Department of

Neurology, Harvard University

Title: Moving and Removing Mitochondria in Axons

February 19, 2015 Jonathan Javitch, Lieber Professor of Experimental Therapeutics in

Psychiatry, Professor of Pharmacology in the Center for Molecular

Recognition and in Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University

Title: Single-Molecule Imaging of GPCR Organization in Living Cells

February 26, 2015 Charles Gersbach, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Duke

University

Title: Genome and Epigenome Editing for Gene Therapy, Regenerative

Medicine & Disease Modeling

March 5, 2015 Timothy Jamison, Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of

Technology

Title: Continuous Flow Multistep Synthesis

March 12, 2015 Yasmin Hurd, Professor of Psychiatry/Neuroscience, Mount Sinai School of

Medicine

Title: Cannabis, Neurodevelopment and Psychiatric Vulnerability


Annual Report 2015

March 19, 2015 Eric T. Wang, Principal Investigator, Medical Engineering/Medical Physics,

Bioinformatics & Integrative Genomics, Harvard-MIT Division of Health

Sciences & Technology

Title: Genomic approaches to understand RNA regulation in neuromuscular

disease.

April 9, 2015 X. Z. Shawn Xu, Bernard W. Agranoff Collegiate Professor of the Life

Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Professor of

Molecular & Integrative, Physiology at U-M Medical School

Title: Sensory signaling in C. elegans: what can’t a worm

sense?

April 16, 2015 Kent Gates, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of

Missouri, Columbia

Title: Interstrand cross-links derived from abasic sites in duplex DNA:

candidates for endogenous DNA lesions that drive aging and

neurodegeneration?

April 23, 2015 Roy Parker, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Professor of chemistry and

biochemistry and the Cech-Leinwand Endowed Chair of Biochemistry,

University of Colorado Boulder

Title: Assembly and properties of stress granules and P-bodies in eukaryotic

cells.

April 30, 2015 George Georgiou, Professor, Section of Molecular Genetics and

Microbiology, University of Texas, Austin

Title: What’s in your Blood? System Level Analysis of Human Humoral

Immunity Following Vaccination or Infection

May 7, 2015 Randy Blakely, Allan D. Bass Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry,

Director Silvio O. Conte Center for Neuroscience Research & Postdoctoral

Training Program in Functional Neurogenomics, Vanderbilt School of

Medicine

Title: Synaptic Serotonin and Autism: Insights into Novel Therapies from

SERT Regulatory Networks

May 8, 2015 Dale Boger, Richard and Alice Cramer Professor of Chemistry, Department

of Chemistry, Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology Chairman, Department

of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute

Title: Redesign of Vancomycin for Resistant Bacteria

May 14, 2015 Warren Hirst, Associate Research Fellow and Group Leader,

Neurodegeneration & Neurologic Diseases Department, Pfizer Neuroscience

Research Unit

Title: Progress and challenges in developing novel therapeutics for the most

common known causes of Parkinson’s disease: GBA and LRRK2

May 15, 2015 Joel Barrish, VP, Head of Discovery Chemistry, Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D

Title: Innovation in Kinase Inhibitor Drug Discovery: Evolution of a Drug

Target Class

May 15, 2015 Erick Carreira, Prof. of Organic Chemistry, Nobel Laureate Signature Award

Title: Discovery and Surprises with Small Molecules


Annual Report 2015

May 21, 2015 William Robinson, Associate Professor of Medicine, Immunology and

Rheumatology, Stanford School of Medicine

Title: Sequencing Antibody Repertoires to Decipher Pathogenic Mechanisms

in Rhuematoid Arthritis

September 10, 2015 Thomas Rando, Professor, Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford

School of Medicine

Title: Muscle stem cell aging: Notch signaling, p53, and mitotic catastrophe

September 17, 2015 M.Kevin Brown, Assistant Professor, Department of Synthetic Chemistry,

Indiana University

Title: No Strain, No Gain: Advances in the Synthesis and use of

Cyclobutanes

September 24, 2015 Brent Martin, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of

Michigan

Title: Chemical approaches to understand protein lipidation and oxidation

Collaborative Seminars

Collaborative seminars feature prominent Florida-based speakers from the academic, biotechnology or

pharmaceutical communities and focus on topics within the broad fields of biomedical science,

advanced technologies applied to biomedical research, drug discovery, and energy. They serve as a

major foundation for creating knowledge- and technology-sharing opportunities, team building, and

collaborations among biomedical researchers between Scripps Florida, Florida, and other research and

academic institutions and companies. The sessions are open to interested professionals within the

Scripps Florida and Florida scientific communities.

October 16, 2014 Ann Nicole Imber, M.D., Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University

“The role of Ca2+ in central respiratory control neurons of the locus

coeruleus: development of chemosensitive regulation:

November 7, 2014 Ken Dawson-Scully, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University

“Invertebrate Models of Epilepsy: Uncovering Drugs and Targets for Febrile

and Electronoconvulsive Seizure”

November 7, 2014

The Florida Biomedical Career Symposium

Keynote Speaker: Sir Harold W. Kroto, Florida State University

“The Global Educational Outreach for Science, Engineering and

Technology (GEOSET) Project Pioneered from Florida State University”

January 22, 2015 Gregg Fields, Ph.D., FAU, Jupiter & Scripps Florida

“Using the Mechanism of Collagenolysis to Develop Novel Matrix

Metalloproteinase Probes”

February 6, 2015 Dr. Samuel Young, Max Planck Florida Institute

“Mechanisms of Synaptic Vesicle Release Dynamics that Support the Early

Stages of Auditory Processing”

Summer Intern Seminars

The weekly summer intern series, an adjunct to summer intern day-to-day responsibilities, features

faculty members from Scripps Florida. High school and college undergraduate interns attend specially

designed seminars throughout the course of the summer. Each seminar highlights basic science


Annual Report 2015

principles and the research focus/application efforts of the Scripps Florida biology, chemistry, and core

laboratories.

June 10, 2015 William R. Roush, Ph.D., Associate Dean of the TSRI Graduate Program

Topic: “Ethics in Science”

June 17, 2015 Rosie G. Albarran-Zeckler, Ph.D., Coordinator, Education Outreach

Topic: “Time Management”

June 24, 2015 Matthew Pipkin, Ph.D., Associate Professor, TSRI, Department of Cancer

Biology

Topic: “Unraveling How Chromatin Structure

Regulates Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Differentiation and Immunity”

June 9, 2015 Peter Norris and Galina Judge, Environmental Health and Safety

Topic: “Environmental Health & Safety Training”

June 16, 2015 Silvia Licciulli, Ph.D., Department of Cancer Biology

Topic: “Trying to Fool Cancer”, The New York Times, March 2015

June 23, 2015 Erica Young, Ph.D., Department of Metabolism and Aging

Topic: “Understanding Addiction”

June 30, 2015 Jenny Morgenweck, Ph.D., Department of Molecular Therapeutics

Topic: “Understanding Itch”

Subsection (10) (l) Beginning June 2004, the grantee shall commence collaboration efforts with

the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development (OTTED) by

complying with reasonable requests for cooperation in economic

development efforts in the biomed/biotech industry. No later than July 2004,

the grantee shall designate a person who shall be charged with assisting in

these collaborative efforts.

Scripps Florida has designated Mr. Tom Northrup as its designee to assist the Department of Economic

Opportunity (“DEO”), nee OTTED, regarding collaborative economic development efforts between

Scripps and DEO.

Business outreach efforts include participation in meetings with local businesses, government agencies

such as the Palm Beach County Business Development Board and hospitals and Boards in the greater

Palm Beach County area.

Date Participant(s) Event / Location 8-Oct-14 C. Rader Meeting with abontek, Inc. and iBio, Inc., Seoul, Korea

10-Oct-14 C. Rader Presentation at Celltrion, Inc, Incheon, Korea

10-Oct-14 C. Rader Presentation at Dong-A Socio Holdings, Inc., Yongin, Korea

16-Oct-14 Chakraborty,

Gill, Robbins

BMO

monthly Ron Davis St. Mary's Medical Center - Governing Board Meeting, West Palm Beach

22-Oct-14 Niedernhofer Skype with CEO of Peter Thiel's enterprise

monthly Ron Davis NAMI Advisory Council Meeting, West Palm Beach, FL

17-Nov-14 C. Rader Scientific Advisory Board of NBE Therapeutics in Basel, Switzerland

18-Nov-14 C. Rader Talk "Research Funding and Option Agreement by and between TSRI and NBE-

Therapeutics: Progress by Nov 2014"


Annual Report 2015

21-Nov-14 Paul Robbins Aldabra Biosciences

3-Dec-14 Niedernhofer Conference call with the CEO of Alliance for Aging Research

7-Jan-15 Kodadek Presentation at Future Energy FPL

14-Jan-15 Miller James Dunning and Chip Block

20-Jan-15 Ron Davis Mayor Muoio State of the City Address, West Palm Beach

29-Jan-15 Kodadek Seminar presented at Merck, West Point, PA

10-Feb-15 Roy Smith PNC Event Palm Beach

12-Mar-15 Paul Robbins Breakfast Business Meeting

20-Mar-15 Niedernhofer Skype with CEO of Peter Thiel's enterprise

26-Mar-15 Phinney Participate in BDB Life Sciences & Healthcare Luncheon, West Palm Beach

27-Mar-15 Paul Robbins Palm Beach Business Development Breakfast - Jupiter Beach Resort

7-Apr-15 Paul Robbins Aldabra Biosciences - SAB teleconference

20-Apr-15 Damon Page Palm Beach Civic Association's Annual Meeting, West Palm Beach, FL

21-Apr-15 Roy Periana Presentation to the Board of Hyconix, Atlanta, GA

22-Apr-15 Kodadek Meeting with Takeda

24-Apr-15 Niedernhofer Chamber University; NPBC Chamber

14-May-15 Paul Robbins Aldabra Biosciences - SAB teleconference

28-May-15 Niedernhofer Attended BioFlorida "Raising Capital for Biotech Ventures in Florida", Scripps-Florida

29-May-15 C. Rader Scientific Advisory Board of NBE Therapeutics in Basel, Switzerland

17-Jun-15 Niedernhofer Business Before Hours - State of the Chamber: Game Changer Edition

16-23-Oct-14 Ben Shen ISCN28 & ICOB8, China

17-19-Nov-14 Griffin,

Pascal

Thermo Fisher Meeting, Wasington, DC

28-Oct-14 Ben Shen Visit IBC & GRC at Taipei

9-10-Apr-15 Niedernhofer Host to Dr. Peter Wehling, Orthopedist, Dusseldorf, Germany

Monthly Niedernhofer Board of Directors of FASEB, monthly conference call

Monthly Niedernhofer Conference call with American Society for Clinical Investigation

Monthly Niedernhofer Community Relations Group Scripps FL, Meetings

Monthly Niedernhofer Scripps Florida representative to the Northern Palm Beach County Chamber, Trustee

Weekly Niedernhofer Founder and SRA with Aldabra Biosciences

8-Jul-15 Ron Davis Economic Council Board of Directors Meeting, MFPI, Jupiter, FL

10-Jul-15 Scampavia &

Spicer

Ono Pharma visit and meeting

13-Jul-15 Niedernhofer Novartis meeting

21-Jul-15 Tina Izard Dr. Gerard Bricogne,Global Phasing Limited

22-Jul-15 Paul Robbins Aldabara Bioscience Meeting

28-Jul-15 Patrick

Griffin

Roundtable with Southern Strategies

30-Jul-15 Scampavia &

Spicer

Opko Health Inc. SFP

8/5-8/7/15 Rumbaugh Syngap Board Tour of Campus

10-Aug-15 Patrick

Griffin

Southern Strategies Meeting

11-Aug-15 Scampavia Abide Therapeutics SFP

18-Aug-15 Robbins,

Huffman

Ventures Meeting

27-Aug-15 Damon Page Renaissance Learning Center Board Meeting, West Palm Beach, FL

28-Aug-15 Miller Senator Bill Nelson, Kravis Center

28-Aug-15 Scampavia &

Spicer

Proteostasis Therapuetics SFP

Sep-15 Niedernhofer Presentation for BNY investment team

2-Sep-15 Laura Bohn Teleconference with Accelerator Venture Capital group


Annual Report 2015

8-Sep-15 Scampavia &

Spicer

Paule Belony: Quality Systems Executive Director at Belony Group LLC, Miami/Fort

Lauderdale

11-Sep-15 Robbins,

Smith

Meeting NuVista's Institute for Healthy Living at Jupiter

21-Sep-15 Ron Davis Economic Council Board of Directors Meeting, MFPI, Jupiter, FL

21-Sep-15 Robbins,

Niedernhofer

NuVista's Institute for Healthy Living at Jupiter Ground Breaking Ceremony

22-Sep-15 Kodadek Speak to Commercial Real Estate Women group

24-Sep-15 Scampavia &

Spicer

Takeda California SFP

9/29-10/3/15 Puthanveettil Seimens

Monthly Niedernhofer MAPI Group

On the next pages, please see the SFFC Audit, respondent to subsection (14) (g).

Audited Financial Statementsand Supplementary Information

Scripps Florida Funding Corporation

A Component Unit of theState of Florida

September 30, 2015

CALER, DONTEN, LEVINE, COHEN, PORTER & VEIL, P.A.

CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS

SCRIPPS FLORIDA FUNDING CORPORATION –A COMPONENT UNIT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA

AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTSAND SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

September 30, 2015

Page

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT .................................................................................................................. 1

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................................ 3

BASIC FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Government-wide/Fund Financial Statements Governmental Fund Balance Sheet/ Statement of Net Position .............................................................................................................................. 8 Statement of Governmental Fund Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balance/Statement of Activities .................................................................................... 9 Notes to Financial Statements......................................................................................................................... 10

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Required Supplementary Information General Fund Budgetary Comparison Schedule............................................................................................................... 15 Notes to Budgetary Comparison Schedule ............................................................................................... 16

COMPLIANCE REPORT AND MANAGEMENT LETTER Independent Auditor’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting and on Compliance and Other Matters Based on an Audit of Financial Statements Performed in Accordance With Government Auditing Standards ............................................ 17 Management Letter Required by the Rules of the Auditor General for the State of Florida ..................................................................................................................................... 19

1

Independent Auditor’s Report To the Board of Directors Scripps Florida Funding Corporation Jupiter, Florida Report on the Financial Statements We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the governmental activities and major fund of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation, a component unit of the State of Florida, as of and for the year ended September 30, 2015, and the related notes to the financial statements, which collectively comprise the basic financial statements of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation as listed in the table of contents. Management’s Responsibility for the Financial Statements Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Auditor’s Responsibility Our responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement. An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions.


CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS WILLIAM K CALER, JR , CPA 505 SOUTH FLAGLER DRIVE, SUITE 900 MEMBERS LOUIS M COHEN, CPA WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33401-5948 AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF JOHN C COURTNEY, CPA, JD CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS DAVID S DONTEN, CPA TELEPHONE (561) 832-9292 JAMES B HUTCHISON, CPA FAX (561) 832-9455 FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF JOEL H LEVINE, CPA CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS JAMES F MULLEN, IV, CPA info@cdlcpa com MICHAEL J NALEZYTY, CPA THOMAS A PENCE, JR , CPA SCOTT L PORTER, CPA MARK D VEIL, CPA

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Opinions In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental activities and major fund of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation, as of September 30, 2015, and the respective changes in financial position for the year then ended in accordance with U.S generally accepted accounting principles. Other Matters Required Supplementary Information U.S. generally accepted accounting principles require that management’s discussion and analysis on pages 3 through 7 and the budgetary comparison information on pages 15 and 16 be presented to supplement the basic financial statements. Such information, although not a part of the basic financial statements, is required by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, who considers it to be an essential part of financial reporting for placing the basic financial statements in an appropriate operational, economic, or historical context. We have applied certain limited procedures to the required supplementary information in accordance with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards, which consisted of inquiries of management about the methods of preparing the information and comparing the information for consistency with management’s responses to our inquiries, the basic financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during our audit of the basic financial statements. We do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on the information because the limited procedures do not provide us with sufficient evidence to express an opinion or provide any assurance. Other Reporting Required by Government Auditing Standards In accordance with Government Auditing Standards, we have also issued our report dated November 28, 2015, on our consideration of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting and on our tests of its compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters. The purpose of that report is to describe the scope of our testing of internal control over financial reporting and compliance and the results of that testing, and not to provide an opinion on internal control over financial reporting or on compliance. That report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards in considering Scripps Florida Funding Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting and compliance.

West Palm Beach, Florida November 28, 2015

3

Management’s Discussion and Analysis

Acting in our capacity as the management of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation (“SFFC”), we offer readers of SFFC’s financial statements this narrative overview and analysis of the financial activities of

SFFC as of and for the year ended September 30, 2015. SFFC is governed by a nine member Board of Directors, three of whom are appointed by the Governor of the State of Florida, three of whom are

appointed by the President of the Senate of the State of Florida, and three of whom are appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State of Florida. For financial reporting purposes,

management determined that SFFC should be reported as a governmental organization and a component

unit of the State of Florida based on the appointment of the Board of Directors by officials of State government.

SFFC is a Florida not-for-profit public benefit corporation created by Florida Statutes, Section 288.955,

and was incorporated on December 8, 2003, for the primary purpose of overseeing the establishment and operation of a state-of-the-art biomedical research institution and campus in Palm Beach County, Florida,

by The Scripps Research Institute (“TSRI”). The development of the Scripps Florida project was financed by a Federal economic development grant of $310 million to the State of Florida that was passed through

to SFFC to administer. SFFC was required to distribute to TSRI the $310 million grant proceeds, plus the

net investment income thereon and less an annual administrative appropriation to SFFC over a ten year period ending with a final grant distribution to TSRI on December 15, 2013. Thereafter, SFFC is required

to oversee the Scripps Florida project and the State’s investment of public funds through the year 2024.

As part of the annual audited financial statements of SFFC, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board requires the presentation of certain comparative information for the current and prior year in this

Management’s Discussion and Analysis.

Financial Highlights

The assets of SFFC exceeded its liabilities at September 30, 2015 by $324,158 (net position), all of which will be utilized in future years for SFFC’s oversight of the Scripps Florida project.

SFFC’s total assets were $328,411 at September 30, 2015, consisting primarily of cash attributable to

the unexpended portion of the annual $200,000 administrative appropriation for the operations of SFFC. The annual administrative appropriation ended with a final payment on December 15, 2013.

As of September 30, 2015, the General Fund of SFFC reported ending fund balance of $324,158. Of

this total amount, $9,714 is nonspendable for prepaid items and $314,444 is unrestricted and available to fund the future operations of SFFC.

Overview of the Financial Statements

This discussion and analysis is intended to serve as an introduction to SFFC’s basic financial statements.

The basic financial statements of SFFC include three components: (1) government-wide financial statements, (2) fund financial statements, and (3) notes to the financial statements. This report also

contains other supplementary information in addition to the basic financial statements themselves.

Government-wide financial statements. The government-wide financial statements are designed to provide

readers with a broad overview of SFFC’s finances, in a manner similar to a private-sector business.

The statement of net position presents information on SFFC’s assets and liabilities, with the difference between the two reported as net position. Over time, increases or decreases in net position may serve as a

useful indicator of whether the financial position of SFFC is improving or deteriorating.

4

The statement of activities presents information showing how SFFC’s net position changed during the most

recent fiscal year. All changes in net position are reported as soon as the underlying event giving rise to the change occurs, regardless of the timing of related cash flow. Thus, some revenues and expenses may be

reported in this statement for items that will only result in cash flows in future fiscal periods.

The government-wide financial statements present functions of SFFC that are principally supported by the unexpended portion of an annual administrative appropriation from the State for the operations of

SFFC (governmental activities). The annual administrative appropriation ended with a final payment on December 15, 2013. The governmental activities of SFFC include all General Fund functions.

SFFC has no business-type activities that are intended to recover all or a significant portion of their costs through user fees and charges.

The government-wide financial statements can be found on pages 8 and 9 of this report.

Fund financial statements. A fund is a grouping of related accounts that is used to maintain control over

resources that have been segregated for specific activities or objectives. SFFC, like other state and local governments, uses fund accounting to ensure and demonstrate compliance with finance-related legal

requirements. SFFC utilizes only one fund, the General Fund, which is classified as a governmental fund

and accounts for all financial resources of SFFC.

Governmental funds. Governmental funds are used to account for essentially the same functions reported as governmental activities in the government-wide financial statements. However, unlike the government-

wide financial statements, the governmental fund financial statements focus on near-term inflows and outflows of spendable resources, as well as on balances of spendable resources available at the end of the fiscal

year. Such information may be useful in evaluating a government’s near-term financing requirements.

Because the focus of governmental funds is narrower than that of the government-wide financial

statements, it may be useful to compare the information presented for governmental funds with similar information presented for governmental activities in the government-wide financial statements. By doing

so, readers may better understand the long-term impact of SFFC’s near-term financing decisions. Both the governmental fund balance sheet and the governmental fund statement of revenues, expenditures, and

changes in fund balance provide a reconciliation to facilitate this comparison between the governmental fund and governmental activities. Since SFFC had no long-term assets or liabilities, there were no

differences between the revenues and expenditures/expenses of the governmental fund and governmental activities.

The basic governmental fund financial statements can be found on pages 8 and 9 of this report. Explanations of the reconciling items between the governmental fund and the governmental activities can

be found in Note D on page 14. SFFC adopts an annual appropriated budget for its General Fund. A budgetary comparison schedule has been provided on page 15 for the General Fund.

Notes to the financial statements. The notes provide additional information that is essential to a full

understanding of the data provided in the government-wide and fund financial statements. The notes to the financial statements can be found on pages 10-14 of this report.

Other information. In addition to the basic financial statements and accompanying notes, this report also presents certain required supplementary information concerning SFFC’s budget to actual results for the

General Fund for the current fiscal year. The required supplementary information can be found on pages 15 and 16 of this report.

5

Government-wide Financial Analysis

As noted earlier, net position may serve over time as a useful indicator of a government’s financial

position. The assets, liabilities and net position of SFFC at September 30, 2015 and 2014 are summarized as follows:

Net Position

2015 2014Assets Cash and other current asset $ 328,411 $ 409,982

Liabilities Current liabilities $ 4,253 $ 3,195

Net position

Unrestricted $ 324,158 $ 406,787

SFFC’s unrestricted net position of $324,158 represents the funds available for the future operations of SFFC that will be expensed in subsequent fiscal years. At the end of the current fiscal year, SFFC reported

a positive balance of $324,158 in net position that will decrease over time as funds are expensed for future administrative operations of SFFC.

Governmental activities. Governmental activities decreased SFFC’s net position by $82,629 in 2015 and

by $121,577 in 2014. Key elements of this change are as follows.

Changes in Net Position

2015 2014

Revenues $ - $ -

Expenses General government 82,629 121,577

Change in net position (82,629) (121,577)

Net position – beginning of year

Net position – end of year

406,787

$ 324,158

528,364

$ 406,787

The final grant payment was made by SFFC on December 15, 2013 and the expenses for 2015 and 2014

consisted solely of administrative expenses for the operations of SFFC. The general government expenses consisted primarily of professional fees associated with the monitoring responsibilities of SFFC and

administrative expenses, such as insurance.

Financial Analysis of the Government’s Funds

As noted earlier, SFFC uses fund accounting to ensure and demonstrate compliance with finance-related legal requirements.

6

Governmental funds. The focus of the governmental funds is to provide information on near-term inflows,

outflows and balances of spendable resources. Such information is useful in assessing SFFC’s financing requirements. In particular, unreserved fund balance may serve as a useful measure of a government’s net

resources available for spending at the end of the fiscal year. As noted previously, SFFC has only one governmental fund, the General Fund.

As of the end of the current period, SFFC’s governmental fund reported ending fund balance of $324,158.

Substantially all of the ending fund balance ($314,444) constitutes unassigned fund balance, which is available to finance future spending by SFFC for activities related to its ongoing statutory oversight

responsibility for the Scripps Florida project through the year 2024. The remaining fund balance of $9,714

relates to prepaid items and is considered nonspendable because it is not in spendable form.

Key factors to consider in analyzing the fund balance for the General Fund are as follows:

SFFC is limited by Florida statutes to expenditures of $200,000 annually for administrative expenses.

The final appropriation of $200,000 to finance the administrative expenses of SFFC was received on December 15, 2013.

The unexpended portion of each annual administrative budget allocation of $200,000 was carried over from prior years and will be used to fund the future administrative operations of SFFC.

General Fund Budgetary Highlights

There were no differences between the original budget and the final amended budget for the year ended September 30, 2015.

During the year, revenues consisted solely of an allocation of $126,470 from accumulated fund balance. Expenditures were less than budgetary estimates by approximately $45,000, which was attributable

primarily to lower professional fees incurred for the grant monitoring activities of SFFC.

Capital Asset and Debt Administration

Capital assets. SFFC has not purchased any capital assets.

Long-term debt. SFFC is not permitted to incur long-term debt.

Economic Factors and Next Year’s Budget

SFFC’s budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year is based on the following considerations:

The contract between SFFC and TSRI does not expire until the year 2024. During this remaining time period, SFFC has a contractual obligation to exercise continued oversight of the Scripps Florida project and the State’s investment of public funds. The operations of SFFC for the fiscal

year ending September 30, 2016 and for future years will include administrative expenses related

to this ongoing oversight responsibility.

Following the final grant disbursement to TSRI and related administrative allocation to SFFC on December 15, 2013, there are presently no arrangements to provide further funds for SFFC to carry out its contractual oversight obligations of the Scripps Florida project through the year

2024. Accordingly, SFFC will continue to operate utilizing its remaining cash balances, until those

amounts are depleted (currently estimated to be depleted in 2018). Thereafter, management expects that SFFC will cease operations and dissolve the corporation, and all contractual

responsibilities of SFFC for the Scripps Florida project will revert to the State of Florida.

7

Requests for Information

This financial report is designed to provide a general overview of SFFC’s finances for all those with an interest in the organization’s finances. Questions concerning any of the information provided in this

report or requests for additional financial information should be addressed to the Scripps Project Director

at 130 Scripps Way, #B41, Jupiter, Florida, 33458.


GOVERNMENTAL FUND BALANCE SHEET/STATEMENT OF NET POSITION

September 30, 2015

ASSETSCash $ 318,697 $ - $ 318,697 Prepaid items 9,714 - 9,714

TOTAL ASSETS $ 328,411 - 328,411

LIABILITYAccounts payable $ 4,253 - 4,253

TOTAL LIABILITY 4,253 - 4,253

FUND BALANCE/NET POSITIONFund balance

Nonspendable - prepaid items 9,714 (9,714) - Unassigned 314,444 (314,444) -

TOTAL FUND BALANCE 324,158 (324,158) -

TOTAL LIABILITY ANDFUND BALANCE $ 328,411

Net Position Unrestricted 324,158 324,158

TOTAL NET POSITION $ - $ 324,158

GovernmentalActivities

FundStatement ofGovernmentalNet Position

GeneralFund

Adjustments(Note D)

See notes to financial statements.

8


STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENTAL FUND REVENUES, EXPENDITURES,

AND CHANGES IN FUND BALANCE/STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES

Year Ended September 30, 2015

Revenues $ - $ - $ -

Expenditures/Expenses Current General government 82,629 - 82,629

82,629 - 82,629 Expenditures over revenues/

Change in net position (82,629) - (82,629)

Fund balance/Net position atOctober 1, 2014 406,787 - 406,787

Fund balance/Net position at September 30, 2015 $ 324,158 $ - $ 324,158

Statement ofGovernmentalFund Activities

Fund (Note D) ActivitiesGeneral Adjustments Governmental

See notes to financial statements.

9

SCRIPPS FLORIDA FUNDING CORPORATION NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS September 30, 2015

10

NOTE A - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Scripps Florida Funding Corporation (“SFFC”) is a Florida not-for-profit, public benefit corporation created by Florida Statutes, Section 288.955, and was incorporated on December 8, 2003, for the purpose of enhancing education and research and promoting, developing, and advancing the business prosperity and economic welfare of the State of Florida and its residents by facilitating and overseeing the establishment and operation of a state-of-the-art biomedical research institution and campus in the State by The Scripps Research Institute (“TSRI”). SFFC is exempt from income taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. SFFC is governed by a nine member Board of Directors, three of whom are appointed by the Governor of the State of Florida, three of whom are appointed by the President of the Senate of the State of Florida, and three of whom are appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State of Florida. Financial Reporting Entity: For financial reporting purposes, management determined that SFFC should be reported as a governmental organization and a component unit of the State of Florida based on the appointment of the Board of Directors by officials of State government. In considering potential component units to include in the SFFC financial reporting entity, management applied the criteria set forth in U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). As defined by GAAP, the financial reporting entity consists of (a) the primary government, (b) organizations for which the primary government is financially accountable, and (c) other organizations for which the primary government is not accountable, but for which the nature and significance of their relationship with the primary government are such that exclusion would cause the financial reporting entity’s financial statements to be misleading or incomplete. Component units are legally separate organizations for which the elected officials of the primary government are financially accountable. In addition, component units can be other organizations for which the nature and significance of their relationship with the primary government are such that exclusion would cause the financial reporting entity’s financial statements to be misleading or incomplete. Based upon the application of these criteria, SFFC found that there were no entities to consider as potential component units. Government-wide/Governmental Fund Financial Statements: SFFC is a special-purpose government engaged in one primary governmental activity, to facilitate and oversee the establishment and operation of a state-of-the-art biomedical research institution and campus in the State by The Scripps Research Institute. SFFC accounts for all financial resources in one fund, the General Fund, which includes all governmental activities of SFFC, which are supported primarily by accumulated net position/fund balance from prior years’ administrative appropriations received from the State of Florida. Accordingly, the Government-wide and Governmental Fund financial statements of SFFC are combined using a columnar format that reconciles individual line items of General Fund financial data to Government-wide data in separate columns on the face of the financial statements. The Governmental Fund financial statements include a Balance Sheet and a Statement of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balance for the General Fund. The Government-wide financial statements consist of the Statement of Net Position and the Statement of Activities. Note D explains the reconciling items presented in the adjustments column of the combined Government-wide and Governmental Fund financial statements. Measurement Focus and Basis of Accounting: Financial reporting is based upon pronouncements of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), as well as pronouncements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that do not conflict with or contradict GASB pronouncements.


11

NOTE A - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Continued) The government-wide financial statements are reported using the economic resources measurement focus and the accrual basis of accounting. Revenue is recognized when earned and expenses are recognized when incurred, regardless of the timing of related cash flows. SFFC does not allocate indirect expenses. Governmental fund financial statements are reported using the current financial resources measurement focus and the modified accrual basis of accounting. Under the modified accrual basis of accounting, revenues are recognized in the period in which they become both measurable and available. Revenues are considered to be available when collectible within the current period or soon enough thereafter to pay liabilities of the current period. SFFC considers revenues to be available if collected within 90 days of the end of the fiscal year to which they apply. Revenue items are considered to be measurable and available only when received in cash by SFFC. Expenditures are generally recognized in the accounting period in which the fund liability is incurred. Cash: Cash consists of amounts on deposit in a non-interest bearing checking account with a financial institution. Prepaid Items: Certain payments to vendors reflect costs applicable to future accounting periods and are recorded as prepaid items. Fund Balance/ Net Position: Fund Balance

In the fund financial statements, governmental funds report fund balance classifications that comprise a hierarchy based primarily on the extent to which SFFC is legally bound to honor the specific purposes for which amounts in fund balance may be spent. The fund balance classifications are summarized as follows:

Nonspendable - Nonspendable fund balance includes amounts that cannot be spent because they are either 1) not in spendable form; or, 2) legally or contractually required to be maintained intact.

Restricted - Restricted fund balance includes amounts that are restricted to specific purposes either by 1) constraints placed on the use of resources by creditors, grantors, contributors, or laws or regulations of other governments; or, 2) imposed by law through constitutional provisions or enabling legislation. SFFC has no restricted fund balance.

Committed - Committed fund balance includes amounts that can only be used for specific purposes pursuant to constraints imposed by SFFC’s Board through a resolution. SFFC has no committed fund balance.

Assigned - Assigned fund balance includes amounts that are constrained by SFFC’s intent to be used for specific purposes but are neither restricted nor committed. Assignments of fund balance are made by SFFC management based upon direction by SFFC’s Board. SFFC has no assigned fund balance.

Unassigned - Unassigned fund balance includes amounts that have not been restricted, committed, or assigned to specific purposes within the General Fund.


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NOTE A - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Continued) SFFC considers restricted fund balance to be spent when an expenditure is incurred for the restricted purpose. SFFC considers committed, assigned or unassigned fund balance to be spent when an expenditure is incurred for purposes for which amounts in any of those fund balance classifications could be used. The SFFC Board has not adopted a formal minimum fund balance policy because the mission of SFFC is to expend all remaining fund balance for monitoring the economic development grant to TSRI, pursuant to the terms of the Operating and Funding Agreement between SFFC and TSRI. Net Position

The government-wide financial statements utilize a net position presentation, which is categorized as follows:

Restricted – This component of net position consists of constraints placed on the use of net position by external restrictions imposed by vendors, contributors, or laws or regulations of other governments or constraints imposed by law, constitutional provisions or enabling legislation. Restricted resources are used first to fund expenses incurred for restricted purposes. SFFC has no restricted net position.

Unrestricted – This component of net position consists of amounts that do not meet the definition of Restricted.

Economic Development Grant: SFFC entered into an Operating and Funding Agreement (the “Agreement”) with TSRI dated January 30, 2004. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, SFFC provided an economic development grant to TSRI in the amount of $310 million plus the net investment income thereon and less an annual administrative appropriation to SFFC. Subject to compliance by TSRI with the terms of the Agreement and annual approval of a grant request by SFFC, the economic development grant was payable to TSRI in quarterly installments on March 15th, June 15th, September 15th and December 15th of each year through the final payment date of December 15, 2013. At September 30, 2015, all grant payments were disbursed and TSRI was in compliance with the Agreement. Property Taxes: SFFC receives no property taxes. Risk Management: SFFC is exposed to various risks of loss related to torts; theft of, damage to, and destruction of assets; errors and omissions; injuries to employees; and natural disasters. SFFC purchases commercial insurance for the risks of losses to which it is exposed. Policy limits and deductibles are reviewed annually by management and established at amounts to provide reasonable protection from significant financial loss. Settlements have not exceeded insurance coverage since inception. Income Taxes: SFFC is exempt from income taxes as a public charity under the provisions of Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), except for any net income derived from unrelated business activities. Management does not believe that SFFC has any unrelated business activities that could result in a tax liability or any uncertain tax positions that would be material to the financial statements. SFFC’s tax returns for tax years prior to 2011 are no longer subject to examination by taxing authorities. New Accounting Pronouncements: SFFC has implemented all applicable GASB Statements effective through the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015. GASB has also issued Statements Nos. 72 through 77, which will be effective in future years, although management does not believe that any of these GASB Statements will be applicable to SFFC.


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NOTE A - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Continued) Estimates: Management uses estimates and assumptions in preparing financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Those estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, and the reported revenues and expenditures. Actual results could vary from the estimates that were used. NOTE B - CASH At September 30, 2015, SFFC had deposits with financial institutions with a carrying value and bank balance of approximately $326,000. The deposits with financial institutions were entirely covered by federal depository insurance and a collateral pool pledged to the State Treasurer of Florida by financial institutions that comply with the requirements of Florida Statutes and have been designated as a qualified public depository by the State Treasurer. Qualified public depositories are required to pledge collateral to the State Treasurer with a fair value equal to a percentage of the average daily balance of all government deposits in excess of any federal deposit insurance. In the event of a default by a qualified public depository, the amount of public funds would be covered by the proceeds of federal deposit insurance, pledged collateral of the public depository in default and, if necessary, a pro rata assessment to the other qualified public depositories in the collateral pool. Accordingly, all deposits with financial institutions are considered fully insured or collateralized in accordance with the provisions of GASB Statement No. 3. NOTE C - COMMITMENT AND CONTINGENCY Contract Commitment: Pursuant to the terms of the Operating and Funding Agreement, SFFC provided an economic development grant to TSRI of $310 million plus the investment income thereon and less an annual allocation to SFFC for administrative expenses of $200,000 through the contract year ended January 30, 2014, the tenth and final year of the economic development grant. The grant funds were paid to TSRI in quarterly installments over the ten year period to establish and operate a state-of-the-art biomedical research institution and campus in Florida, known as Scripps Florida. The final grant payment to TSRI was paid on December 15, 2013 and included all amounts on deposit with the State Board of Administration, less a final allocation of $200,000 to SFFC for its fiscal year administrative expense budget. Although the final payment from SFFC to TSRI for the Scripps Florida economic development grant was made on December 15, 2013, the contract between SFFC and TSRI does not expire until the year 2024. During this remaining period, SFFC has a contractual obligation to exercise continued oversight of the Scripps Florida project and the State’s investment of public funds. Following the final grant disbursement to TSRI and related budget allocation to SFFC on December 15, 2013, there are no commitments to provide further funding to SFFC to carry out its contractual obligations through the year 2024. Accordingly, SFFC presently intends to continue operations until its remaining cash balances are depleted (currently estimated to be depleted in 2018). Thereafter, management expects that SFFC will cease operations, the corporation will be dissolved and all contractual responsibilities of SFFC for the Scripps Florida project will revert to the State of Florida. Grants: Amounts received or receivable from grantor agencies are subject to audit and adjustment by those agencies. Any disallowed claims, including amounts already received, might constitute a liability of SFFC for the return of those funds.


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NOTE D - EXPLANATION OF ADJUSTMENTS BETWEEN GOVERNMENTAL FUND AND GOVERNMENT-WIDE FINANCIAL STATEMENT AMOUNTS The only adjustment between the Governmental Fund financial statements and the Government-wide financial statements is the reclassification of the Fund Balance reported for SFFC’s General Fund into the Net Position category reported for Governmental Activities in the Statement of Net Position. There were no differences between the Governmental Fund Statement of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balance and the Statement of Activities.

REQUIRED SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION


BUDGETARY COMPARISON SCHEDULE -

GENERAL FUND - NON-GAAP BUDGETARY BASIS

Year Ended September 30, 2015

RevenuesFund balance allocation for

administrative expenses $ 126,470 $ 126,470 $ - $ (126,470)

TOTAL REVENUES 126,470 126,470 - (126,470)

General Government Bank charges - - 48 (48) Insurance 29,500 29,500 28,750 750 Licenses and fees 120 120 61 59 Meeting expenses 500 500 107 393 Office supplies 500 500 45 455 Postage 250 250 68 182 Professional fees Legal 40,000 40,000 21,285 18,715 Accounting and auditing 32,500 32,500 18,359 14,141 Bookkeeping 150 150 - 150 Consulting 16,000 16,000 11,157 4,843 Research 4,000 4,000 - 4,000 Public meeting notices 300 300 60 240 Telephone 650 650 710 (60) Travel Board members 2,000 2,000 921 1,079

TOTAL EXPENDITURES 126,470 126,470 81,571 44,899

REVENUES OVER (UNDER)EXPENDITURES - BUDGETARY BASIS $ - $ - $ (81,571) $ (81,571)

Variance with

Budgeted Amounts ActualOriginal

Final BudgetPositive

Final Amounts (Negative)

See notes to budgetary comparison schedule.

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NOTES TO BUDGETARY COMPARISON SCHEDULE

September 30, 2015

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NOTE A - BUDGETARY ACCOUNTING

An appropriated budget is legally required and has been legally adopted for each contract year ending December 15th for the General Fund on the cash basis of accounting, except that for budgetary purposes,

the Board of Directors must approve all changes or amendments to the total budgeted expenditures of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation (SFFC). Total expenditures may not legally exceed total budgeted

appropriations at the fund level. SFFC has not made any supplemental appropriations for the contract year ending December 15, 2015. Appropriations lapse at the end of each contract year.

Expenditures for general government purposes are legally limited by Florida Statutes to $300,000 for the

first contract year of operations, ending on December 15, 2004, and $200,000 for each contract year

thereafter. Because SFFC is legally required to adopt its budget for the contract year ended December 15th, the General Fund budgetary comparison schedule is not intended to and does not present budgetary

compliance on a contract year basis. For purposes of the contract year budget and legal limitation, the budgetary basis expenditures for general government purposes were $81,632 through September 30,

2015, and were within the $200,000 statutory limitation for the contract period ending December 15, 2015. Expenditures for the contract year ended December 15, 2014 were within the statutory limitation of

$200,000.

NOTE B - BUDGET TO ACTUAL COMPARISONS

The General Fund budgetary comparison schedule presents actual amounts for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015 and budgeted amounts based on an allocation of the budget for the contract years

ended December 15, 2014 and 2015. The budget amounts presented in the accompanying budgetary comparison schedule reflect the original budget and the amended budget based on legally authorized

revisions to the original budget during the year.

U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) require that the General Fund budgetary comparison schedule be prepared under the cash basis of accounting used in preparing the budget. As a

result, General Fund revenues and expenditures reported in the budgetary comparison schedule differ

from the revenues and expenditures reported on the GAAP basis. The difference can be reconciled as follows:

Revenues Expenditures

Budgetary basis

GAAP basis adjustments:Fund balance allocation to revenues

Modified accrual basis adjustments

GAAP Basis

$ 126,470

(126,470)

-

$ -

$ 81,571

-

1,058

$ 82,629

COMPLIANCE REPORT ANDMANAGEMENT LETTER

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Independent Auditor’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting and on Compliance and Other Matters Based on an Audit of Financial

Statements Performed in Accordance With Government Auditing Standards To the Board of Directors Scripps Florida Funding Corporation Jupiter, Florida We have audited, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, the financial statements of the governmental activities and major fund of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation, a component unit of the State of Florida, as of and for the year ended September 30, 2015, and the related notes to the financial statements, which collectively comprise Scripps Florida Funding Corporation’s basic financial statements, and have issued our report thereon dated November 28, 2015. Internal Control over Financial Reporting In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements, we considered Scripps Florida Funding Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting (internal control) to determine the audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances for the purpose of expressing our opinions on the financial statements, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation’s internal control. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation’s internal control. A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and correct, misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entity’s financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis. A significant deficiency is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those charged with governance. Our consideration of internal control was for the limited purpose described in the first paragraph of this section and was not designed to identify all deficiencies in internal control that might be material weaknesses or, significant deficiencies. Given these limitations, during our audit we did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses. However, material weaknesses may exist that have not been identified.



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Compliance and Other Matters As part of obtaining reasonable assurance about whether Scripps Florida Funding Corporation’s financial statements are free from material misstatement, we performed tests of its compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements, noncompliance with which could have a direct and material effect on the determination of financial statement amounts. However, providing an opinion on compliance with those provisions was not an objective of our audit, and accordingly, we do not express such an opinion. The results of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards. Purpose of this Report The purpose of this report is solely to describe the scope of our testing of internal control and compliance and the results of that testing, and not to provide an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control or on compliance. This report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards in considering the entity’s internal control and compliance. Accordingly, this communication is not suitable for any other purpose.


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Management Letter To the Board of Directors Scripps Florida Funding Corporation Jupiter, Florida Report on the Financial Statements We have audited the financial statements of Scripps Florida Funding Corporation, a component unit of the State of Florida, as of and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015, and have issued our report thereon dated November 28, 2015. Auditor’s Responsibility We conducted our audit in accordance with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards; the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; and Chapter 10.700, Rules of the Auditor General. Other Reports and Schedule We have issued our Independent Auditor’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting and on Compliance and Other Matters Based on an Audit of Financial Statements Performed in Accordance with Government Auditing Standards. Disclosures in that report, which is dated November 28, 2015, should be considered in conjunction with this management letter. Prior Audit Findings Chapter 10.700, Rules of the Auditor General, requires that we determine whether or not corrective actions have been taken to address findings and recommendations made in the preceding annual financial audit report. There were no prior year findings and recommendations. Other Matters Chapter 10.700, Rules of the Auditor General, requires disclosure in the management letter of noncompliance with provisions of contracts or grant agreements, or abuse, that have occurred, or are likely to have occurred, that have an effect on financial statement amounts that is less than material but which warrants the attention of those charged with governance. In connection with our audit for the year ended September 30, 2015, we did not have any such findings or other recommendations to improve financial management.



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Purpose of this Letter Our management letter is intended solely for the information and use of the Legislative Auditing Committee, members of the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives, the Florida Auditor General and the Board of Directors, management and others within Scripps Florida Funding Corporation, and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.


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