SynapseThursday, April 3, 2014 synapse.ucsf.edu Volume 58, Number 25

The UCSF Student Newspaper

IN THIS ISSUENews Briefs » PAGE 3Mythbusters » PAGE 9Puzzles » PAGE 11

NEWSCatalyst AwardsStudents get inside access to product development » PAGE 10

NEWSCandidate StatementsVoting for the GPSA Elections will be held April 7-15 » PAGE 5

GENETIC TESTING » PAGE 9

Photo by Mason Tran/D4

NEWS

Scientific Publishing In The Era of Open Access

SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING » PAGE 8

This series explores the impact of open access journals on the scientific publishing industry. In this installment, we examine the publishing industry’s response to the growing popularity of open access journals.

Stacks of scientific journals on library shelves are becoming a vanishing sight as more publishers of-fer open access journals and other online subscription options.

Photo by Ernesto Diaz-Flores/Postdoc

NEWS

GSICE Program Helps Graduate Students Explore Career OptionsBy Alexandra LoucksStaff Writer

Imagine yourself five years out from get-ting your PhD. You could be a science journalist working for a newspaper, or in

a boardroom actively convincing venture cap-italists which of the latest scientific advance-ments they should back. Perhaps the thought of working with politicians in Washington, DC to reform STEM education policy makes your heart race. Or, maybe you are simply un-sure if academia is the right trajectory for you but don’t know what else to do.

If the latter applies to you, you are not alone. As far back as 1998, a study published by the National Research Council stated that the number of academic, government and in-dustry jobs was inadequate for the number of PhDs being churned out, revealing a need to drastically alter how graduate programs pre-pare students for future careers.

The NIH Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group Report stated similar find-ings in 2012, and suggested that graduate programs expose students to alternative ca-reers early on in their training and provide support for the transition. Luckily, at UCSF we have the visionary leadership that identi-

Students chat during an "GSice-breaker" seeson of the Graduate Student Internships for Career Ex-ploration (GSICE) program.

NEWS

Panel to Address State of the DTC Genetic Testing Industry

GSICE » PAGE 3

Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable will host April 7 debate By Benjamin CohnStaff Writer

The letter arrived in November. It was a cease-and-desist from the United States Food and Drug Administra-

tion (FDA) addressed to CEO Anne Wojcicki:“Since July of 2009, we have been dili-

gently working to help you comply with regulatory requirements regarding safety and effectiveness … You have not worked with us. Therefore, [you] must imme-diately discontinue marketing the [ge-netic testing kit] until such time as it receives FDA marketing authorization…” For only $99, Wojcicki’s company, the

Mountain View, California-based 23andMe, sells a kit which—until November—allowed customers to have DNA in their saliva tested for common genetic variants related to over 240 health conditions and traits. The traits range from the inane—earwax type or read-ing ability, for example—to the grave, such as risk of developing Parkinson’s disease or Al-zheimer’s. Though 23andMe continues to sell their kit, they now provide only non-health related interpretations of customers’ raw ge-netic data, which is primarily ancestry infor-mation.

The FDA had long resisted regulating the direct-to-consumer genetics industry, so why

Part 2By Alexandra GreerScience Editor

In October 2013, Science pub-lished an exposé of the peer review system at open access

journals around the world. In his self-described “sting operation,” author John Bohannon submitted a critically flawed scientific article to hundreds of open access jour-nals, with the intent of evaluating the quality of their peer review process.

Unlike the traditional closed access model of scientific publishing, in which subscription fees cover the cost of editing, publication and distribution of the scientific journal, open ac-cess journals are, as the name implies, free to access.

Bohannon’s article painted a bleak pic-ture of open access peer review. Out of roughly 300 journals tested, 157 open ac-cess journals accepted the paper, 98 rejected

it and 49 did not respond to the submission. However, Bohannon’s article, along with the journal Science, received criticism for ap-pearing biased because it failed to test the peer-review processes of any closed access journals alongside its test of open access jour-nals.

This questionable piece led to specu-lation about Science’s motives. Open ac-cess offers scientists a publishing alternative to the traditional closed journal mod-el, and its growing popularity among sci-entists could threaten the bottom line

of traditional journals and publishers. As both the content creators for as well as the end users of scientific journals, scientists are intimately wedded to the publishing in-dustry. Until recently, scientists had few op-tions when it came to where to publish their research.

The rise of the World Wide Web, with its ability to cut out the middleman, has brought disruption to scientific publishing. Open journals are able to make their articles avail-able to the public for free over the Internet

2 | April 3, 2014 | synapse.ucsf.edu

EVENTS

Journal Club

MISSION BAY EVENTSFOOD TRUCK THURSDAYS AT MISSION BAY Thursday, April 3, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 4th Street & Nelson Rising Lane, Mission Bay Join the food truck lunch party every Thursday at Mission Bay and explore the tasty culinary options to break up your routine. Each week will feature two different vendors, so there will always be something new. Grab some friends, get some food, and take your lunch experience up a notch.

THE TWO BODY PROBLEM Thursday, April 3, 6-7:30 p.m., Genentech Hall, N114, Mission Bay Want to have an independent career in science? Have a partner with similar ambitions? Worried about not just your individual job searches, but how to end up in the same geographical location? Come to a panel discussion with two couples that have completed successful joint job searches, and hear their stories and advice!

SYNAPSE NEWSPAPERFriday, April 4, noon-1 p.m., Graduate Division, CC-310, Mission Bay Synapse is looking for Mission Bay and Parnassus writers, bloggers, photographers and designers. Come to the lunch meeting, share your story ideas and enjoy a free lunch. RSVP to Steven Chin, synapse@ucsf.edu.

MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES Friday, April 4, 1-2:30 p.m., Helen Diller, 160, Mission Bay The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) for the UCSF Muslim community every week. Come join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer, lunch and socializing. All are welcome.

MISSION BAY RIPSFriday, April 4, 4-5 p.m., Genentech Hall Auditorium, Mission BayResearch In Progress Seminar is a seminar series at which one student and one postdoc present their current research. Talks are 15 minutes in length and are preceded by a 20-minute social. Snacks and beverages are provided.

23ANDME: DID THE FDA MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION?Monday, April 7, 6-9 p.m., Genentech Hall, Mission BayJoin the Business Club for a debate on the FDA’s decision to demand 23andMe to immediately stop selling and marketing their product, insisting that 23andMe’s report on “254 diseases and conditions” constitutes medical diagnostics, and therefore requires FDA approval.

MISSION BAY FARMERS’ MARKETWednesday, April 9, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Gene Friend Way Plaza, Mission BayShop healthy, shop fresh, shop California-grown at the UCSF Farmers' Market, every Wednesday (rain or shine). Sponsor: Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association

GAME NIGHT AT MISSION BAYWednesday, April 9, 6-9 p.m., Genentech Hall Atrium, Mission BayBring your favorite board games to share. Enjoy free beverages, pizza, and raffle prizes provided by GSA.

PARNASSUS EVENTS

CHANCELLOR’S CONCERT SERIES Thursday, April 3, noon-12:45 p.m., Cole Hall, Parnassus Looking for a place to study or relax between classes? CLS Arts & Events has got just what you need. The Chancellor's Concert Series on Thursdays is a great place to set up your laptop and study or just take a break from classes while listening to classical music. Seating beings at noon. If you are unable to come, you can now listen to the music through live stream. http://campuslifeservices.ucsf.edu/artsevents/29/the_chancellors_concert_series_streaming_live_and_archived

EXPERIMENTAL DANCE THEATRE WORKSHOP Thursday, April 3, 8:30-9:30 p.m., Millberry Fitness Center, Studio 2, Parnassus Experimental Dance Theatre will host an all-levels ballet workshop. Come and see what ballet is all about, brush up on your technique and meet our members!

MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES Friday, April 4, 1:30-2 p.m., Medical Sciences, 168, Parnassus The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) for the UCSF Muslim community every week. Come join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer, lunch and socializing.

CAMPUS EVANGELISTIC FELLOWSHIPFriday, April 4, 7-10:30 p.m., Nursing, 517, ParnassusJoin the Campus Evangelistic Fellowship for its weekly meeting, with Bible study, hymn singing and fellowship.

ASUC MEETING: DENTISTRY, MEDICINE & PHARMACY STUDENTSMonday, April 7, 5:30 p.m., Library, CL-221, ParnassusMeet your executive board members at the monthly ASUC meeting and be a part of the discussion on topics relating to student priorities. Visit the ASUC website for more details and to RSVP. http://bit.ly/ASUCwebsite

GSA MEETING: GRADUATE, NURSING & PTTuesday, April 8, 5:30 p.m., Library, CL-220, ParnassusMeet your executive board members at the monthly GSA meeting and be a part of the discussion on topics relating to student priorities. Visit the GSA website for more details and to RSVP. http://bit.ly/gsawebsite

PARNASSUS FARMERS’ MARKET Wednesday, April 9, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., ACC, 400 Parnassus Ave. Shop the Farmers’ Markets on Wednesdays to pick up locally grown produce and more. Sponsor: Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association.

SYNAPSE NEWSPAPER Wednesday, April 9, noon-1 p.m., Millberry Union 123W, ParnassusSynapse is looking for Mission Bay and Parnassus writers, bloggers, photographers and designers. Come to the lunch meeting, share your story ideas and enjoy a free lunch. Email synapse@ucsf.edu to RSVP.

IMN MIDWEEK MEDITATION HOURWednesday, April 9, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Library, CL 211, ParnassusThe Integrative Medicine Network invites everyone in the UCSF community to experience a weekly guided meditation. All are welcome, whether you are looking to combat day-to-day stress using meditation or you'd like to uncover subtle layers of your self by diving deep. No experience in meditation is necessary. Both regular meditators as well as amateurs are welcome.

UCSF RUN CLUB Wednesday, April 9, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Millberry Union Central Desk, ParnassusPlease drop by and join UCSF Fit & Rec for a run. Each Wednesday night, the Run Club runs various distances (from 3-6 miles) at 9 to 11 minutes per mile.

ENGLISH CORNERWednesday, April 9, 6-8:30 p.m., Clinical Sciences, 130, ParnassusEnglish Corner is an informal conversational English class given as a free community service and provided on a voluntary basis by both people born and raised in the United States as well as many people who have, at one time in their lives, experienced life as a new immigrant to the United States.

OFF-CAMPUSOFF THE GRID: UPPER HAIGHT Thursday, April 3, 5-9 p.m., Stanyan and Waller Streets, SFOff the Grid is a roaming mobile food extravaganza that travels to different locations daily to serve delicious food, with a free side of amazing music, craft and soul.

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: REEL TO REAL NIGHTLIFE Thursday, April 3, 6-10 p.m., Cal Academy, Golden Gate ParkLights, camera, action! This week, the magic of the movies comes to the museum as NightLife partners with the San Francisco Film Society for an evening of film-centric entertainment. Catch a screening of the Oscar-winning animated short Mr. Hublot and hear behind-the-scenes insights from the film’s animation supervisor Mickaël Coëdel. http://bit.ly/NightLifeTickets, http://bit.ly/CLSDiscounts.

EXPLORATORIUM: AFTER DARK Thursday, April 3, 6-10 p.m., Pier 15, SFExperience some of the fascinating and beautiful technologies that help us transcend our physical limitations. Featuring exoskeletons, wearable computers, 3D-printed prosthetics, electronically enhanced couture, and more. http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/calendar/after-dark

BANK OF AMERICA FREE MUSEUM WEEKEND Saturday, April 5-Sunday, April 6, Various locations, SFHolders of Bank of America credit cards and debit cards get free admission to several Bay Area museums for one weekend each month.http://bit.ly/BofAmuseums

LIVINGGREEN SEEKING STUDENT INTERN Are you interested in helping 'green' the University and learn new skills at the same time? Join a team of student interns to work on energy, water, or waste reduction projects by helping certify offices, labs, units or clinics as LivingGreen. This position just requires 10 hours/week and offers opportunities for training, building skills and interacting with staff across the university and medical center.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

For more information, contact Gail Lee at Gail.Lee@ucsf.edu.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER COURSE: FINANCING NEW VENTURES: DEADLINE APRIL 7Monday, April 14, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Byers Hall, 212, Mission BayFinancing New Ventures is an eight-week survey of the financing landscape for life science/healthcare ventures that explores the range of options to get your venture funded ranging from SBIR grants to seed funding, angel funding, venture capital and alternative sources of capital. Co-taught by Adjunct Professors Stephanie Marrus, Director of the Entrepreneurship Center and Naeem Zafar, UC Berkeley/UCSF. This is a non-credit course and is open to Berkeley, Stanford and life science businesses. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NhvYiHOv4DEkHk9Cpa5lafUoZ7aUYNGRhWyHnavwIoo/viewform

CALLING ALL ARTISTS FOR THE 2ND ANNUAL RECYCLED/RECLAIMED ART SHOWThe Visual Arts Club, Campus Life Services Arts & Events and Living Green are excited to present The Recycled/Reclaimed Art Show on Thursday, May 8. UCSF students, staff and facility are invited to join the show. All submittals must be 99% made from recycled, reused or reclaimed material. Applications are due by April 15. campuslifeservices.ucsf.edu/upload/artsevents/files/Recycled_Art_Show_Application_2014.

UCSA STUDENT LOBBY CONFERENCEApril 5-7, Sacramento, CA Join fellow UC students in speaking with state legislators at the State Capitol about legislation related to higher education issues. Never done it before? No problem! The weekend is full of workshops devoted to showing you how. All reasonable costs will be reimbursed by ASUC & GSA. Learn more: ucsa.org/our-work/ucsa-conferences/slc/. Registration is required, so please sign up in advance with Christoph Hanssmann. Register: Christoph.Hanssmann@ucsf.edu.

ARE YOU A FIRST GENERATION TO COLLEGE STUDENT (FG2C)? Register with the First Generation Support Services Office, for access to all of the First Generation Support Services and to help the office advocate for you. Register before April 15, 2014 to be entered to win one of three giveaways! bit.ly/firstgenregister.

FREE SYNAPSE CLASSIFIEDSUCSF students and staff can now post online classified ads for free on the Synapse website. All you need is an @ucsf.edu email account. Try it out! synapse.ucsf.edu/classifieds.

FG2C BROWN BAG MENTORINGThis Brown Bag Mentoring program is designed to help UCSF first generation college students connect with first gen faculty, postdocs, residents, fellows and alumni who have generously offered to meet with you over lunch. Sign up at bit.ly/brownbagmentor.

TABULATHE SYNAPSE

LITERARY ISSUE IS COMING APRIL 24!

Submit poems, short stories and

photos with captions to Synapse by APRIL 18. synapse@ucsf.edu.

synapse.ucsf.edu | April 3, 2014 | 3

STAFFYi Lu | EDITOR

Jenny Qi | EXECUTIVE EDITOR Angela Castanieto | ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Akshay Govind | ASSOCIATE EDITORSteven Chin | MANAGING EDITOR

About Synapse is the UCSF student-run weekly newspaper, which runs on Thursdays during the academic year and monthly during the summer. Synapse seeks to serve as a forum for the campus community. Articles and columns represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Board of Publications or the University of California.

Submissions Announcements and letters should be submitted six days before publication. All submissions can be either emailed or mailed. All material is subject to editing. Letters to the Editor must be signed by the author.Subscriptions Subscriptions cost $20/year ($40/outside US).

Advertising Paid advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views of Synapse. Synapse and its editorial board reserve the right to decline advertisements promoting false or misleading claims, known health risks, or content deemed by the editors to be antithetical to the interests of UCSF students or the UCSF community. Synapse does not accept advertisements from tobacco or alcohol manufacturers, or sexually oriented personal ads. Synapse reserves the right to run any ad with a disclaimer.

500 Parnassus Ave. Millberry Union 108W

San Francisco, CA 94143tel: (415) 476-2211 | fax: (415) 502-4537

synapse@ucsf.edu

SynapseThe UCSF Student Newspapersynapse.ucsf.edu

NEWS BRIEFSTwo Dental Students Honored As 2014 Schweitzer Fellows

Second-year dental students Valentina Zahran and Jean Calvo have been awarded prestigious Schweitzer Fellowships for 2014, which seeks to improve the health of vulner-able people.

Fellows work on community health proj-ects under the supervision of mentors. Zah-ran's project is geared toward survivors of human trafficking, as San Francisco is a huge hub for this population. By working with the Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE) Project, she will develop an oral health curric-ulum for trafficking survivors, which seeks to improve their oral health.

Calvo's project will focus on the Em-eryville Senior Center and West Oakland Senior Center, and is a community service project aiming to increase awareness of and access to care for the senior citizens in the East Bay.

Take the UCPD Emergency Management Survey

The UCPD Emergency Management Di-vision wants to know how best to reach out to the UCSF community, learn what our stu-dents, faculty, staff and affiliates perceive as their greatest concerns for disaster prepared-ness, and what types of emergency prepared-ness services and resources they currently use and would like to receive from UCSF. Our goal is to provide students, faculty, staff and affiliates with emergency preparedness infor-mation, plans and resources so that together we can be UCSF Prepared.

Please complete one or more of the fol-lowing surveys between April 1 and April 15. Surveys should take an average of five min-utes each to complete. Upon completion of each survey you will be automatically entered into a prize drawing for a four person-seven day emergency preparedness kit. The more surveys you complete, the greater chance of winning! Winner(s) will be notified by e-mail by April 30, 2014.

1. Emergency Preparedness Informa-tion Sources: https://ucsf.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cP9LfOvkSyeyBzn

2. Emergency Preparedness Desired Services: https://ucsf.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_e3xIjTnyNWpcv2d

3. Emergency Preparedness Resource Awareness: https://ucsf.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ehr8t7mg3DJVy7j

4. Emergency Preparedness Prac-tices: https://ucsf.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_87CQyWaqCgy4o5v

UCSF Presents Plans for Mission Bay Purchase

UCSF presented preliminary plans for the acquisition and development of a new site at Mission Bay to community members on March 13. In a presentation to the Mis-sion Bay Citizens Advisory Committee, UCSF said it is in advanced discussions with Sales-force.com to acquire a parcel of land known as Blocks 33 and 34, directly across Third Street from the UCSF Medical Center at Mis-sion Bay.

While UCSF is still formulating initial plans for the site, the University would expect to build it out as designated in the Mission Bay South Redevelopment Plan and would follow the plan guidelines for height, bulk, setbacks, streetscape landscaping and other design matters.

Buildings would be permitted up to 90 feet tall, with a tower up to 160 feet tall in a limited area at the north end of the site. UCSF will conduct a community process to solicit feedback on height, bulk and building design from neighbors.

GSICE » FROM HOME PAGEfied the need for this support mechanism and implemented a program five years ago called the Graduate Student Internships for Career Exploration (GSICE) program. A collabo-ration between UCSF’s School of Medicine, the Office of Career and Professional Devel-opment (OCPD) and the Graduate Division, GSICE’s mission is to “support mentored ca-reer exploration by providing career planning and internship opportunities for UCSF’s basic and biomedical PhD students so that they can make free and informed career decisions by the time of graduation.”

During the four-month course, students are exposed to multiple career trajectories and actively participate in a series of workshops to improve their chances of obtaining an intern-ship in the career of their choice.

“As a whole, the GSICE program activities provided a structured exploration of my inter-ests and guided me towards the careers that I would find most fulfilling,” said Veena Singla, PhD, an alumna of the course. She interned with KQED’s Quest program, “a multimedia series that strives to deepen our understand-ing of some of today’s most pressing sustain-ability topics,” explained Singla.

Now, she’s a staff scientist in the Health and Environment Program at the Natural Re-sources Defense Council, a national nonprofit organization.

“GSICE support was critical for my internship at KQED, and that intern-ship helped guide my path,” she said. GSICE Program Coordinator Alexan-dra Schnoes, PhD, understands the plight of

graduate students trying to navigate their way through their own research and the great un-known of the future career path.

“You can simultaneously be really com-mitted to your project but not want to do re-search long term, and that can sometimes be a challenge for [others] to understand—that those are not mutually exclusive,” said Schnoes.

Keeping that principle in mind, GSICE was designed to help students actively de-cide what they wanted to do after graduation. “Not only were we going to send students on internships, but there should be a process by which students figure out what those intern-ships should be and be ready for the experi-ence,” she added.

Thus, GSICE comprises a training com-ponent and an internship component. The training component consists of a series of workshops designed to expose students to al-ternative careers; assess the skills, values and interests that each student possesses to de-termine which career might best suit them. The workshops also address real-world is-sues, such as improving resume writing, how to conduct informational interviews and a Myers-Brigg inventory to discover commu-nication styles.

Additionally, students receive one-on-one sessions with a GSICE lead-er to help sort through the information and answer any questions they may have. “Our vision is that no one does a default anything after they graduate from here,” said

Schnoes. “If you do a postdoc, it’s because you know it’s the right career move for you. If you don’t do a postdoc, it’s because you know you want to do something that doesn’t require it.”

The internship component provides stu-dents with the much-needed hands-on expe-rience in careers of their choice in order to make an informed decision about their ca-reer trajectory. Karl Saldanha, PhD, took the GSICE course in 2010 and pursued an intern-ship at Genentech. While there, he worked on implementing a mobile application that would “allow employees to view real-time produc-tion process data on their mobile phones,” Saldanha explained.

The internship was “great exposure to the biopharmaceutical industry, and helped me to confirm that this was the career path that I wanted to pursue following graduate school,” he added.

A preliminary analysis of the students that have completed the program indicates that those who pursued an internship were more likely to go into their field of interest, whereas those who did not pursue an intern-ship more often stayed in academia. Further-more, Schnoes has seen a change in the way outside organizations view graduate student internships.

“When GSICE started, the idea of grad-uate students doing internships was foreign. You had to explain to companies how it was going to work and why [they] should want a grad student and how that was different than an undergrad,” said Schnoes. “I’ve seen a lot more awareness, even just in postings. Now some sites will actually target internships to graduate students.”

Now that GSICE has hit the five-year mark, Schnoes and the OCPD are reflecting about future goals and priorities. The Moti-vating Informed Decisions (MIND) project is just getting started (see Synapse, Febru-ary 28), and may take over the “early inter-vention” aspect of GSICE, targeting younger students and helping them explore alternative career options sooner rather than later.

This will allow GSICE to focus on helping students succeed in obtaining an internship. Furthermore, the program at UCSF is reach-ing out to other campuses in order to help implement similar programs and foster cross-collaboration. For example, through a grant with the Gordon and Betty Moore Founda-tion, GSICE is partnering with UC Davis to start a GSICE-like program there.

Finally, GSICE wants to expand here at UCSF, possibly growing to two workshop se-ries a year in order to target a larger student audience.

Kate Vitale, who is currently enrolled in GSICE, emphasizes the importance of this training. "I feel really lucky that UCSF rec-ognizes the need for a program like GSICE,” said Vitale. “The skills the program teaches are extremely valuable—even for students that are convinced that they want to stay in aca-demia—and should be part of any graduate school education."

Alexandra Loucks is a seventh-year Neurosci-ence student.

GSICE students participate in a calendaring exercise.

Photo by Cynthia Fuhrmann

GSICE Program Coordinator Alexandra Schnoes.Photo courtesty of Alexandra Schnoes

4 | April 3, 2014 | synapse.ucsf.edu

But only one password?Make sure your UCSF password is different.

Using a different password ensures that a breach of a social networking site does not affect your UCSF account. Additionally, never put confidential information on social networking websites.

Be smart – go to security.ucsf.edu and use our free tools to protect the UCSF community.Together, we can advance health worldwide - securely.

So many social networking sites...

UCSF IT SECURITY AWARENESS

Take the IT Security Challenge! Go to http://awareness.ucsf.edu

EVERYONE WINS A PRIZE!

synapse.ucsf.edu | April 3, 2014 | 5

GPSA ELECTIONSCANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT

Matthew Cummings

Candidate StatementsOnline voting takes place April 7-15.

UCSF graduate and profes-sional student body, we are em-barking into an important era of the University. We have seen a change of some valuable leader-ship in our chancellor; the expan-sion of our campus split between 5 miles of dense city landscape; San Francisco’s housing costs have skyrocketed, along with general costs of living; and a new student government has been ap-proved which needs strong lead-ership to transition smoothly. Such impactful changes as these have the power to completely remodel a small student com-munity such as ours, sometimes without our knowledge or under-standing.

As a member of ASUC this past year, I have worked with in-credibly talented and passionate young graduates and profession-als from every school on cam-pus and familiarized myself with

these issues. While on the com-mittee to develop the GPSA by-laws and constitution, I gained a unique perspective from my col-leagues, bringing my attention to many unmet needs and challeng-es of our students.

I hope to continue serving the student body as president of GPSA, and promise to work ad-amantly with faculty to address immediate needs of the students while assuring that student inter-ests are taken into consideration during these long-term changes.

The division between Mis-sion Bay and Parnassus has nev-er been more apparent than it is today. As a professional student, too many Mission Bay colleagues walk in late to class or meetings, complaining that the bus was too full and they had to wait anoth-er 20 minutes. As students at a world-class university, we should not have to worry that our inter-

nal transit system is operating so inadequately as to prevent timely attendance to classes or meetings. I intend on addressing this issue directly, either by requesting fur-ther increased shuttle service or a student-only shuttle service to run extra “Grey” lines during peak hours.

Furthermore, as Mission Bay develops, the student services must expand to meet the needs of both student populations on each campus. I hope to work with student services in setting up new offices at Mission Bay for finan-cial aid and student life, as well as address any other concerns of the growing Mission Bay community.

Every student should be concerned with the cost and availability of student housing provided by UCSF. In such an expensive city, I believe the ad-ministration should be more proactive in providing afford-

able housing for students in both quality and quantity, the latter of which has been largely neglect-ed. This is not a problem that is solved easily due to external eco-nomic forces; however it should be made a priority as it directly affects the recruitment and reten-tion of students.

I hope that every student is excited to enter this new era at UCSF. I want to inspire confi-dence in you that, at the hands of good leadership, these chang-es will benefit every student on campus.

In my support and develop-ment of GPSA, I hope that this new student government can unite graduate and professional students in an interoprofessional forum to collaborate and better our university and society.

CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT

Michael Le I am Michael Le, a seventh-

year DDS/PhD student running for President of Graduate and Professional Students Association (GPSA). As GPSA President, my primary goal is demonstrating to the UCSF students how their new unified voice in GPSA will continue to serve as an avenue to express their thoughts on many issues important them while en-riching their student experience.

My experience as both a graduate and professional stu-dent enables me to better un-derstand the sentiments of each general population on key is-sues such as housing, trans-portation, and health care, etc. As a result, I can easily con-vey these sentiments to my peers and campus representa-tives, influencing the decisions that may positively or negative-ly affect student life at UCSF for the short- and long-term. With my involvement in Grad-

uate Students’ Association (GSA) for the past 2.5 years, initially as a Student Events Committee mem-ber and now as Interim President, I have seen how many decisions are made at UCSF, by GSA as well as the UCSF campus admin-istration, on issues that affect stu-dents.

While students are often pres-ent to make comments and sug-gestions prior to such decisions being made, it has sometimes been challenging to ensure this feedback is representative of the student population. In addition, sometimes these decisions sur-prise students, leaving them feel-ing upset, as they were not aware such decisions were being made, and maybe powerless, as they were not given an opportunity to even comment on the issue. Thus, I want work with the GPSA Exec-utive Board to improve the lines of communication between stu-dents and deciding bodies to en-

sure students are given enough time to make representative com-ments on issues and decisions that affect student life.

I also want to continue fos-tering opportunities for all UCSF students to interact with oth-er students outside their aca-demic cohort through regularly scheduled interprofessional so-cial events, building upon suc-cessful events like the Welcome BBQ, Game Night, and Last Lec-ture. Providing an environment to build camaraderie between UCSF students allows them not only broaden their perspective on their own academic path, but also deepen their understanding of their peers in other academic paths.

Lastly, I want to continue the work needed to allow students to keep some aspect of their UCSF email upon graduating as I be-lieve they want to stay in touch with UCSF after graduation. Such

email facilitates current students to reach out to recent graduates on how their careers are going af-ter UCSF.

Overall, my daily interactions with both graduate and profes-sional students provide me op-portunities to learn the issues that are currently affecting them at the moment.

Thus, as President of GPSA, I hope to enhance this relation-ship by closely working with each of the academic student governments to determine what their students think on current topics and gauge what projects their students want their repre-sentatives to work on. This will not only allow UCSF students to have greater control on enhanc-ing their student experience here at UCSF, but also improve the student experience for every stu-dent at UCSF.

School of Pharmacy Second Year

School of PharmacyFirst Year

CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESI-DENT OF DIVERSITY AFFAIRS

Neda Nguyen

To be honest, a major rea-son why I came to UCSF was the obvious dedication to promot-ing diversity, and the plethora of opportunities at our disposal as students in San Francisco—where everyone and every cul-ture has a niche. The progressive mentality of the city extends deep to the roots of our school here at UCSF. Not only is every culture/language/preference welcomed, but rather than demanding uni-form assimilation, everyone is encouraged to embrace their identity and treasure their differ-ences. There is an organization to celebrate and spread awareness about any major culture, and if there isn’t, you can be sure that someone will create a new orga-nization to fill that gap as soon as humanly possible. As UCSF stu-dents and affiliates, we get the incredible opportunity to expe-rience and immerse ourselves in

absolutely whatever our individ-ual passions or identities may be.

Of the myriad of organiza-tions and leadership opportuni-ties at UCSF, Vice President of Diversity Affairs would be by far the most personally rewarding position for me. Being half Per-sian and half Vietnamese, I have struggled for the better part of my life to figure out which cul-ture I can or should identify with. While I have been blessed with opportunities for many in-ternational experiences, I also encountered a lot of negative as-pects regarding how some of our society views “outside” cultures, interracial families, and “foreign” customs. However, it is undeni-able that every culture and iden-tity has remarkable features that are timeless. The diversity of tra-ditions that range worldwide is a major cause for celebration and preservation; we would be en-

tirely lost and stagnant as a hu-man race without being able to embrace that. I want to be the Vice President of Diversity Af-fairs in GPSA at UCSF because I want to play a role in promoting all of UCSF’s diversity and out-reach-based organizations. I be-lieve that by increasing UCSF’s student involvement and aware-ness in these organizations and their events, we will ultimately be increasing our own society’s promotion of diversity and rec-ognition of diversity issues in the long term.

I have substantial experi-ence working with many differ-ent populations—ranging in age, ethnicity, cultural beliefs, etc. Additionally, I have consider-able leadership experience work-ing with diverse demographics. My past experience has ranged from volunteering with hospitals, HIV/AIDS social service organi-

zations, and Make-A-Wish, to competing nationally in NCAA and USA sanctioned competi-tions on the UCSD’s Swimming & Diving team, to coaching col-lege athletes and high school stu-dents, to working in biotech and pharmacy. If elected for this po-sition, I would devote my time to effectively communicating with all of UCSF’s diversity and out-reach-focused programs to en-sure that their concerns and ideas are all heard. I will do my best to further these programs, progress-ing and supporting the individual goals of each organization.

I believe I have a lot to offer in terms of a liaison for the di-versity programs, and I can effec-tively work and collaborate with these crucial organizations that are essential to preserving the unique identities and diversity at UCSF.

Graduate Division Seventh Year

6 | April 3, 2014 | synapse.ucsf.edu

CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESI-DENT OF DIVERSITY AFFAIRS

Carlos Rojo

Graduate Division Second Year

Hi everyone,My name is Carlos Rojo,

a second year Ph.D student at UCSF. Here’s a quick blurb on why I am running for Vice Pres-ident of Diversity Affairs, my goals, and my qualifications to run for this position.

The short and sweet answer for why I am running is this: not only does every one of you stu-dents deserve a chance to thrive at UCSF, not only does every stu-dent deserve to feel welcome, but our campus’ culture and its stu-dents will be much richer as a re-sult. There are talented, smart, hard- working people that come from all backgrounds, and we all benefit, both practically and perhaps more subtly, by foster-ing each other’s development in an inclusive environment. A more diverse student body cre-

ates a dynamic campus, full of wide-ranging ideas, outlooks, and problem-solving strategies. Prac-tically speaking, this breadth of perspective undoubtedly assists the research world as we attempt to attack a problem from every angle or as medical students in-teract directly with patients from diverse backgrounds. Perhaps more subtly, I think we can all agree that affording every stu-dent, regardless of background, from 1st year med student to 7th year Ph.D candidate (hang in there 7th year! :), the opportuni-ty to succeed in their studies and to feel welcome as they do so is the right thing to do.

Broadly speaking, my goal for this position is to bolster the re-cruitment and retention of a di-verse student body and expand/create initiatives that work to-

ward this goal. As an officer in a few student organizations, I have already been able to do so. As Vice President of the SAC-NAS chapter at UCSF (Society for the Advancement of Chica-nos and Native Americans in Science), I’ve worked to perform outreach to high school students in underprivileged schools and to recruit and retain students of color at UCSF. Furthermore, I founded the student organiza-tion CIENCIA at UCSF, which invites world-renowned faculty to present their research in Spanish, the goals of which are to create an environment at UCSF where students, staff, and faculty can be immersed in high-level Spanish and thereby enrich the cultural landscape of UCSF and also ex-pand interest/opportunities for international research. Although

it has been a pleasure to attend the various impressive events held by other like-minded orga-nizations, it has been difficult to be able to know how to directly support their cause. As Vice Pres-ident of Diversity Affairs, I hope to have a platform to be able to do so and thereby support all ex-isting initiatives (and help create new ones) that will recruit and retain talented students from all backgrounds.

Lastly, if you would like more info on the SACNAS chapter at UCSF or CIENCIA at UCSF and some of our activities, please vis-it our webpages: SACNAS: http://ucsf.orgsync.com/org/sacnas/home, CIENCIA: http://ucsf.org-sync.com/org/ciencia/home

Thanks everyone and best of luck with all your studies!

CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS – GRADUATE REP

Ryan WhitacreGraduate Division Second Year

I intend to represent the interests of UCSF students to the best of my abilities. With deep commitment to the University of Califor-nia in general and UCSF in particular, I am poised to strengthen our collective institution by assessing and asserting the needs of our student body. I will remain open to a diver-sity of perspectives, work diligently to com-

municate pressing concerns, and advocate for UCSF students during times of institutional change. Ultimately, I will remain committed to the rights of students, the value of educa-tion, and the vitality of our university.

CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS – PROFESSIONAL REP

Dongkook Lim

School of Dentistry Second Year

Dear UCSF student body,My name is Dongkook “DK”

Lim, and I am writing to ask for your support in electing me as your Professional Rep of GPSA VP of External Affairs. I believe I will be able to serve you as a competent, responsible, and pro-fessional representative of UCSF GPSA to function as the bridge of communication between GPSA and UC Student Association (UCSA).

In order to make sure that I can fully serve the needs of this position, I have been communi-cating with the external affairs representative of ASUC as well as the two representatives of GSA concerning the entailed commit-ments and responsibilities. The main duty of the VP of External Affairs is to attend and accurate-ly represent GPSA Assembly at

the regular meetings of external organizations that affect GPSA, including the umbrella UC orga-nization of UCSA and the Coun-cil of Student Fees. The position also requires regular attendance at the GPSA Assembly meet-ings to report on the ongoing is-sues from other UC professional schools and their possible effects on UCSF’s professional schools.

I have been interested and in-volved in serving in student gov-ernment since college. I served on the board of student govern-ment throughout college and was heavily involved with monitor-ing and improving student life as the president of one of the eight student houses. At UCSF, I have been fortunate to continue my in-volvement by serving as the so-cial chair of my class for the past two years. Through these expe-

riences, I not only cultivated a strong desire to serve as the voice of the student body, but also learned much about working ef-fectively with administration and other large student organizations.

UCSF is very unique from its fellow UC schools. We lack an undergraduate body but have five world-renowned health pro-fessional schools and a graduate school. If elected as the VP of Ex-ternal Affairs, I would like to ad-vocate for the unique needs of our students, including concerns over tuition and fees and an easily accessible support system tailored to health professional students. I plan to proactively gather the opinions and concerns of all health professional students. Then, I will use my understand-ing of the overarching trends of the UC system to tactfully work

with fellow UC schools and speak out for the interests of the UCSF student body.

The VP of External Af-fairs is an important position to make sure our voice is heard by the greater UC system. I feel equipped for this position as I have extensive experience in stu-dent government and the desire to accurately and tactfully rep-resent our professional schools. If elected, I will try to fulfill the outlined responsibilities and seek out new avenues to better serve UCSF through external affairs.

Thank you very much for your time and attention. I ask that you please do not hesitate to contact me via email (Dong-kook.Lim@ucsf.edu) if you have any questions or concerns about my application.

CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS – PROFESSIONAL REP

Kate Mitchell

As the Vice President of Ex-ternal Affairs, I will represent the excellence of UCSF students to the greater University of Califor-nia community. I am drawn to this role because it is a collabora-tive position that involves exten-sive community outreach. As a MEPN nursing student, I would also like to increase visibility of pre-licensure nursing students and better utilize their consider-able experience.

I am qualified for the various roles of the Vice President of Ex-ternal Affairs and look forward to collaborating with other stu-dent professionals to realize the goals of the Executive Council. As a Program Assistant at the U.S. State Department, Office of Foreign Missions, I coordinated events with multiple attendees of governmental and private agen-cies. In this position, I coordinat-ed an Emergency Preparedness seminar that brought together

representatives from 15 foreign consulates, the San Francisco Po-lice Department, the San Fran-cisco Mayor’s Office, and the Red Cross, among other public orga-nizations.

Further, as a Health Counsel-or at the University of San Fran-cisco, I coordinated a weeklong HIV/AIDS event in honor of World AIDS Day that included Positive+ speakers, contemporary films on HIV, and student group discussions. These past experi-ences have prepared me to co-ordinate logistics for the annual University of California Student Association.

Additionally, I have experi-ence meeting state and national legislative bodies on issues rele-vant to health care and education, which will serve me as VP of Ex-ternal Affairs when preparing testimony and representing stu-dents to legislators. As a student in Washington, D.C., I meet with

congresswoman Kay Granger and German congressman Swen Schulz to promote the Congress-Bundestag Scholarship, an inter-national educational scholarship I was awarded in 2005.

On the statewide level, I pro-moted health-related legislation in Sacramento with the Women’s Community Clinic to expand the legal scope of practice for ad-vanced practice nurses, culminat-ing in passage of AB-154.

My involvement with SF AIDS Foundation, UCSF Stu-dents for Choice, and the nation-al Nursing Students for Choice chapter developed my commu-nity outreach skills and also pre-pared me to coordinate student involvement at various confer-ences.

My goals as Vice President of External Affairs include repre-senting the financial realities of students at the Council of Stu-dent Fees; promoting legislation

relevant to graduate and profes-sional students to legislatures and UCSF students; and also expand-ing student presence at congress-es, seminars, and conferences.

Most importantly, I would like to educate students about the role of the Executive Coun-cil and promote professional de-velopment for nursing students as the VP of External Affairs.

School of Nursing First Year

synapse.ucsf.edu | April 3, 2014 | 7

CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE

Cameron Walsh

School of Dentistry First Year

University of California, San Francisco is not only an outstanding academic institu-tion, but an intricate communi-ty which requires the necessary fuel to thrive. In order to meet the needs of this community, we must recognize the needs of the people within it. It takes dedica-tion, organization, and an over-all view of this community as a financial institution which will aid to its success. Obtaining my degree in mathematics from the University of California, Santa Barbara has provided me with the skill required in planning fi-nancial activities and budgetary needs.

If granted the opportunity to be the Vice President of Finance, I will utilize my personal expe-rience in mathematics, financial planning, and budget preparation

to meet the needs of the Gradu-ate and Professional Student As-sociation and UCSF, as a whole.

As president of the University of California, Santa Barbara Pre-Dental Society, advancing pre-dental exposure to dentistry was a priority. I planned trips to den-tal schools to increase applicant exposure to the dental school requirements and their envi-ronment. These trips were often costly and required an astute un-derstanding of the annual budget. I was able to adequately allocate funds for the travel, transporta-tion, and lodging for the preden-tal society members.

As Global Dental Brigades UCSB Chapter founder and pres-ident, I raised $10,000 in liquid and $20,000 in supplies for our trip to Honduras. This funded the necessary equipment and overall

infrastructure needed to see 330 patients over a span of two week.

As a member of the UCSF student body, I have benefit-ted from the various Registered Clubs and Organizations events. As Vice President of Finance, I would work to adequately al-locate funds to continue these events which allow our diverse student population to thrive.

Additionally, as a current dental student, I have become well-versed in the utilization of the student services fee. For ex-ample, as of 2012, $171,287 of student fees are being used for the publication of Synapse the campus newspaper. Much of the paper is covered in advertise-ments, yet the paper cannot sus-tain itself. We must further our knowledge of the readership of Synapse and do a cost benefit

analysis to determine its future and possible restructuring. Af-ter reviewing the current bud-get, I see a deficit in certain areas. If granted the opportunity to be the Vice President of Finance, I would aim to bridge the fund-ing discrepancies in areas such as Student Health and Counseling Services need for mental health services, LGBT Resources Cen-ter allocations, and an improve-ment in Mission Bay Student Resources.

I am a passionate member of this educational establishment and if granted the opportunity to join the GPSA as the Vice Pres-ident of Finance, I would work alongside fellow board members to enhance UCSF and its diverse student community.

CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESI-DENT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Niki Arab

School of Pharmacy First Year

I knew the moment I ap-proached the information table at the New Student Orientation Fair that I wanted to be involved with the ASUC (now called GPSA). During the first weeks of school, I was impressed by the various welcoming events they held for incoming students. I be-lieve that I share similar values as GPSA. I value the promotion of interprofessionalism; as a phar-macy student, I understand how important it is to frame our ed-ucation around teamwork and collaboration. I look forward to working with other colleagues from different organizations and schools and learn from them as they learn from me. Ultimate-ly, I am running for Vice Presi-dent of Internal Affairs because of my genuine passion for learn-ing from all the various schools here at UCSF and want to devote

my time and energy to leading a profound interdisciplinary group.

Prior to attending UCSF I at-tended California State Univer-sity, San Bernardino (CSUSB) where, during my sophomore year, I obtained the Treasurer position of the Pre-Pharmacy club and Vice President position of the Chemistry club. As Trea-surer I managed the clubs budget and raised money for our group’s events and outreach programs.

As VP of the Chemistry Club, I held and facilitated meetings. During my final year, I was elect-ed President of the Pre-Pharma-cy Club. I found it a privilege to lead other exceptional officers and members—taking charge of a multitude of community volun-teer activities.

Aside from being involved ac-ademically, I also coached gym-nastics. I learned to teach and

communicate with kids of all ages while establishing rapport with parents. Coaching gymnas-tics has helped me to communi-cate better while developing traits I find necessary of a good leader, such as being a strong motivator, having patience, and demonstrat-ing good work ethics.

My experiences have pro-voked me to run for VP for GPSA. If elected VP, I will use my skills gained from my past lead-ership experiences to work well amongst other student leaders, so that I can effectively allocate funds, facilitate GPSA meetings, and plan events.

At UCSF I had the pleasure of working as the social and media coordinator for UCSF’s 2014 Script Your Future medica-tion adherence campaign. I also write for UCSF’s school newspa-per (Synapse). I joined, not just

for writing experience, but also because I like knowing what is-sues and events are happening on campus, similar to what I would like to continuing doing as VP of GPSA.

If elected my goal as VP is to hear and effectively relay the is-sues and opinions of the students. I hope to also promote interpro-fessionalism in two ways: helping fund organizations’ cultural and social events and expanding in-terdisciplinary activities for in-coming and current students. More activities will make it easier to connect with people from dif-ferent schools and will ultimately bring students together.

I believe we are in a unique environment at UCSF where we are all in health care; thus, if we have the opportunity to work together we can improve the healthcare system.

CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESI-DENT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Randy Rosales

School of Dentistry Second Year

My name is Randy Rosales, and I am a second-year dental student seeking your con-sideration for GPSA Vice President of Inter-nal Affairs.

Registered Campus Organizations (RCOs) play an integral part in educational and extracurricular activities. As an active member of the UCSF dental community, I am continually looking for more ways to be in-volved and enhance the experience that each students leaves with. My underlying desire to run for the position of Vice President of In-ternal Affairs stems from this idea and I be-lieve that I can increase the opportunities for each RCO.

With the student membership fee refer-endum voted down, RCOs were even more limited in their budget. They were forced to cutback on spending, and as a result, de-creased the number of community events, and in some cases, even the quality. My main goal would be to develop a platform for RCOs to collaborate and coordinate events together, thereby getting the best use out of the limit-ed funds. The purpose of merging Associated Students of UCSF and Graduate Students’ As-sociation to form Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) was to increase interprofessionalism. My intent aligns with the objectives of GPSA and could save RCOs financially and develop new collaborations amongst the UCSF community.

If elected, I would wholeheartedly pro-vide a median where our RCOs could better utilize their budget and new collaborations could blossom. Thank you for your time and considerations. I look forward to the oppor-tunity to earnestly serve as an integral part of our UCSF community.

8 | April 3, 2014 | synapse.ucsf.edu

Illustration by Jillian Varonin/BMS4

» FROM HOME PAGE

Open Access

and are no longer reliant on publishers to ne-gotiate with universities over subscription fees. As more scientists choose to publish in open access journals, they are forcing pro-found change upon a very large industry.

Lucrative Subscription Model

Scientific publishing is lucrative business, generating $9 billions in revenue annually, according to Outsell, Inc. a marketing firm focused on the scientific publishing indus-try. The main players are the journals, such as Science, and the publishers, such as Elsevi-er and Springer, who bundle the journals and sell them as annual subscriptions to research institutions and universities, like UCSF.

Elsevier, one of the most prominent pub-lishers, earned just under $3 billion in profit in 2012, according to the Reed Elsevier Media Centre. Other large publishers, like Springer and Wiley, also annually generate profits in the billions.

“They’re making a lot of money and a fair amount of profit,” said Dr. Peter Binfield, co-founder of the open access journal PeerJ and former executive of several traditional closed-access publishers. “And that’s almost all com-ing from subscriptions.”

The Science controversy highlighted the tension between the traditional scientific pub-lishing industry and the open access move-ment.

The first open access journal, PLoS Biology was published in 2003. Since then, the num-ber of scientific open access journals has sig-nificantly increased. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) lists 8,847 open ac-cess journals in 2013, up from just under 5,000 in 2009.

Furthermore, increasing numbers of sci-entists are opting to publish in open access

journals. In 2014, as much as 12 percent of all peer-reviewed science, technology and medi-cine (STM) articles now being published are open access, according to Elizabeth Marinc-ola, CEO of PLoS.

Legislating Change

The open access movement received a boost in 2008 when the NIH stated in its Public Access Policy that the results of any re-search funded by the NIH must be made pub-licly available in an open access format within 12 months of publication.

Publishers have the most to lose when the industry shifts to more open access content. Without the need for subscriptions, journals do not need publishers to serve as middlemen between the journal and subscriber.

The publishers responded to the NIH Public Access Policy by supporting legisla-tion that would significantly weaken open ac-

cess mandates. In 2011, the Research Works Act (RWA) was introduced in Congress that sought to reverse the NIH’s policy to make all publicly funded research open access.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP), made up of 425 publishers includ-ing essentially all major scientific publishing companies from the American Chemical So-ciety to Elsevier, was the primary backer of the bill.

In a critique of the bill published in the New York Times in 2012, Dr. Michael Eisen, associate professor of molecular and cell bi-ology at UC Berkeley noted that the Research Works Act “should dispel any remaining il-lusions that commercial publishers are serv-ing the interests of the scientific community and public.”

He urged academic researchers around the world to respond by “publishing exclusive-ly in one of the many ‘open-access’ journals that are perfectly capa-ble of managing peer review,” and cancelling institutional journal subscriptions.

Surprisingly, many prominent members of the AAP such as the AAAS (Science), Mac-millan (Nature) and BioMed Central pub-licly opposed the bill.

Many scientists singled out Elsevier—publisher of more than 2,000 scientific jour-nals including Cell and The Lancet (and any journal listed in Science Direct)—as the driv-ing force behind the unpopular bill. Elsevier had made significant campaign contributions to Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), an author of the bill, and the company had failed to show any public opposition to the RWA.

In response, thousands of researchers signed a petition to boycott Elsevier publica-tions. Elsevier quickly officially withdrew its support of the RWA, stating “we have heard from some Elsevier journal authors, editors and reviewers who were concerned that the Act seemed inconsistent with Elsevier’s long-standing support for expanding options for free and low-cost public access to scholarly literature.”

Following Elsevier’s withdrawal of sup-port for the Research Works Act, the bill was dropped without a vote.

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em…

Rather than fight the open access move-ment, both journals and publishers now ap-pear to be adapting.

For example, in 2012 the tradition-ally closed access journal Cell created the open access journal, Cell Reports, with a $5,000 “article processing charge (APC),” a

fee the scientist must pay to be published. While some might balk at the high cost to publish in Cell Reports compared to other closed access Cell journals, the journal argued that the high APC was to discourage unnec-essary submissions, considering the high sub-mission rate for Cell Press journals.

Many closed access journals are offering a new option to scientists: publish in the closed access journal of your choice, and provide your article open access by paying the jour-nal an extra “open access” fee.

For example, authors who publish in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sci-ence (PNAS) can pay $1350 to make their specific article immediately available in an open access format while still publishing in the prestigious journal.

While these hybrid models provide the flexibility for scientists to publish in their fa-vorite journals while meeting their open ac-cess needs, open access advocates have raised concerns that these journals using the system to “double-dip”—receiving income from both journal subscription fees and the high article processing charges associated with open ac-cess.

Publishers’ changing role

As more journals adapt to open access, the publisher’s role as subscription middle-men continues to shrink. However, publish-ers do much more than negotiate subscription fees, and are also adapting to the changing business environment.

Publishers are more involved in the pro-cess of journal management than many might realize. They assist scientific journals in co-pyediting and formatting content, organizing peer review of articles, printing and bind-ing journal issues, and archiving back-issues,

including standard-ized cross-reference and search informa-tion. Like their closed access counterparts, open access journals engage with publish-ers to develop a final product and dissem-inate it to scientists around the world.

Even the open ac-cess journal PLoS works with other pub-lishers, despite being both open access and a publisher in its own

right. “PLoS engages with other publishers on is-

sues like shared infrastructure (for example, Crossref, which provides DOIs [digital object identifiers, a type of electronic signature]). Similarly, STM publishers coordinate on dis-covery platforms, such as search engines,” said PloS’s Marincola.

But in an open access-dominated publish-ing field, noted Binfield, “definitely there are elements of a publishing company that aren’t necessary anymore.”

It remains to be seen what will happen to this billion-dollar industry. While much of its role may disappear with the advent of open access, there is still room for publish-ers to adapt to the changing business environ-ment. For the time being, publishers, as well as journals, are making moves toward provid-ing more open access content.

PART 3: While the open access movement has made progress in making scientific jour-nal content freely available, it isn’t free for ev-eryone involved. Oftentimes, the cost burden simply shifts from the university, in the form of subscriptions, to the author, in the form of article processing charges. In the next in-stallment, we examine pushback against high APCs and how the open access movement continues to evolve.

Alexandra Greer recently received her PhD and is now a postdoc at Genetech.

“They’re making a lot of money and a fair amount of profit, and that’s almost all coming from subscriptions.”

~ Dr. Peter Binfield

synapse.ucsf.edu | April 3, 2014 | 9

Medical Mythbusters by Jenny Qi

Jenny Qi is a third-year BMS student.

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did they reverse that decision now? And what is at stake for consumers, the industry and life sciences research?

To learn more about the state of the DTC genetic testing industry, and discuss the FDA’s decision to impose sanctions on 23andMe, the Bay Area chapter of Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable will host a debate on the topic this April 7, at the UCSF Mission Bay campus.

Speaking will be Andro Hsu, director of Product Marketing at Syapse, Inc.; Gianfran-co de Feo, VP of Marketing, Bina Technol-ogies; Patricia Zettler, fellow at the Stanford Law School Center for Law and the Biosci-ences; and Paul Billings, CMO of Life Tech-nologies Corporation. Visit oxbridgebiotech.com/events/house-believes-fda-deregulate-di-rect-consumer-genetic-testing/ for free regis-tration and more information.

What’s the worst that could happen?

The FDA’s decision to begin regulating DTC personal genomic testing is grounded, quite reasonably, in consumer protection. Previously, the stakes were lower. Unlike tests developed for use in clinics and hospitals, these tests were produced and sold directly to consumers by a single laboratory. In most cas-es, they were very expensive and relatively few people bought in.

However, advances in technology have brought costs significantly lower and within reach of millions. Last year, 23andMe aggres-sively marketed their kit as a healthcare man-agement tool which could inform customers of their genetic risk for disease, carrier status and potential drug responsiveness.

Erring on the side of precaution, the FDA justified their decision given con-cerns that consumers would use (or mis-use) the test results to make extreme medical decisions without consulting their doctor. They feared that 23andMe could be overstating the connection between ge-netic risk and actual disease in some cas-es, and that customers would conflate these results with medical diagnostic tests. This scenario seemed especially plausi-

» FROM HOME PAGEGenetic Testing

ble following Angelina Jolie’s headline-grab-bing elective double-mastectomy last May, which she chose to undertake upon learning that she carried a pathogenic variant of the BRCA1 gene.

In practice, however, consumers of DTC genetic testing are not running to go under the knife. In a recent letter published in Na-ture, authors Green and Farahany argue that the FDA was overly cautious to throttle 23an-dMe without clear evidence of harm. They cite survey data collected by themselves and others from the last five years among consum-ers of DTC genetic testing.

While critics of consumer genetics ar-gue that learning one’s potential disease risk could cause undue worry or harm, the au-thors found that, on average, customers were actually slightly less anxious than their base-line immediately after receiving their test re-sults, and never showed elevated anxiety over the following year.

In the same cohort of over a thousand people, 42percent reported making posi-tive changes in their health behavior after receiving their test results. Of these, 72 per-cent made changes to their diet, 61 percent changed their exercise habits, and 38 percent altered their use of supplements. Only 1 per-cent of all study participants made any chang-es to their prescription treatment without first consulting their doctor.

The authors stress that more research is needed to know for sure the outcomes of con-sumer genetics testing, especially since early adopters of the technology may not be the most representative population. Stunting con-sumer genetics now, however, will make these studies more difficult to carry out.

In another commentary published in the North Carolina Medical Journal in 2013, au-thors Adams, Evans and Aylsworth conclude that DTC genetic testing, while perhaps not hurting anybody, is probably not helping any-one either.

Citing their own and other’s data from studies conducted in 2008 and 2010, they found variability between the relative disease risks reported by different consumer genetics companies, lessening the usefulness of these data in informing clinical decisions by cus-

tomers’ doctors. In many cases, the authors say, the same or better risk information can be determined by collecting good medical and family histories from patients.

Crowdsourcing genetics

Individual patient utility aside, propo-nents of DTC genetic testing argue that the real value comes from aggregate data of all testing customers. In a sense, 23andMe is in the business of selling kits as much as Google is in the business of providing a free search engine or email. An apt comparison, given that Sergey Brin—Google co-founder— was an early investor in 23andMe. In an interview with the magazine Fast Company, 23andMe board member Patrick Chung said:

“The long game here is not to make mon-ey selling kits, although the kits are essential to get the base level data. Once you have the data, [23andMe] does actually become the Google of personalized health care.”

Genetic data gathered on such a large scale could become invaluable to research-ers in the pharmacy industry, government and academia. Though Wojcicki is far from her goal of signing up 25 million customers, 23andMe’s data set is already starting to bear fruit. In a 2014 paper published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Austra-

lian researchers at the QIMR Berghofer Med-ical Research used data collected from over 15,000 23andMe customers to identify 11 in-dependent genetic markers associated with asthma with hay fever—something no previ-ous genetics study had been able to do.

Proponents of deregulating consumer ge-netics argue that, until shown otherwise, the potential benefits of the technology far out-weigh the potential risks. In an interview with author Stephen Dubner, internet scholar Clay Shirky discusses the problems with over-reg-ulating nascent technology:

“It’s impossible to imagine what the sec-ond order effects of the technology would be… Trying to guess what a technology will do when regulating in advance is … almost the surest way to guarantee, just by the way the regulation would be structured, that you miss out on opportunities.”

By the same token, consumer genetics could have enormous impacts, in aggregate, which would be missed by stunting the indus-try now. Of course, all this can’t come at the cost of exposing customers to harm, which is the FDA’s primary concern.

Benjamin Cohn is a fifth-year student in Biomedical Sciences at UCSF/Gladstone In-stitutes and a correspondent for the Oxbridge-Bay chapter.

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10 | April 3, 2014 | synapse.ucsf.edu

NEWS

Students Get Insider Access With CTSI Catalyst AwardsStaff Report

Are you a student interested in an in-sider’s perspective on what it means to translate therapeutics, diagnostics,

devices, or digital health into products and services that improve health? If the answer is yes, then the Catalyst Awards Internship Pro-gram might just be for you.

“This experience introduces students to the process of translating basic research into valuable and commercially viable prod-ucts, and helps them learn how to eval-uate their own research for its potential to become a product,” said Irina Gitlin, PhD, senior program manager with UC-

SF’s Clinical and Translational Science In-stitute (CTSI), which manages the program. “Through their involvement with the re-view process, which involves a team Catalyst Awards advisors, students get to hear criteria that’s important in the evaluation process, in-cluding identifying an unmet need, assessing competing technologies, and exploring the challenges of the regulatory or clinical path,” she added.

Two of the six students involved in the Fall 2013 Cycle shared their thoughts on the ex-perience:

“Many of the challenges and pitfalls the advisors brought up about the proposed proj-ects (i.e. regulatory strategy, patient tolerabil-

ity for side effects, number of patients for a clinical study) were not things that I was used to thinking about as a graduate student. Act-ing as a fly on the wall during the initial re-view panel discussions allowed me to absorb so much about what experts in different fields think is important for product development.”

“It's one thing to be aware of the crite-ria (eg. market landscape, IP position, etc...), but it was invaluable to define these criteria in discussions, apply them to real proposals firsthand, and watch them evolve over the course of the program.”

Interns are not only involved in detailed discussions about specific challenges related to research proposals, but a new aspect of the program brings students and expert advisors together for organized lunch seminars, where discussion topics range from making career choices to differences in how academia and industry approach research programs.

Roeland Hancock (left), PhD, Catalyst Awardee, Digital Health track, with Benjamin Cohn, Catalyst Awards Program intern and biomedical sciences graduate student.

Photo courtesy of CTSI

Importantly, the internship offers expo-sure to many aspects of business and com-mercialization that students aren’t typically exposed to in an academic environment, Git-lin said.

To learn more about the Catalyst Awards internship program, eligibility, and important dates, visit http://accelerate.ucsf.edu/training/catalyst-internship.

CTSI is a member of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards network fund-ed through the National Center for Advanc-ing Translational Sciences (grant Number UL1 TR000004) at the National Institutes of Health.

Under the banner of "Accelerating Re-search to Improve Health," CTSI also provides a wide range of resources and services for re-searchers, and promotes online collaboration and networking tools such as UCSF Profiles.

synapse.ucsf.edu | April 3, 2014 | 11

PUZZLES

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“Not just a second chance”, he says firmly,“but a new life,with a new heart!”

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The HPSP provides reimbursement for books, laboratory equipmentand academic fees. You’ll also receive a sign-on bonus of $20,000 and amonthly stipend of $2,157. During breaks, you’ll have the opportunity totrain alongside other members of our health care organization.

starts with our scholarship.

*Certain requirements and eligibility criteria apply.©2013. Paid for by the United States Army. All rights reserved. Information subject to change.

www.goarmy.com/amedd.html

Capt. Ana Morgan, M.D., HPSP Medical RecipientBrooke Army Medical Center, Texas

Week of 3/31/14 - 4/6/14

ACROSS1 Core members6 Salon sound

10 Ashtray remnant

14 Beyond the 'burbs

15 Kudrow of "Friends"

16 On any occasion

17 In the first place19 Frank Herbert

sci-fi series20 Pop's top,

perhaps21 Thug's pistol22 Fraternity letter24 Minnie of "The

Riches"27 Black ice, e.g.28 Disco light30 Wed in Vegas,

maybe32 Built-out 59 Cookware item 8 Vacation spot 40 Salinger or

window 62 Computer menu 9 Cell alternative Steinbeck, e.g.33 Warning sign option 10 Dress gaudily 41 Residence34 MSNBC offering 63 Light up 11 Throat dangler 44 NASA launch38 Part of a "Jack 66 Frosty film 12 Carreras is one 47 Wok, for one

& the Beanstalk" 67 Iditarod vehicle 13 Pollster's 49 Every last bitexclamation 68 Weighed down concern 50 Do laps,

39 Soon to get 69 Stadium area 18 Pew area perhapshitched 70 Youngster 23 Gullible one 51 Prevent, as

42 Solemn pledge 71 Hostile force 25 Caviar, literally disaster43 Commotion 26 Archaeological 52 Two make a 45 Hodge-podge DOWN find diameter46 "Don Giovanni", 1 Gator's kin 28 Pillowy 53 Japanese

for one 2 Surrounding 29 The Kingston cartoon art48 Baltimore player glow ____ 55 Musical study50 Smugly 3 Hung on the line 31 Building block 57 Wartime

ingratiating 4 Joplin's "Maple brand comrade51 Fit to be tilled Leaf ___" 33 Make eyes at 60 News tidbit54 Kind of circle 5 Qualified 35 Swampy 61 Say it isn't so56 Ice cream flavor 6 Shade of blue grassland 64 Albanian coin58 Recurrent 7 Score of zero 36 Apple spoiler 65 A Bobbsey twin

twitch 37 Move to and fro

by Margie E. BurkeThe Weekly Crossword

Copyright 2014 by The Puzzle Syndicate

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

32 33 34 35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42

43 44 45 46 47

48 49 50

51 52 53 54 55

56 57 58 59 60 61

62 63 64 65

66 67 68

69 70 71

Week of 3/31/14 - 4/6/14

Edited by Margie E. Burke

HOW TO SOLVE:

(Answer appears elsewhere

in this issue)

Solution to Sudoku

Copyright 2014 by The Puzzle Syndicate

Difficulty : Easy

Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com

title: "Hypothetically Speaking" -­ originally published 2/14/2014

HUMOR/FAKE NEWS

MTV’s Real World comes to UCSFBy Staff Humorist

After winning universal acclaim and several documentary awards for faithfully depicting the lives of

spoiled adults in cities across the country, MTV’s Real World has come to San Francisco.

“We’re so glad we can continue our time-honored traditions of showcasing the very best of the very worst of young-adult behav-ior,” said MTV spokesman Jared Lap at a re-cent press conference. “In our 29th season of this show, we plan to once and for all extin-guish the general public’s faith in humanity by perpetuating stereotypes, playing on the insecurities of our cast members and provid-ing more poor role models for the malleable youth of the United States.”

This season will continue the show’s traditional format of depicting real life by providing cast members with fake day jobs where their performance will not be critically evaluated, Lap added. This season, the cast members will be working as research technicians at the UCSF.

Regina Templeton, a former model and member of this year’s cast was excited about the news.

“Science runs in my family—my aunt was a vet tech for four months before the malprac-tice lawsuits forced her employer to fire her, so I expect I’ll be able to pick up everything really quick,” said Templeton. “If I do really well here, maybe they’ll give me an MD when I leave.”

A UCSF Public Affairs associate at the press conference expressed excitement about the arrangement.

“It’s just a perfect fit. It’s not like anyone can do any meaningful science in six months anyway, so cast members will be able to fo-cus on other things like whining about their bosses to video cameras—just like normal people do.”

More details on MTV’s plans to profit from the desperate behavior of their cast can be found on MTV’s website.

12 | April 3, 2014 | synapse.ucsf.edu

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Solu

tions

Week of 3/31/14 - 4/6/14

Edited by Margie E. Burke

HOW TO SOLVE:

(Answer appears elsewhere

in this issue)

Solution to Sudoku

Copyright 2014 by The Puzzle Syndicate

Difficulty : Easy