Tiny tech leads to big award for UCSD researcher

Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s Wednesday, September 30th.

A UC San Diego scientist is one of the latest recipients of a MacArthur genius grant.

More on that next. But first... the headlines….

A GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG GROUP IS SUING THE CALIFORNIA EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, AND THEY’RE DOING IT IN SAN DIEGO.

TRANSPARENT CALIFORNIA COLLECTS AND PUBLISHES PAY INFORMATION FOR KEY PUBLIC OFFICIALS — INFORMATION LIKE THEIR SALARIES AND BENEFITS.

THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED UNDER THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RECORDS ACT. BUT IN ORDER TO REQUEST THE INFORMATION EVERY YEAR, TRANSPARENT CALIFORNIA HAS TO EMAIL THOUSANDS OF OFFICIALS. IT GETS THOSE EMAIL ADDRESSES BY FILING A SEPARATE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT.

ACCORDING TO THE UNION-TRIBUNE, THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT DECLINED TO PROVIDE THOSE EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENTS AND OTHER OFFICIALS.

IT SAID IT DID SO TO PREVENT SPAM AND CYBERATTACKS. BUT THAT CONTACT INFORMATION IS ALREADY PUBLISHED ON SCHOOL WEBSITES — TRANSPARENT CALIFORNIA WAS ASKING FOR THEM ALL ON ONE SPREADSHEET.

THE SUIT WAS FILED IN SAN DIEGO SUPERIOR COURT LAST MONTH.

RESEARCHERS SAY STRANGE SEA CREATURES ARE BEING SPOTTED ALONG THE SAN DIEGO COAST, AND IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF EL NINO.

THESE INCLUDE FISH LIKE HAMMERHEAD SHARKS AND DEVIL RAYS – WARM WATER SPECIES THAT DON’T NORMALLY HANG OUT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

HIGHER PACIFIC OCEAN TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH THIS WINTER’S PREDICTED EL NINO EVENT.

ACCORDING TO SCRIPPS RESEARCHERS WHO SPOKE WITH THE UNION-TRIBUNE, MORE TROPICAL AND SUB-TROPICAL FISH SIGHTINGS ARE EXPECTED.

GAS PRICES IN SAN DIEGO HELD STEADY YESTERDAY, ENDING A RUN OF 39 INCREASES OVER 40 DAYS.

THAT’S ACCORDING TO ANALYSTS AT GASBUDDY.

EXPECT TO PAY ABOUT $6.40 A GALLON FOR REGULAR AROUND TOWN.

THE LOCAL PRICE OF REGULAR OVER THE LAST MONTH IS UP 63 CENTS A GALLON. AND SINCE THE START OF THE U.S/ISRAELI WAR ON IRAN, IT’S UP A DOLLAR AND 72 CENTS A GALLON.

From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

IMAGINE RECEIVING AN 800-THOUSAND DOLLAR AWARD FOR YOUR WORK.

THAT DREAM JUST CAME TRUE FOR A U-C SAN DIEGO BIOENGINEER.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY REPORTER CARLY KAY SAYS THE FUNDS WILL HELP HIM ADVANCE MEDICINE.

LIANGFANG (LEONG-FONG)  ZHANG (JONG) GOT THE NEWS WHILE  DROPPING OFF HIS DAUGHTER AT SCHOOL.HE’S BEEN AWARDED A MACARTHUR FELLOWSHIP, ALSO KNOWN AS A ‘GENIUS GRANT’. IT COMES AS A COMPLETE SURPRISE TO ME. OF COURSE A VERY PLEASANT ONE. ZHANG (JONG) WAS CHOSEN FOR CREATING A TYPE OF MEDICINE THAT USES NANOPARTICLES TO DELIVER DRUGS TO THE BODY. I SEE THIS AS A GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT TO MY RESEARCH TEAM AND MYSELF TO CONTINUE TO DO THE CREATIVE AND IMPACTFUL RESEARCH ALONG THE LINE WE ARE WORKING ON. ZHANG (JONG) CAN USE THE GRANT WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED. HE HOPES IT WILL HELP PUSH THE MEDICINE CLOSER TO CLINICAL TRIALS. CARLY KAY, KPBS NEWS. 

FATHER JOE’S VILLAGES IS PLANNING TO BUILD OVER 500 NEW AFFORDABLE UNITS IN DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO. EMMY BURRUS REPORTS A DONATION ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK IS HELPING GET THE PROJECT OFF THE GROUND.

Philanthropist and Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs is donating a record 50-million-dollars to Father Joe’s Villages… It’s the largest single donation in the homeless provider’s history.That money will help build three towers downtown, to house over 500 affordable units and 77 shelter rooms. The project is estimated to cost over 300-million dollars.Deacon Jim Vargas with Father Joe’s says Jacobs’s donation will also help fund a new senior care program.“It helps us with the programs we have for seniors, things like assisted living, which typically homeless services providers don't provide, assisted living, hospice care. We find that a lot of people, or older people on the streets, unfortunately, who have aged and it's taken a toll on them and they need end of life care.”Vargas says out of the 500 new affordable units, 150 will be reserved for seniors. The Joan Kroc Center will be torn down to make way for the new campus. Vargas says the plan is to break ground on the first of the three towers in late 2028.When people living at the Joan Kroc Center have to vacate in early 2028 to prepare for construction, they'll be able to go to Father Joe's Tucson Campus.Emmy Burrus, KPBS News.

IRWIN JACOBS IS A FINANCIAL SUPPORTER OF KPBS. THE KPBS NEWS OPERATION MAINTAINS EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE FROM KPBS EXECUTIVES AND DONORS.

GRAY WOLVES ARE STEADILY MAKING A NATURAL COMEBACK IN CALIFORNIA AFTER HUMANS PUSHED THEM NEAR EXTINCTION BY THE 1920s. 

BUT TODAY THEY FACE AN UPHILL BATTLE AGAINST GROWING DEVELOPMENT, A WARMING PLANET AND UNCERTAIN FEDERAL PROTECTIONS. 

ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SAYS THE CALIFORNIA WOLF CENTER IN JULIAN IS EXPANDING ITS CONSERVATION EFFORTS. 

This is an important day for the California Wolf Center in Julian. Its eight-year-old Mexican gray wolf Durango is about to meet a potential mate.“I think he’s a pretty handsome guy. He ends up on a lot of our merchandise.” Jacob Keeton works at the conservation Center. “brown black, rust-tan coat. And that's what I'm most all members of, of population are going to look like”The center hopes Durango and the female wolf hit it off and have cubs. Their babies would be released in Arizona or New Mexico so wild parents can raise them. The organization’s breeding program and federal protections have helped increase the wild Mexican gray wolf population to 317 in the southwestern U.S. “Without humans breeding those wolves to create diverse individuals, the lack of genetic diversity will be the greatest threat to that subspecies of gray wolf.”Mexican gray wolves aren’t natural predators in San Diego County. But the nonprofit's work is at the center of nationwide conservation efforts. “In 2011, that's when the first known wolf came back into California in almost 100 years, since the 20s — 1920s is when the last known wolf was killed in California.”Keeton says the wolf’s return to Northern California proves why long-term conservation is vital. But not everybody agrees.  “The only path forward is really coexistence. And so in order to find that, I don't know, it's one of the difficult things in the United States today, how can we talk to somebody that maybe is, that doesn't believe things that we believe or is, has different life experiences than we have?” Ranchers say the population growth has led to more attacks on their livestock. President Donald Trump responded to their concerns this month with an executive order to examine removing the wolves from the Endangered Species Act. “To protect rural communities and cattle herds from predatory Mexican gray wolves, which are costing them tens of millions of dollars and endangering not only herds but people.”Northern California’s wild wolves wandered in from neighboring states in search of mates and resources. Keeton says wolves don't recognize state boundaries.“Having different policies that do stop and start at different state boundaries, it's not ideal, right? The best thing for wolves is to have, you know, a blanket federal protections that kind of go from state to state and allow for their recovery.”No matter what the government decides, Keeton says the wolf center will continue fostering coexistence between people and native predators. And it’s expanding.It bought land less than a mile from its original site to grow its care for wolves. Full of mature oaks and lots of exciting native plants. Other than a large barn at the entrance, the 28-acre site is undeveloped. Matt Anderson is also with the Wolf Center. He says there won’t be much construction; the property is pretty perfect as is. “Wild turkeys and deer are here already. Wolves are going to be here soon.”The idea is to give wolves more space to roam and show the impact their natural role has on ecosystems. “We're really focusing on that coexistence and what that means. With the Wolves playing a major role as a California native predator within a food chain situation where they control herbivorous species and in turn have a control over the biodiversity of plants and trees.” Plans include turning the barn into a visitor and education hub, building medical facilities for the wolves, and designating some areas for the public to get a closer look. Anderson says the site will also have a network of cameras for remote monitoring. “The idea there would be we don't want too much human contact. So the behaviors remain naturalistic for, you know, for the future of reintroduction.” He says that footage will be put to good use. “That data that's accrued will be useful from everything from people who study climate change, biodiversity all the way through to, individual research projects for up to PhD level.”Anderson says the nonprofit is raising $3 million to complete the project. He says in the future, the organization would add other native predators to show why protecting them means protecting entire ecosystems. “Rabbits, rodents, etc., who then in turn would generally be eating the habitat that we see out here. The California native predators, wolves, Mountain lions, coyotes, etc. effectively control those populations so they don't eat us out of the house and home in terms of the habitat. So the biodiversity we see here is an intrinsic part of the ecosystem.And that ecosystem, he says, is reliant upon predators like wolves. Tammy Murga, KPBS News.

##########

FOR CANCER PATIENTS, LOSING THEIR HAIR DURING CHEMOTHERAPY CAN BE A DISTRESSING SIDE EFFECTS OF TREATMENT. HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS A NEW CALIFORNIA LAW MAY HELP PATIENTS KEEP THEIR HAIR.

SHARESSE DANIELSI was brushing my hair, and my hair was just falling out.Oceanside resident Sharesse Daniels was 25 when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.SHARESSE DANIELSI started screaming…my family had to rush in and calm me down.Daniels later battled breast cancer. Now, nearly 20 years later, she's dealing with another cancer diagnosis.SHARESSE DANIELSBut I am now a wig connoisseur.Still, she wishes she'd had another option.Mariela Macias is an oncologist at Sharp HealthCare.DR. MARIELA MACIASScalp cooling is a mechanism that uses a portable refrigeration unit and a very well-fitted cap for the patient… and is used to prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia, or hair loss.She says cost is often a barrier.DR. MARIELA MACIASSpending those $2500 or $5000 extra is sometimes not part of the plan.Now, California is expanding coverage. Starting January first, a new law requires large-group health plans and Medi-Cal to cover FDA-cleared scalp cooling for eligible chemotherapy patients.For Daniels, having that option years ago could have made a painful part of treatment a little easier.SHARESSE DANIELSI wish I had something like that back then, you know?Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is edited by Brooke Ruth. Today’s episode was produced by Andrew Dyer. I’m your host, Lawrence K. Jackson. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Thanks for listening and have a great day.