• La Jolla resident Conor Hulburt is showcasing his green building efforts and battling it out in Cali Bamboo’s National “Project of the Month” contest. Hulburt was selected as one of the top 12 projects in the U.S. and he’s being recognized for creatively using bamboo, one of the world’s most durable, sustainable and renewable materials, to create a home theater system. His project delivers an intoxicating, first-class audio experience in an understated, retro-modern design. The entire project is also sustainable, from the bamboo plywood to the banana pulp speaker drivers. Online voting at www.calibamboo .com started Monday and runs until Feb. 18. • Kate Kassar is the chair of this year’s Annual Heart & Soul Gala of Jewish Family Service of San Diego, which will take place on March 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in La Jolla. This year’s theme of the event, which has become an important mainstay of the San Diego Jewish social scene, is “All You Need is Love.” Celebrating the love of the 1960s, the ballroom will be transformed into a gallery of beautiful, Pucci-esque chic images and feature songs from The Beatles. All proceeds from the event benefit the programs of Jewish Family Service. To register and discover patron opportunities, call (858) 637-3034 or visit www.jfssd .org/gala. “I am honored to be part of a magnificent event that raises funds for an absolutely vital agency in our community, Jewish Family Service,” said Kassar. “This year, we our translating our theme into what promises to be an elegant and exciting evening.” • The Foundation for Women recently announced that Jackie Helm has joined the Foundation for Women Board of Directors. Helm is a longtime La Jolla resident and realtor with Gallery Properties, who has served many organizations, such as Las Patronas, where she chaired the Jewel Ball in 2002. She is also the past president and current treasurer of the La Jolla High School Foundation, which annually raises nearly $300,000 for public education. Additionally, for the past 12 years, Helm has been a member of the National Charity League, a mother-daughter philanthropic organization dedicated to fostering the mother-daughter relationship and community service. The Foundation for Women (FFW) is committed to eliminating global poverty. In its 14-year history the FFW has helped to provide microcredit loans to thousands of women living in dire poverty, changing the lives of more than one million people, both in San Diego county and in Liberia, Africa. Through microcredit finance, the FFW encourages entrepreneurship and helps underserved women generate sustainable income for themselves and their children, creating economic stability in their lives. • The Salk Institute has been awarded a $2.3 million grant by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for translational research focusing on developing a novel stem cell- based therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Led by Fred H. Gage, Ph.D., a professor in the Salk’s Laboratory of Genetics and holder of the Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases, the grant will fund a joint effort between Salk researchers. The research will concentrate on studying human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease to replicate the disorder in the lab and investigate the role of inflammation in the cause and progression of the neurodegeneration typical of the disease. “Given that age is the most consistent risk factor for Parkinson’s, and we have an aging population, it is of utmost importance that we unravel the cellular, molecular and genetic causes of the highly specific cell death characteristic of the disease and find new therapies to limit the social, economic and emotional impact,” Gage said in a statement.
