Dr. John K. Kim of the Department of Human Genetics named a 2009 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences
Philadelphia, PA—The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today that Dr. John K. Kim was selected as a 2009 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. Awards this year were given to 17 early-career scientists who display outstanding promise in research relevant to the advancement of human health. As a Pew Scholar, Dr. Kim will receive a $240,000 award over four years to support his research and gains inclusion into a select community of scientists that encourages collaboration and the exchange of ideas.
“Pew’s Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences recognizes and supports promising young scientists in advancing human health,” says Shelley A. Hearne, managing director of the Pew Health Group. “Unlike many traditional research grants with strict guidelines on how funds must be used, our program allows participants to try out new investigative directions as their research unfolds. Flexibility, we feel, is an important key to encouraging the scientific creativity that often leads to spectacular results.”
John K. Kim, Ph.D., received his doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California, Davis, in 2000. He conducted his postdoctoral research in genetics at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2006, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan as an assistant professor in the Department of Human Genetics at the Life Sciences Institute.
In the last decade, small RNAs have emerged as major regulators of gene expression, important for many processes in mammals. Dr. Kim studies the detailed steps of how small non-coding micro-RNAs (miRNAs) recognize the genes that they regulate and direct them to be turned off. His work centers on the identification of a new group of proteins that bind to these miRNAs and the genetic sequences they target in the model organism C. elegans. By understanding the role that these newly identified proteins play in regulating known miRNA targets, his studies will provide crucial insights into what is now known to be a mode of gene regulation required for normal development and disease prevention.
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