Two UC San Diego Biologists Named 2015 Searle Scholars

Kimberly Cooper

Two assistant professors of biology at UC San Diego, Kimberly Cooper and Byungkook Lim, are among 15 scientists named 2015 Searle Scholars. The scientists were selected for their potential for making significant contributions to chemical and biological research over the course of their careers. The two biologists will each receive $300,000 in flexible funding to support their work during the next three years.

Cooper completed her Ph.D. at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash. She then carried out her postdoctoral studies in the department of genetics at Harvard Medical School. She joined the Division of Biological Sciences faculty at UC San Diego in November 2013.

Lim received his Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley and carried out his postdoctoral training in the department of psychiatry and behavioral science at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Lim is also a Davis Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow.

Byungkook Lim. Photo by Kim Cooper

Searle Scholars are selected by a Scientific Advisory Board comprising 12 scientists distinguished for their research and leadership across a wide range of fields.

The funds that support the awards come from trusts established under the wills of John G. and Frances C. Searle. John Searle was president of G.D. Searle & Co., of Skokie, Ill., a research-based pharmaceutical company. The Searles expressed the wish that some of the proceeds of their estates be used for the support of research in medicine, chemistry and the biological sciences.

Download this PDF for a complete list of 2015 Searle Scholars and their specific research programs.