Luis Amaral, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering, has been named a Distinguished Young Scholar in Medical Research by the W.M. Keck Foundation. He is one of five recipients of the award nationally and will receive up to $1 million over 5 years.
The award, which was made to Northwestern University to support Dr. Amaral’s work, will support his research using computational methods to identify and map patterns in the growing “sea” of complex biological information. These maps hold promise for guiding drug designs that can cure diseases while avoiding unwanted side effects. His research has the potential to greatly decrease the amount of time and money spent in drug development.
Initially established in 1998 as a five-year, $25 million initiative, the Keck Distinguished Young Scholars in Medical Research program was designed to support groundbreaking research addressing the fundamental mechanisms of human disease. The W.M. Keck Foundation Board renewed the program for an additional five years in 2003, bringing the total amount to be awarded up to $50 million by 2008. It is hoped that the investment in the Keck Scholars will greatly benefit society for generations to come with continued advances in understanding – and combating – the fundamental mechanisms of human disease.
Each applicant was nominated by his or her academic institution and then evaluated individually by the Foundation’s Medical Research staff, a scientific advisory committee of outside scientific experts. The committee carefully evaluated each of the program finalists and recommended the five winners, who were unanimously approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
For more information about the W.M. Keck Foundation and the Young scholars program, please visit the Foundation’s web site. [Source: McCormick News]