Two Yale scientists are among the recipients of the 2014 Presidential Early Career Award, one of highest national honors bestowed on early-stage scientists and engineers.
Andrew Goodman and Young-Shin Kim of Yale and the other 100 winners are scheduled to meet President Barack Obama at the White House for the award ceremony later this year and will receive an extension of financial support for their current research.
Goodman, assistant professor of microbial pathogenesis and a member of the Microbial Diversity Institute at Yale’s West Campus, will continue his study of how the body’s resident bacteria impact human health and the metabolism of drugs. He studies variations in microbial communities using a specialized germ-free mouse laboratory. He is a 2013 Pew Award winner and a 2012 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award winner.
Kim, associate professor at the Yale Child Study Center and a child and adolescent psychiatrist, will use her award to continue her study to identify roles of gene-environmental interactions in the etiology of childhood autism spectrum disorders, and causes and consequences of bullying experiences in children. In 2006, she won the Yonsei Future Female Leader Award from Yonsei University, where she earned her M.D. in 1988.
The Presidential Early Career Awards have been given annually since 1996. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach.