Eduardo Chichilnisky

Two School of Medicine faculty members have been appointed to endowed professorships.

Eduardo Chichilnisky, PhD, professor of neurosurgery and of ophthalmology, was appointed the John R. Adler Professor.  

Chichilnisky studies how the retina processes visual information and transmits it to the brain. He is also working to develop retinal implants to treat blindness.

The professorship is supported by a gift from Dorothy and Thye King Chan and from an anonymous couple. Dorothy Chan is executive director of the Far East Organization in Singapore, and Thye King Chan is a private equity and property investor. 

Peter Kim

Peter Kim, PhD, professor of biochemistry, was appointed the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Biochemistry.

Kim studies how viruses enter cells via membrane fusion and is working to develop an HIV vaccine that interferes with the membrane-fusion process. He is also studying proteins that have been deemed "nondruggable" because efforts to target them using drugs have failed.

The professorship is the fifth Stanford endowed professorship established with funds from the Daniel K. Ludwig estate to support researchers devoted to understanding and treating cancer. Ludwig pioneered the development of supertankers and administered gas and oil developments. He died in 1992.