Peter S. Kim (born April 27, 1958) is an American scientist. He was president of Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) 2003–2013 and is currently Virginia & D.K. Ludwig

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, Institute Scholar at Stanford ChEM-H, and Lead Investigator of the Infectious Disease Initiative at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. In 2016, Kim was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

for leadership in the discovery and development of novel drugs and vaccines used worldwide.

Early life and education

Kim is of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

descent. Kim grew up in Ridgewood,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, the son of a

single mother A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, bec ...

. His first job was in 1974 at a

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

restaurant, where he earned money to pay for college. Kim earned his A.B. in chemistry at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1979 where he conducted research with the late George P. Hess. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry at

under the guidance of Robert L. ("Buzz") Baldwin.

Career and research

After his PhD, Kim was appointed by

David Baltimore David Baltimore (born March 7, 1938) is an American biologist, university administrator, and 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He is a professor of biology at the California Institute of Tech ...

as one of the early Whitehead Fellows at the

Whitehead Institute Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research is a non-profit research institute located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States that is dedicated to improving human health through basic biomedical research. It was founded as a fiscally indep ...

. Later, Kim was a professor of biology at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT), a Member of the

and an investigator at the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland with additional facilities in Ashburn, Virginia. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American busin ...

. Kim is known for his studies of coiled coils and for discovering how

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

s cause viral membranes to fuse with cells. He has a special interest in

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

research and designed compounds that stop membrane fusion by HIV, thereby preventing it from infecting cells, and has pioneered efforts to develop an HIV

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

based on similar principles. Kim also served as a member of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH) AIDS Vaccine Research Committee. Kim joined Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) in 2001 as executive vice president, Research and Development. He was promoted to president in January 2003. In this role Kim oversaw all of Merck's drug and vaccine research and development activities. During his tenure, Merck gained approval of more than 20 new medicines and vaccines. These include Januvia (the first DPP-4 inhibitor for

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent ...

), Gardasil (the first vaccine for prevention of

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

), Isentress (the first HIV integrase inhibitor), Zostavax (the first vaccine for the prevention of

shingles Shingles, also known as herpes zoster or zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. T ...

in adults), and Rotateq (an oral vaccine for the prevention of

rotavirus Rotaviruses are the most common cause of diarrhea, diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children. Nearly every child in the world is infected with a rotavirus at least once by the age of five. Immunity (medical), Immunity develops with ...

infection in infants). He also led the biomarker-based development of

Keytruda Pembrolizumab, sold under the brand name Keytruda, is a humanized antibody, more specifically a PD-1 inhibitor, used in cancer immunotherapy that treats melanoma, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, stomach cancer, cervical c ...

. In 2013, he retired from Merck and was succeeded by Roger Perlmutter. He was appointed to the faculty at

in 2014.

Awards and honors

Kim is a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

, the

, and a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. Other honors include: * NAS Award in Molecular Biology (1993) *

Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry The Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry was established in 1934. Consisting of a bronze medal and honorarium, its purpose is to stimulate fundamental research in biological chemistry by scientists not over thirty-eight years of age. The Award i ...

(1994) *DuPont Merck Young Investigator Award of the Protein Society (1994) * Samsung Foundation Ho-Am Prize in Basic Science (1998) *The Hans Neurath Award of the Protein Society (1999) *Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa, Pohang University of Science and Technology (2011) *The Arthur Kornberg and Paul Berg Lifetime Achievement Award in Biomedical Sciences,

(2018)

Board memberships and affiliations

*Medical Advisory Board,

*Scientific Advisory Working Group, Vaccine Research Center, NIH

Elected memberships

*Member,

(formerly

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

) *Member,

*Member,

*Fellow,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

*Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology *Fellow, Biophysical Society *Member, Korean Academy of Science and Technology

Service

* MIT Corporation, visiting committee, department of biology, MIT *HARC (HIV Accessory and Regulatory Complexes) scientific advisory board,

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

*External scientific advisory board, Harvard Program in Therapeutic Science,

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Peter S. 1958 births American health care businesspeople American academics of Korean descent American pharmaceutical industry businesspeople Cornell University alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Howard Hughes Medical Investigators Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Merck Group people People from Ridgewood, New Jersey Place of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Ho-Am Prize in Science Stanford University School of Medicine alumni American biochemists Members of the National Academy of Medicine Businesspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey