by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
Since 2009, the Vilcek Foundation has awarded its Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise annually to immigrants who have made lasting contributions to American society through their extraordinary achievements in biomedical research, arts and culture. This year, two of the award recipients are of Korean descent.
Dr. Sun Hur was awarded the 2015 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for her interdisciplinary studies on molecular mechanisms of enzyme reactions and the innate immune system. She is currently an associate professor at Harvard Medical School with a joint appointment at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Her biomedical research has helped reveal important aspects of how the “immune system distinguishes the body’s own molecules from those of invading viruses.”
Born in Seoul, Dr. Hur completed her Ph.D in physical chemistry with Dr. Thomas C. Bruice at University of California, Santa Barbara and did her post-doctoral work in X-ray crystallography at University of California, San Francisco. Her previous achievements include a Pew Scholarship in Biomedical Science and aNew Investigator Award from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.
Meanwhile, Siki Im was awarded the Creative Promise Prize in Fashion. Born in Germany to Korean immigrant parents, Im is an architect-turned-designer. He launched his eponymous line of luxury menswear, SIKI IM, in 2009 and later expanded his business to include a denim and basics extension line called “DEN IM.”
He was recognized by the Vilcek Foundation for his diverse designs that draw inspirations from architecture, culture, politics and psychology. His vision earned him the 2010 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award for best new menswear and the Samsung Design & Fashion Fund Award in 2011.
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