It’s awards season again!  While Los Angeles is gearing up for the Oscars and the Grammys, we’re pleased to present the 9th annual Vilcek Prizes, honoring notable immigrants in the arts and sciences.  This year, we roll out the red carpet for eight groundbreaking professionals in biomedical science and in fashion, whose work covers everything from knitwear to microbiomes, and interdisciplinary fashion exhibitions to interdisciplinary cancer research.

Vilcek Prize for Biomedical Science

Peter Walter

Professor, University of California, San Francisco

For his fundamental insights into the process of protein translocation within cells, and for uncovering signaling mechanisms that cells deploy while facing stress.

 

Vilcek Prize for Fashion

Andrew Bolton

Curator of the Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

For a curatorial approach that combines a keen aesthetic with intellectual rigor, and that has elevated the field of fashion as an art form.

 

Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science

Sun Hur

Associate Professor, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School

For interdisciplinary studies on the molecular mechanisms of enzyme reactions and the innate immune system.

 

Rob Knight

Professor, University of California, San Diego

For groundbreaking research on microbial communities and the development of computational tools that honed the analysis of microbial data.

 

Franziska Michor

Professor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard School of Public Health

For work that fuses evolutionary biology, mathematics, and clinical research toward a better understanding of cancer genesis and treatments.

 

Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Fashion

Siki Im

Founder, Siki Im Studio

For menswear designs that draw inspiration from architecture, culture, politics, and psychology.

 

Natallia Pilipenka

Fashion Designer

For womenswear designs that mesh traditional craft with conceptual and cultural investigations.

 

Tuyen Tran

Fashion Designer

For designs that fuse environmental awareness and everyday functionality with a modern, minimal aesthetic.