Lillian Chong was named UC San Francisco graduate alum of the year

Lillian Chong, professor in the University of Pittsburgh Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry, has been named Graduate and Postdoc Alum of the Year by the University of California, San Francisco in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to computational biophysics, leadership in advancing open science and commitment to training the next generation of scientific innovators.

The annual award is issued to UC San Francisco alumni who have made significant impacts in the fields of health care, research, education and community service. Chong earned a PhD in biophysics from the university in 2002.

Chong is internationally known for pioneering rare-event molecular simulations and for leading the development of WESTPA, an open-source tool used worldwide to model complex biomolecular processes, including high-impact SARS-CoV-2 studies that earned the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize from the Association for Computing Machinery. Her research has produced fundamental insights into protein folding, drug permeability and viral mechanisms, resulting in an extensive and influential publication record.