Graduate and Postdoc Alum of the Year Award - This award recognizes an alum who has made outstanding contributions to science, research, society/community, or academia.
Dr. Chong has been named the Graduate and Postdoc Alum of the Year in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to computational biophysics, her leadership in advancing open science, and her extraordinary commitment to training the next generation of scientific innovators. A professor of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Chong is internationally known for pioneering rare-event molecular simulations and for leading the development of the WESTPA software platform. WESTPA is an open-source tool widely cited and used worldwide to model complex biomolecular processes, including high-impact studies of SARS-CoV-2 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. Equally distinguished as an educator and mentor, Dr. Chong has trained many scientists who now hold faculty, industry, and national lab positions. Through service on editorial boards, scientific advisory councils, national computing committees, and international workshops, Dr. Chong has elevated the fields of biophysics and computational chemistry while embodying the highest ideals of UCSF: scientific excellence, collaboration, and the use of discovery to advance human health.
See the full list of awardees here: https://www.ucsfalumniweekend.com/blog/news-aw26-awardees
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