Peter S. Kim


Peter S. Kim is an American scientist. He was president of Merck Research Laboratories, 2003-2013 and is currently Virginia & D.K. Ludwig Professor of Biochemistry at Stanford University, Institute Scholar at Stanford ChEM-H, and Lead Investigator of the Infectious Disease Initiative at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

Early life and education

Kim is of Korean descent. Kim grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey the son of a single mother, and his first job was in 1974 at a Roy Rogers restaurant, where he earned money to pay for college. Kim earned his A.B. in chemistry at Cornell University in 1979 where he conducted research with the late George P. Hess. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Stanford University under the guidance of Robert L. Baldwin.

Career and research

After his PhD, Kim was appointed by David Baltimore as one of the early Whitehead Fellows at the Whitehead Institute.
Later, Kim was a Professor of Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Member of the Whitehead Institute and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Kim is known for his studies of coiled coils and for discovering how proteins cause viral membranes to fuse with cells. He has a special interest in HIV/AIDS 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 based on similar principles. Kim also served as a member of the National Institutes of Health AIDS Vaccine Research Committee.
Kim joined Merck Research Laboratories 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, Gardasil, Isentress, Zostavax, and Rotateq. He also led the biomarker-based development of Keytruda. In 2013, he retired from Merck and was succeeded by Roger Perlmutter. He was appointed to the faculty at Stanford University in 2014.

Awards and honors

Kim is a member of the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Other honors include: