San Francisco, CA, June 10, 2002 - Continuing to support a new generation of biomedical researchers, The Pew Charitable Trusts has chosen 20 of America's most promising biomedical researchers to be the 2002 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences.

Since 1985, the Trusts have provided more than $73 million for the support of 360 scholars. Each of the scholars, who are junior faculty members at medical schools and research institutions across the United States will receive a total award of $240,000 to help support his or her research over a four-year period. The awards, which are granted to young investigators who show outstanding promise in the basic and clinical sciences, are intended to encourage scholarly innovation in their research and to help them advance the state of knowledge in the biomedical sciences. The awards provide flexible support to the scholars as they establish their laboratories and continue their research in areas ranging from AIDS to cancer to childhood infectious diseases and to diseases affecting the elderly.

"The Pew Charitable Trusts take great pleasure in nurturing the scientific entrepreneurship of this latest group of scholars," said Rebecca W. Rimel, the Trusts' president. "This longstanding program has encouraged scientists to push the limits of their fields by helping them expand their research in new directions and invigorate each other through stimulating exchanges of ideas. We are privileged to back their courage and imagination."

This year, nominations from more than 120 institutions were received. The scholars were chosen by a 16-member national advisory committee appointed by the board of directors of The Pew Charitable Trusts and chaired by Dr. Torsten N. Wiesel, president emeritus of the Rockefeller University, and a 1981 Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine.

The Pew Charitable Trusts, a national philanthropy based in Philadelphia, support nonprofit activities in the areas of conservation and the environment, culture, education, health and human services, public policy and religion. Through their grantmaking, the Trusts make strategic investments that encourage and support citizen participation in addressing critical issues and effecting social change.

The following is a complete list of the 2002 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences:

Amacher, Sharon L., Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley Developmental Biology Bonnemann, Carsten G., M.D. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Muscle Biology/Muscular Dystrophy Carr, Chavela M., Ph.D. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Intracellular Membrane Fusion Chinnaiyan, Arul M., M.D., Ph.D. University of Michigan Functional Genomics of Prostrate Cancer, Clinical Genomics DiCarlo, James J., M.D., Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Neurophysiology Farber, Steven A., Ph.D. Thomas Jefferson University Developmental Biology/Biochemistry Farrar, Michael A., Ph.D. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Immunology Huang, Z. Josh, Ph.D. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Neuroscience Kapoor, Tarun M., Ph.D. Rockefeller University Chemical Biology Lagunoff, Michael, Ph.D. University of Washington Virology

Langen, Ralf, Ph.D. University of Southern California Biophysics/Membrane Biology Panning, Barbara, Ph.D. University of California, San Francisco Biochemistry Raman, C.S., Ph.D. University of Texas Medical School at Houston Structural Biology of Signal Transduction Reinisch, Karin M., Ph.D. Yale University Structural Biology Salama, Nina R., Ph.D. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Bacterial Pathogenesis Schmucker, Dietmar, Ph.D. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Developmental Neurobiology Schulman, Brenda A., Ph.D. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Biochemistry Scully, Ralph, Ph.D. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Cancer Biology Weber, Jason D., Ph.D. Washington University Cell Cycle Regulation Zou, Yong-Rui, Ph.D. Columbia University Immunology