This afternoon, we announced the creation of the Kimberly Howes Memorial Fellowship in Vision Research and celebrated the life of our friend and colleague. This fellowship is intended to remember a scientist and her contributions to research in retinoblastoma and age related macular degeneration and will be awarded to promising postdoctoral researchers engaged in basic research at the John A. Moran Eye Center. The goal is to fund this fellowship in perpetuity allowing us to grant a yearly award to outstanding incoming postdoctoral scientists, assisting them with travel to scientific meetings and providing materials for their research. If you are interested in contributing to this fellowship, please contact our director of public affairs here.
The namesake of this fellowship, Kim Howes was a research assistant professor at the Moran Eye Center and had dedicated her work to understanding and finding treatments for retioblastoma and the degenerative eye disease, age related macular degeneration. Unfortunately, cancer cut her life and her research short and while we are richer for knowing her, Kim is sorely missed and the scientific world has lost a shining star whose work was insightful, creative and collaborative. Her colleagues benefitted from an openness and willingness to talk about not just others science, but her science with a candor that is rare indeed in the molecular biological community. Kim was also a passionate educator, as she eagerly would take time out of her busy schedule to talk with graduate students and post-doctoral students about their work, serving as an example to us all.
Kim was born on September 30, 1956 and died on Jan 6th, 2007. In her short life, she graduated from high school at the Air Force Academy High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado followed by earning her bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University, her master’s degree from Washington State University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio. Her research resulted in almost 30 scientific publications, most recently with a publication in the prestigious journal Science.
Kim leaves behind her beloved husband of 18 years, Chuck Hensel along with her loved pets, family members, band members, friends and colleagues. We will all miss you Kim.
