Kimberly Cooper and Elizabeth Villa Named Pew Innovation Fund Investigators

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University of California San Diego School of Biological Sciences Professors Kimberly Cooper and Elizabeth Villa have been selected by the Pew Charitable Trusts as members of its 2024 class of Innovation Fund Investigators.

Cooper and Villa are one of eight pairs of researchers nationally selected to lead interdisciplinary research projects that explore foundational questions about human biology and disease.

Cooper, with the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Villa, with the Department of Molecular Biology, will examine cell functions that are key to mammalian growth. Their project will investigate how chondrocytes — specialized cells at the end of bones — function during bone growth.

Overall, 16 Pew Innovation Fund investigators will combine their expertise in topic areas ranging from cell biology and immunology to neuroscience and genetics in an effort to advance scientific discovery and improve human health.

“Now more than ever, interdisciplinary approaches are key to solving the world’s most pressing scientific challenges,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Pew’s senior vice president for Philadelphia and scientific advancement. “Through their innovative research projects, these exceptional investigators are drawing on their different areas of scientific inquiry to advance biomedical research, and Pew is proud to support them.”

Chondrocytes are cells found in cartilage tissue. In mammals, they are known to swell massively and secrete large proteins that assist with bone growth. But how chondrocytes function in a swollen state has remained a mystery. Cooper and Villa will join forces to address this question. By combining Cooper’s extensive experience in skeletal biology and Villa’s expertise in structural cell biology, the researchers plan to examine the mechanisms that drive this swelling and protein secretion — creating high-resolution 3D images of biological samples to closely examine chondrocytes and their function. This collaborative work could reveal key insights into the cell functions that are fundamental to the growth of all mammals.

Pew launched the Innovation Fund in 2017 to support scientific collaboration among alumni of its biomedical programs in the United States and Latin America. The award is supported by the Kathryn W. Davis Peace by Pieces Fund and by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation.

The full list of 2024 Innovation Fund Investigators is available here.

— With information from the Pew Charitable Trusts