You could say doing research to solve an intractable challenge in human medicine is in Sanha Kim's DNA. Kim recently received aNational Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Programaward to fund his next three years as a Ph.D. student and research assistant in chemical engineering professorRoseanne Ford's lab at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science. With the fellowship, one of the nation's most prestigious funding programs for graduate students, he will study aremarkably adaptive, and thus dangerous, infection-causing bacteria,Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The path that led Kim to UVA was inspired by his mother, Young Ju, an associate professor at Virginia Tech who researches and promotes holistic health practices to combat chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Growing up with her example of service, his goals crystallized early. “By the time I finished high school, I knew my dream was to transform my education into a career where I could advance knowledge boundaries and help develop solutions to persistent problems,†Kim said. Even whenPseudomonas aeruginosadoesn't kill, patients often endure repeated treatments with antibiotics, and the bacteria's presence is particularly threatening forcystic fibrosis patients. The bacteria thrive in mucus, a normally beneficial substance our bodies produce in abundance – maybe as much as 1.5 liters a day. Mucus protects us from illness by coating our sinuses, lungs, throat, intestines and stomach. In cystic fibrosis patients, a genetic malfunction leads to thick, sticky mucus in the lungs, which makes breathing difficult, is tough to expel and increases risk for infection.