NIW (National Interest Waiver) Recommendation Letter 1

Dear Sir or Madam:

It is my great pleasure to support [The petitioner's] petition for immigration to the United States and to endorse the EB2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) application for [The petitioner]. [The petitioner's] Ph.D. research focused on one critically important membrane protein complex, the cytochrome b6f complex, a delicate molecular device in the photosynthetic membrane with at eight [sic] tightly bound protein subunits and multiple inhibitor/drug binding sites. His findings have greatly advanced our understanding of trans-membrane trafficking and of how drug-like chemicals bind and act within membrane proteins.

Because of [the petitioner's] distinguished achievements during his Ph.D. study, I invited him to join my laboratory and apply his deep expertise in membrane protein structure and function to our studies of ion channel proteins involved in nervous system disorders. My laboratory at the XXXX Medical Center is a comprehensive medical research center, and as a professor and chairman of the Department and Director of the XXXX Center, I devote my work to biomedical research, focusing on XXX. Enclosed is my Curriculum Vitae documenting my qualifications to recommend [the petitioner's] for his EB2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) application.

[The petitioner] is an exceptionally skilled scientist whose groundbreaking research is vital to our country's biomedical research and to public health nationwide. His accomplishments far exceed those of the vast majority of his peers, as shown by his productive publications in premier scientific journals and the frequent citation of his work.

[The petitioner's] research aims to tackle neurological diseases. All neuronal activity in the brain, such as consciousness, learning, and memory, is governed by ion channel proteins on the neuronal cell surface that open and close and are permeable to specific ions. Compared with other ion channels, the BK channel is a unique potassium channel that generates exceptionally large electrical currents, so BK channels play an essential role in regulating neuronal excitability, firing, and neurotransmitter release. [The petitioner] has independently defined the biochemical and biophysical properties of the brain BK channel and how it is dynamically regulated. What we learned from his project is critically important to developing and using new drugs that target BK channels for many mental and neurological diseases.

In addition, [the petitioner] made the milestone discovery that brain BK channels occur in several splicing forms and are extensively phosphorylated at multiple sites in the mammalian brain. He has assembled a comprehensive, robust data set of alternative splicing isoforms and phosphorylation sites on rat brain BK channels, a gold mine for determining how neuronal activity is modulated by BK channels. The cytochrome b6f complex also plays a pivotal role in photosynthesis. [The petitioner] has studied the mechanism of electron/proton transfer within that complex in depth, along with the unique structural and functional properties of single copies of solar energy absorbing pigments in it. His novel discoveries have produced a better understanding of membrane energy transduction in photosynthesis and important input into efforts to harness photosynthesis for higher crop yield and more efficient use of renewable solar energy.

I feel fortunate to have had [the petitioner] in my laboratory. He has done outstanding work and made a very substantial impact in the research field of membrane protein structure and function. His research is well recognized nationally and internationally, as shown by the large number of citations (more than 80) to his papers by other researchers in the field. [The petitioner's] accomplishments far exceed what is expected of his peer group and have established him as a nationally and internationally outstanding researcher in membrane protein structure and function. His research is doubtlessly in the national interest of the United States. I believe [The petitioner] will be very productive in his research, and I fully support and recommend that his EB2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) petition be granted.

Sincerely,
XXXX, PhD
Director of XXX Center
XXX University Medical Center