Jerson Lima Silva graduated in medical school and obtained his PhD in Biophysics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1987, with a post doc at the University of Illinois (USA). Full Professor of the Biophysics Institute of UFRJ, he is also the Scientific Director of Carlo Chagas Filho Foundation for the Support of Research of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) since 2003. Professor Lima Silva is a member of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Academy of Science, and a full member of TWAS , the Academy of Science for the Developing World.

He was awarded several important prizes, among which the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 1991, the International European Economic Community 1991, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1997-2002, National Order of Scientific Merit granted by the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil in 2002; the TWAS award in Biology in 2006. Professor Silva has published more than 120 articles in international scientific journals, such as Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences USA and Trends in Biochemical Sciences. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry since 2007.

Professor Silva is the coordinator of the National Institute of Science and Technology in Structural Biology and Bioimaging, one of the new national institutes established by the CNPq in 2008.