Victoria Sy Lim, Md
Victoria Sy Lim, Md
Iowa City
Dr. Victoria Sy Lim, Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa died on February 21, 2025 at home in Iowa City. She integrated the roles of devoted wife, dedicated mother, and academic physician, all in one person.
Victoria was born in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China and grew up in the Philippines. She was the eldest of six children. She graduated MD, cum laude, from Far Eastern University in Manila and was well-known for obtaining the highest score that year on the Philippine Medical Board Examination. Victoria completed her residency training in Internal Medicine at the Graduate Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Fellowship training in Nephrology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She was a faculty member at the University of Chicago from 1969 to 1982, during which time she was also Director of Renal Dialysis at the Michael Reese Hospital.
Victoria was Professor of Internal Medicine (Nephrology) at the University of Iowa from 1982 until her retirement in 2007. Victoria carried out clinical research on endocrine dysfunction in patients with kidney failure. She participated in early clinical trials demonstrating that the recombinant hormone erythropoietin could be effective in treating anemia in renal failure patients and published numerous scientific papers in prestigious journals including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Annals of Internal Medicine, and American Journal of Physiology. She was the past President of the Chinese American Society of Nephrology. She published a memoir, titled Odyssey Across the Pacific: From China to the Philippines to the US, which chronicled her unique experience and struggle in American academia.
Victoria is survived by brothers, John Sy Ng (Betty Ng) and Alexander Sy (Susan Sy), her husband of 64 years, Ramon Lim, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Neurology at the University of Iowa, and her three children: Jennifer Lim-Dunham, MD (Daniel Dunham, MD), Professor of Radiology at Loyola University in Chicago; Wendell Lim, PhD (Karen Earle, MD), Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at University of California in San Francisco (UCSF); and Caroline Starbird, JD, who works as a product designer with digital satellite-based precision technology. Victoria’s nine grandchildren, ages 14 to 32, provided her with immense happiness and joy: Theresa Dunham, Caitlin Dunham, Conor Dunham, Castine Starbird, Renata Starbird, Katrina Starbird, Emilia Lim, Nadia Lim, and Jasper Lim.
Remains will be cremated, and a memorial held in Iowa City at a future date. Memorial gifts can be made to the Ramon and Victoria Lim Medical Science Lectureship Fund at the University of Iowa Foundation (http://givetoiowa.org/lim).
A full obituary may be viewed, and online condolences made at www.lensingfuneral.com.