Center/Research Area Affiliations

• AMD Center of Excellence
• Diabetic Eye Disease Center of Excellence
• Ocular Regenerative Medicine Institute

Biography

Dr. Kim is a practicing vitreoretinal surgeon. He has extensive clinical experience in the management of retinal diseases associated with pathologic angiogenesis and is devoted to understanding the mechanisms of vitreoretinal disease. A former NIH-sponsored K12 scholar, Dr. Kim is evaluating neovascular membranes obtained from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy in order to understand the underlying mechanisms of aberrant retinal angiogenesis. He is also studying the cell biology of proliferative vitreretinopathy (PVR) membranes obtained from patients. Other areas of interest include retinal toxicities and their mechanisms of cell death, as well as computational modeling of oxygen distribution in dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to predict conversion to wet AMD.

Education

2005: MD, PhD, Yale University School of Medicine, Medical Scientist Training Program 

Postgraduate Training

2009: Ophthalmology Residency, University of Southern California, Doheny Eye Institute 

2011: Vitreoretinal Fellowship, University of Southern California, Doheny Eye Institute

Honors

2010: Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellow

2008: Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Residents Retreat

2008: Lillian and Henry Nesburn Award for Research Excellence

2008, 2007: Doheny Resident Travel Grant

2007: ARVO Travel Grant Award

2005: Selma and Karl Folkers Prize for Biomedical Research

Runx1 as a Mediator of Aberrant Retinal Angiogenesis

Dr. Kim and colleagues recently identified the transcription factor Runx1 as a mediator of pathologic retinal angiogenesis in endothelial cells derived from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. They discovered that Runx1 affects endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and tube formation. Inhibition of Runx1 was found to inhibit aberrant angiogenesis in the mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy. Future work will investigate the cell signaling mechanisms that mediate Runx1 activity.

Development of an in vitro Model of Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy

Dr. Kim and colleagues recently developed an in vitro model of proliferative vitreoretinopathy using patient-derived membranes. Using this model, they showed that methotrexate can affect cell proliferation and induce cell death. Ultimately, they hope to identify potential drugs that can regulate PVR, as well as explain the underlying cell biology of PVR membranes.

Angiogenesis and Lymphangiogenesis in Thyroid Eye Disease

Dr. Kim and colleagues recently showed that the both angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis are active in patients with acute thyroid eye disease (TED) compared to patients with chronic TED. This suggests that there is active VEGF signaling in teh acute phase of the disease. Further work is being pursued to produce an animal model of orbital inflammation, which may be used to further understand the interplay between orbital inflammation and VEGF signaling.

Retinal Toxicities

We previously showed that multiple concurrent cell death mechanisms are involved in tamoxifen toxicity of the retinal pigment epithelium. We are currently attempting to understand the cell death mechanisms of chloroquine toxicity of the retina.

Patient-Specific Modeling of Oxygen Distribution for Predicting Retinal Degeneration

The primary objective of this research program is to understand the pathophysiology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and to understand how drusen affect outer retinal oxygenation. Currently, no methods exist to non-invasively measure oxygenation of the outer retina of patients. Dr. Kim and colleagues propose are testing the hypothesis that drusen-induced hypoxia of photoreceptors may be a significant factor contributing to the progression of AMD, and that the topography of drusen can be used to predict conversion from dry to wet AMD.