Dr. Kim’s research focuses on the characterization of genes involved in the emergence of breast cancer. Breast cancer is the single most common cancer in women. Although early detection followed by resection of tumors and tamoxifen treatment for estrogen receptor positive tumor patients have improved the cure frequency, the survival rate sharply declines for patients who have recurring tumors within 5 years of initial treatment. By deciphering oncogenes and tumor suppressors involved in the genesis and progression of breast cancer, better therapies can be developed that target specific molecular lesions associated with individual tumors.

Dr. Kim has identified several novel candidate tumor suppressor genes that can antagonize a tumor’s behavior in tissue culture. One of her main projects, funded by National Cancer Institute, is to characterize one of the genes that she identified named ING4. She has shown that the ING4 gene is deleted in 10-20% human breast cancer, suggesting its role as a tumor suppressor. To better characterize the tumor suppressor function of ING4 in breast cancer, she utilizes mice as a model organism. She has shown that ING4 suppresses mammary hyperplasia that resembles an early lesion in human breast cancer. Currently, her lab is investigating the molecular mechanisms of ING4 using state-of-the-art technology including gene expression array profiling, proteomics, 2-hybrid screen, and chromatin IP array study (ChIP on chip).

Her lab is also developing ING4 and other genes as biomarkers and prognostic markers for breast cancer, using high-throughput assays such as Tumor Tissue Microarrays (TMAs).

One of her long-term goals is to develop better therapies against cancer, targeting specific pathways involving tumor suppressors. She plans to utilize the mouse models generated in her studies to directly test potential therapeutics.

Dr. Kim obtained her undergraduate degree from University of California Berkeley and her PhD from Yale University School of Medicine. She developed her research program as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. J. Michael Bishop at University of California San Francisco. Dr. Kim joined TGen and University of Arizona College of Medicine in collaboration with Arizona State University in 2007.