Dr Ki Wook Kim is a Postdoctoral Scientist at the School of Women’s and Children’s Health in University of New South Wales, based within the Prince of Wales Hospital. He completed Bachelors, Honours and PhD at the University of Sydney specialising in Molecular Biology and Genetics. During his PhD, he investigated the roles and interactions of various microRNAs and RNA silencing component proteins in multiple model organisms. He also accumulated extensive training in molecular research and advanced microscopy at various leading institutions including the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, CSIRO and the John Curtin School of Medical Research at ANU. Pursuing his long-standing passion for medical research, Dr. Kim is an associate investigator of the Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity (ENDIA) study group (www.endia.org.au), focusing on the viral aetiology of type 1 diabetes among Australian children. Currently, he aims to characterise the virome (population of all viruses) of Australian children who are at risk of developing type 1 diabetes, using cutting-edge Next-Generation Sequencing and high-throughput serological tests.
Project Characterising viruses that trigger and accelerate islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes
Research Interests
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that affects approximately 140 000 children and adults in Australia and over 16 million people worldwide. It is thought to arise from the complex interplay between genetic predisposition and exposure to various environmental agents. For decades, the involvement of Enteroviruses in the pathogenesis of this disease has been strongly debated. Dr Kim is interested in further elucidating the molecular events initiated by viruses that might contribute to the onset of type 1 diabetes, including those involving the dysregulation of microRNAs. He is also interested in the application of cutting-edge Next-Generation Sequencing technologies to investigate changes in the transcriptome and virome of human pancreatic islets prior to or following the development of type 1 diabetes. The sooner we determine when, how and which viruses contribute to the development and progression of islet autoimmunity, sooner we can develop an effective vaccine to prevent all virus-mediated type 1 diabetes.
Awards & Achievements
2019 JDRF International Postdoctoral Fellowship (2020-2023)
2019 Lindsey Baudinet Rising Star in Type 1 Diabetes Award (Australian Diabetes Society)
2019 UNSW Medicine (WCH) Early Career Researcher Best Publication Award
2019 Invited speaker, Midwifery Research at Royal Hospital for Women
2018 Named among the 13 Rising Stars in T1D Research by JDRF Australia
2018 Invited speaker, Viruses in May conference (Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia)
2017 Invited speaker, ComBio 2017 conference, Adelaide
2017 Winner of the SEALS Research Symposium 3M Presentation Competition
2017 CRE for the Protection of Pancreatic Beta Cells Travel Award (ComBio, Adelaide)
2017 JDRF Early Career Travel Award (ADA meeting, San Diego)
2017 Finalist for the 43rd Annual Tow Research Award (Open-Senior Division)
2016 JDRF Early Career Travel Award (Columbia University, New York)
2015 Finalist for the 41st Annual Tow Research Award (Open-Senior Division)
2013 PRSS travel support
2012 PRSS travel support
2011 ASPS travel grant
2010 PhD Scholarship, Australian Postgraduate Awards, University of Sydney
2009 BSci(Molecular Biology & Genetics), First Class Honours, University of Sydney
Highlighted Research
Media release by 9 online news outlets including Science Daily and Eureka alert!, highlighting findings from Kim K.W. et al., 2019 Sci Reports
Richardson S.J., and Horwitz M.S. miR, miR in the Cell, Does the Virus Control Them All? Diabetes. 65(4), 823-825. doi:10.2337/dbi15-0039. Commentary article for Kim K.W. et al., 2016 Diabetes
Thomas H. Diabetes: Enterovirus dysregulates islet miRNAs. Nature Reviews Endocrinology 12(1):2. DOI:10.1038. Research Highlight article for Kim K.W. et al., 2016 Diabetes
Publications
Kim K.W., Allen D.W., Briese T., Couper J.J., Barry S.C., Colman P.G., Cotterill A.M., Davis E.A., Giles L.C., Harrison L.C., Harris M., Haynes A., Horton J.L., Isaacs S.R., Jain K., Lipkin W.I., McGorm K., Morahan G., Morbey C., Pang I.G.N., Papenfuss A.T., Penno M.A.S., Sinnott R.O., Soldatos G., Thomson R.L., Vuillermin P., Wentworth J.M., Wilkins M.R., Rawlinson W.D. and Craig M.E. (2019) Higher frequency of vertebrate-infecting viruses in the gut of infants born to mothers with type 1 diabetes. Pediatric Diabetes (in press)
Craig M.E., Kim K.W., Isaacs S.R., Penno M.A.S., Hamilton-Williams E., Couper J.J. and Rawlinson W.D. (2019) Early-life factors contributing to type 1 diabetes. Diabetologia 62(10):1823-1834. DOI: 10.1007
Kim K.W., Horton J.L., Pang I.C.N., Jain K., Leung P., Isaacs S.R., Bull R.A., Luciani F., Wilkins M.R., Catteau J., Lipkin W.I., Rawlinson W.D., Briese T. and Craig M.E. (2019) Higher abundance of enterovirus A species in the gut of children with islet autoimmunity. Scientific Reports 9(1):1749. DOI: 10.1038
Kim K.W., Allen D.W., Briese T., Couper J.J., Barry S.C., Colman P.G., Cotterill A.M., Davis E.A., Giles L.C., Harrison L.C., Harris M., Haynes A., Horton J.L., Isaacs S.R., Jain K., Lipkin W.I., Morahan G., Morbey C., Pang I.C.N., Papenfuss A.T., Penno M.A.S., Sinnott R.O., Soldatos G.,Thomson R.L., Vuillermin P.J., Wentworth J.M., Wilkins M.R., Rawlinson W.D., Craig M.E. and ENDIA Study Group. (2019) Distinct Gut Virome Profile of Pregnant Women With Type 1 Diabetes in the ENDIA Study. Open Forum Infectious Diseases 6(2):ofz025. DOI:10.1093
Isaacs S.R., Kim K.W., Cheng J.X., Bull R.A.,Stelzer-Braid S., Luciani F., Rawlinson W.D. and Craig M.E. (2018) Amplification and next generation sequencing of near full-length human enteroviruses for identification and characterisation from clinical samples. Scientific Reports 8(1):11889. DOI: 10.1038
Allen D.W., Kim K.W., Rawlinson W.D. and Craig M.E. (2018) Maternal virus infections in pregnancy and type 1 diabetes in offspring: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Reviews in Medical Virology 28(3):e1974. DOI:10.1002
Isaacs S.R., Wang K., Kim K.W., Yin C., Zhou L., Mi Q.S. and Craig M.E. (2016) MicroRNAs in Type 1 Diabetes: Complex Interregulation of the Immune System, ? Cell Function and Viral Infections. Current Diabetes Reports 16(133):1-12
Kim K.W., Ho A., Alshabee-Akil A., Hardikar A.A., Kay T.W.H., Rawlinson W.D. and Craig M.E. (2016) Coxsackievirus B5 infection induces dysregulation of microRNAs predicted to target known type 1 diabetes risk genes in human pancreatic islets. Diabetes 65(4):996-1003. DOI: 10.2337
Eamens A.L., Kim K.W. and Waterhouse P.M. (2012) DRB2, DRB3 and DRB5 function in a non-canonical microRNA pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Signal Behavior 7(10):1224-9. DOI: 10.4161
Eamens A.L., Kim K.W., Curtin S.J. and Waterhouse P.M. (2012) DRB2 is required for microRNA biogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS ONE 7(4): e35933. DOI: 10.1371
Kim K.W., Eamens A.L. and Waterhouse P.M. (2011) RNA processing activities of the Arabidopsis ARGONAUTE protein family, RNA Processing, Paula Grabowski (Ed.),ISBN: 978-953-307-557-0, InTech DOI: 10.5772/22686
