Dr. Kim received his MD from the University of California, San Francisco and completed his residency in Medicine at UW.  He completed his clinical cardiology and research fellowships in 1999.  In addition to patient care responsibilities in Cardiology at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Dr. Kim has been involved in two main areas of research, which are both funded by the NIH. The first involves the effects of diabetes/obesity on vascular function and second involves the use of hypothermia in cardiac arrest resuscitation.

Dr. Kim’s research focuses on studying endothelial nitric oxide signaling and vascular inflammation.  Further, his lab is interested in examining the role of insulin resistance and obesity in the development of vascular disease.  Both cellular and molecular approaches are used in cell culture and mouse models.  The Kim laboratory focuses on the biology of endothelial nitric oxide signaling and the cellular mechanisms by which nutrient excess (free fatty acids and glucose) impair nitric oxide production. The second focus of the Kim lab centers on examining cellular mechanisms which activate vascular inflammatory pathways during nutritional excess.