Originally from Seoul, Dr. Kim earned his Ph.D. at Rutgers University in the 1990s. He began studying Alzheimer’s after a family member was diagnosed with the disease, and continued his postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School. This was where he discovered a mutation in a critical Alzheimer’s disease-associated gene that causes excessive amyloid and calcium production.

After moving to Columbia in 2000, he continued to focus on understanding the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease, with emphasis on the identification and validation of new therapeutic targets. His lab currently is involved in three major studies.