Vivian Lee-Kim, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Schools: Medical School | Graduate School
Departments: Pediatrics | Molecular Biology
Graduate Programs: Genetics, Development and Disease

Biography

Vivian Lee, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Molecular Biology. She is also a member of the Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Lee earned her B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington and her Ph.D. in Developmental, Regenerative, and Stem Cell Biology from Washington University in St. Louis. Her graduate research focused on coding mutations in extracellular matrix genes that contribute to thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections. As a postdoctoral fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, she investigated noncoding variations associated with coronary artery disease. She was later promoted to Instructor in Medicine before joining the faculty at UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2024.

Education

Graduate School: (2018)

Research Interest

Cardiovascular development and disease
Human and molecular genetics

Publications

Interpreting MYH11 Copy Number Variation in Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Dissection: Insights From the Misannotation of Variants in Clinical Genetic Tests: Schwartzman WE, Hujoel ML, Channaoui N, Lee-Kim V, Loh PR, Gupta RM JACC: Case Reports 2025 Mar 30
Deciphering the impact of genomic variation on function: Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration SC, Author Collaboration Q, Author Collaboration PI, Author Collaboration N, Author Collaboration NV, Author Collaboration M, Author Collaboration i, Author Collaboration Io, Author Collaboration I, Author Collaboration I, Author Collaboration E, Author Collaboration EV, Author Collaboration Da, Author Collaboration C, Author Collaboration CV, Author Collaboration CP, Author Collaboration C, Author Collaboration Sa, Author Collaboration N, Author Collaboration M, Author Collaboration PD, Author Collaboration CA, Author Collaboration C, Author Collaboration C, Author Collaboration Co, Author Collaboration SC, Author Collaboration IC, Author Collaboration NP, Author Collaboration IA, Author Collaboration Da, Author Collaboration NP, Author Collaboration PM, Author Collaboration MA, Author Collaboration CA, Author Collaboration WG, Author Collaboration Wg, Author Collaboration Yl, Author Collaboration Xl, Author Collaboration Sl, Author Collaboration Sl, Author Collaboration Rl, Author Collaboration Rl, Author Collaboration Pl, Author Collaboration Pa, Author Collaboration Ml, Author Collaboration Ml, Author Collaboration Jl, Author Collaboration Hl, Author Collaboration Gl, Author Collaboration Gl, Author Collaboration Gl, Author Collaboration Dl, Author Collaboration Cl, Author Collaboration Bl, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Author Collaboration U, Samer EK, Morris SA, Hutter CM, Gilchrist DA, Calluori S, Bly Z, Osorio D, Zhang L, He W, Fu R, Xu H, Wittibschlager S, Kutschat AP, Seruggia D, Morris JA, Caragine C, Sanjana NE, Ho CH, Harten IA, Ray J, Whalen S, Drusinsky S, Pollard KS, Visel A, Slaven N, Mannion B, Kosicki M, Kato M, Pennacchio LA, Spiro A, Sasse A, Mostafavi S, Song S, Roberts E, Murphy M, Donnard E, Jones TR, Losert C, Heinig M, Lee-Kim V, Fang S, Gupta R, Xu L, Wu J, Posner BA, Kaur K, Kraus WL, Chahrour MH, Munshi NV, Hon GC Nature 2024 Sep 633 47-57
Convergence of coronary artery disease genes onto endothelial cell programs: Schnitzler GR, Kang H, Fang S, Angom RS, Lee-Kim VS, Ma XR, Zhou R, Zeng T, Guo K, Taylor MS, Vellarikkal SK, Barry AE, Sias-Garcia O, Bloemendal A, Munson G, Guckelberger P, Nguyen TH, Bergman DT, Hinshaw S, Cheng N, Cleary B, Aragam K, Lander ES, Finucane HK, Mukhopadhyay D, Gupta RM, Engreitz JM Nature 2024 Feb 626 799-807
Multiomic Analysis and CRISPR Perturbation Screens Identify Endothelial Cell Programs and Novel Therapeutic Targets for Coronary Artery Disease: Gupta RM, Schnitzler GR, Fang S, Lee-Kim VS, Barry A Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 2023 May 43 600-608
Increases in hydraulic conductance and solute permeability in a mouse model of ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm: Crandall CL, Kim SY, Rother J, Lee VS, Mecham RP, Wagenseil JE Journal of Biomechanics 2022 Dec 145
CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing of Primary Human Vascular Cells In Vitro: Atri DS, Lee-Kim VS, Vellarikkal SK, Sias-Garcia O, Yanamandala M, Schniztler GR, Gupta RM Current Protocols in Microbiology 2021 Nov 1
Rare, Damaging DNA Variants in CORIN and Risk of Coronary Artery Disease: Insights From Functional Genomics and Large-Scale Sequencing Analyses: Wang M, Lee-Kim VS, Atri DS, Elowe NH, Yu J, Garvie CW, Won HH, Hadaya JE, MacDonald BT, Trindade K, Melander O, Rader DJ, Natarajan P, Kathiresan S, Kaushik VK, Khera AV, Gupta RM Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics 2021 Oct 14 E003399
The March of Monocytes in Atherosclerosis One Cell at a Time: Gupta RM, Lee-Kim VS, Libby P Circulation research 2020 May 126 1324-1326
Intracellular retention of mutant lysyl oxidase leads to aortic dilation in response to increased hemodynamic stress: Lee VS, Halabi CM, Broekelmann TJ, Trackman PC, Stitziel NO, Mecham RP JCI Insight 2019 Aug 4
Fibulin-4 is essential for maintaining arterial wall integrity in conduit but not muscular arteries: Halabi CM, Broekelmann TJ, Lin M, Lee VS, Chu ML, Mecham RP Science Advances 2017 May 3

Honors & Awards

Lerner Junior Faculty Award
Brigham and Women's Hospital (2023)
Rising Star in Biological Sciences
University of Chicago (2023)
Department of Medicine Chair's Research Award
Brigham and Women's Hospital (2022)
K99/R00 NHLBI Pathway to Independence Award
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2022)
NRSA F31 Predoctoral Fellowship
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2017)
Young Scientist Award
European Elastin Meeting (2016)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Heart Association
North American Vascular Biology Organization