James Kim, M.D., Ph.D.

James Kim, M.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of the Division of Hematology and Oncology.  He specializes in lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies.

A native of Seoul, Dr. Kim received his undergraduate degree in chemistry and classical Greek at Amherst College in Massachusetts. He earned his medical degree and his doctorate in biophysical chemistry at the University of Rochester, where he also completed internal medicine residency training. He then completed advanced training through a clinical fellowship in medical oncology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore and a research postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University in California.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in medical oncology, Dr. Kim joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2011.

Dr. Kim’s laboratory focuses on fundamental developmental pathways, such as Hedgehog, in the initiation, growth, and metastases of cancers. The laboratory also seeks to understand the interactions of these pathways with each other and between tumor epithelia and stroma. His investigations have resulted in 25 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

At UT Southwestern, Dr. Kim instructs both medical and graduate students as a lecturer, dissertation committee member, journal club moderator, and in clinics.

Dr. Kim is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and the American Association of Cancer Research.

Medical School

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (1997)

Medical School

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (1999)

Internship

University of Rochester/Strong Memorial Hospital (2000), Internal Medicine

Residency

University of Rochester/Strong Memorial Hospital (2002), Internal Medicine

Fellowship

Johns Hopkins Hospitals & Health System (2006), Medical Oncology

Other Post Graduate Training

Stanford University (2010)

• Developmental Pathways
• Hedgehog Signaling Pathway
• Lung Cancer
• Molecularly Targeted Therapy
• Tumor Epithelial-Stromal Interactions

Featured Publications

Posaconazole, a second-generation triazole antifungal drug, inhibits the Hedgehog signaling pathway and progression of basal cell carcinoma.

Chen B, Trang V, Lee A, Williams NS, Wilson AN, Epstein EH, Tang JY, Kim J Mol. Cancer Ther. 2016 Jan

Open-label, exploratory phase II trial of oral itraconazole for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma.

Kim DJ, Kim J, Spaunhurst K, Montoya J, Khodosh R, Chandra K, Fu T, Gilliam A, Molgo M, Beachy PA, Tang JY J. Clin. Oncol. 2014 Mar 32 8 745-51

Simultaneous measurement of smoothened entry into and exit from the primary cilium.

Kim J, Hsia EY, Kim J, Sever N, Beachy PA, Zheng X PLoS ONE 2014 9 8 e104070

Hedgehog pathway modulation by multiple lipid binding sites on the smoothened effector of signal response.

Myers BR, Sever N, Chong YC, Kim J, Belani JD, Rychnovsky S, Bazan JF, Beachy PA Dev. Cell 2013 Aug 26 4 346-57

Itraconazole and arsenic trioxide inhibit Hedgehog pathway activation and tumor growth associated with acquired resistance to smoothened antagonists.

Kim J, Aftab BT, Tang JY, Kim D, Lee AH, Rezaee M, Kim J, Chen B, King EM, Borodovsky A, Riggins GJ, Epstein EH, Beachy PA, Rudin CM Cancer Cell 2013 Jan 23 1 23-34

Hedgehog-responsive candidate cell of origin for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma

Monje M, Mitra SS, Freret ME, Raveh TB, Kim J, Masek M, Attema JL, Li G, Haddix T, Edwards MS, Fisher PG, Weissman IL, Rowitch DH, Vogel H, Wong AJ, Beachy PA Proc Natl Acad Sci 2011 Mar 15 108 (11) 4453-8

Hedgehog/Wnt feedback supports regenerative proliferation of epithelial stem cells in bladder

Shin K, lee J, Guo N, Kim J, Lim A, Qu L, Mysorekar IU, Beachy PA Nature 2011 Apr 7 472 (7341) 110-4

Arsenic antagonizes the Hedgehog pathway by preventing ciliary accumulation and reducing stability of the Gli2 transcriptional effector

Kim J, Lee JJ, Kim J, Gardner D, Beachy PA Proc Natl Acad Sci 2010 Jul 27 107 (30) 13432-7

Itraconazole, a commonly used antifungal that inhibits Hedgehog pathway activity and cancer growth

Kim J, Tang JY, Gong R, Kim J, Lee JJ, Clemons KV, Chong CR, Chang KS, Fereshteh M, Gardner D, Reya T, Liu JO, Epstein EH, Stevens DA, Beachy PA Cancer Cell 2010 Apr 13 17 (4) 388-99

Thermodynamics of coaxially stacked helixes with GA and CC mismatches

Kim J, Walter AE, Turner DH Biochemistry 1996 Oct 29 35 (43) 13753-61

• Simmons Cancer Center and American Cancer Society New Investigator Award
  (2012)
• National Lung Cancer Partnership Young Investigator Research Grant
  (2010)
• American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award
  (2005)

• American Association for Cancer Research (2003)
• American Society of Clinical Oncology (2002)
• International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (2012)