Minah Kim, PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology at CUMC

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Overview

Minah Kim, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Kim received her PhD from the KAIST under the mentorship of Dr. Gou Young Koh. Subsequently, she joined the lab of Dr. Donald McDonald at UCSF to pursue her postdoctoral training. Since then, her research has focused on understanding the role of vascular destabilization as a niche in facilitating distant metastasis, particularly in the development of resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy. Further, her study focuses on vascular-immune crosstalk to understand vascular regulation of immune microenvironment and of responsiveness to immunotherapies.

Academic Appointments

  • Assistant Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology at CUMC

Languages

  • Korean

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • PhD, Biology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
  • Fellowship: Postdoctoral, University of California, San Francisco

Honors & Awards

  • 2022 MRFBC Pilot Translational Award, Melanoma Research Foundation Breakthrough Consortium

Research

Blood vessels undergo rapid functional and structural changes, known as angiogenesis and vascular remodeling in various pathologic conditions. The primary focus of the Kim Lab includes:

  1. Unraveling effective strategies to delay metastatic progression by modulating the tumor microenvironment, specifically by targeting the tumor vasculature.
  2. Investigating the role of vascular leakage in T-cell exclusion and tumor immune suppression.
  3. Understanding the contribution of blood-brain barrier disruption to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Research Interests

  • Alzheimer's Disease
  • Cancer Biology
  • Immunotherapy
  • Tumor Microenvironment
  • Vascular Biology

Selected Publications

*marks corresponding author; #marks co-first author

Research Articles

  • Park HR, Kim S, Kozlov N, Tagore S, Wu L, Izar B, Kim M*. Spatial Polarization of Endothelial ICAM-1 Governs T-Cell Exclusion in Melanoma. March 23, 2026. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.19.712709. Preprints / Under Review
  • Lee E, Kim S, Zhu CL, Acquarone E, Kim S, Lo A, Omar OMF, Taddese M, Gradinaru V, Murphy PA, Agalliu D, Arancio O, An JY, Kim M*. Angiopoietin-2 aggravates Alzheimer's disease by promoting blood-brain barrier dysfunction and neuroinflammation. Cell Rep. 2026 Jan 27;45(1):116621. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116621. Epub 2026 Jan 12. PubMed PMID: 41529684. https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)01393-2
  • Kim S, Son E, Park HR, Kim M, Yang HW. Dual targeting of CDK4/6 and CDK7 augments tumor response and antitumor immunity in breast cancer models. J Clin Invest. 2025 Oct 15;135(20). doi: 10.1172/JCI188839. eCollection 2025 Oct 15. PubMed PMID: 40794455; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12520673. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12520673/
  • Lee E#, O'Keefe S#, Leong A#, Park HR, Varadarajan J, Chowdhury S, Hiner S, Kim S, Shiva A, Friedman RA, Remotti H, Fojo T, Yang HW, Thurston G, Kim M*. Angiopoietin-2 blockade suppresses growth of liver metastases from pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors by promoting T cell recruitment. J Clin Invest.2023 Oct 16;133(20). doi: 10.1172/JCI167994. PubMed PMID: 37843277 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37843277/
  • Park HR#, Shiva A#, Cummings P, Kim S, Kim S, Lee E, Leong A, Chowdhury S, Shawber C, Carvajal R, Thurston G, An JY, Lund AW, Yang HW, Kim M*. Angiopoietin-2-Dependent Spatial Vascular Destabilization Promotes T-cell Exclusion and Limits Immunotherapy in Melanoma. Cancer Res. 2023 Jun 15;83(12):1968-1983. PubMed PMID: 37093870; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10267677 (Cover article) https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/83/12/1968/727168/Angiopoietin-2-Dependent-Spatial-Vascular
  • Kim S*, Leong A, Kim M*, Yang HW*. CDK4/6 initiates Rb inactivation and CDK2 activity coordinates cell-cycle commitment and G1/S transition. Sci Rep. 2022 Oct 7;12(1):16810. PubMed PMID: 36207346; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9546874. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20769-5
  • Kim M#, Nitschké M#, Sennino B#, Murer P, Schriver BJ, Bell A, Subramanian A, McDonald CE, Wang J, Cha H, Bourgeois-Daigneault MC, Kirn DH, Bell JC, De Silva N, Breitbach CJ, McDonald DM. Amplification of Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus Widespread Tumor Cell Killing by Sunitinib through Multiple Mechanisms. Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 15;78(4):922-937. PubMed PMID: 29259007; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6501576.
  • Kim M, Allen B, Korhonen EA, Nitschké M, Yang HW, Baluk P, Saharinen P, Alitalo K, Daly C, Thurston G, McDonald DM. Opposing actions of angiopoietin-2 on Tie2 signaling and FOXO1 activation. J Clin Invest. 2016 Sep 1;126(9):3511-25. PubMed PMID: 27548529; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5004955.
  • Kim M#, Park HJ#, Seol JW#, Jang JY, Cho YS, Kim KR, Choi Y, Lydon JP, Demayo FJ, Shibuya M, Ferrara N, Sung HK, Nagy A, Alitalo K, Koh GY. VEGF-A regulated by progesterone governs uterine angiogenesis and vascular remodelling during pregnancy. EMBO Mol Med. 2013 Sep;5(9):1415-30. PubMed PMID: 23853117; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3799495. (Cover article)
  • Kim M, Koh YJ, Kim KE, Koh BI, Nam DH, Alitalo K, Kim I, Koh GY. CXCR4 signaling regulates metastasis of chemoresistant melanoma cells by a lymphatic metastatic niche. Cancer Res. 2010 Dec 15;70(24):10411-21. PubMed PMID: 21056990.

Reviews

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov

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