Dr. Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama. He achieved his Ph.D. from the University of California San Diego / San Diego State University Joint program and has conducted postdoctoral at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Würzburg. He has endeavored to determine mechanisms of blood-brain barrier failure during infection and has implemented state-of-the-art modeling techniques.
Representative Publications
- Streptococcus agalactiae disrupts P-glycoprotein function in brain endothelial cells. B.J. Kim, M.A. McDonagh, B.D. Gastfriend, K.S. Doran, E.V. Shusta, Fluids Barriers CNS. 16: 26, 2019.
- Current perspectives in modeling infectious diseases and blood-brain barrier interactions. B.J. Kim, E.V. Shusta, K.S. Doran, Front Microbiol. 10: 1336, 2019.
- Interaction of Neisseria meningitidis with induced pluripotent stem cell derived brain endothelial cells. S. Gomes, A. Westermann, T. Sauerwein, T. Hertlein, K. Ohlsen, E.V. Shusta, a. Appelt-Menzel, M. Metzger, A. Schubert-Unkmeir, B.J. Kim. Front Microbiol. 10: 1181, 2019.
- Modeling Group B Streptococcus – blood-brain barrier interaction using iPSC-derived brain endothelial cell. B.J. Kim, O.B. Bee, M.A. McDonagh, M.J. Stebbins, S.P. Palecek, K.S. Doran, E.V. Shusta. mSphere 2: e00398-17, 2017.
- Bacterial Induction of Snail1 Contributes to Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption. B.J. Kim, B. Hancock, E. Reyes, A. Bermudez, N. DelCid, N. van Sorge, X. Lauth, B. Hilton, A. Stotland, A. Banarjee, J. Buchanan, D. Traver, R. Wolkowicz, K.S. Doran. J Clin Invest. 125: 2473-83, 2015.
Research Interests
Research in the Kim lab focuses on how the blood-brain barrier fails during infection with pathogens that can gain access to the central nervous system. Utilizing induced pluripotent stem-cell models in vitro with in vivo models in conjunction with bacterial genetics, we have uncovered mechanisms of how the blood-brain barrier becomes dysfunctional during infection. As many of these failures are common with many neurological disorders, we strive to uncover targets for novel therapeutic interventions as well as take lessons learned from infectious disease to deliver drugs to the central nervous system.
