Dr. Kim is currently an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea. His lab at KAIST (Lab of Immunotherapy) focuses on studying synthetic immunology to develop novel immunotherapeutic approaches for cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and autoimmune disorders. He is also a co-founder and scientific advisor of two biotech companies, Curocell and ILLIMIS THERAPEUTICS, in South Korea. Dr. Kim obtained his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National University, with a thesis on total synthesis of natural products. During his postdoctoral study at Scripps Research in the US, his work has helped pioneer the development of next-generation antibody therapeutics using unnatural amino acids (UAA) technology. A novel T cell-recruiting bispecific antibody targeting prostate cancer was generated based on this technology and is currently being tested in clinical trials in the US. Following postdoctoral training, he joined Calibr, a translational research division of Scripps Research, as a Principal Investigator where he broadened his research interests to develop novel immune cell-based immunotherapeutic approaches such as CAR-T therapy. The work of his team at Calibr led to the development of a switchable CAR-T platform which also entered clinical trials in the US. Since joining KAIST in 2016, he has continued to explore cutting-edge immunotherapies for refractory diseases, including a checkpoint-resistant CAR-T platform, which has led to the first CAR-T product to undergo clinical trials in South Korea. Among his current research interests is the development of novel immunotherapies for neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases that can overcome the limitations of conventional antibody-based therapies.