Kwangho Kim, Ph.D.

Kwangho Kim (Director; Research Associate Professor of Chemistry) earned his PhD in organic chemistry from the Tokyo Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Professor Fumie Sato. His graduate work focused on developing novel synthetic methodologies and constructing multifunctional chiral compounds using organotitanium reagents. For his academic excellence, he received both the Japanese Government Monbusho Scholarship and the Sasagawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society. From 2001 to 2004, Dr. Kim conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Gary Sulikowski at Texas A&M University, where he contributed to the total synthesis of hibarimicin B and analogs of protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In 2006, he joined Vanderbilt University as a founding member of the Chemical Synthesis Core, now known as the Molecular Design and Synthesis Core (MDSC) and currently serves as its director. Dr. Kim has over 25 years of experience in synthetic organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and small molecule probe development. His research contributions span a wide range of therapeutic areas including cancer, inflammation, and infectious diseases. He has co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and patents and actively collaborates with investigators across campus to accelerate drug discovery projects from early-stage hit identification through lead optimization. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/kwangho.kim.1/bibliography/public/