About

Dr. Julie Y. Kim is an assistant clinical professor in the Section of Restorative Dentistry at the UCLA School of Dentistry, where she has been a faculty member since 2016. She serves as the course chair for Applied Dental Anatomy and co-chairs the Direct Restoration courses, as well as chairing the Dental Morphology. Her teaching activities include overseeing clinical restorative dentistry and esthetic dentistry courses. Dr. Kim's research interests focus on clinical research, restorative dentistry, and digital dentistry. She holds a D.D.S. degree from New York University, obtained between 2004 and 2008, and an M.P.H. in International Health from Loma Linda University, completed in 2002.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Materials science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Nanotechnology
• Mechanics
• Immunology
• Medicine
• Optoelectronics
• Computational biology
• Geometry
• Composite material
• Data science
• Optics
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Virology
• Engineering
• Marine engineering
• Biology
• Organic chemistry

Selected publications

• Hierarchical materials from fused silk

  Nature Sustainability · 2026-05-12

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Silk is an extraordinary natural material whose unique chemistry and hierarchical organization enable performance beyond that of many synthetic counterparts. However, its poor processability arising from the molecular folding patterns of fibroin makes fabricating shapes other than fibres conceptually challenging. Here we report a simple and rapid thermomechanical process to fuse silk fibres into solid materials of arbitrary shapes. This approach avoids silk dissolution and subsequent regeneration – processes typically associated with a substantial environmental footprint due to extensive solvent use. The resulting fused silk exhibits remarkable mechanical properties (flexural strength up to 510 MPa, tensile toughness up to 45 MJ m −3 ), optical transparency in the visible range, pronounced optical activity in the terahertz range with large polarization rotation and processing-dependent biocompatibility and biodegradability. The molecular organization of fused silk emerges from interdiffusion of the naturally present amorphous phase, generating strong intrafibre and interfibre molecular bonds without damaging the original hierarchical organization and the crystalline regions. This direct conversion of natural silk fibres into structural and optically active materials enhances the prospects for scalable production and real-world deployment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Author response for "Experimental Studies of High-Temperature Thermal Dissociation of iso-Propanol"

  2025-03-12

  peer-review1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• High-resolution analysis of power outages and extreme weather events exposes environmental injustice in electric grid restoration

  Research Square · 2025-11-10

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Equivalent Circuit Analysis of RFID Tags with Open Dipole Antennas

  2025-07-13

  article

  In this paper, we analyze UHF (RAIN) RFID tags with open dipole antennas using an equivalent circuit approach. We derive original closed form expressions for tag threshold sensitivity and backscatter resonances and mathematically analyze those. We also present a practical <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$42 \text{mm} \times 16 \text{mm}$</tex> RFID tag example, including modeling, simulations, equivalent circuit extraction and analysis, and measurements on dielectrics that represent practical use scenarios in real tagging applications.

  PublisherDOI

• Formation of Interconnected Nanofiber Sheets by Chemical Vapor Polymerization at the Free Surface of Liquid Crystalline Films

  Angewandte Chemie · 2025-09-26

  article

  Abstract We report that chemical vapor polymerization (CVP) of aminomethyl[2.2]paracyclophane into nematic liquid crystal (LC) films (thicknesses of 18 µm) yields quasi‐two‐dimensional, sub‐micron thick nanoporous polymer networks consisting of interconnected amine‐functionalized nanofibers/nanowalls (widths of 30 ± 1 nm). We establish that the polymer networks form at the free surface of the LC films with thicknesses ranging from 79 ± 5 to 280 ± 14 nm and nanoscopic pores tunable via the choice of LC and monomer loading. Structural analysis using electron microscopy reveals the networks to possess morphologies ranging from open bicontinuous‐like to cellular foam‐like structures which, along with optical observations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, supports a synthesis pathway involving an interface‐confined phase separation. MD simulations provide further insight into the atomic‐scale processes determining the synthesis pathway, including the role of reactive precursor chemistry (e.g., hydroxymethyl[2.2]paracyclophane versus aminomethyl[2.2]paracyclophane versus [2.2]paracyclophane) in defining the nanostructure of the polymer product. Fluorescence and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm that the nanofiber sheets are decorated with primary amine groups, permitting covalent functionalization of the surfaces of the nanosheets. Finally, we show how the nanosheet synthesis can be integrated with existing membrane technology, illustrating the potential utility of the nanoporous sheets in a range of contexts, including filters, separators, and heat exchanger surfaces.

  PublisherDOI

• Heterophase Reduction of the Fully Oxidized Aniline Tetramer

  ACS Materials Letters · 2025-01-23 · 2 citations

  article

  Electrically conductive polyaniline (PANI) is ubiquitously applied in energy storage devices using its three oxidation states and reversible doping and dedoping processes. However, the chemical stability of the most oxidized state, the pernigraniline base, has gained considerably less interest than its emeraldine base counterpart. By utilizing the phenyl-capped aniline tetramer (TANI) as a model of PANI, this work examines the heterophase reductions of the pernigraniline base. Through UV–vis spectroscopy and electrochemical methods, we provide both a quantitative and qualitative analysis, demonstrating the dependence of the reduction rate on acidity, as corroborated with cyclic voltammograms and open circuit potential measurements. Solid state reactions reveal that reduction can be achieved via ball milling with a solid acid, the piezoelectric material BaTiO3, and cadmium metal pieces. This behavior was also applied to thin films, enabling the patterning via a responsive and irreversible vapor reduction.

  PublisherDOI

• Fundamentals and Applications of Polymer Nanofiber Arrays Fabricated by Chemical Vapor Polymerization

  Deep Blue (University of Michigan) · 2025-01-01

  dissertationOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Chemical vapor deposition Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has been widely used in industry and academia as a manufacturing tool to create high-quality films. The excellent step coverage and controllable process of CVD enable its applications in medical devices and semiconductor engineering. One of the promising materials compatible to CVD is poly(p-xylylene) (PPX) as it can be easily modified with various functional groups to immobilize biomolecules and growth factors on medical implants. Advancing from 2-dimensional (2D) film coating, templated CVD polymerization has been suggested to leverage the manufacturing advantages of CVD and the chemical diversity of PPX into topological structures. Recently, liquid crystal (LC) film was used as a template during CVD polymerization, and the synthesis of end-attached nanofiber arrays that resemble the configuration of LC orientations was presented. The first portion of the thesis proposes the growth mechanisms of LC-templated CVD polymerization. Within a certain range of synthesis conditions, we discovered hierarchically converging structures near the solid interface of nanofibers, suggesting that nanofibers grow through a process in which multiple sub-contacts merge into the nanofibers. To observe the intermediate phases of the growth process, we examined the morphological transition of nanostructures by controlling the polymerization time and synthesis pressure. We further used a computational tool to quantify the geometrical features of the hierarchical structures and ultimately derived a growth equation describing the development of the network over time. In the second portion of this dissertation, we designed an LC/fiber composite that exhibits shape-encoded actuation that mimics the behavior of biological systems. This composite takes advantage of the dynamic responses of LC molecules to the electric field, namely the Fréedericksz transition. To observe a clear response from the composite during the electric field application, we used a cyclohexyl-based LC mixture that assumes bent anchoring at the LC-air interface. After the polymerization of PPX, we placed conductive substrates on both the top and bottom sides of the LC/fiber composites. Upon applying an electric field across the specimen, the LC/fibers stretched vertically in the direction of the electric field due to the mechanical coupling of the nanofiber arrays and the surrounding LC template. The composite exhibited programmable responses to the electric field, mimicking the behavior of biological systems such as the tentacles of coral. Subsequently, we fabricated an array of chiral nanofibers made of poly(phenylene vinylene) (PPV) templated by cholesteric LC (C-LC) that emit circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). Our preliminary study reported the templated CVD polymerization of PPV nanofibers using the Gilch route. Our approach aimed to test whether the chiral conformation of the fluorescent polymer could polarize the emitted light into CPL. We prepared arrays of chiral PPV nanofibers with different pitches by varying the chiral dopants of C-LC. The CPL spectrometer confirmed the circular polarization of green light, matching the inherent emission profile of PPV. Our work provides both fundamental and practical insights into LC-templated CVD polymerization. The growth mechanism of templated nanofibers offers guidelines for optimal synthesis conditions and mathematical modeling for hierarchically merging network growth. The second part of this thesis explores the potential use of these materials as optical devices, such as optical tweezers or vortex light beams, based on the optical vortex properties of the composite. The final chapter introduces a new platform to engineer CPL-emitting surfaces, highlighting the manufacturing advantages of CVD.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Disease Modification: Comparing Diverse Approaches to Alpha-Synuclein Targeting Therapies in Parkinson’s Disease

  International journal of high school research · 2025-04-30

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Parkinson's disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder that mainly affects people over the age of 60.The characteristic movement-related complications, including tremors, akinesia, as well as nonmotor symptoms such as mood disorders, arise when neurodegeneration within the substantia nigra causes a lack of dopamine, creating dysfunction in many systems.A key pathological hallmark of PD is the accumulation of misfolded -synuclein (ASYN), forming toxic aggregates responsible for disease progression.Even with billions spent on healthcare, millions of lives affected, and multiple symptomatic treatments available, there are currently no disease-modifying therapies to slow PD progression.This review compares ten current alpha-synuclein-targeting disease-modifying therapies in clinical trials explored in the Parkinson's Disease Drug Therapies in the Clinical Trial Pipeline: 2023 Update.Because each clinical trial used different biomarkers to prove the slowing neurodegeneration, the drugs were compared on whether they showed a decrease in ASYN aggregates and viability on a cellular level.These therapeutic approaches aimed to reduce pathologic ASYN levels through various mechanisms ranging from antibodies, neurotransmitter regulators, and small molecule therapies.Among them, the small molecule therapies, specifically UCB0599 and Anle-138b, seemed to be the most promising given the greatest blood-brain barrier penetration and decreased pathological alpha-synuclein levels.

  PublisherDOI

• Formation of Interconnected Nanofiber Sheets by Chemical Vapor Polymerization at the Free Surface of Liquid Crystalline Films

  Angewandte Chemie International Edition · 2025-09-26

  article

  We report that chemical vapor polymerization (CVP) of aminomethyl[2.2]paracyclophane into nematic liquid crystal (LC) films (thicknesses of 18 µm) yields quasi-two-dimensional, sub-micron thick nanoporous polymer networks consisting of interconnected amine-functionalized nanofibers/nanowalls (widths of 30 ± 1 nm). We establish that the polymer networks form at the free surface of the LC films with thicknesses ranging from 79 ± 5 to 280 ± 14 nm and nanoscopic pores tunable via the choice of LC and monomer loading. Structural analysis using electron microscopy reveals the networks to possess morphologies ranging from open bicontinuous-like to cellular foam-like structures which, along with optical observations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, supports a synthesis pathway involving an interface-confined phase separation. MD simulations provide further insight into the atomic-scale processes determining the synthesis pathway, including the role of reactive precursor chemistry (e.g., hydroxymethyl[2.2]paracyclophane versus aminomethyl[2.2]paracyclophane versus [2.2]paracyclophane) in defining the nanostructure of the polymer product. Fluorescence and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm that the nanofiber sheets are decorated with primary amine groups, permitting covalent functionalization of the surfaces of the nanosheets. Finally, we show how the nanosheet synthesis can be integrated with existing membrane technology, illustrating the potential utility of the nanoporous sheets in a range of contexts, including filters, separators, and heat exchanger surfaces.

  PublisherDOI

• Lights Out, Crime Up? Evidence from National Power Outages Data

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Parviz Moin

  Stanford University

  43 shared

• Joerg Lahann

  BioSurfaces (United States)

  28 shared

• Haecheon Choi

  Seoul National University

  26 shared

• Jason L. Speyer

  University of California, Los Angeles

  18 shared

• Brian O’Sullivan

  Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

  18 shared

• Andrew Bayley

  Health Sciences Centre

  18 shared

• Jeff D. Eldredge

  University of California, Los Angeles

  16 shared

• Xiaolin Zhong

  University of South China

  15 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering

  Stanford University

  1978

• M.S., Mechanical Engineering

  Brown University

  1974

• B.S., Mechanical Engineering

  Seoul National University

  1970