About

Yumi Kim is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms that drive and coordinate meiotic chromosome dynamics. She received her Ph.D. from UCSD and completed her postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley. Her work aims to understand how homolog pairing, synapsis, and crossover recombination are executed and coordinated during meiotic prophase, using biochemical reconstitution, structural biology, cytological, and genetic analysis in the nematode C. elegans. Accurate chromosome segregation during meiosis is essential for the transmission of stable genomes from parent to offspring, and errors in this process can lead to aneuploidy, which is a major cause of miscarriages and birth defects such as Down syndrome. Her lab investigates the molecular mechanisms ensuring faithful chromosome segregation during meiosis.

Research topics

• Biology
• Bioinformatics
• Computational biology
• Genetics
• Internal medicine
• Evolutionary biology
• Cancer research
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Evaluation of Actinic Keratosis as a Risk Factor for Subsequent Nonskin Cancer Risk

  JID Innovations · 2025-04-22

  articleOpen access

  Actinic keratosis (AK) is a precancerous lesion that develops on chronically sun-exposed skin. Immunosuppression is known to increase the risk of both AK and other cancers, highlighting the need to evaluate potential associations between AK and subsequent nonskin cancers. To determine whether a diagnosis of AK is associated with an increased subsequent incident of nonskin cancers, we conducted a retrospective case-control study within a large integrated healthcare delivery system. The study included 53,778 patients with AK and 152,896 controls without prior cancer diagnoses at enrollment. AK was more prevalent in males (30.7 vs 23.5% in females). AK was not associated with increased risk of overall nonskin cancers after adjusting for demographic (age, sex), clinical (body mass index, immunosuppression history), behavioral (smoking, alcohol use), and healthcare utilization factors (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.99, 95% confidence interval = 0.95-1.02). However, significant associations were observed between AK and breast (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.11, 95% confidence interval = 1.03-1.19) and prostate (adjusted hazard ratio =1.14, 95% confidence interval = 1.03-1.26) cancers. This large study reveals that AK may be a predictor of risk for subsequent cancers, notably breast and prostate cancers. These findings emphasize the need for increased surveillance for these cancer types in individuals with AK.

  PublisherDOI

• 0238 Somatic alterations driving progression in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma

  Journal of Investigative Dermatology · 2025-07-21

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Multi-ancestry genome-wide meta-analysis identifies novel basal cell carcinoma loci and shared genetic effects with squamous cell carcinoma

  Communications Biology · 2024-01-05 · 12 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, yet its genetic determinants are incompletely defined. We perform a European ancestry genome-wide association (GWA) meta-analysis and a Hispanic/Latino ancestry GWA meta-analysis and meta-analyze both in a multi-ancestry GWAS meta-analysis of BCC, totaling 50,531 BCC cases and 762,234 controls from four cohorts (GERA, Mass-General Brigham Biobank, UK Biobank, and 23andMe research cohort). Here we identify 122 BCC-associated loci, of which 36 were novel, and subsequently fine-mapped these associations. We also identify an association of the well-known pigment gene SLC45A2 as well as associations at RCC2 and CLPTM1L with BCC in Hispanic/Latinos. We examine these BCC loci for association with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) in 16,407 SCC cases and 762,486 controls of European ancestry, and 33 SNPs show evidence of association. Our study findings provide important insights into the genetic basis of BCC and cSCC susceptibility.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 368P The role of pretreatment serum interleukin 6 in predicting short-term mortality in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer

  Annals of Oncology · 2024-06-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Comparative analysis of preoperative nutrition & inflammatory markers and clinical outcome in neoadjuvant treatment and upfront surgery pancreatic cancer patients

  Clinical Nutrition ESPEN · 2023-12-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Genome-wide association study of actinic keratosis identifies new susceptibility loci implicated in pigmentation and immune regulation pathways

  Communications Biology · 2022-04-21 · 19 citations

  reviewOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Actinic keratosis (AK) is a common precancerous cutaneous neoplasm that arises on chronically sun-exposed skin. AK susceptibility has a moderate genetic component, and although a few susceptibility loci have been identified, including IRF4, TYR , and MC1R , additional loci have yet to be discovered. We conducted a genome-wide association study of AK in non-Hispanic white participants of the Genetic Epidemiology Research on Adult Health and Aging (GERA) cohort ( n = 63,110, discovery cohort), with validation in the Mass-General Brigham (MGB) Biobank cohort ( n = 29,130). We identified eleven loci ( P < 5 × 10 −8 ), including seven novel loci, of which four novel loci were validated. In a meta-analysis (GERA + MGB), one additional novel locus, TRPS1 , was identified. Genes within the identified loci are implicated in pigmentation ( SLC45A2, IRF4, BNC2 , TYR, DEF8, RALY, HERC2 , and TRPS1 ), immune regulation ( FOXP1 and HLA-DQA1 ), and cell signaling and tissue remodeling ( MMP24 ) pathways. Our findings provide novel insight into the genetics and pathogenesis of AK susceptibility.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Genetically Predicted Serum Vitamin C Levels and Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Risk

  Journal of Investigative Dermatology · 2022-11-04

  letterOpen access1st author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin, Natriuretic Peptide, and Long-Term Risk of Acute Kidney Injury: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

  Clinical Chemistry · 2020-11-04 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Cardiac markers such as high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and N-terminal pro-B natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) are predictors of developing acute kidney injury (AKI) during hospitalization for surgery or revascularization. However, their associations with the long-term risk of AKI in the general population are uncharacterized. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study in 10 669 participants of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (visit 4, 1996-1998, mean age, 63 years, 56% female, 22% black race) to examine the association of plasma concentrations of hs-cTnT and NTproBNP with the incident hospitalization with AKI. We used multivariable Cox regression analysis to estimate hazard ratios (HRs). RESULTS: During follow-up, 1907 participants had an incident hospitalization with AKI. Participants with higher concentrations of hs-cTnT had a higher risk of hospitalization with AKI in a graded fashion (adjusted HR, 1.88 [95%CI , 1.59-2.21] for ≥14 ng/L, 1.36 [1.18-1.57] for 9-13 ng/L, and 1.16 [1.03-1.30] for 5-8 ng/L compared to <5 ng/L). The graded association was also observed for NTproBNP (HR, 2.27 [1.93-2.68] for ≥272.7 pg/mL, 1.67 [1.45-1.93] for 142.4-272.6 pg/mL, and 1.31 [1.17-1.47] for 64.0-142.3 pg/mL compared to <64.0 pg/mL). The addition of hs-cTnT and NTproBNP to a model with established predictors significantly improved 10-year risk prediction for hospitalization with AKI (Δc-statistic, 0.015 [95%CI, 0.006-0.024]). CONCLUSIONS: In middle-aged to older black and white adults in the community, higher concentrations of hs-cTnT and NTproBNP were robustly associated with an increased risk of hospitalization with AKI. These results suggest the usefulness of hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP to identify people at risk of AKI in the general population.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Genetic and environmental factors underlying keratinocyte carcinoma risk

  JCI Insight · 2020 · 35 citations

  • Biology
  • Cancer research
  • Computational biology

  Recent large-scale GWAS and large epidemiologic studies have accelerated the discovery of genes and environmental factors that contribute to the risk of keratinocyte carcinoma (KC), which includes basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). This Review summarizes the genomic regions associated with SCC and BCC risk, examines the genetic overlap between SCC and BCC, and discusses biological pathways involved in SCC and BCC development. Next, we review environmental factors that are associated with KC risk, including those that are shared between SCC and BCC as well as others that associated with only one type of KC. We conclude with a critical appraisal of current research and potential directions for future research.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Epigenetic Alterations in Keratinocyte Carcinoma

  Journal of Investigative Dermatology · 2020-11-16 · 12 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Gaya Spolverato

  Quanta Computer (China)

  211 shared

• Timothy M. Pawlik

  192 shared

• Aslam Ejaz

  The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

  188 shared

• Timothy M. Pawlik

  The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

  148 shared

• Georgios Antonios Margonis

  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

  124 shared

• Neda Amini

  97 shared

• George A. Poultsides

  Stanford University

  87 shared

• Faiz Gani

  86 shared

Labs

• The Yumi Kim LabPI