Associate Professor Woojin (Scott) Kim

Associate Professor Woojin (Scott) Kim, Principal Research Fellow, The University of Sydney.

Scott is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Sydney. The focus of his research is in understanding the molecular basis of lipid dysregulation in neurodegenerative diseases and biomarker development. He has extensive experience in determining the function of lipid metabolic genes, including ATP-binding cassette genes. He is world’s leading expert in the study of ABCA7, a candidate gene for Alzheimer’s disease. He was first to generate the Abca7 knockout mouse and to demonstrate that loss of Abca7 exacerbates amyloid-beta neuropathology. He has also carried out pioneering work in lipidomics in a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including frontotemporal dementia and multiple system atrophy. Scott has published 106 papers, including two recent ground-breaking work in Nature Communications and Scientific Reports.

Forefront Group:

  • BMC Biomarkers Research Group Leader
  • BMC DAMD Frontotemporal Dementia Research Group Leader
  • BMC DAMD Motor Neurone Disease Research Group Leader
  • BMC DAMD Multiple System Atrophy Research Group

Expertise:

  • Biomarkers
  • Molecular biology
  • Lipids

Specific Skills:

  • Molecular biology
  • Cellular biology
  • Lipidomics
  • Mouse work
  • Biochemistry
  • Genetics

Neurodegeneration of interest:

FTD, MND, AD, PD, MSA, Sleep disorders, Ageing

Affiliate Organisations

University of Sydney, University of New South Wales

Projects

  • Mutations in genes causal of white matter disease and dysregulation of lipid metabolism in frontotemporal dementias (CIE)
  • Human endogenous retrovirus as a biomarker for FTD and ALS
  • Woojin Scott Kim, Glenda Halliday, John Hodges, Olivier Piguet, Matthew Kiernan
  • Uncovering pathophysiological changes in FTD using serum lipids
  • Woojin Scott Kim, Glenda Halliday, John Hodges, Olivier Piguet
  • Increased VLCFA-lipids induce neuronal toxicity in FTD brain
  • Woojin Scott Kim, Glenda Halliday, John Hodges, Olivier Piguet
  • Proteomics of FTD and ALS serum
  • Woojin Scott Kim, Glenda Halliday, John Hodges, Olivier Piguet, Matthew Kiernan, Jillian Kril, Lars Ittner, Michael Kassiou, Clement Loy

Project - Proteomics of FTD and ALS serum

All Chief investigators and associate investigators

Kim, Halliday, Hodges, Piguet, Kiernan, Kril, Ittner, Kassiou, Loy

Research Project Abstract

FTD and ALS are neurodegenerative diseases that are considered to be on the same disease spectrum because of overlapping genetic, pathological and clinical traits. Changes in serum proteins in FTD and ALS are poorly understood, and currently no definitive biomarkers exist for diagnosing or monitoring disease progression for either disease. Here we applied quantitative discovery proteomics to analyze protein changes in FTD (N=72) and ALS (N=28) patient serum compared to controls (N=22).

There was substantial overlap in the proteins that were altered in FTD and ALS. These results were validated using western blotting. Gene ontology tools were used to assess functional pathways potentially dysregulated in the two diseases, and calcium ion binding and innate immunity pathways were altered in both diseases. When put together, these results suggest significant overlap in pathophysiological peripheral changes in FTD and ALS. This study represents the first proteomics side-by-side comparison of serum changes in FTD and ALS, providing new insights into under-recognized perturbed pathways and an avenue for biomarker development for FTD and ALS.

Disease area:

FTD, MND

Project - Increased VLCFA-lipids induce neuronal toxicity in FTD brain

All Chief investigators and associate investigators

Kim, Halliday, Hodges, Piguet

Disease area:

FTD

Project - Human endogenous retrovirus as a biomarker for FTD and ALS

All Chief investigators and associate investigators

Kim, Halliday, Hodges, Piguet, Kiernan

Disease area:

FTD, ALS

Project - Uncovering pathophysiological changes in FTD using serum lipids

All Chief investigators and associate investigators

Kim, Halliday, Hodges, Piguet

Disease area:

FTD