Woojin Kim

Associate Professor Woojin Kim is a Principal Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, focusing on neurodegenerative diseases, particularly dementia and motor syndromes. He has held academic roles at UNSW Sydney, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), and Harvard Medical School. His research emphasizes lipidomics, ABCA transporters, and biomarker development for diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and frontotemporal dementia.

Education:

• PhD in Neuroscience from UNSW Sydney

Research Interests:

• Biomarker discovery and validation
• Lipid metabolism in neurodegeneration
• Role of ABCA transporters in disease pathogenesis
• Preclinical models of synucleinopathies

Grants and Projects:

• Common and uncommon lipid dysregulation pathways in MSA and PD brain (Defeat MSA Alliance)
• Are oligodendrocytes the real source of pathologic alpha-synuclein in MSA? (Defeat MSA Australia and New Zealand)
• Lipidomics analysis in LRRK2-associated Parkinson’s (Michael J. Fox Foundation)

Key Contributions:

• Developed ForeFront biomarker program for neurodegenerative diseases
• Published 118+ peer-reviewed articles in journals like Nature Communications, Brain, and Acta Neuropathologica
• Leading initiatives on blood-based biomarkers for early disease detection

Affiliations:

• Member of the Centre for Drug Discovery Innovation
• Member of the Brain and Mind Centre