So-Young Kim, Ph.D.

So-Young Kim, Ph.D., is a technical specialist in Sterne Kessler’s Biotechnology & Chemical Practice Group. So-Young’s technical areas of expertise include carbohydrate chemistry, glycobiology/immunology, and structural biology. Her notable work includes identification of glycan receptors for Zika virus and SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry as well as achieving glycan targeted cell-based immunomodulation in the settings of cancer and viral infection. She joined Sterne Kessler after gaining expertise in single particle cryo-electron microscopy at the National Institutes of Health.

So-Young received her Ph.D. training in the field of carbohydrate chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and conducted postdoctoral research at University of California San Diego Glycobiology Research & Training Center (GRTC). She received her B.S. in chemistry (minor in biology) from California State University, San Bernardino.

So-Young is bilingual in English and Korean.

Selected Technical Publications and Patents

• Kim, SY, Gupta, P, Johns, SC, Zuniga, EI, and Fuster, MM. 2022. Genetic alteration of heparan sulfate in CD11c + immune cells inhibits inflammation and facilitates pathogen clearance during influenza A virus infection. Sci. Rep. 12, 5382.
• Kim, SY, Gupta, P, Johns, S, Varki, N, Fuster, MM. 2021. Targeting glycan sulfation in a CD11c+ myeloid population inhibits early Kras-mutant lung neoplasia. Neoplasia. 23, 1137 – 1143.
• Kim, SY*, Jin, W, Sood, A, Montgomery, DW, Grant, OC, Fuster, MM, Fu, L, Dordick, JS, Woods, RJ, Zhang, F, and Linhardt, RJ. 2020. Characterization of heparin and severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike glycoprotein binding interactions. Antiviral Research. 181, 104873.
• Kim, SY, Zhang, F, Wanghua, G, Chen, K, Xia, K, Liu, F, Gross, R, Wang, JM, Linhardt, RJ, Cotton, ML. 2018. Copper regulates the interactions of antimicrobial piscidin peptides from fish mast cells with formyl peptide receptors and heparin. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 293, 15381–15396.
• Kim, SY, Zhao, J, Liu, X, Fraser, K, Lin, L, Zhang, X, Zhang, F, Dordick, JS and Linhardt, RJ. 2017. Interaction of Zika virus envelope protein with glycosaminoglycans. Biochemistry, 56(8), 1151-1162.
• R.J. Linhardt, S.Y. Kim, W. Jin, J.S. Dordick, F. Zhang, S.J. Kwon, P. Kwon, and K. Fraser (2021), “Compositions incorporating sulfated polysaccharides for inhibiting SARS-CoV-2,” PCT filed.