Researcher | Research Overview
The focus of our research program over the past several years has been the molecular genetic analysis of host-microbe interactions using Caenorhabditis elegans as a simple host organism in which to acquire a systems-level, molecular, cellular, and organismal view of how a simple animal host responds to pathogenic and commensal bacteria. Our studies have spanned evolutionarily conserved pathways of innate immunity, the integrative physiology that connects infection and immunity with cellular and organismal responses to stress, and how interactions with microbes influence neuronal signaling and behavior of C. elegans. We continue to bring a broad interdisciplinary perspective, experimentally grounded in the molecular genetics of C. elegans, to our current areas of research focus, including understanding how microbes and their secondary metabolites can modulate host neuroendocrine physiology and behavior.
Researcher | Research Background
Dennis Kim received his MD and PhD degrees from Harvard Medical School, completed internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and clinical fellowship training in Infectious Diseases at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. He completed postdoctoral research training in genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to assuming his current position at Boston Children’s Hospital, for thirteen years he was a Professor in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while maintaining clinical attending responsibilities in Infectious Diseases at the Massachusetts General Hospital.