As a melanoma expert who is board-certified in medical oncology, Dr. Kevin Kim's research interests are in targeted therapy and immunotherapy for melanoma. He investigates targeted treatments based on molecular profiling of patients with metastatic melanoma. Dr. Kim is a Principal Investigator for the National Cancer Institute and industry-sponsored phase 1 and 2 clinical trials investigating the biology of genetic mutations in melanoma, as well as new combinations of targeted therapy and immunotherapies. With extensive experience in translational melanoma research, Dr. Kim was an integral part of the early drug development of vemurafenib and dabrafenib (both BRAF inhibitors) and trametinib (a MEK inhibitor), which are now FDA-approved drugs for patients with V600BRAF-mutant metastatic melanoma. With the advancement of these treatments and an expanding knowledge of biomarkers.

Dr. Kim is focusing his efforts on bringing novel, more personalized therapies to patients.  As Medical Director of Melanoma Research Program at CPMC, Dr. Kim helped building a database and tumor bank of tissue samples from patients with melanoma; these will enable new tools to discover characteristics of tumors in patients and to advance personalized therapies.

Dr. Kim has authored over 140 publications on emerging immunotherapy and molecular-targeting treatments for melanoma.