Sarah Kim

Education

• Postdoctoral Associate in Biomedical Engineering, Duke University. Research Advisor: Ashutosh Chilkoti, Ph.D. 2019-2023.
• Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University. Research Advisor: Kalina Hristova, Ph. D. 2013-2019.
• B.A. in Chemistry and Biology (Magna Cum Laude), Cornell University. Research Advisor: Gerald Feigenson, Ph.D. 2009-2013.

Research

• Drug delivery, biomaterials, membrane biophysics, synthetic biology, elastin-like polypeptides, membrane active peptides, high-throughput screens, green chemistry

Teaching

• CHEM 1204: General Chemistry
• CHEM 1204L: General Chemistry Laboratory
• CHEM 3413: Biochemistry I Lecture
• CHEM 3411: Biochemistry I Laboratory
• CHEM 3421: Biochemistry II Laboratory
• CHEM 4001: Directed Individual Study
• CHEM 4201: Directed Individual Research
• CHEM 4202: Directed Individual Research
• CHEM 4372: Summer Directed Individual Research

Selected Publications

• Wiedman, G., Kim, S.Y., Zapata-Mercado, E.,Wimley, W.C. and Hristova, K., 2017. pH-triggered, macromolecule-sized poration of lipid bilayers by synthetically evolved peptides. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 139(2), pp.937-945.
• Li, S., Kim, S.Y., Pittman, A.E., King, G.M., Wimley, W.C. and Hristova, K., 2018. Potent Macromolecule-sized poration of lipid bilayers by the macrolittins, a synthetically evolved family of pore-forming peptides. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 140(20), pp.6441-6447.
• Kim, S.Y., Pittman, A.E., Zapata-Mercado, E., King, G.M., Hristova, K., and Wimley, W.C., 2019. Mechanism of action of peptides that cause pH-triggered macromolecular poration of lipid bilayers. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 141 (16), pp 6706–6718.
• Paredes, S.D., Kim, S., Rooney, M.T., Greenwood, A.I., Hristova, K. and Cotten, M.L., 2020. Enhancing the membrane activity of Piscidin 1 through peptide metallation and the presence of oxidized lipid species: Implications for the unification of host defense mechanisms at lipid membranes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta-Biomembranes, 1862(7), p.183236.
• Kim, S.Y., Bondar, A.N., Wimley, W.C. and Hristova, K., 2021. pH-triggered pore-forming peptides with strong composition-dependent membrane selectivity. Biophys. J., 120(4), pp.618-630.
• Guha, S., Ferrie, R.P., Ghimire, J., Ventura, C.R., Wu, E., Sun, L., Kim, S.Y., Wiedman, G.R., Hristova, K. and Wimley, W.C., 2021. Applications and evolution of melittin, the quintessential membrane active peptide. Biochem. Pharmacol., 193, p.114769.
• Kelly, G., Milligan, J.J., Mastria, E.M., Kim, S., Zelenetz, S.R., Dobbins, J., Cai, L.Y., Li, X., Nair, S.K. and Chilkoti, A., 2022. Intratumoral delivery of brachytherapy and immunotherapy by a thermally triggered polypeptide depot. J. Controlled Release, 343, pp.267-276.
• Saha, S. Banskota, S., Liu, J., Zakharov, N., Dzuricky, M., Li, X., Fan, P., Deshpande, S., Spasojevic, I., Sharma, K., Borgnia, M., Schaal, J.L., Raman, A., Kim, S.Y., Bhattacharyya, J., Chilkoti, A., 2022. Genetically Engineered Nanoparticles of Asymmetric Triblock Polypeptide with a Platinum(IV) Cargo Outperforms a Platinum(II) Analog and Free Drug in a Murine Cancer Model. Nano letters, 22(14), pp.5898-5908.
• Sirohi, P., Silverstein, B.E., Shmidov, Y., Deshpande, S., Tong, J., Ma, Y.Y., Potnis, C.S., Saha, S., Li, X., Ney, M.R., Kim, S.Y., Milligan, J.J., Fan, L., Becker, M.L., Reker, D., Chilkoti, A., 2026. All‐PEG‐Like Block Copolymers Self‐Assemble into Stealth Nanocarriers for Drug Delivery. Advanced Science, p.e17048.
• Kim, S.Y., Kaur, T., Shmidov, Y., Wang, M.Y., Fan, L., Leo, A., Angustia, N., Xiang, Y., Reker, D., Chilkoti, A., 2026. Genetically Encoded Sterol‐Modification of a Synthetic Intrinsically Disordered Protein Drives Its Self‐Assembly Into Diverse Morphologies. Small, p.e09658.

Honors and Awards

• 3 Minute Thesis Competition, Finalist April 2019
• Women in STEM Symposium, 1st Place Graduate Student Poster Award April 2019
• 2018 JHU Nano-Bio Symposium: Advanced Manufacturing, 3rd in People’s Choice Poster Presentation Award May 2018
• 2017 JHU Nano-Bio Symposium: Engineering Vascularization, 2nd in Poster Competition May 2017
• Biophysical Society Student Research Achievement Award, Poster Competition Feb 2017
• Biophysical Society Student Research Achievement Award, Poster Competition Feb 2016
• Carlson Fellowship, Thomas C. Jenkins Department of Biophysics 2013-2015