Lab Members

Dohoon Kim, Ph.D - Principle Investigator

Associate Professor, Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology
Co-Leader, Cancer Cell Biology Program
Co-Founder and Co-Organizer, UMass Metabolic Network (METNET)
Fellow, Suh Kyungbae Foundation (SUHF)

Do obtained his B.S. and M.S. in Biology in the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and his Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology at Harvard University in the lab of Li-Huei Tsai. He carried out his postdoctoral research with David Sabatini at the Whitehead Institute at MIT, where he was supported by a fellowship from the American Brain Tumor Association. He joined UMass Chan Medical School in November 2015. Do’s hobbies outside of lab include playing (crummy) guitar, basketball, video games, and Sci-Fi movies.

Valerie Bausemer - Research Associate

Valerie earned her Bachelor’s from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in Biology in 2020. During the COVID pandemic she worked at the Broad Institute as part of their COVID testing team. She spent a year in Dr. Michael Green’s lab at UMass Medical. In 2023 she joined the Kim lab. Outside of the lab, Valerie enjoys crafting, knitting, and playing video games. She studies the crosstalk between toxic metabolite pathways and oncogenic signaling pathways.

Brennon Berard – Graduate Student

Brennon completed his BA/MA at Boston University in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. He grew up in Londonderry, NH and enjoys camping, fishing, hiking and trying new craft beer. His projects relate to novel toxic metabolite pathway identification and in elucidating the multifaceted role of toxic metabolites within the tumor microenvironment. 

Jeromy DiGiacomo – Graduate Student (MD-PhD)

Jeromy earned his BA in Chemistry from Williams College in 2020. He then completed a two-year post-baccalaureate research project jointly at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The Broad Institute. During his time there, he integrated basic science and translational approaches to characterize the cellular phenotype of FGFR1 driver mutations in pediatric low-grade gliomas. In the Kim Lab, Jeromy aims to explore how cancer cells hijack metabolic pathways to survive and avoid immune detection. He hopes his research can reveal genetic vulnerabilities targetable with molecular therapies to benefit patients in the clinic. Originally from Wilton, CT, Jeromy enjoys composing music and crocheting in his free time.

Joey Edmonds - Graduate Student (Co-mentored by Sharon Cantor)

Joey completed his B.S. at the University of New Haven in Genetics and Biotechnology in 2021. He also did a post-baccalaureate at Yale University from 2022-2023 researching oncometabolite-producing cancers and their relationship to NAD metabolism, as well as developing therapeutics for such. Joey is also co-mentored by the Cantor lab in a collaborative project regarding how different metabolites may contribute to DNA repair deficiency-related exploits in cancers, marrying his two academic interests in metabolism and DNA repair. He grew up in Chichester, NH and enjoys playing lots of video games, bar trivia with friends, and travelling to different countries when he can.

Namgyu Lee, Ph.D - Assistant Professor at Dankook University and Visiting Member

Namgyu joined Kim lab after finishing her Ph.D research on elucidating roles of SIRT6 and VRK1 in hepatocellular carcinoma in POSTECH, South Korea. Since joining the lab she has been investigating the underlying mechanisms of metabolite toxicity using genome scale CRISPR pooled screening methods, and the role of selenium metabolism in cancer and beyond. Outside of the lab, she enjoys traveling, jogging and hiking. Namgyu began a faculty position in Dankook University in Korea in Sep 2023 but also visits and works with us during the year on collaborative projects.

Minoh Lim – Research Associate

Minoh grew up in South Korea and conducted her bachelor studies in Marine Biology  at Chonnam National University, investigating environmental toxicological factors in marine organisms. She joined the Kim lab in 2023. Outside of the lab, she enjoys listening to music and going for walks. She investigates the interaction of toxic metabolites with biological processes as mechanisms of toxicity.