Wolfson RF Appointed Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Paediatrics

Wolfson is delighted to announce that Dr Young Chan Kim, Research Fellow, has been appointed Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) in the Department of Paediatrics, effective October 2025.

Dr Kim succeeds Professor Carlo Rinaldi in this role, following Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, who served as Director of Graduate Studies for many years and made an enduring contribution to the department’s graduate programmes.

Dr Kim has been part of the department’s academic leadership team since 2024, serving as Deputy Director of Graduate Studies before taking up the DGS position in 2025. In this capacity, he has provided academic leadership and oversight of graduate student supervision, contributing to the department’s commitment to excellence in research training and student support.

In 2025, Dr Kim received MRC IAA and two BactiVac grants to advance the development of novel viral-vectored and mRNA vaccines targeting Chagas disease, plague, and Q-fever. He also serves as Immunology Lead (Co-I) on the £5M Wellcome-funded Correlates of Protection against Paratyphoid (COP-PT) programme led by Prof Pollard. This programme uses controlled human infection models to identify immunological correlates of protection. The latest Phase 2 clinical trial from this programme was published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine last month and ongoing research – using AI/ML antigen discovery, system serology and sequencing – aims to define the immune signatures associated with protection.

Dr Kim’s research integrates translational vaccinology, controlled human infection models, and immunological correlates of protection to accelerate vaccine development for neglected and emerging infectious diseases.

Our congratulations to Dr Kim on this appointment and on his research achievements in 2025!