Title: Medical Director
Company: Kyverna Therapeutics Inc.
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Francis S. Kim, medical director at Kyverna Therapeutics Inc., has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Doctors for dedication, achievements, and leadership in health care.
With over two decades of experience to his credit, Dr. Kim has established a successful career in health care, specializing in pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and autoimmune disease. He currently excels as the medical director of clinical development at Kyverna Therapeutics Inc., a position he has held since 2023. In this role, he is responsible for being the global clinical lead on two studies, one in the U.S. and one in Germany. His daily activities include responding to numerous emails and phone calls, meeting with his core team for program discussions, leading the development team with strategic decisions about clinical development plans, collaborating both internally and externally, and traveling to visit various clinical trial sites. His experience also includes serving as associate medical director of clinical development at Sonoma Biotherapeutics from 2022 to 2023, a clinical fellow in pediatric gastroenterology and hepatology at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals from 2018 to 2022, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California San Francisco from 2018 to 2021, and resident physician in pediatrics at Tufts Medicine from 2015 to 2018. In addition, he was a graduate student researcher at Joslin Diabetes Center from 2008 to 2010, a research assistant at Joslin Diabetes Center from 2007 to 2008, an undergraduate student researcher at Harvard University from 2004 to 2007, and a summer student research assistant at UConn Health from 2001 to 2004.
Dr. Kim holds memberships with the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American College of Rheumatology, the American Gastroenterological Association, and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition. In light of his impressive undertakings, he was honored with a National Leadership Award from the AMA Foundation and a T32 Grant from the National Institutes of Health. Laying a solid educational foundation for these successes, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology with a minor in Spanish from Harvard University and a Doctor of Medicine from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. His certifications include an Immersion Course in Drug Discovery, Drug Development, and Regulation from the Stanford Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation at the University of California, San Francisco, board certification from the American Board of Pediatrics, and certification in Design and Interpretation of Clinical Trials from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Reflecting on his path, Dr. Kim is a pediatric gastroenterologist-hepatologist with a long-standing interest in autoimmune diseases. His scientific journey began in high school with a summer lab focused on multiple sclerosis. At Harvard University, he worked on type 1 diabetes research and then became a research technician in a stem cell lab, contributing to a national consortium dedicated to mapping immune cell profiles in mouse models. After completing his master’s degree, he attended medical school and chose to specialize in pediatric gastroenterology and hepatology. His passion for combining detailed scientific and biological knowledge with patient care drove him to pursue medicine. He was drawn to pediatrics because of children’s resilience and the inherent nature of their diseases, which are not a result of poor life choices but often inherent conditions. This led him to focus on gastroenterology to address specific, unmet needs in this field.
Mr. Kim takes great pride in working with a team of brilliant scientists, clinicians, and industry veterans. He is especially proud of their work in understanding the underlying biology of autoimmune diseases and translating that knowledge into effective new therapies. He attributes his success to seizing opportunities, the support of professional mentors, family, and friends, as well as his tenacity, resilience, and commitment to making data-driven decisions. In the coming years, he aims to advance the organization’s research and create durable responses to address many unmet needs for autoimmune diseases. He hopes to eventually disclose how he and his team discovered cures for these conditions. In offering advice to aspiring professionals, he emphasizes trusting your journey, striving to be authentic, and aligning your actions with your core values and goals. He believes that learning from failures and reacting constructively to challenges are crucial. Staying humble and grateful is important, as every mentor provides value, even those who may seem less effective. Finally, he encourages paying it forward by helping others achieve their own visions.
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