Education

• Assistant Professor, Pusan National University School of Dentistry
• Postdoctoral fellow, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, USA
• Postdoctoral fellow, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, USA
• Postdoctoral fellow, Infection Control Convergence Research Center, Chungnam National University School of Medicine

Honors and Awards

• 2024 William E. Paul Award for Best Paper in Cytokine Research, USA
• 2023 Young Investigator Award, Annual Bioscience and Engineering Symposium, USA
• 2023 NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) competition, USA
• 2017 University Award (Academic Excellence Award), Chungnam National University, South Korea
• 2016 Cell Biotech Award, The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology, South Korea

Research Interests

• Our group focuses on oral barrier immunity, exploring how the oral mucosal environment maintains immune balance and responds to microbial challenges.
• The relationship between the host and microbe in mucosal barrier tissues is highly delicate and requires dynamic communication between microbes and host cells to initiate, adapt, and resolve immune responses. This balance protects the host from infection while supporting the survival and function of commensal microbes.
• Our studies employ translational research (from bedside to bench and back to bedside) to uncover the molecular and cellular mechanisms governing oral mucosal immunity in both health and disease. We are particularly interested in identifying the unique roles of immune and non-immune cells in maintaining homeostasis and driving disease pathogenesis within the oral mucosa.
• In addition, our group investigates how dysregulation of oral immunity and microbial imbalance (dysbiosis) contribute not only to local inflammatory diseases such as periodontitis but also to systemic disorders including inflammatory and autoinflammatory, and metabolic diseases. Through these studies, we aim to develop novel diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic strategies that target host–microbe interactions to restore mucosal health.
• Host-microbe interactions
• Inflammation & regulatory mechanisms
• Microbial pathogenesis
• Periodontal disease pathogenesis & therapeutic strategies
• Oral microbiome-systemic disease Interactions

Publications (Max 5)

• Lim YJ, Kim TS. CX3CR1 and CCR2: dynamic myeloid cell states across inflammatory diseases with implications for oral health and disease. Front Immunol. 2026 Jun 17;17:1873474.
• Kim TS, Lim YJ, Chen W. Interplay between microRNAs and TGF-β signaling in T cells: implications for Th9 differentiation and immune pathogenesis. Front Immunol. 2026 May 1;17:1828634.
• Kim TS*, Moutsopoulos NM. Neutrophils and Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Oral Health and Disease. Exp Mol Med. 2024 May 1. *Correspondence
• Kim TS, Ikeuchi T, Theofilou VI, Williams DW, Greenwell-Wild T, June A, Adade E, Li L, Abusleme L, Dutzan N, Yuan Y, Brenchley L, Bouladoux N, Sakamachi Y, NIDCD/NIDCR Genomics and Computational Biology Core, Palmer R, Iglesias-Bartolome R, Trichieri G, Garantziotis S, Belkaid Y, Valm AM, Diaz PI, Holland SM, Moutsopoulos NM. Epithelial-derived interleukin 23 promotes oral mucosal immunopathology. Immunity 2024 Apr 9;57(4):859-875.e11.
• * Highlighted in “Previews” in Immunity 2024.
• * The 30-year celebratory Issue of Immunity 2024.
• Kim TS, Silva LM, Theofilou VI, Greenwell-Wild T, Li L, Williams DW, Ikeuchi T, Brenchley L; NIDCD/NIDCR Genomics and Computational Biology Core; Bugge TH, Diaz PI, Kaplan MJ, Carmona-Rivera C, Moutsopoulos NM. Neutrophil extracellular traps and extracellular histones potentiate IL-17 inflammation in periodontitis. J Exp Med 2023;4;220(9):e20221751.
• * Annual Best of JEM Series.
• * Highlighted in “Research highlights” in Nature Reviews Rheumatology 2023.
• * Highlighted in “Insights” in J Exp Med 2023.