Young Chan Kim

I obtained a BSc degree in Biochemistry from Imperial College London and completed my medical degrees (BMBS, BMedSci and MRes) from the University of Nottingham. I then spent few years working in junior doctor posts before coming to Oxford to start a DPhil in Clinical Medicine.

My DPhil studies focused on vaccine development against arthropod-borne viruses supported by Innovate UK funding. I was awarded highly prestigious NDM Graduate Student Prize 2020 (Overall Prize Winner) for my overall performance during my DPhil at the Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM).

In 2021, I received an NIHR Oxford BRC grant for my postdoctoral research and I was elected as a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) at Wolfson College. I joined the Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) as a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher in 2021 to lead the projects on Enteric fever (Typhoid and Paratyphoid) and Q-fever. 

In 2022, I was awarded the Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship to start my independent research on development of vaccines and therapeutics against arboviruses. Between 2022 and 2023, I received MRC HIC-VAC and MRC IAA grants to develop serological assays against enteric fever, as well as the MLSTF and MRC IAA grants to develop a novel vaccine against Chagas disease. 

After successfully securing three SBRI Innovate UK awards in 2023, I am now leading a group of postdocs, research assistants and DPhil students to develop new vaccines against Plague, Q fever, alphaviruses and the human challenge studies under the direction of Prof Sir Andrew Pollard. I was elected as a Research Fellow (RF) at Wolfson College in 2023. In 2024, I took up a role of Deputy Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) at the Department of Paediatrics to provide academic leadership, oversight and administration of graduate student supervision.

I received MRC IAA and Bactivac grants to evaluate the efficacy of viral-vectored and mRNA vaccines against Chagas disease and Plague in 2025. From 2025, I am working on an exciting project as a Co-I funded by Wellcome Trust on Correlates of Protection against Paratyphoid (COP-PT) with Prof Pollard (PI).

Currently, I am a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellow, Principal Investigator (PI) at OVG, Deputy Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) at the Department of Paediatrics, Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Lecturer in Medicine at Somerville College, and Medical Doctor in Internal Medicine at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. 

My team within the Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) is developing novel vaccines against emerging infectious diseases, including Alphaviruses, Plague, Q fever, and Chagas disease. 

Additionally, a significant emphasis of my team lies in identifying immunological markers against Enteric fever, C. Diffcile and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) suited for low-resource settings.

We are regularly recruiting for motivated clinician, postdocs, research assistants and can supervise DPhil and Master's students. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are interested in joining the group or collaborating with us.

Any prospective students interested in pursuing a DPhil or Masters degree especially within the area of our innovative vaccine development or diagnostic tools against are encouraged to visit the website below.  

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/dphil-paediatrics

Postdoctoral Researcher (Pre-clinical team)

Dr Sthefany Pagliari

Dr Jessica Horton 

Dr Emil Vergara

Dr Henderson Zhu

Dr Manman Guo 

Postdoctoral Researcher (Enteric team)

Dr Maria Noshi

Dr Claudia Juarez Molina

Dr Eirini Pantazi 

Dr Lizzy Jones

DPhil students

Henderson Zhu (completed in 2024)

Naina McCann (Current) 

Margarete Paganotti Vicentine (Current) 

Masters students 

George Eustace (Current) 

Liusha Ma (Current) 

Undergraduate Students (FHS)

Lily Wei, Rufaro Tom (2023-2024)

Hannah Ruck, Zoe de Zeeuw,  Nouha Kisra, Tashfia Bakth, Rose Gladman, Benjamin Liow (2025-2026)