Contact Information
Department of Physics
1110 West Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801-3003
Research Interests
Application of single-molecule microscopy to study gene expression in vitro and in vivo; and DNA supercoiling and transcription; spatial organization of gene expression inside a single bacterial cell
Research Description
Dr Kim's group studies the physical principles underlying molecular interactions and functions inside cells, focusing on how gene expression machines work together in the cellular context. Dr Kim's group developed new methodologies based on molecular, optical, and computational approaches and ask critical molecule-level questions that matter for living cells.
Awards and Honors
Searle Scholar (2020)
Additional Campus Affiliations
Assistant Professor, Physics
Assistant Professor, Biomedical and Translational Sciences
Affiliate, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
Recent Publications
Dilrangi, K. H., Aretakis, J. R., Vaidya, K., Al-Husini, N., Muthunayake, N. S., Kim, S., & Schrader, J. M. (2025). Rif-seq reveals Caulobacter crescentus mRNA decay is globally coordinated with transcription and translation. Cell Reports, 44(12), 116691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116691
Ghosal, A., Wang, Y. H., Nguyen, N., Troyer, L., & Kim, S. (2025). Practical considerations for accurate estimation of diffusion parameters from single-particle tracking in living cells. Journal of Chemical Physics, 163(13), Article 134202. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0284172
Chatterjee, P., Goldenfeld, N., & Kim, S. (2021). DNA Supercoiling Drives a Transition between Collective Modes of Gene Synthesis. Physical review letters, 127(21), Article 218101. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.218101
Kim, S. (2020). Better Together: Co-operation and Antagonism between RNA Polymerases during Transcription In Vivo. BioEssays, 42(1), Article 1900215. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201900215
Kim, S., & Vaidya, K. (2020). Probing mRNA Kinetics in Space and Time in Escherichia coli using Two-Color Single-Molecule Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2020(161), 1-23. Article e61520. https://doi.org/10.3791/61520