Asan Medical Center
Adult Cardiac
Member Since: 2017
Biography:
Dr. Joon Bum Kim is a dedicated cardiovascular surgeon and widely-published researcher, authoring over three hundred peer-reviewed studies. He is a Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Professor at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Kim has led his department to international prominence as the highest volume program in South Korea, with the department?s major cardiac operations totaling over 2,000 cases annually. He also oversees the training of other leading surgeons throughout Asia.
Dr. Kim completed medical school at Yonsei University and then studied at Asan Medical Center, where he completed his Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery residency. He continued his career at Asan Medical Center as the Chief of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery from 2019 to 2011 and now is the Director of the Aortic Center.
Through his development of novel operations as well as inventions of innovative cardiac devices that facilitate thoracic aortic surgical and aortic root reconstruction procedures, he maintains numerous memberships in Cardiovascular and Cardiothoracic surgery in Asia, Europe, and The United States, notably the American Heart Association (2012), American Association of Thoracic Surgery (2017), and Society of Thoracic Surgeons (2023). Dr. Kim also serves on the Editorial Board of several prominent journals including but not limited to, JTCVS and JACC Asia.
Along with his professional memberships, he has received various awards, including Professor of the Year in Research, University of Ulsan College of Medicine (2014), and 100 Next Generation Leaders in Korea (2020). Dr. Kim was also awarded the Asan Medical Award in 2016, the most prestigious medical award given in Korea.
He has held numerous fellowships, most notably as the AATS Evart Graham Traveling Fellow at MGH, Harvard Medical School, the Cleveland Clinic and Herman Memorial Hospital at the University of Texas. He currently serves as the Translational Surgeon Scientist Visiting Professor at Stanford University (2023-24). Dr. Kim?s time at Stanford has been part of a sabbatical to study the biomechanics of the novel ringed-graft for valve-sparing root replacement he invented.
What Does the AATS Mean to You:
AATS has felt more emotional rather than academic to me, that it brings up the images such as Motivation, Inspiration and Passion. These are likely due to linkages to such images in my personal career related with AATS.
My First Experience with AATS:
It was the 2013 AATS Annual Meeting in Minneapolis that I was given a chance to present an abstract, in which Dr. Thoralf Sundt, the department Chair of MGH at that time, was appointed as an invited discussant. With this string, he became my lifetime mentor to sponsor me for the AATS Graham Memorial Fellowship.
Why I became an AATS member:
It came natural after finishing my AATS Graham Traveling Fellowship by the recommendation of Dr. Thoralf Sundt. I think I am just fitted to the AATS members based on what I have done and what I am pursuing.
The most impactful presentation I have seen at an AATS meeting:
PROACT Xa Trial presentation in 2023. I am running a multicenter RCT which is very similar to that trial. I expect the results of our trial to come out somewhere around 2028.
The first presentation I gave is:
Management of dilated ascending aorta during aortic valve replacement: valve replacement alone versus aorta wrapping versus aorta replacement. This was published in JTCVS right after the presentation.
The first paper I had published is:
A case of PAGOD syndrome with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which was published in International Journal of Cardiology in 2007. As a resident I was given a rare complex congenital case to supposedly publish in domestic journal. During my study on that case, I linked its features to PAGOD syndrome, a very rare complex congenital defects, and sought to publish for wider audience.
I plan on becoming more involved in the organization through:
I try to involve my students/trainees to submit research papers to AATS/JTCVS, so that I can share my valuable experiences given by the AATS to date. I am also willing to contribute to the AATS in many regards including peer reviews, lecture, executive works, bridging with Korean Society and my own creative ideas.
The biggest impact my mentor had on my career is:
I can name Dr. Thoralf Sundt and Dr. Joseph Woo as my mentors through AATS. The greatest thing that I learn from them still now is that even if they have built tremendous recognition and reputation, they are still rigorously passionate on challenging existing knowledge, innovative thinking, and exerting higher leadership."
My career in CT Surgery was inspired by:
Back in medical student years, I came up with an idea to become a knowledgeable Internal Medicine doctor who can deal with surgical therapy. And the notion that a surgeon can study internal medicine meanwhile an internal medicine doctor cannot offer surgical therapies led me to become finally a CV surgeon.
A significant case/patient interaction that impacted my career is:
So many to describe. They include complex aorta / valve cases as well as cardiac malignancies. I almost always build intimate relationship with patients, and many such challenging cases have been published as case series in the literature, many of which in JTCVS or its daughter journals.
The biggest impact my mentor had on my career is:
I can name Dr. Thoralf Sundt and Dr. Joseph Woo as my mentors through AATS. The greatest thing that I learn from them still now is that even if they have built tremendous recognition and reputation, they are still rigorously passionate on challenging existing knowledge, innovative thinking, and exerting higher leadership.
The topic most important to advancing the field of CT Surgery is:
Playing fun. Not merely fun, but meaningful fun. True "Working Hard" comes after having fun with that subject, and such works should be something contributing to our society and humanity. This is my core belief relates to my work.
Advice for Trainees:
Play fun. Present as many abstracts to AATS, publish as many papers to JTCVS, then some days you will be invited to great mentors in the world, and will have even greater funs!