Kenji Lim, PhD

Education

• BSc: Molecular Biology and Biotechnology; University of the Philippines-Diliman (2014)
• MSc: Honors Biological Sciences, Maj. Molecular Genetics; University of Alberta (2016)
• PhD: Medical Sciences – Medical Genetics; University of Alberta (2021)

Recognition

• NIH Pathway to Independence Award, K99/R00, NHLBI, 2025-
• Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2021-2023
• Richard Rowe Research Prize, Canadian Pediatric Cardiology Association, 2020
• Dr. Diane Wilson Cox Award, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Alberta, 2020
• Alberta Innovates Graduate Studentship Award, 2019-2021
• Women and Children’s Health Research Institute Graduate Studentship, 2017-2019
• Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2017-2018

Research Interests

My main research interest is in cardiac immunology: to understand the mechanisms by which immune cells shape cardiac structure and function in healthy and pathological conditions, and to translate these insights into therapies for patients with cardiac disease. My work so far involves two areas of research. The first is on understanding how the immune response following cardiac injury affects the heart and conditions its response to subsequent injury. We discovered that prior cardiac injury can set up a form of memory in innate immune cells called trained immunity that helps establish cardioprotection, the specific mechanisms of which are being investigated. The second is on studying how lysosomes in dendritic cells are involved in preventing T cell-driven cardiac autoimmunity in the context of immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated (ICI) myocarditis. This work will help us better understand the subcellular and cellular mechanisms leading to ICI myocarditis, as well as uncover potential therapies for this disease.