Dr. Youngwon Kim joined the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) LKS Faculty of Medicine in 2019. Dr. Kim received his post-doctoral training in the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, UK. He earned his Ph.D in kinesiology and a minor in statistics from Iowa State University, USA: a master’s degree in exercise science from the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health, USA, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Hanyang University - ERICA, South Korea. Before joining HKU, Dr. Kim worked as Assistant Professor at the University of Utah, USA.

As a physical activity epidemiologist, Dr. Kim has focused his research on understanding the preventive role of physical activity from an epidemiological perspective. Specifically, he has examined the associations of physical activity, and fitness with various mortality, cardiovascular disease and cancer outcomes using data from the UK Biobank project, an ongoing national cohort study of >500,000 UK adults. More recently, he has explored the potential role of sedentary behaviour, physical activity or fitness in modifying the increased genetic risk of common chronic diseases not only in European descendants but also in East Asian descendants using multiple large-scale cohort datasets. His recent work has also focused on developing and validating risk prediction models for common chronic diseases using both genotype data and lifestyle indicators (including wearable-device-measured physical activity). In addition, he has implemented clinical trials to determine the effects of genetic risk communication and wearable device functions on behaviour change.

His primary research interest also lies in improving methodologies for conducting physical activity epidemiology research. Dr. Kim's publications in this line of research have focused on evaluating the utility and validity of various accelerometer-based wearable devices and self-reports to assess physical activity in both children and adults.

As PI, he has received external grants from the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM), General Research Fund (GRF) and Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF). Dr. Kim has been interviewed about his research findings by multiple media outlets including Bloomberg, Guardian, Daily Mail, and BBC Radio.

1. Wang, M., Brage, S., Sharp, S.J., Luo, S, Au Yeung, S.L., & Kim, Y. (2022) Associations of Genetic Susceptibility and Healthy Lifestyle with Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke in Individuals with Hypertension. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 29(16): 2101-2110
2. Kim, Y.,Au Yeung, S.L., Sharp, S.J., Wang, M., Jang, H., Luo, S., Brage, S., & Wijndaele, K. (2022) Genetic susceptibility, screen-based sedentary activities and incidence of coronary heart disease. BMC Medicine. 20:188
3. Kim, Y., Hwang, S., Sharp, S.J., Luo, S., Au Yeung, S.L., & Teerlink, C.C. (2021) Genetic risk, muscle strength and incident stroke: findings from the UK Biobank study. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 96(7): 1746-1757
4. Kim, Y., Burns, R.D., Lee, D.C., & Welk, G.J. (2021) Associations of movement behaviors and body mass index: Comparison between a report-based and monitor-based method using Compositional Data Analysis. International Journal of Obesity (Lond) 45:266-275
5. Kim, Y., Wijndaele, K., Sharp, S.J., Strain, T., Pearce, M., White, T., Wareham, N., & Brage, S (2019) Specific physical activities, sedentary behaviours and sleep as long-term predictors of accelerometer-measured physical activity in 91,648 adults: A prospective cohort study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 16(1):41
6. Kim, Y., White, T., Wijndaele, K., Westgate, K., Sharp, S.J., Helge, J.W., Wareham, N., & Brage, S. (2018) The combination of cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength, and mortality risk. European Journal of Epidemiology 33(10):953-964
7. Kim, Y., Wijndaele, K., Lee, D.C., Sharp, S.J., Wareham, N., & Brage, S. (2017). Independent and joint associations of grip strength and adiposity with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in 403,199 adults: The UK Biobank study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 106(3):773-782
8. Kim, Y., Hibbing, P., Saint-Maurice, P.F., Ellingson, L.D., Hennessy, E., Wolff-Hughes, D.L., Perna, F.M., & Welk, G.J. (2017) Surveillance of youth physical activity and sedentary behavior with wrist accelerometry. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 52(6): 872-879
9. Kim, Y., White, T., Wijndaele, K., Sharp, S.J., Wareham, N., & Brage, S. (2017). Adiposity and grip strength as long-term predictors of objectively measured physical activity in 93,015 adults: the UK Biobank study. International Journal of Obesity (Lond). 41(9): 1361-1368
10. Kim, Y., & Welk, G.J. (2015) Criterion validity of competing accelerometry-based activity monitoring devices. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 47(11): 2456-63