Dr Woo Jun Shim

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Institute for Molecular Bioscience
w.shim@uq.edu.au
+61 7 344 33564

Overview

Dr Shim's research revolves around developing computational methods to understand determinants of cell identity by analysing various genomic data. Trained in bioinformatics, pharmacy and biomedical science (majoring in biochemistry and immunology), Dr Shim incorporates inter-disciplinary knowledge to solve research questions in both basic science and translational medicine.

Research Impacts

Dr Shim's discovery has helped address an area of unmet need in genetic analysis pipelines as evidenced by significant international uptake. Working with UQ’s main commercialisation company UniQuest, Dr Shim's work formed the basis for successful contracts with industry partners including HAYA Therapeutics (Switzerland), Merck (Germany), Mogrify (UK), and ConcR (UK) to improve the accuracy and efficiency of clinical diagnostic and drug discovery pipelines. Dr Shim was awarded a UQ Early-Mid Career Researcher (EMCR) Industry Engagement Award in 2022 for his successful engagement with HAYA Therapeutics.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Masters (Coursework), The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor (Honours), The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Biomedical Science, University of Adelaide

Publications

  • Cao, Yuanzhao, Redd, Meredith A., Shim, Woo Jun, Fang, Chen, Chiu, Han, Azofeifa, Daniela Rojas, Thomas, Ulrich, Lemme, Marta, Dragicevic, Elena, Stoelzle-Feix, Sonja and Palpant, Nathan J. (2023). Disease modeling utilizing human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and physiological characterization. Safety Pharmacology Society Annual Meeting, Brussels, Belgium, 18-21 September 2023. Philadelphia, PA United States: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.vascn.2023.107267

  • Sun, Yuliangzi, Shim, Woo Jun, Shen, Sophie, Sinniah, Enakshi, Pham, Duy, Su, Zezhuo, Mizikovsky, Dalia, White, Melanie D., Ho, Joshua W. K., Nguyen, Quan, Bodén, Mikael and Palpant, Nathan J (2023). Inferring cell diversity in single cell data using consortium-scale epigenetic data as a biological anchor for cell identity. Nucleic Acids Research, 51 (11), e62-e62. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkad307

  • Hume, Robert D., Deshmukh, Tejas, Doan, Tram, Shim, Woo Jun, Kanagalingam, Shaan, Tallapragada, Vikram, Rashid, Fairooj, Marcuello, Maria, Blessing, Daniel, Selvakumar, Dinesh, Raguram, Kalyan, Pathan, Faraz, Graham, Dinny, Ounzain, Samir, Kizana, Eddy, Harvey, Richard P., Palpant, Nathan J. and Chong, James J.H. (2023). PDGF-AB Reduces Myofibroblast Differentiation Without Increasing Proliferation After Myocardial Infarction. JACC: Basic to Translational Science, 8 (6), 658-674. doi: 10.1016/j.jacbts.2022.11.006

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Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

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Publications

Journal Article

  • Sun, Yuliangzi, Shim, Woo Jun, Shen, Sophie, Sinniah, Enakshi, Pham, Duy, Su, Zezhuo, Mizikovsky, Dalia, White, Melanie D., Ho, Joshua W. K., Nguyen, Quan, Bodén, Mikael and Palpant, Nathan J (2023). Inferring cell diversity in single cell data using consortium-scale epigenetic data as a biological anchor for cell identity. Nucleic Acids Research, 51 (11), e62-e62. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkad307

  • Hume, Robert D., Deshmukh, Tejas, Doan, Tram, Shim, Woo Jun, Kanagalingam, Shaan, Tallapragada, Vikram, Rashid, Fairooj, Marcuello, Maria, Blessing, Daniel, Selvakumar, Dinesh, Raguram, Kalyan, Pathan, Faraz, Graham, Dinny, Ounzain, Samir, Kizana, Eddy, Harvey, Richard P., Palpant, Nathan J. and Chong, James J.H. (2023). PDGF-AB Reduces Myofibroblast Differentiation Without Increasing Proliferation After Myocardial Infarction. JACC: Basic to Translational Science, 8 (6), 658-674. doi: 10.1016/j.jacbts.2022.11.006

  • Afonso, Juliana, Shim, Woo Jun, Boden, Mikael, Salinas Fortes, Marina Rufino, da Silva Diniz, Wellison Jarles, de Lima, Andressa Oliveira, Rocha, Marina Ibelli Pereira, Cardoso, Tainã Figueiredo, Bruscadin, Jennifer Jessica, Gromboni, Caio Fernando, Nogueira, Ana Rita Araujo, Mourão, Gerson Barreto, Zerlotini, Adhemar, Coutinho, Luiz Lehmann and de Almeida Regitano, Luciana Correia (2023). Repressive epigenetic mechanisms, such as the H3K27me3 histone modification, were predicted to affect muscle gene expression and its mineral content in Nelore cattle. Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports, 33 101420, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrep.2023.101420

  • Plaisance, Isabelle, Chouvardas, Panagiotis, Sun, Yuliangzi, Nemir, Mohamed, Aghagolzadeh, Parisa, Aminfar, Farhang, Shen, Sophie, Shim, Woo Jun, Rochais, Francesca, Johnson, Rory, Palpant, Nathan and Pedrazzini, Thierry (2023). A transposable element into the human long noncoding RNA CARMEN is a switch for cardiac precursor cell specification. Cardiovascular Research, 119 (6), 1361-1376. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvac191

  • Plaisance, Isabelle, Chouvardas, Panagiotis, Sun, Yuliangzi, Nemir, Mohamed, Aghagolzadeh, Parisa, Aminfar, Farhang, Shen, Sophie, Shim, Woo Jun, Rochais, Francesca, Johnson, Rory and Pedrazzini, Thierry (2022). Alternative splicing of a transposable element into the human long noncoding RNA CARMEN is a switch for cardiac precursor cell specification. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, 173, S182-S182. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2022.08.344

  • Shen, Sophie, Sun, Yuliangzi, Matsumoto, Maika, Shim, Woo Jun, Sinniah, Enakshi, Wilson, Sean B., Werner, Tessa, Wu, Zhixuan, Bradford, Stephen T., Hudson, James, Little, Melissa H., Powell, Joseph, Nguyen, Quan and Palpant, Nathan J. (2021). Integrating single-cell genomics pipelines to discover mechanisms of stem cell differentiation. Trends in Molecular Medicine, 27 (12), 1135-1158. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2021.09.006

  • Kojic, Marija, Gawda, Tomasz, Gaik, Monika, Begg, Alexander, Salerno-Kochan, Anna, Kurniawan, Nyoman D., Jones, Alun, Drożdżyk, Katarzyna, Kościelniak, Anna, Chramiec-Głąbik, Andrzej, Hediyeh-Zadeh, Soroor, Kasherman, Maria, Shim, Woo Jun, Sinniah, Enakshi, Genovesi, Laura A., Abrahamsen, Rannvá K., Fenger, Christina D., Madsen, Camilla G., Cohen, Julie S., Fatemi, Ali, Stark, Zornitza, Lunke, Sebastian, Lee, Joy, Hansen, Jonas K., Boxill, Martin F., Keren, Boris, Marey, Isabelle, Saenz, Margarita S., Brown, Kathleen ... Wainwright, Brandon J. (2021). Elp2 mutations perturb the epitranscriptome and lead to a complex neurodevelopmental phenotype. Nature Communications, 12 (1) 2678, 2678. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22888-5

  • Shim, Woo Jun, Sinniah, Enakshi, Xu, Jun, Vitrinel, Burcu, Alexanian, Michael, Andreoletti, Gaia, Shen, Sophie, Sun, Yuliangzi, Balderson, Brad, Boix, Carles, Peng, Guangdun, Jing, Naihe, Wang, Yuliang, Kellis, Manolis, Tam, Patrick P L, Smith, Aaron, Piper, Michael, Christiaen, Lionel, Nguyen, Quan, Bodén, Mikael and Palpant, Nathan J. (2020). Conserved epigenetic regulatory logic infers genes governing cell identity. Cell Systems, 11 (6), 625-639.e13. doi: 10.1016/j.cels.2020.11.001

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision