Kun-Eek Kil

Assistant Research Professor, Radiochemistry and Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry

email kilk@missouri.edu

Education:

BS, Kyungpook National University Daegu, S. Korea, 1994
MS, Korea University Seoul, S. Korea, 1996
PhD, Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY, 2008

Professional Experience:

Research Associate, Washington University in St Louis   St Louis, MO, 2008-2010
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center  Houston, TX, 2010-2011
Research Fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital  Charlestown, MA, 2011-2015
Postdoctoral Fellow, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals  Philadelphia, PA, 2015-2016
Radiochemist, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals  Philadelphia, PA, 2016
Assistant Research Professor, University of Missouri  Columbia, MO, 2016-Present

Research:

The Kil group develops novel small-molecule PET radiotracers used for cancer, brain, cardiovascular, and plant imaging research from preclinical stages to clinical stages and commercialization.

Select Publications:

  • Housh AB, Matthes MS, Gerheart A, Wilder SL, Kil K-E, Schueller MJ, Guthrie JM, McSteen P, Ferrieri R. Assessment of a 18F-phenylboronic acid radiotracer for imaging boron in maize. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020; 21: 976-91.
  • Jenkins BG, Zhu A, Poutiainen P, Choi J-K, Kil K-E, Zhang Z, Kuruppu D, Aytan N, Dedeoglu A, Brownell A-L. Functional modulation of G-protein coupled receptors during Parkinson disease-like neurodegeneration.  Neuropharmacol. 2016; 108: 462-73.
  • Kil K-E, Poutiainen P, Zhang Z, Zhu A, Kuruppu D, Prabhakar S, Tannous BA, Brownell A-L.  Synthesis and evaluation of N-(methylthiophenyl)picolinamide derivatives as PET radioligands for metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 4.  Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2016; 26: 133-9.
  • Brownell A-L, Kuruppu D, Kil K-E, Jokivarsi K, Poutiainen P, Zhu A, Maxwell M.  PET imaging studies show enhanced expression of mGluR5 and inflammatory response during progressive degeneration in ALS mouse model expressing SOD1-G93A gene. J. Neuroinflammation 2015; 12: 217
  • Arsenault D, Coulombe K, Zhu A, Gong C, Kil K-E, Choi J-K, Poutiainen P, Brownell A-L.  Loss of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 function on peripheral benzodiazepine receptor in mice prenatally exposed to LPS.  PLOS One 2015; 10: e0142093.
  • Choi J-K, Zhu A, Jenkins BG, Hattori S, Kil K-E, Takagi T, Ishii S, Miyakawa T, Brownell A-L.  Combined behavoral studies and in vivo imaging of neuroinflammatory response and expression of mGlu5 receptors in schurri-2 knockout mice.  Neurosci Lett. 2015; 609: 159-64.
  • Zhang Z, Kil K-E, Poutiainen P, Choi J-K, Kang H-J, Huang X-P, Roth BL, Brownell A-L.  Re-exploring the N-phenylpicolinamide derivatives to develop mGlu4 ligands with improved affinity and metabolic stability.  Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2015; 25: 3956-60.
  • Poutiainen P, Kil K-E, Zhang Z, Kuruppu D, Tannous B, Brownell A-L.  Cooperative binding assay for the characterization of mGlu4 allosteric modulators. Neuropharmacology 2015; 97: 142-8.
  • Kil K-E, Poutiainen P, Zhu A, Zhang Z, Jokivarsi K, Choi, J-K, Brownell A-L.  Radiosynthesis and evaluation of an 18F-labeled positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand for metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 4 (mGlu4).  J Med Chem.  2014; 57: 9130-8.
  • Kil K-E, Zhu A, Zhang Z, Choi J-K, Kura S, Gong C, Brownell A-L.  Development of [123I]IPEB and [123I]IMPEB as SPECT Radioligands for Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 5.   ACS Med Chem Lett. 2014; 5: 652-6.
  • Arsenault D, Zhu A, Gong C, Kil K-E, Kura S, Choi J-K, Brownell A-L.  Hypo-anxious phenotype of adolescent offspring prenatally exposed to LPS is associated with reduced mGluR5 expression in hippocampus.  Open J Med Psychol. 2014; 3: 202-11.
  • Kil, K-E, Zhang Z, Jokivarsi K, Gong C, Choi J-K, Kura S, Brownell A-L.  Radiosynthesis and evaluation of N-(4-chloro-3-[11C]methoxyphenyl)-2-picolinamide ([11C]ML128) as a PET radiotracer for metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 4 (mGluR4).  Bioorg Med Chem. 2013; 21: 5955-62
  • Solingapuram Sai KK, Kil K-E, Tu Z, Chu W, Finck BN, Rothfuss JM, Shoghi KI, Welch MJ, Groper RJ, Mach RH.  Synthesis, radiolabeling and initial in vivo evaluation of [11C]KSM-01 for imaging PPAR-a Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2012; 22: 6233-6
  • Kil K-E, Biegon A, Ding Y-S, Ehrlich C, Fisher A, Pareto D, Fowler JS.  Synthesis and PET studies of [11C] letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor drug.  Nucl Med Biol 2009; 36: 215-23
  • Kil K-E, Ding Y-S, Lin K-S, Alexoff D, Kim SW, Shea C, Xu Y, Muench L, Fowler JS. Synthesis and positron emission tomography studies of carbon-11-labeled imatinib (Gleevec®).  Nucl Med Biol 2007; 34: 153-63
  • Ding Y-S, Kil K-E, Lin K-S, Ma W, Yokota Y, Carroll IF. A novel nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist radioligand for PET studies. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2006; 16: 1049-53
  • Lin K-S, Ding Y-S, Kim SW, Kil K-E. Synthesis, enantiomeric resolution, F-18 labeling and biodistribution of reboxetine analogs: promising radioligands for imaging the norepinephrine transporter with positron emission tomography. Nucl Med Biol 2005; 32: 415-22
  • Kim KH, Kil K-E, Ko DH, Chung BY, Ha D-C.  Diastereoselective azidations of (S)-4-carboethoxymethyl-oxazolidin-2-one for 4-oxy-2,3-diaminobutanoates.  Bull Korea Chem Soc 2002; 23: 655-6
  • Ha D-C, Kil K-E, Choi K-S, Park H-S.  Studies on the diastereoselective alkylation of enolate dianion of (S)-4-carboethoxymethyl-2-oxazolidinone.  Tetrahedron  Lett  1996; 37: 5723-6