Department Chair, Professor
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Heakyung Kim, MD serves as the Professor and Chair of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and holds the Kimberly-Clark Distinguished Chair in Mobility Research at the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center in Dallas, Texas in the United States of America. Dr. Kim joined UTSW since May 01, 2022.
She earned her M.D. from the Medical School of Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea and underwent training at the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of Yonsei University, School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea as well as at the Department of Rehabilitation of UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School/Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation. Dr. Kim is a board-certified physiatrist in the USA and South Korea and holds subspecialty boards in Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine and Brain Injury Medicine.
Before joining UTSW, Dr. Kim served as Vice Chair and A. David Gurewitsch Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Orthopedic Surgery of Columbia University Irving Medical Center of Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), Director of Pediatric PM&R at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Chief of Physiatry Department at Blythedale Children’s Hospital. Dr. Kim played a pivotal role as the founding director of the Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Fellowship Program at CUIMC-New York Presbyterian Hospital. Her previous roles include serving as Associate Director of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine at the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia University.
Recognized as one of “America’s Top Doctors” since 2003, Dr. Kim has received accolades such as being named a “Super Doctor” by the New York Times and selected as one of Exceptional Women in Medicine and Best of the Best (Top 1% of America’s Most Honored Doctors) by the American Registry. An exceptional teacher and mentor, she has been honored with the “Teacher of the Year” award four times.
Dr. Kim specializes in single event multilevel chemoneurolysis (SEMLC) with botulinum toxin and phenol/alcohol injections, botulinum toxin injections to salivary glands, and sexuality and pain management in children and adults with cerebral palsy. Her research interests focus on people with cerebral palsy, especially spasticity and drooling management with botulinum toxin, robotic therapy and exercise for spastic muscles in children with cerebral palsy and lifespan care for people with cerebral palsy including sexuality. Nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in pediatric rehabilitation medicine, she is renowned for her expertise in pain and spasticity management and botulinum toxin injections to salivary glands for people with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders. Additionally, she is a distinguished sonographer for muscles and nerves. She is a World Health Organization (WHO) member of development group to prepare a package of rehabilitation intervention for people with cerebral palsy. She has been actively providing remote teaching on musculoskeletal ultrasound via YouTube since COVID pandemic. Since 2023, she has been serving as the Chair of Global Academic Physiatry Subcommittee (GAPS) of Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) addressing the global needs of physiatry training, particularly in developing nations.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
