Kyoungbin Kevin Im

Picture of Kyoungbin Kevin Im
Associate Clinical Professor, Psychiatry & Human Behavior
School of Medicine
M.D., Seoul National University College of Medicine, 1999
University of California, Irvine
101 The City Drive South: Orange, CA 928
Mail Code: 1680
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, hypersomnolence, circadian rhythm
Research Abstract
My research is focused on sleep, sleep disorders (especially sleep related breathing disorders and movement disorders), psychotropic drugs effect on sleep and wakefulness, sleep disorders affecting cardiovascular diseases and neuromuscular diseases. Below are the examples of research projects I have carried out and/or ongoing:
- Sleep related breathing disorders (SRBD) in medical ICU patients
- Sleep position preference in patients with untreated OSA versus non-OSA patients
- Prominent positional OSA in patients with stroke
- Periodic limb movement (PLM) in patients with leg paresis/plegia
- Role of serotonin in profound hypoxemia/hypoventilation
- PLM in patients taking serotonergic agents
- SRBD pattern in patients with neuromuscular disease
- Severe sleepiness in patients with myotonic dystrophy
- OSA in wake-up stroke
- Efficacy comparison of various sleep aids
- Effects of sleep aids on OSA
- Central sleep apnea pattern in acute stroke
- Patient characteristics in augmentation of restless legs syndrome (RLS)
- Effect of sleep intervention on neurocognitive outcomes of Alzheimer Disease patients
Awards and Honors
2014 Sleep 2014 Annual National Meeting Section Investigator Award
Short Biography
Dr. Kevin Im graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine in 1999. After one year of rotating internship and three years of rural health service in South Korea, he moved to the United States to start a residency training in combined internal medicine and psychiatry at the University of Iowa. During the med/psych training he was exposed to the field of sleep medicine by Dr. Eric Dyken, a pioneer of sleep research on sleep apnea’s linkage to sympathetic nerve and stroke. Dr. Im realized that sleep was the very overlapping field between med/ psych or body/ mind and can be a target of improving the wellness of both body and mind. He went on to be trained in neurology sleep medicine at the University of Iowa and remained there for 9 more years as a faculty in internal medicine, psychiatry, neurology and sleep medicine. In Iowa, he trained thirteen residents and fellows in sleep medicine, led many sleep research projects as principal investigator and produced more than thirty original research abstracts and articles, wrote more than 10 chapters on sleep medicine. He presented on the topics of sleep medicine and sleep disorders in more than 20 national and international venues. After the brand new, state-of-the-art sleep medicine center was established at UC Irvine in Newport Beach by the world renowned sleep medicine physician and researcher, Dr. Ruth Benca, Dr. Im ventured into the West Coast to join the dream team of sleep medicine at UC Irvine in the Fall of 2019. Dr. Im is triple board-certified in internal medicine, psychiatry and sleep medicine. His area of research and clinical interest encompasses all about sleep and sleep disorders including insomnias, sleep apneas, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, parasomnias and circadian rhythm.
Publications
Kim L, Ing K, Im K. Narcolepsy Due to a Medical Condition. Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. Elsevier, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822963-7.00102-X
Im KB, Fiedorowicz JG. Did Internet-purchased Diet Pills Cause Serotonin Syndrome? Current Psychiatry, 7(7): 67-78, 2008.

Dyken ME, Im KB. Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Stroke. Chest, Dec; 136 (6): 1668-77, 2009

Im KB, Strader S, Dyken ME. Management of Sleep Disorders in Stroke. Current Treatment Options in Neurology, 12(5): 379-95, 2010.

Bajpai S, Im KB, Dyken ME, Sodhi SK, Fiedorowicz JG. Obstructive sleep apnea and risk for late-life depression. Ann Clin Psychiatry, 2014 May 1;26(2):E1-E8

Kim JS, Kim S, Lee SH, Lee HY, Lee SY, Im K. Increased risk of ischemic stroke during sleep in apneic patients. Journal of Clinical Neurology, 2018 Apr;14(2):174-8.

Im K. Subtle Signs: Obstructive Sleep Apnea -Residual excessive daytime sleepiness despite adequate treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Psychiatric Times (Supplement Issue for September 2018).

Kim Y, Kim S, Ryu DR, Lee SY, Im KB. Factors Associated with Cheyne-Stokes Respiration in Acute Ischemic Stroke. J Clin Neurol. 2018 Oct;14(4): 542–548.

Im KB. The Role of Public Health Doctors in Developing Health Promotion Projects in Rural Towns, Journal of Korean Society for Public Health and Medicine, Autumn: 61-66, 2001.

Dyken ME, Im KB. Sleep-disordered Breathing and Stroke, Sleep Medicine Clinics, 3(3): 361-376, 2008.

Fiedorowicz JG, Im KB. Is Chlorpromazine Safe? Current Psychiatry, 7(9):11, 2008

Dyken ME, Lin-Dyken DC, Im KB. The relationship of obstructive sleep apnea with obesity and stroke. Intl Journal Res Care. Fall/Winter: 18-23, 2012.

Maurer RE, Im KB. Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Depression: Issues for Psychiatrists. Psychiatric Times 33:8 (August 2016)

Dyken ME, Im KB, Afifi AK. Violent Sleep Behavior Resulting in Subdural Hemorrhage, in Case Studies in Sleep Neurology: Common & Uncommon Presentations, edited by Culebras, University Press, Cambridge, 2010.

Dyken ME, Afifi AK, Im KB. Stroke in Sleep, in Acute and Emergent Events in Sleep Disorders, edited by Chokroverty, Oxford University Press, New York, 2010.

Dyken ME, Afifi AK, Im KB. Sleep Physiology and Pathology, in Practical Guide for Clinical Neurophysiologic Testing, edited by Yamada, LWW, Philadelphia, 2011

Im KB. (2013) Narcolepsy due to a Medical Condition. In: Kushida C. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Sleep, vol. 2, pp. 437-439. Waltham, MA: Academic Press.

Dyken ME, Im KB, Lin-Dyken D, Linton CM. (2013) Impact of Neurological Diseases. In: Kushida C. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Sleep, vol. 2, pp. 548-552. Waltham, MA: Academic Press.

Dyken ME, Richerson GB, Im KB. (2013) Sleep apnea, stroke risk factors, and the arousal response. In: Culebras A. (ed.) Sleep, Stroke and Cardiovascular Disease, pp. 64-79. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Dyken ME, Im KB, Richerson GB. (2015) Sleep and stroke. In: Chokroverty S. (ed.) Sleep Medicine: A Comprehensive Guide To Its Development, Clinical Milestones And Advances In Treatment, pp. 255-269. Springer.

Dyken ME, Im KB. (2017) Aproach to Patient with Sleep Disorders. In: Biller, J. (ed.) Practical Neurology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Dyken ME, Im KB, Richerson GB, Lin-Dyken, DL. (2017) Sleep and Stroke. In: Chokroverty S. (ed.) Oxford Textbook of Sleep Disorders, Oxford University Press.

Im KB, Dyken ME. Idiopathic Insomnia, in: Gilman S, editor. MedLink Neurology, MedLink Corp., San Diego, 2013. Available at http://www.medlink.com

Shim H., Im KB. Sleep and Dementia. in: Gilman S, editor. MedLink Neurology, MedLink Corp., San Diego, 2013. Available at http://www.medlink.com

Im, KyoungBin. Parasomnias. In: Black DW, editor. Psychiatry [online]. Hamilton ON: Decker Medicine; December 2018. DOI 10.2310/7800.13050. Available at https://www.deckerip.com/decker/psychiatry

=============================
Abstracts

Im KB, Dyken ME, Berger H, Zimmerman MB. Investigating the Prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients Requiring Medical Intensive Care, Sleep 32S: A212, 2009.

Im K, Dyken ME, Berger H, Zimmerman MB. Sleep Architecture in a Medical Intensive Care Unit Patient Population Not Requiring Ventilatory Support, Sleep A322, 2009.

Zafar A, Coleman J, Mahendrarajah S, Im K. Proposal of a new definition for positional Obstructive Sleep Apnea (American Academy of Neurology 2013 meeting)

Mahendrarajah S, Coleman J, Zafar A, Im K. Factors Affecting Proportion of Supine Sleep in Patients Referred for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Evaluation: Focusing on Severity of Obstruction during Supine Sleep (American Academy of Neurology 2013 meeting)

Coleman J, Im K. Comparison of Sleep Characteristics and Disease Severity in Positional Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients with a Supine Sleep Preference Versus a Non-supine Sleep Preference (APSS Sleep 2013 meeting, Baltimore, MD)

Coleman J, Im K. Comparison of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Severity and Sleep Characteristics During Non-supine Sleep (APSS Sleep 2013 meeting, Baltimore, MD)

Im K, Rogers TM, Davis PH, Burns TL, Dyken ME. Positional obstructive sleep apnea in patients with stroke: A comparison of positional elements between stroke patients and matched controls (APSS Sleep 2013 meeting, Baltimore, MD)

Dyken ME, Zimmerman MB, Im K, Lin-Dyken DC, Glenn C, Blumberg M, Rodnitzky R, Sokoloff G. Comparing Periodic Limb Movements in Sleep in Subjects with and without Waking Paretic/Plegic Limbs (AAN 2014 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA)

Im K, Dyken ME, Richerson G. Effect Of Serotonin On Profound Hypoxemia In Sleep Apnea: A Cross-sectional Study Of Depressed OSA Patients. Sleep. 37S A26 (Presented at APSS Sleep 2014 meeting, Minneapolis, MN)

Im K, Dyken ME. Effect Of Serotonin On Periodic Limb Movements In Sleep: A Cross-sectional Study. Sleep. 37S A220 (Presented at APSS Sleep 2014 meeting and awarded AASM Section Investigator Award, Minneapolis, MN)

Maurer R, Im K. Effect of Age on Improvement of Daytime Sleepiness with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy in Moderate to Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Clinic Based Cohort Study. (Presented at APSS Sleep 2015 meeting, Seattle, WA)

Im K, Maurer R, Dyken ME. Blood Pressure Change in Patients Newly Starting CPAP Therapy For Moderate to Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Clinic-Based Cohort Study. (oral presentation at APSS Sleep 2015 meeting, Seattle, WA)

Hong A, Clemmons E, Dyken ME, Im K. More Profound Hypoxemia and Severe REM Related Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients with Neuromuscular Disease:
A Case Control Study. (Presented at APSS Sleep 2016 meeting, Denver, CO)

Clemmons E, Hong A, Dyken ME, Im K. Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Neuromuscular Disease Focusing on Myotonic Dystrophy. (Presented at APSS Sleep 2016 meeting, Denver, CO)

Lee S, Kim J, Kim S, Im K. Sleep related breathing disorder and wake up stroke. (Presented at APSS Sleep 2016 meeting, Denver, CO)

Kim J, Maurer R, Im K. Effect of Sleep Aid on Sleep: Comparison of Sleep Time Parameters Using Polysomnography and Drug Information Database. (Presented at APSS Sleep 2017 meeting, Boston, MA)

Maurer R, Im K. The Effect of Sleep Aids on Apnea Hypopnea Index and Other Parameters Measured in Polysomnographs. (Presented at APSS Sleep 2017 meeting, Boston, MA)

Lee S, Kim Y, Kim S, Im K. Central Periodic Breathing in Acute Stroke. (Presented at APSS Sleep 2017 meeting, Boston, MA)

Kim J, Maurer R, Im K. Antihistamines May Do the Opposite by Worsening Insomnia: Cross-Sectional Study Using Polysomnographic Comparison of Subjects on Sleep-Aid. (Presented at APA 2018 annual meeting, New York, NY)

Immen R, Im K. Patient characteristics in restless legs syndrome augmentation: serotonergic drugs as a potential risk factor. (Accepted for presentation at APSS Sleep 2019 meeting, San Antonia, TX)

Immen R, Im K. Management recommendations of restless legs syndrome augmentation based on a 23 subject case series. (Accepted for presentation at APSS Sleep 2019 meeting, San Antonia, TX)

Im K, Kim L, Immen R Depression Is Not Associated With The Presence Of Or The Severity Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Retrospective Study Of 841 Polysomnography Subjects. (Presented at APSS Sleep 2020 virtual meeting, Aug, 2020)

Lee CH, Ann L, Immen RE, Dyken ME, Im K Older Age Is a Strong Risk Factor for Supine-position Dependent Obstructive Sleep Apnea. (oral presentation and poster presentation at APSS Sleep 2022 meeting, June, 2022)
Grants
Evaluating the disease-modifying potential of a sleep intervention for Alzheimer's Disease outcomes. NIH: R01 AG062673-01 (PI: Nazan Aksan). Co-investigator.
Sleep SMART (Sleep for Stroke Management And Recovery Trial). NINDS: U01NS099043 (PI: Devin Brown, Ronald Chervin). Sub-investigator.
Graduate Programs
Internal Medicine/Psychiatry
Public Health
Sleep Medicine
Last updated
11/15/2022