June-Wha Rhee, M.D.

(877) 460-4673
June-Wha Rhee, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine
Clinical Expertise
  • Cardiology
  • Cardio-Oncology
  • Pharmacogenomics
Research Area
  • Cardiovascular Complications of Cancer Therapies
  • Stem Cells in Cardio-oncology
  • Genomics
  • Cardiac Metabolism
Academic Appointments
  • Assistant Professor, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Clinical Teams
Medicine
Cardiology

In her approach to patient care, cardio-oncologist June-Wha Rhee, M.D., puts listening first. She aims to understand patients' desires, priorities, concerns and experiences. Fascinated with the heart, she has dedicated her career to finding new ways to prevent or minimize cardiovascular complications from cancer treatment.
 
Dr. Rhee earned a bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a medical degree from Harvard. During her postgraduate training at Stanford, she was a resident in internal medicine, a fellow in cardiovascular medicine — including a stint as chief fellow — and a postdoctoral researcher studying heart diseases using patient-specific stem cells. Her current research, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association, delves into the mechanisms behind drug-induced cardiovascular complications. She also actively participates in various clinical and research committees including the American Heart Association Cardio-Oncology Committee.
 
Fluent in Korean, Dr. Rhee spends her time outside of work with her family, exploring local parks, dining out and enjoying playdates with friends.

Location

Education & Experience

Board Certifications

  • 2017, Certification, Examination of Special Competence in Adult Echocardiography, National Board of Echocardiography

  • 2017, Initial Certification, Cardiovascular Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine

  • 2014, Initial Certification, Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine

  • 2011, California Medical License

Degrees

  • 2006-2011, Doctor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

  • 2002-2006, Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Fellowship

  • 2017-2019, Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford, CA

  • 2016-2017, Chief Fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA

  • 2014-2017, Fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA

Residency

  • 2011-2014, Resident in Internal Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA

Professional Experience

  • 2021-present, Assistant Professor, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, City of Hope, Duarte, CA

  • 2019, Instructor, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford Cardiovascular Medicine

  • 2018-2019, Clinical Instructor, Stanford Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford, CA

Awards & Memberships

Awards

  • 2021, Stanford CVI Manuscript Award

  • 2021, Inductee, Stanford CVI Mentoring to AdVance WomEN in Science Early Career Program

  • 2020, NIH Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08)

  • 2019, American Heart Association Career Development Award

  • 2017-2019, NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (F32)

  • 2015, Timothy F. Beckett, JR award for Best Clinical Teaching by a Medicine Fellow, Stanford, CA 2017 American College of Cardiology Excellence in Cardiology Fellowship Award

  • 2015, American Heart Association Women in Cardiology Trainee Award for Excellence

  • 2013, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute (CVI) Postdoctoral Travel Award

  • 2009-2010, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowships for Medical Students

  • 2007, American Heart Association Student Scholarship in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke

  • 2002-2006, Samsung Lee Kun-Hee Scholarship

  • 2005, Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society

  • 2002, South Korea President’s Award

  • 2001, Gold Medal, 33rd International Chemistry Olympiad

Memberships

  • 2014, Society for Physician Scholars, Stanford University School of Medicine, Elected Member

  • 2014, Fellow, American College of Cardiology

  • 2011, American College of Physicians

  • 2007, American Medical Association

  • 2007, American Heart Association

Publications

  • Wilcox NS, Rotz SJ, Mullen M, Song EJ, Ky Hamilton B, Moslehi J, Armenian SH, Wu JC, Rhee JW, Ky B. Sex-Specific Cardiovascular Risks of Cancer and Its Therapies. Circ Res. 2022 Feb 18;130(4):632-651. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.319901. PMID: 35175846.
  • Fazal M, Kapoor R, Cheng P, Rogers AJ, Narayan SM, Wang P, Witteles RM, Perino AC, Baykaner T, Rhee JW. Arrhythmia Patterns in Patients on Ibrutinib. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Jan 3;8:792310. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.792310. PMID: 35047578; PMCID: PMC8761892.
  • Kapoor R, Fazal M, Cheng P, Witteles R, Rhee JW, Baykaner T. Ibrutinib-associated atrial fibrillation treatment with catheter ablation. HeartRhythm Case Rep. 2021 Nov 15;7(11):713-716. doi: 10.1016/j.hrcr.2021.08.003. PMID: 34820264; PMCID: PMC8602082.
  • Fazal M, Malisa J, Rhee JW, Witteles RM, Rodriguez F. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Cardio-Oncology: A Call to Action. JACC CardioOncol. 2021 Jun;3(2):201-204. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccao.2021.05.001. Epub 2021 Jun 15. PMID: 34308372; PMCID: PMC8301207.
  • Okwuosa TM, Morgans A, Rhee JW, Reding KW, Maliski S, Plana JC, Volgman AS, Moseley KF, Porter CB, Ismail-Khan R; American Heart Association Cardio-Oncology Subcommittee of the Council on Clinical Cardiology and the Council on Genomic and Precision Medicine; Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology; and Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention. Impact of Hormonal Therapies for Treatment of Hormone-Dependent Cancers (Breast and Prostate) on the Cardiovascular System: Effects and Modifications: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circ Genom Precis Med. 2021 Jun;14(3):e000082. doi: 10.1161/HCG.0000000000000082. PMID: 33896190.
  • Chandy M*, Rhee JW*, Ozun M*, Williams DR, Pepic L, Liu C, Zhang H, Malisa J, Lau E, Demirci U, Wu JC. A Map of Exosomal microRNA Secreted from Human iPSC-derived Cardiac Cells. Circulation (2020) 142(18):1794-1796. *All authors contributed equally to this work.
  • Rhee JW*, Yi H*, Lam CK*, Belbahir, Tian L, Thomas D, Lau E, Paik DT, Kim Y, Choi BS, Sayed N, Sallam K, Wu JC. Modeling Secondary Iron-overload Cardiomyopathy with Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell- derived Cardiomyocytes. Cell Reports (2020) 32(2):107886. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep *All authors contributed equally to this work. Featured in Stanford medicine news letter: http://med.stanford.edu/news/all- news/2020/09/researchers-find-potential-cure-for-deadly-iron-overload-disease.html
  • Sayed N, Liu C, Ameen M, Himmati F, Zhang JZ, Khanamiri S, Moonen J, Wnorowski A, Cheng L, Rhee JW, Gaddam S, Wang K, Sallam K, Woo JY, Rabinovitch M, Wu JC. Statins Improve Endothelial Function in LMNA-Related Dilated Cardiomyopathy: Clinical Trial in a Dish Using Human iPSCs. Sci. Transl. Med. (2020) 12(554). doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aax9276.
  • Kitani T, Tian L, Zhang T, Itzhaki I, Zhang JZ, Ma N, Liu C, Rhee JW, Lui G, Wu JC. RNA Sequencing Analysis Reveals Utility and Limitations of iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes from Congenital Heart Disease Patients. Circ Res (2020) 126(7):923-925. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.315653.
  • Yang Z, Shi J, Xie J, Wang Y, Sun J, Liu T, Zhao Y, Zhao X, Wang X, Ma Y, Malkoc V, Chiang C, Deng W, Chen Y, Fu Y, Kwak KJ, Fan Y, Kang C, Yin C, Rhee J, Bertani P, Otero J, Lu W, Yun K, Lee AS, Jiang W, Teng L, Kim BYS, Lee LJ. Large-scale generation of functional mRNA-encapsulating exosomes via cellular nanoporation. Nat Biomed Eng. (2020) 1:69-83. doi: 10.1038/s41551-019-0485-1.
  • Lee J, Termglinchan V, Diecke S, Itzhaki I, Lam CK, Garg P, Lau E, Greenhaw M, Seeger T, Wu H, Zhang JZ, Chen X, Gil IP, Ameen M, Sallam K, Rhee JW, Churko JM, Chaudhary R, Chour T, Wang PJ, Snyder MP, Chang HY, Karakikes I, Wu JC. Activation of PDGF pathway links LMNA mutation to dilated cardiomyopathy. Nature. (2019) 572(7769):335-340. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1406-x.
  • Wu H, Yang H, Rhee JW, Zhang JZ, Lam CK, Sallam K, Chang ACY, Ma N, Lee J, Zhang H, Blau H, Bers DM, Wu JC. Modeling of diastolic dysfunction in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients. Eur Heart J. (2019) 40(45):3685-3695. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehz326.
  • Lam CK, Tian L, Belbachir N, Wnorowski A, Shrestha R, Ma N, Kitani T, Rhee JW, Wu JC. Identifying the Transcriptome Signature of Calcium Channel Blocker in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes. Circ Res. (2019) 125(2):212-222. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.314202.
  • Kitani T, Ong SG, Lam CK, Rhee JW, Zhang JZ, Oikonomopoulos A, Ma N, Tian L, Lee J, Telli ML, Witteles RM, Sharma A, Sayed N, Wu JC. Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Model of Trastuzumab-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction in Breast Cancer Patients. Circulation. (2019) 139(21):2451-2465. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.037357.
  • Sallam K, Rhee JW, Chour T, D'addabbo J, Lee AS, Graves E, Nguyen PK. Targeted and Selective Treatment of Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Teratomas Using External Beam Radiation in a Small-animal Model. J Vis Exp. (2019) 144 doi: 10.3791/58115.
  • Khanamiri S, Rhee JW, Paik DT, Chen IY, Liu C, Sayed N. Marked Vascular Dysfunction in a Case of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy. J Vasc Res. (2019) 56(1):11-15. doi: 10.1159/000496163.
  • Paik DT, Tian L, Lee J, Sayed N, Chen IY, Rhee S, Rhee JW, Kim Y, Wirka RC, Buikema JW, Wu SM, Red-Horse K, Quertermous T, Wu JC. Large-Scale Single-Cell RNA-Seq Reveals Molecular Signatures of Heterogeneous Populations of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Endothelial Cells. Circ Res. (2018) 123(4):443-450. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.312913.
  • Kobayashi Y, Sudini NL, Rhee JW, Aymami M, Moneghetti KJ, Bouajila S, Kobayashi Y, Kim JB, Schnittger I, Teuteberg JJ, Khush KK, Fearon WF, Haddad F. Incremental Value of Deformation Imaging and Hemodynamics Following Heart Transplantation: Insights From Graft Function Profiling. JACC Heart Fail. (2017) 5(12):930-939. doi: 10.1016/j.jchf.2017.10.011.
  • Rhee JW, Wiviott SD, Scirica BM, Gibson CM, Murphy SA, Bonaca MP, Morrow DA, Mega JL. Clinical features, use of evidence-based therapies, and cardiovascular outcomes among patients with chronic kidney disease following non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome. Clin Cardiol. (2014) 37(6):350-6. doi: 10.1002/clc.22253.
  • Flather M, Rhee JW, Boothroyd DB, Boersma E, Brooks MM, Carrié D, Clayton TC, Danchin N, Hamm CW, Hueb WA, King SB, Pocock SJ, Rodriguez A, Serruys P, Sigwart U, Stables RH, Hlatky MA. The Effect of Age on Outcomes of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery or Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Multivessel Coronary Disease: A Collaborative Analysis of Individual Patient Data from Ten Randomized Trials. J Am Coll Cardiol. (2012) 60(21):2150-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2012.08.982.
  • Chan JM*, Rhee JW*, Drum CL, Bronson RT, Golomb G, Langer R, Farokhzad OC. In Vivo Prevention of Arterial Restenosis with Paclitaxel-Encapsulated Targeted Lipid-Polymeric Nanoparticles. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. (2011) 108(48):19347-52. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1115945108. *Both authors contributed equally to this work.
  • Chan JM, Zhang L, Tong R, Ghosh D, Gao W, Liao G, Yuet KP, Gray D, Rhee JW, Cheng J, Golomb G, Libby P, Langer R, Farokhzad OC. Spatiotemporal Controlled Delivery of Nanoparticles to Vasculature. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. (2010) 107(5):2213-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0914585107. (Highlighted in BBC Health, The Independent, Science Daily, Medical News Today, Nano Today, The Straits Times).
  • Chan JM, Zhang L, Yuet KP, Liao G, Rhee JW, Langer R, Farokhzad OC. PLGA-lecithin-PEG core-shell nanoparticles for controlled drug delivery. Biomaterials. (2009) 30(8):1627-34. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2008.12.013.
  • Zhang L, Chan JM, Gu FX, Rhee JW, Wang AZ, Radovic-Moreno AF, Alexis F, Langer R, Farokhzad OC. Self-Assembled Lipid-Polymer Hybrid Nanoparticles: A Robust Drug Delivery Platform. ACS Nano. (2008) 2(8):1696-702. doi: 10.1021/nn800275r.