Jee Hyun Kim

Jee Hyun Kim
File:Dr Jee Hyun Kim.jpg Dr Jee Hyun Kim, Head of Developmental Psychobiology Lab at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health
Residence	Melbourne, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Fields	neuroscience
Institutions	Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Alma mater	University of New South Wales

Jee Hyun Kim, is an Australian behavioral neuroscientist whose work focuses on emotional learning and memory during childhood and adolescence. She is a Senior Research Fellow and head of the Developmental Psychobiology Laboratory at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in Melbourne, Australia.

Kim is an active science communicator, and has given public lectures at TEDx Melbourne, Australian Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Victorian Science Week, and City of Melbourne (Melbourne Conversations). She has also interviewed for ABC Radio, Radio New Zealand, SBS TV, and Channel 10 (The Project).

Research

Jee Hyun Kim's research has demonstrated that the acquisition and retrieval of fear memories is different across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and that fear memories are able to be erased early in life. Kim’s research uses rodent models that closely resemble human behaviors to understand the neurobiological basis of those behaviors. Specifically, her work investigates the role of memory and forgetting in the development and treatment of two major mental disorders across childhood and adolescence: anxiety disorder and substance abuse disorder. Kim has 40 original publications to date, and her work has been cited in other publications over 800 times.

To study anxiety, the Kim laboratory employs a classical conditioning paradigm based on the work of Ivan Pavlov known as fear conditioning. Despite originating 100 years ago, this model is widely-used by modern scientists to uncover the neural mechanisms of fear and anxiety. To investigate substance abuse the Kim laboratory uses a operant conditioning paradigm based on the work of B. F. Skinner known as intravenous self-administration (IVSA). Kim's research especially focuses on extinction, a form of inhibitory learning that forms the basis of exposure-based therapies for both anxiety and addiction disorders.

Career

Kim completed her undergraduate degree at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2004, graduating with the prestigious University Medal in Psychology. She completed her PhD in Psychology in 2008 at UNSW, during which time she published six original scientific articles. After graduating, Kim worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at UNSW, and then the University of Michigan. Kim then gained a position as a Senior Research Officer at the Florey Institute, before becoming head of the Developmental Psychobiology Laboratory at the institute. Kim is the youngest laboratory head at the Florey.

Editor

• Behavioural Brain Research, Invited Guest Editor for 2016 special issue “Developmental Regulation of Memory in Anxiety and Addiction”
• Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Review Editor
• Neurotransmitter, Associate Editor
• Pharmacology Research & Perspectives, Associate Editor

Leadership and Committees

Kim is a member of the Florey Graduate Research Committee, which provides leadership to over 200 graduate research students at the institute. Kim has served as a mentor for the Florey student association, Students of Florey Institutes (SoFI), and has been an invited speaker for Florey Mentor/Mentee Workshops.

Kim is also a vocal advocate for Women in Science, and has served on the committee for the Florey Committee for Equality is Science (EqIS). Kim was acknowledged for her role as a proponent for women in science in the manuscript of Kate White’s book, 'Building effective career paths for women in science research: a case study of an Australian science research institute'. Kim has completed the National Australian Bank “Realise” female leadership program, and attended “The X-factor: Putting Sex and Gender Under the Microscope in Medical Research” meeting hosted by Perpetual & Women Donors.

Kim is a member of the Florey Animal Ethics Committee, which is committed to maintaining ethical standards in the use of animals in neuroscientific research at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health. Kim is also a board member for the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, and has been a Symposium Organiser and Chair at several international scientific conferences. Kim is a grant reviewer for both the NHMRC and the ARC, and a member of the NHMRC Research Translation Faculty.

Awards

• Australian Institute of Policy and Science, Victorian Tall Poppy Award 2014
• International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, Kucharski Young Investigator Award 2013
• Australian Psychological Society, Early Career Research Award 2012
• American Psychological Association, D.G. Marquis Award for Best paper published in Behavioral Neuroscience 2012
• University of New South Wales, U-Committee Award for Research Excellence in Science 2010
• International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, Dissertation Award 2009
• Australian Psychological Society, Prize for Excellence in PhD thesis in Psychology 2008
• International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, Sandra G. Wiener Student Investigator Award 2007
• Australian Psychological Society, Prize for the best performance in Psychology Honours 2004
• University of New South Wales, University Medal in Psychology 2004

External links

• Developmental Psychobiology Laboratory, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health
• Dr Jee Hyun Kim at TEDxMelbourne, "Living Without Fear"
• Panel: Dr Jee Hyun Kim at City of Melbourne, "Science City - Has Melbourne got what it takes?"