Jee Hyun Kim

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

Leadership and Committees

Kim is Co-chair 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 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

Highlights

Other journal articles

Book chapters

Articles

"The Conversation". Comic explainer: how memory works. 2016. 

"The Conversation". Breed scientists better for a better breed of science. 2013. 

"The Conversation". Going, going, gone: the where and why of memory erasure. 2013. 

"The Conversation". Explainer: what is forgetting?. 2013. 

"The Conversation". Explainer: what is memory?. 2012.