Professor Jinyoung Kim's Transition from UIC Student to Unyielding Scholar

Can you briefly introduce yourself?

My name is Jin Young Kim. When I was growing up, I had the opportunity to go to the States because my dad was doing research there on a J2 visa. I stayed for three years and came back to Korea, and then I went to middle school until the 7th grade. We went back to the States because the learning atmosphere was freer there. I returned to Korea for college as my visa was expiring. I actually graduated a year early, so I wouldn’t have to take the Korean CSAT. While applying to colleges, I honestly didn’t know much about Yonsei, but there was something about the homepage that just made me cry, and it really drew me in. Yonsei was the one school I wanted to get into. I still remember the day we had to go for the interviews for UIC; it was pouring, and I didn’t know where the office was. My mom and I were lost on campus, but we both said it would all be worth it if I got in and thankfully, I did.

Can you explain your interest in studying sciences and your educational background?

I’ve always wanted to go into academia. My dad is a professor and he wanted us to enjoy studying, which helped my siblings and me pursue academia. For me, I was particularly interested in physiology and the life sciences, while my sister was more oriented towards chemistry and my brother towards computers. For our allowance, if you read and summarized a book, we would get $1. My childhood was filled with studying because I enjoyed it.  

Within LSBT, I didn’t know which field to pick. I was interested in physiology and neuroscience but I realized those topics would be difficult because Korea’s research field isn’t as advanced compared to other countries. I became interested in microbiology after I first took a course taught by Prof. Yong Sun Bahn in the life science department during my junior year. Even though I initially had no interest and the class wasn’t in my major, Prof. Bahn was so enthusiastic about his studies that I was drawn to it. That’s when I realized microorganisms are essential in life and so I went into his lab, where I got my Ph.D.

How was your experience returning to UIC as a professor and adjusting to seeing former professors as colleagues?

I never thought the opportunity would arise because we already had such great professors like Prof. Jon Soderholm and Prof. Carroll Brooks. When I got the job, it was mind-boggling because it was so different from being a student. For example, I am standing where Prof. Brooks stood and Prof. Soderholm is now my colleague. That’s still pretty tough for me because there’s that Korean hierarchy of professors and students. Prof. Bahn and Prof. Soderholm will forever be my superiors, no matter how much they try to make me comfortable, but all the professors have been accommodating. Although I still don’t call them by their first names, they’ve tried to incorporate me as a colleague and tell me what things are like. Things like that make me realize that I’m a professor now. Teaching is also a lot of responsibility because I want my students to succeed as they are my LSBT hubaes. I’m trying to help them as much as possible because I know it’s such a small class, and they’re all intelligent. I try to give them as many opportunities as possible. The ultimate goal for college, I believe, is for them to learn various fields and to foster that knowledge into what they want to do next. So, I’m trying to set them up for that, rather than focusing on retaining the information for exams.

Could you tell us your research focus and current projects? 

I’m still working in Prof. Bahn’s lab where we focus on pathogenic fungi called Cryptococcus neoformans, which is known to cause meningoencephalitis, an inflammation in the outer covering of your brain. Almost 99% of people globally have actually been exposed to Cryptococcus, which is prevalent in animals, certain tree types, and pigeon guano. Because we’re so exposed to it, people who aren’t immunocompromised can fight against it. In developing countries, if you are immunocompromised because you have something like HIV, then the leading cause of death is actually Cryptococcus. That’s why we try to develop drugs and figure out their signaling pathways. We’ve published three articles in Nature Communications about the kinases, the phosphatases, and the transcription factors involved in cryptococcal signaling. We want to determine which specific factors are involved and make Cryptococcus the ideal model for other fungal pathogens. We’re still in the early stages, but we’ll finish the paper within a year or so.

How do you envision developing the LSBT program and attracting undecided students?

I want to teach LSBT students about experimental techniques. As undergrads, we get information about theoretical knowledge in life sciences, but it’s hard to understand how we gained this knowledge because we don’t talk much about the experimental portion. LSBT doesn't have a specific experimental course, so it’s hard for students. I’d like it if we were given more information on what it’s like to conduct an experiment. I was fortunate to find the right lab and go on to my Ph.D. program immediately, but students need to know that many opportunities are available if they start to find them. I also want to allow students to intern at more labs and to try to see what it’s like to be a graduate student. Also, it’s important to note that even though everyone in LSBT is quite fluent in English, reading a research paper is a different experience from other readings. They need to become comfortable with the format and content of these papers so that when they enter grad school, they’re not overwhelmed by reading one paper a week.

As a UIC graduate, what would you say to UIC students considering LSBT as a major?

Career-wise, LSBT will set you up for success because you can enter many career fields. Because our major has biotechnology, it benefits you because you can go into pharmaceuticals and food companies like CJ; if you’re interested in cosmetics, you can go into those companies. Some people work in Ottogi, some in LG or Samsung in their R&D field and are paid well; so there is that benefit of working at a big, prestigious company.

I know the subject may be hard, but it’s interesting. You’ll see that it’s applicable as long as you get over those basic science courses. When you take major electives, they’re applicable and interesting to observe. There is a lot of memorization, but understanding makes it easier for you to memorize. I took a lot of economics classes as my major elective as an undergrad, and as fun as it was, economics isn’t the best career path if you aren’t good at math. Whereas in LSBT, you just need to know the basics of math and you will do fine. 

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Interview Conducted by: Professor Howard KahmEdited by: Natasha Elyssa Gadjali (PSIR '22) & Pho Vu (IID '20.5)Spread Design by: Nicoline Dorothy (CDM '23.5)