“I’d like to advise young women scientist to be patient and never give up. When I arrived in the States in the early 1960s, the Korean political situation was in a chaotic state after the Korean War. I have a sister who was a resident at a hospital in the States, and she motivated me to migrate here and finish my studies with the help of scholarships from my church and university. Since I experienced such a tough period at an early age, I have confidence in myself that I can do anything. But, whenever I meet young generation who grew up in abundance respectively, I feel that they seem to give up so easily. We should be aware that we can achieve nothing without passion and effort. Especially for women, they should have well-organized time schedules for their marriages and careers so as not to drop out of the work force to take care of their children. I sometimes experience that men scientists are very sociable in their research field so that they cooperate well with other groups. In contrast, women scientists tend not to work with others due to having a weak human network. I’d like to recommend women scientists to have wide and strong network with others as men do.”
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- Ph. D. Nutritional Science and Biochemistry, Texas Women’s University, 1975
- Chief Endocrinology, Metabolism, Nutrition and Reproductive Sciences Integrated Review Group (EMNR IRG) and Scientific Review administrator of the Integrative Nutrition and Metabolic Processes (INMP) Study Section
- Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health
- Faculty outstanding award
- NIH merit awards
- NIH Director’s award
- Reviewer for entry forms and science project reports in the annual intel science talent search competition.
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Dr. Sooja Kim is responsible for the coordination, supervision, and assessment of the activities of the Scientific Review Administrators (SRAs) of 10 study sections in the Integrated Review Group and Scientific Review Administrator for the Integrative Nutrition and Metabolic Processes (INMP) Study Section. She handles various tasks including, administrative and technical review of grant applications, selection of reviewers and application assignments, nomination of study sections, preparation of summary statement, and communication with Institutes and National Advisory Councils/Boards regarding study section recommendations.
For the first 13 years of her career, Dr. Kim conducted research and taught various nutrition, dietetics, and food science courses. At the HIH, she has been involved as an expert and program administrator for the nutrition, metabolism and gastroenterology program and the institute on aging. She also provided significant clinical and geriatric research regarding dietary patterns, energy consumption, and multiple factors affecting nutrition status, morbidity, and disease and health from the original NHANES.
After joining the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), Dr. Kim served as the scientific review administrator for the epidemiology and disease control study section. Continuing responsibilities require scientific concentration in the areas of endocrinology, metabolism, nutrition, and reproductive sciences including the burgeoning research of diabetes and obesity. Based upon participation in various key NIH committees, she is well informed on nutrition policy-related activities through collaborative and coordinated NIH activities, interagency activities at the department of Health and Human Service, and interagency activities at the federal level. Dr. Sooja Kim also serves as a member of the coordinating committee of the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), its research subcommittee, and seminar series committee. She has been actively involved in identifying and recommending priority areas of research for women’s health and for the research enhancement awards program, and she is a liaison member to the office of dietary supplement (ODS) for the five-year developmental plan. Dr. Kim participated in the ODS strategic planning process and in an interagency forum to review the draft strategic plan for the ODS, and she was involved in the working group for establishing centers for botanical dietary supplements and in the planning phase of the bioavailability initiatives for ODS.