Sun Kim, PhD APRN

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Research Interest

Her research interests include translational research in the neurobiology of nicotine addiction and clinical research in tobacco dependence treatment for specific populations such as Asian Americans and smokers with roll-your-own cigarettes. Dr. Kim is also interested in treating smokers with co-occurring disorders such as depression and alcohol abuse/dependence. She is particularly interested in developing tobacco dependence treatment tailored to the specific needs of Asian immigrants. She has a K23 (Patient-Oriented Research Career Development) Award from the NIH/NIDA to develop tobacco dependence treatment for Asian Americans. She currently conducts a randomized controlled trial testing the relative effectiveness of evidence-based and Korean-culture tailored cognitive behavioral therapy with Korean Americans as compared to brief cessation counseling. She also recently completed a telephone survey study with a nationwide sample of Korean-American daily smokers to explore factors affecting their readiness for smoking cessation, which was funded from the American Lung Association.

Education Activity

Her teaching experience includes qualitative and quantitative research designs, psychometric analyses, and motivational interviewing.