Postdoc Spotlight: Minju Kim, PhD
Minju Kim, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler​ Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory at the School of Medicine & Dentistry. She received her BS in electrical engineering from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea. She completed her doctoral research in the lab of Sung-Phil Kim, PhD, one of the pioneers of brain-computer interface (BCI) in Korea. Today, her research focuses on this intersection of cognition and motor function to hopefully inform the development of better treatments and technologies for older adults and people with neurological conditions.
I’ve always been curious about why people think and behave the way they do.
“My research asks what happens in the brain when people walk and think at the same time,” said Kim, whose interest in the human mind and behavior began long before she started studying the brain. “I’ve always been curious about why people think and behave the way they do. That curiosity led me to pick up books about the brain. Reading about how the brain works was captivating, and I became interested in how technology could be used not only to understand the brain but also to help people in practical ways. That interest eventually led me to engineering.”
As a postdoc at URochester, Kim can extend her research into clinical collaborations. Working with her lab’s principal investigators, John Foxe, PhD, and Ed Freedman, PhD, Kim uses mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI) to understand better how neurological diseases like Parkinson’s affect a person's ability to walk and complete a simple task. “I investigate how the interference between cognitive and motor function arises in those populations using brain recordings and movement measurements. My long-term goal is to develop technologies and assessments that can support people who have difficulty moving or interacting with their environments by combining the knowledge and experience I gain at Rochester with my background in BCI.”
Outside of the lab, Kim enjoys exploring the Rochester area. “I love visiting parks, lakes, trails, and small villages around the region.” She also enjoys time away from land. Scuba diving into, as she puts it—a different world underwater. “In some ways, scuba diving feels similar to research for me. If you pay attention to subtle signals, you can discover things that are usually hidden from view.”
