Dr. Karen Kim, MD, MS | Founder

Dr. Karen Kim has over 30 years of experience in research, advocacy, and civic engagement to improve health equity for Asian Americans. She is the founder and immediate past president of the Asian Health Coalition. Currently, Dr. Kim serves as Dean of the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.

At the University of Chicago, Dr. Kim served as Vice Provost of Research, Professor of Medicine, Dean of Faculty Affairs for the Division of Biological Sciences, the Associate Director at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center - Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Disparities, and a faculty affiliate at the Center for the Study of Race, Culture and Politics and Center for Gender Studies.

Dr. Kim is a nationally recognized leader in research and public policy focused on Asian Americans and serves as the principal investigator of the Partnership for Healthier Asians, an AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)-supported program to develop a market-oriented dissemination model to improve cancer screening among Asian immigrants.

Moreover, Dr. Kim is the Principal Director of the Cook County Colon Cancer Alliance to Reignite and Enhance Screening (CARES) program, which was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and focuses on increasing colorectal cancer screening among racial/ethnic minorities in Chicago. Dr. Kim is also the Vice Chair of the National Council for Asian American Pacific Islander Physicians, advisory member of the CDC’s Hepatitis B Task Force, steering committee member of the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable, and executive board member of the American Cancer Society.

Dr. Kim developed the CDC-funded Hepatitis Education and Prevention Program in collaboration with the Asian Health Coalition to address hepatitis- and liver cancer- related disparities among Asian Americans. She also has extensive experiences in leading large-scale multidisciplinary teams to address disparities among minority populations.

Her educational interests include health disparities, cultural competency, patient centered communication, hepatitis, and cancer prevention. Dr. Kim has received numerous educational awards, including Distinguished Faculty, Best Teaching Faculty among medical students and gastroenterology fellows, and Fellow in the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators at the Pritzker School of Medicine.