—Research on Bullying and Autism Recognized by President Obama

On December 23, Yale child psychiatrist and epidemiologist Professor Kim Young-shin was named a recipient of the 2013 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers by United States President Barak Obama.  According to the official White House press release, the award is “the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.” Professor Kim, who earned an M.D. from Yonsei in 1988, was recognized for her research on bullying and autism among Korean and American children, and she, along with the other winners, will receive her award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.  Professor Kim’s main research areas involve the social and psychopathological consequences of childhood bullying and the epidemiology and genetics of childhood onset neuropsychiatric disorders, especially autism.  Her research into childhood bullying revealed that forty percent of all teens had experienced bullying at some point in their life, and that bullying is a significant risk factor, for both victim and assailant, in terms of higher suicide rates and developing psychopathological conditions.  Furthermore, she showed that bullies, like their victims, experience decreased academic performance, and that the unemployment and crime rates among bullies is significantly higher than those of the general public when they reach adulthood.  Professor Kim’s groundbreaking study of schoolchildren in the Ilsan District of Goyang City, South Korea showed an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence of 1 in 38 (2.6%), which was more than double the previously accepted rate of 1%.  Thanks to this research, children that had previously gone undiagnosed with ASD were able to gain access to medical care and services.  Autism Speaks, the American organization which helped to fund her research in South Korea, is currently undertaking a follow-up U.S. autism prevalence study using Professor Kim’s same direct-screening methods.