Julia Kim-Cohen, PhD
Senior Lecturer
General and Applied Programs
Contact
Building & Room:
2056B BSB
Address:
1007 W Harrison Street
Office Phone:
Email:
About
Julia Kim-Cohen majored in psychology as an undergraduate at Stanford University and received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Rochester. Dr. Kim-Cohen’s career has focused on better understanding why and how some individuals cope successfully with adverse experiences and develop resilience, whereas others struggle and develop mental and physical health problems. She first joined UIC as a predoctoral intern at the Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR) in the Department of Psychiatry before taking a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London and the NIMH-funded Training Program in Emotion Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research investigated genetic and environmental contributions to resilience, the childhood origins of adult psychiatric diagnoses, and the association between maternal depression and children’s conduct problems. Dr. Kim-Cohen was on the faculty at Yale University for many years before returning to UIC in 2014 to teach in the undergraduate program in the Department of Psychology.
In 2019, Dr. Kim-Cohen received a fellowship in the Teaching Sustainability Initiative from the UIC Office of Sustainability. She teaches about mental health consequences that can result from climate change, as well as the mental health benefits that can come about through connecting with nature and adopting a less materialistic, more sustainable lifestyle.
Dr. Kim-Cohen serves on the editorial board of the journal, Development & Psychopathology, and is a licensed clinical psychologist.
Selected Publications
Kim-Cohen, J. & Turkewitz, R. (2012). Resilience and measured gene-environment interactions. Development & Psychopathology, 24, 1297-1306.
Kim-Cohen, J. & Gold, A. L. (2009). Measured gene-environment interactions and mechanisms promoting resilient development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 138-142.
Caspi, A., Williams, B., Kim-Cohen, J., Craig, I. W., Milne, B. J., Poulton, R., Schalkwyk, L. C., Taylor, A., Werts, H., & Moffitt, T. E. (2007). Moderation of breastfeeding effects on cognitive development by genetic variation in fatty acid metabolism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 104, 18860-18865.
Kim-Cohen, J., Caspi, A., Taylor, A., Williams, B., Newcombe, R., Craig, I., & Moffitt, T. E. (2006). MAOA, maltreatment, and gene-environment interaction predicting children’s mental health: New evidence and a meta-analysis. Molecular Psychiatry, 11, 903-913.
Kim-Cohen, J., Moffitt, T. E., Taylor, A., Pawlby, S. J., & Caspi, A. (2005). Maternal depression and child antisocial behavior: Nature and nurture effects. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 173-181.
Kim-Cohen, J., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., & Taylor, A. (2004). Genetic and environmental processes in young children’s resilience to socioeconomic deprivation. Child Development, 75, 651-668.
Kim-Cohen, J., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Harrington, H. L., Milne, B., & Poulton, R. (2003). Prior juvenile diagnoses in adults with mental disorder: Developmental follow-back of a prospective-longitudinal cohort. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 709-717.
Notable Honors
2023, HOPE (Honoring Our Professors’ Excellence) Award, UIC
2022, Silver Circle Award for Teaching Excellence, UIC
2019, Teaching Recognition Program Award, UIC
2019, Sustainability Teaching Fellow, UIC Office of Sustainability
2017, Teaching Scholar, UIC Center for the Advancement of Teaching-Learning Communities
2016, Teaching Scholar, UIC Center for the Advancement of Teaching-Learning Communities
2014, National Academies Science Education Fellow, Yale University
2012, National Academies Science Education Fellow, Yale University
Education
AB, Stanford University
PhD, University of Rochester