Kim holds an MSc by Research (2009) and an MPhil (2016) from the University of Edinburgh, both in Social Anthropology. She completed long term fieldwork for her MPhil in Mexico City, Mexico researching the practice of medicina natural (natural medicine) and the ways in which the practitioners of medicina natural utilize their position outside biomedicine and very specialized discourse in order to legitimize their own form of healing and to create a distinct space for themselves within the wider medical landscape within Mexico City.
Following this, she worked in public health in Los Angeles, USA, as a program coordinator for a youth substance abuse prevention program and as an evaluator for a SAMHSA- funded program to help pregnant/postpartum women manage motherhood while also managing their substance abuse recovery.
Currently, Kim is a PhD researcher on the Global FutureHealth ERC-funded project within the Health, Care and the Body programme group at the University of Amsterdam. She is researching maternal health care systems and their impact on the maternal health and motherhood practices of marginalized women in Los Angeles, USA.