Jong Sung Kim is an Associate Professor of Occupational & Environmental Health in the University of Iowa College of Public Health. He serves as Director of the UI Human Toxicology Program (HTP) and the EHSRC’s Pilot Grant Program.
His interdisciplinary research integrates environmental chemistry, toxicology, exposure science, and human biomonitoring to understand the health effects of environmental and occupational exposures. Kim’s research focuses on inhalation toxicology, metals and metallomics, and emerging contaminants, including tire-wear associated particles and chemicals, nanoparticles and micro- and nanoplastics.
His laboratory combines advanced analytical approaches, including mass spectrometry, metallomics, and chemical exposome profiling, with inhalation toxicology using in vitro air-liquid interface (ALI) models and in vivo inhalation studies to characterize exposure, biological responses, and mechanisms of toxicity. His work has advanced ALI approaches for investigating airborne particles and particle-contaminant interactions and contributed to the development and application of toenail biomarkers for assessing cumulative exposure to metals in population-based studies. More recently, his research integrates metallomics with untargeted high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify biomarkers of environmental exposure, susceptibility, and disease risk.
Kim collaborates broadly across epidemiology, chemistry, engineering, exposure science, and clinical disciplines to address emerging environmental health challenges. Through his leadership of the EHSRC Pilot Grant Program, he fosters interdisciplinary research and supports early-stage investigators in developing innovative environmental health research into competitive, independently funded programs. He is also deeply committed to graduate education and mentorship through his leadership of the Human Toxicology Program.