Thu Kim

Student NameThu Kim
Faculty Mentor NameDominick Lemas, Assistant Professor, PhD
CollegeCollege of Medicine, Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics
MajorMicrobiology and Cell Sciences
MinorFrench and Francophone Studies, Bioinformatics
Research InterestsPhysical activities, Mother-baby health, Metabolomics
Academic AwardsUniversity of Florida’s University Scholar Program; 2020-2021
Colonial Dames XVII Century Scholarship; May 2018
Gator Club Scholarship; March 2018
Citigroup’s Women in Technology Group Scholarship; September 2017
University of South Florida STEM for Scholars Award; August 2017
OrganizationsAlpha Chi Sigma
UF Model United Nations
UF Science Olympiad
Freshmen Leadership Engineering Group
Hobbies and InterestsFitness, traveling, cooking, and reading

Research Project

Maternal Physical Activity During Pregnancy and Mom-baby Postpartum Health?

Physical activities foster normal human growth and development. Exercising is associated with improved mental health and reduces the risk of a large number of chronic diseases. Under the guidelines of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pregnant mother should engage in moderate-intensity aerobic
activity for at least 150 minutes per week. In addition, Body Mass Index (BMI) has shown considerable impact on various metabolic and disease outcomes. However, the reports on mother’s physical activities during pregnancy and postpartum are limited. Therefore, the goal of this proposal is to investigate the associations between mother’s BMI and physical exercise during period of pregnancy and postpartum maternal and infant health outcomes.