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Dr. Kim Waddell is an Assistant Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine as well as a faculty member with the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, a Senior Fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, and Research and Innovation Manager in the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Kim is a Research Health Scientist at the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion. Kim received her BS in Health Science from Truman State University and her Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then attended Washington University in St. Louis where she earned her PhD in Movement Science and her Master’s degree in Clinical Investigation. Kim conducted postdoctoral research at the VA and Penn before joining the faculty there. Recently, she was awarded the 2024 Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research’s Early-Stage Investigator Award, and in our interview, she shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:47)
When she’s not working, Kim tries to go running as often as possible to clear her head and disconnect from technology. She also enjoys cooking, particularly trying new recipes, as well as watching local sports teams and traveling.
The Scientific Side (3:38)
Kim’s research focuses on behavior change and how to help motivate people to make decisions that are more aligned with their longer term goals. She is particularly interested in physical activity and using approaches from behavioral science to motivate adults who have had a stroke or have Parkinson’s disease to increase their daily activity. Another area that Kim is interested in is designing clinical decision support systems and ways to improve decision making to make sure that people are getting the right amount of the right kind of rehabilitation after stroke.
A Dose of Motivation (5:15)
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
What Got You Hooked on Science? (8:29)
Growing up, Kim enjoyed spending her time outside playing sports, and she wasn’t particularly interested in science. As an athlete, she had interacted with physical therapists before, and she liked the focus on healing and building relationships with patients. However, when she started college, Kim didn’t really know what she wanted to do for her career. After hearing about occupational therapy (OT) from an upperclassman, Kim learned more about the career and decided to become an occupational therapist. She took a job as a clinician after finishing OT school and worked as a therapist for over four years in inpatient rehabilitation. Through her work, Kim developed a question about upper limb therapy for people after stroke, and she decided to apply for a one-year research grant that was designed for clinicians who were interested in research but didn’t want to leave full-time clinical practice. This grant was Kim’s first real introduction to research, and she realized that she found it pretty exciting. Over the next few years, Kim’s mentor Dr. Catherine Lang encouraged her to pursue a PhD, and eventually Kim decided to enroll in a PhD program. At that time, she was convinced that she was only getting the additional degree so she could have the credentials to teach in an OT Program. As she progressed through the program though, Kim’s interests in research continued to grow, and now her career focuses primarily on research.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (16:50)
Being an early-career faculty member is exciting but full of challenges. In preparing her very first grant submission to the National Institutes of Health, Kim poured her heart and soul into the application, working really hard for months. She loved the idea, and she felt like she pitched it well in her writing. When the big day came to see how the grant was received, Kim was devastated that it was not discussed by reviewers. To have her application dismissed without the reviewers even talking about it was a major setback. Stepping away from the application for a few weeks and getting input and support from mentors were instrumental for helping Kim to get through this difficult time.
A Shining Success! (20:03)
Recently, Kim was thrilled to receive a favorable score on her career development grant application. This is particularly exciting because it will be a five year grant supporting her and her research, so it is a big win. Around the same time, Kim also found out that a pilot grant she had submitted last fall was also selected for funding. Having put in a lot of work last fall, it is a relief and a major accomplishment for these grants to be funded. After drying her happy tears and sharing the news with her mentor, Kim went for a walk and got some ice cream to celebrate.
Book Recommendations (21:26)
The Voltage Effect: How to Make Good Ideas Great and Great Ideas Scale by John List; The Women by Kristin Hannah
Most Treasured Travel (24:31)
One of Kim’s favorite places that she has visited multiple times over the years for conferences is San Diego, California. These meetings have provided opportunities to meet really cool scientists and investigators, and they have challenged her intellectually. In addition, there is a wonderful running path along the waterfront that Kim and a friend always use, and it is fantastic to talk about life and science while running and enjoying the ocean views. Hiking in the nearby Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve Park also provides great opportunities to be outside and enjoy some amazing scenery.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (26:33)
Kim is a sports fan, and college basketball is a particular interest after going to OT school at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where she regularly watched the Tar Heels play. When she started in her PhD program, Kim was the only one in the lab who paid much attention to sports, but she got everyone hyped up to participate in a March Madness bracket competition. It was really funny to hear the logic that people used to select their brackets since they didn’t really know much about the teams. Her colleagues made their choices based on team colors, states they would like to visit, teams that were good in the 1980’s, or other factors that were completely unrelated to the team’s performance in the season. It ended up being a lot of fun, and they continued doing these brackets each year. Kim started up the tradition again when she came to the University of Pennsylvania, and what makes it even funnier is that it always seems to be someone who doesn’t know much about basketball who ends up winning.
Advice For Us All (32:27)
Don’t love your hypothesis so much that you don’t listen to your data. This is important because it is common in science for your data to not support your hypothesis, and you have to be open to this and ready to change how you think about your research. Also, it is better to be the first person to study something that is unknown and important than to be the hundredth person to study something that may be more established. Remember that a career in academic research can be difficult and full of rejection, but if you study something that really motivates and excites you, that will sustain you on the difficult days.
Guest Bio
Kim’s research seeks to understand how to improve the long-term health outcomes of adults with neurologic disease by leveraging insights from behavioral economics. Specifically, she focuses on applying behavioral economic principles to 1) help improve physical activity and disease self-management for adults with neurologic disease and 2) improve the translation of in-clinic improvements to daily life for adults receiving rehabilitation services. Additionally, she uses administrative data to better understand post-stroke recovery, care patterns, disability, and identifying patient populations who may benefit from remote monitoring interventions to improve overall health. Outside of work, Kim enjoys running and cooking and cheering for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. In the warmer months, you can find her outside growing flowers and trying her hand at growing vegetables, with mixed results.