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Eun-Ok Im
About
Dr. Im is a Professor, tenured, and is currently the Edith Folsom Honeycutt Endowed Chair at Emory University, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Dr. Im received a BSN with an honor (magna cum laude) and a MPH from Seoul National University in South Korea. She received her second Master's degree (MSN) from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and finally a PhD in nursing from UCSF in 1997. She also had 1.5 years of postdoctoral study at UCSF. She has been an endowed chair/professor at the University of Texas at Austin (La Quinta Motor Inns Centennial Professor, 2007 to 2011), the University of Pennsylvania (Majorie O. Rendell Endowed Chair, 2011-2016), and Duke University (Mary T. Champagne Professor, 2016-2020). Also, she was the president of the Asian American/Pacific Islander Nurses Association (AAPINA) and is now serving as the past-president (AAPINA; http://aapina.org/).
Dr. Im's most outstanding contribution to nursing is a research program that adopts Internet and computer technologies to eliminate gender and ethnic disparities. She has taken the lead in this burgeoning field, and her current studies are among the first of their kind to use these technologies to build nursing knowledge. She has also gained national and international recognition as a methodologist and theorist in international cross-cultural women’s health through more than 400 papers, abstracts, and chapters (over 225 refereed journal articles) and about 400 international and national multi-disciplinary presentations. Dr. Im has been on more than 50 research review panels of the NIH, and was a reviewer for the PCORI and the American Heart Association. Dr. Im was a senior editor of the Journal of Transcultural Nursing until 2021, is on the editorial boards of 8 journals including the Advances in Nursing Science and the Research in Nursing and Health, and is on 13 editorial review boards. She has numerous national and international awards including the 2014 International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame Award from the Sigma Theta Tau International, the 2020 Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science (CANS) Outstanding Nurse Scientist award, and the 2022 SNRS Distinguished Researcher Award. In 2019, she received the Global Mentor Award from the International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing for her work in mentoring international doctoral students and serving as a role model in doctoral education in nursing and research. Also, she received the GKNF Global Mentor Award in 2021. She served the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) Advisory Council as a council member from 2019 to 2021. Also, she was selected as one of the 2019 NINR Director's lecturers. https://www.ninr.nih.gov/newsandinformation/events/im-lecture
Dr. Im's program of research can be described as feminist-driven Internet research on gender and ethnic differences in health/illness experience of midlife women. Dr. Im's doctoral research and post-doctoral study focused on international cross-cultural women’s health research. Then, her work extended to oncology areas, and she developed Internet research methodology as an area of expertise. She further integrated this line of work with research projects on gender and ethnic differences in cancer pain, menopausal symptoms, and physical activity as the principal investigator through a series of NIH-funded, R01 awards. She has obtained about 20 million dollars of research funding through R01s and other grants (5 R01s, 1 R21, and 1 R61/R33 as the PI and over 30 other grants as the PI).
Dr. Im’s dedication to teaching and mentoring a new generation of scholars is reflected in her efforts made to individually mentor more than 60 doctoral and post-doctoral scholars, 90 undergraduate students, and 70 research assistants (counting only since Sep. 2002). Also, her national and international invited lectures, presentations, book chapters, and service activities represent her efforts to raise a next generation of nurses and to make advances in nursing science. Dr. Im has taught courses on nursing theory, nursing philosophy, critical literature review, research methods, and global women’s health issues.
Areas of Expertise
Publications
Im, E. O., Kim, G., Choi, M., & Chee, W. (2021). Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Four Major Racial/Ethnic Groups of Midlife Women: Race/Ethnicity and Menopausal Status. Menopause. 29(2):156-163. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001898. PMID: 34873105
Im, E. O. (2021). Theory Development Process of Situation Specific Theories. Advances in Nursing Science, 44(1), E32-E47. doi: 10.1097/ANS.0000000000000341. PMID: 33181571
Im, E. O., Kim, S., Yang, Y. L., & Chee, W. (2020). The Efficacy of a Technology-based Information and Coaching/Support Program on Pain and Symptoms of Asian American Breast Cancer Survivors. Cancer, 126(3):670-680. doi: 10.1002/cncr.32579.
Im, E. O., Kim, S., Lee, C., Chee, E., Mao, J. J., & Chee, W. (2019). Decreasing menopausal symptoms of Asian American breast cancer survivors through a technology-based information and coaching/support program. Menopause, 26(4): 373-382.
Im, E. O., Yang, Y. L., Liu, J., & Chee, W. (2019). Sleep-related symptoms of midlife women with and without type II diabetes mellitus. Menopause, 26(10): 1178-1184.
Im, E. O., Kim, S., Xu, S., Lee, C., Hamajima, Y., Inohara, A., Chang, K., Chee, E., & Chee, W. (2020). Issues in Recruiting and Retaining Asian American Breast Cancer Survivors in a Technology-Based Intervention Study. Cancer Nursing, 43(1), E22-E29. doi: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000000657.
Mao, H., Mao, J. J., Li, Q., & Im, E. O. (2018). Prevalence and risk factors for fatigue among breast cancer women on aromatase inhibitors. European Journal of Cancer, 12;101, 47-54.
Im, E. O., Hu, Y., Cheng, C., Ko, Y., Chee, E., & Chee, W. (2018). Clusters of midlife women by cognitive symptoms. Maturitas, 110, 33-40.
Im, E. O., & Chee, W. (2011). Using quota sampling in internet research: Practical issues. Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 29(7): 381-385. Selected as a continuing education (CE) article.
Im, E. O. (2010). A situation specific theory of Asian immigrant women’s menopausal symptom experience in the U.S. Advances in Nursing Science, 33(2): 143-157.
Teaching
Research
Dr. Im’s program of research can be described as feminist-driven Internet research on gender and ethnic differences in health/illness experience of midlife women. Here, “feminist-driven” means that a feminist perspective was used to philosophically and theoretically guide the research process from conceptualization to dissemination of research findings. Dr. Im’s doctoral research and post-doctoral study focused on international cross-cultural women’s health research. While at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, her work extended to oncology areas, and she developed Internet research methodology as an area of expertise. She further integrated this line of work at the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Pennsylvania, and Duke University with research projects on gender and ethnic differences in cancer pain, menopausal symptoms, and physical activity through multiple grants including five NIH-funded, R01 awards and over 30 small grant studies (funded by various internal and external grants) as the principal investigator.
Dr. Im’s contributions to nursing science, and to women’s health and oncology nursing in particular, have been profound and ground breaking. She has developed and tested novel interventions to promote health, explicate complex symptoms, and illuminate cultural and ethnic differences. Her cutting edge work has become the exemplar for Internet use as a research method, and she has concurrently developed research methods and theoretical advances simultaneously. These activities support her ultimate research goal: to provide culturally competent and gender-sensitive care (using technologies including computers, tablets, and smart phones) for midlife women from diverse ethnic backgrounds, including those living with cancer and in menopausal transition.
