Toronto Metropolitan University professor Andrew (Hyounsoo) Kim knew from an early age that he wanted to pursue a career in psychology. What he didn't anticipate was falling in love with research and becoming a decorated early career researcher forging a path in a relatively new area of research.
"When I first started out, I really wanted to be a clinical psychologist and I thought research was a necessary evil to get me to where I wanted to be," he said.
Psychology professor Andrew Kim has received numerous recognitions for his research contributions since joining TMU in 2020.
Professor Kim, who studies behavioural addictions such as gambling and video gaming, and the co-occurrence of addictions and mental health is the 2025 recipient of TMU's Early SRC Career Excellence Award. The award recognizes an individual with outstanding scholarly, research and creative activity in the first seven years of their academic career who has made a significant contribution in their area of expertise.
The award adds to professor Kim's growing list of accolades. In 2024, he was recognized as a top 10 early career clinical psychology faculty member in Canada, named a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science, and received the President's New Researcher Award from the Canadian Psychological Association. He has published more than 125 peer-reviewed publications and received $3.4 million in competitive research funding.
"I think it shows that I chose the right path," said professor Kim. "I really have to thank my mentors, my graduate students and my collaborators. I really can't see myself doing anything else but being a faculty member at TMU and continuing on this line of research, working with colleagues and working with graduate students."
Researching an emerging field
Professor Kim describes his work as having two lines of research. The first works to understand the similarities and differences between behavioural and substance addictions with an eye toward treatment models that can be applied to a wide number of addictions.
Unlike addictions to alcohol or other substances, behavioural addictions are not widely recognized in clinical psychology. In 2013, gambling disorder became the first behavioural addiction to be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses (DSM-5), which is used by clinicians to diagnose mental health and brain-related conditions. Before that, gambling was considered an impulse control disorder.
While Internet Gaming Disorder is listed in the DSM-5 as a condition for further study, other behaviours like food addiction, compulsive shopping and sexual addiction are still the subjects of debate. Professor Kim says there are arguments that too many behaviours could dilute the field of addictions and that if anything is an addiction, then nothing is.
"I think there is some really important research that can be done to truly understand what is an addiction," he said. "If through research we can understand what behavioural addictions are like in terms of the risk factors, mechanisms and what may work in terms of treatment strategy, then it is possible that you could develop an overall treatment for addictions that could be beneficial whether it's an addiction to alcohol, cannabis, gambling, gaming, shopping or others."
Professor Kim's other line of research examines the co-occurence of addiction and mental health disorders. Professor Kim says treatments for addiction and mental health are still siloed, that is addictions are treated in one system and mental health in another, but an integrated system with a "no wrong door approach" could help people seeking treatment and prevent them from being turned away.
"If I could contribute to developing evidence-based treatments for behavioural addictions that are cost effective, easily accessible, and that can help even one person but ideally more, I think that I would say I've had a successful career. Same with better integrating treatments for substance use in our mental health system," said professor Kim.
A winding path to TMU
While professor Kim has solidified his place in addictions research, his journey here wasn't straightforward.
After taking a high school psychology class, he knew he wanted to major in the field and hoped to work as a clinical psychologist. During his undergraduate degree he was interested in substance addictions but wasn't drawn to behavioural addictions.
"When I didn't get to graduate school for clinical psychology, I did more of an applied post-graduate degree in addictions and mental health," said professor Kim. "I took a course on problem gambling, when gambling was still classified as an impulse control disorder. The concept of behavioural addictions officially did not really exist but by taking that course I became fascinated by the idea that addiction may not just involve psychoactive substances."
Professor Kim worked as an addictions counselor before completing his master's degree in experimental psychology, which is where he fell in love with research. With his sights still set on a PhD in clinical psychology, he moved to Calgary to pursue his degree before joining TMU as an assistant professor in 2020. He now continues to practice as a clinical psychologist while researching and teaching.
"Knowing the importance of research-how it informs our clinical treatments and helps us understand what works for whom and when-now I can't see myself not doing research," said professor Kim.
Andrew (Hyounsoo) Kim will receive the Early SRC Career Excellence Award at the Toronto Met Awards Gala on May 8, 2025.
The Toronto Met Awards is part of the TMU employee recognition program co-ordinated by Human Resources to celebrate the achievements of TMU faculty and staff in teaching, research, administration, service and leadership, and employees who have reached a significant service milestone. To learn more about all the award winners, visit Recognition and Awards.
