Sonia Kim was raised in San Diego, California, where she developed an interest in science by participating in science fairs. One of her first science fair projects involved extracting DNA, the genetic material present in all cells, from different plants. Her interest in brains started when she was curious how different brain cells can work together to operate a functional brain that can record memories and perform other activities. At UC San Diego, Sonia studied how different molecular pathways can contribute to the maintenance of healthy brains and the development of diseased brains. Sonia is currently pursuing a PhD in the Biomedical and Biological Sciences program at Harvard, where she studies the development of the normal human brain using genetics. At first glance, the human brain looks like a bundle of random wrinkles. However, the organization of the brain is not as random! By extracting and looking at the genetic content of brain cells, Sonia studies how the brain develops into its organized structure.

My Scientific Name is a children's picture storybook developed in collaboration with female and minority scientists across many science fields. Each book is personalized using the letters of their name as a way of introducing them to many different STEM careers.