A Christian voice in science

Dr Joy Choi writes:

I have been a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biochemistry at Oxford, investigating X-chromosome inactivation in female mammalian cells. This term, I also joined Wycliffe Hall community as an associate research fellow, alongside my postdoctoral research.

During my undergraduate years in South Korea, my friends and I received a vision of doing research with the Holy Spirit as a form of worship. We prayed every morning about each other’s research, departments and university, and held a focused day each term to present our research-in-progress and spend an extended time in prayer, listening to God. Since then, I have been enthusiastic about imagining the Kingdom of God advancing in academia.

At Oxford, I have had the privilege of leading the Transformation Prayer Network through the Oxford Pastorate, serving in the postgraduate community at St Aldates Church, and co-convening the Developing a Christian Mind conferences. I also spent a year as part of the community of St. Anselm, where I experienced a new-monastic Christian community life.

I am truly excited about the New Renaissance project at Wycliffe and honoured to be part of the research fellow community. Joining Wycliffe Hall has been incredibly empowering—worshipping, studying and fellowship together—and I am deeply grateful for the warm welcome I have received.

I believe that by acknowledging God as the source of wisdom and creativity, and by collaborating across disciplines with humility and flexibility—like the new wineskins described in Luke 5—we can receive God’s revelation, leading to ground-breaking discoveries and creative works that glorify Him, perhaps even surpassing those of the Renaissance period.

Revd Dr Jonathan Brant, who directs Wycliffe's New Renaissance Project, writes:

I’ve been privileged to know Joy for a number of years and have been impressed and inspired by her combination of academic excellence (winning prestigious fellowships, conducting important research) and deep Christian commitment and spirituality (serving the community generously and leading the Transformation Prayer Network with great passion).

It’s a  joy to have Joy as part of our research community and as a valued contributor to the vision and mission of the New Renaissance Project.