Kevin Grimes

Kevin Grimes, MD, MA, MBA, Professor, Department of Chemical and Systems Biology; Co- Director, SPARK Translational Research Program, Stanford University School of Medicine

Research Description: Dr. Grimes has a unique set of activities including research, translational science development, and education. His research focus in diabetes has been to investigate impacts of dietary non- canonical amino acids on human autoimmune disease, specifically focusing on type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) and multiple sclerosis (MS). His collaborative team has demonstrated that dietary azetidine-2-carboxylic acid (Aze), a plant amino acid, enters human proteins in place of proline, causing cellular stress and an autoimmune response in individuals with predisposing MHC types. They are testing if Aze may increase risk for developing T1D and MS. 

As Co-Director of the Stanford CTSA-supported SPARK program for over the past ten years, he has established a collaborative program with the threefold mission of: 1) educating faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students regarding the translational research process; 2) advancing promising Stanford research discoveries into novel drugs and diagnostics for patients with unmet medical needs; and 3) identifying and proposing solutions to hurdles in the drug development process in order to make the process more efficient in bringing needed therapies to patients. The SPARK program provides participating project teams with modest funding, education regarding the applied science of drug/diagnostic development and commercialization, project-specific mentorship, and a project management approach. SPARK programs enlist a cadre of over ninety senior biopharmaceutical industry and health investment volunteers who are actively engaged in project mentorship. In the past fourteen years, over thirty-eight SPARK projects have entered clinical study, forty-five have been licensed to start-up companies, and fourteen have been transferred to existing companies, including projects from SDRC investigators. SPARK has supported faculty-led teams developing novel therapeutics and diagnostics for diabetes mellitus including point of care tests to distinguish T1D vs T2D, genomically-modified T regulatory cells to enhance engraftment of islet cell transplants, mesenchymal stem cells to enhance engraftment of islet cell transplants, small molecule and monoclonal antibody preventive therapies for T1D, and an ultrafast formulation of insulin that will be ideal for closed loop systems. Stanford SPARK has shared their approach with over twenty academic institutions (both domestic and international) that have started programs similar to SPARK. Dr. Grimes and his Co-Director have published a textbook on academic drug development to assist other institutions in this endeavor. SPARK is a paradigm of productive relationships between academia and industry to promote education and translational research with tangible clinical outcomes. 

Selected relevant publications (Stanford DRC Members in BOLD):

  1. Parrish MC, Tan YJ, Grimes KV, Mochly-Rosen D. Surviving in the Valley of Death: Opportunities and Challenges in Translating Academic Drug Discoveries. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol. 2019 Jan 6;59:405-421. doi: 10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-010818-021625. PMID: 30208282. 

  2. Danielson B, Chen CH, Kaber G, Mochly-Rosen D, Grimes K, Stern R, Bollyky PL. Human Chitotriosidase Does Not Catabolize Hyaluronan. Int J Biol Macromol. 2018 Apr 1;109:629-633. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.11.181. PMID: 29247734.