SDRC PILOT AND FEASIBILITY AWARD PROGRAM
Sun H Kim, MD MS
Co-director for the Pilot and Feasibility Program; Associate Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology)
Dr. Sun Kim has been conducting patient-oriented research for over a decade. Her research program focuses on mediators of type 2 diabetes development, especially insulin resistance and obesity. She has led studies investigating the epidemiology, pathophysiology and natural history of prediabetes. She was the Stanford lead investigator for the NIH-funded, multi-site Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes Study (https://d2dstudy.org/), which examined the benefits of vitamin D3 supplementation in individuals with prediabetes. Dr. Kim also leads efforts to investigate alternative lifestyle interventions and dietary modifications for individuals with prediabetes.
Dr. Kim collaborates with multiple divisions within and outside the Department of Medicine (in cardiology, nephrology, hepatology, immunology and prevention) with the shared goal to reduce the burden of cardiometabolic disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. She focuses on the mechanisms of new and emerging treatments for type 2 diabetes. She has published several papers that highlight her multidisciplinary work to elucidate mechanisms and burden of disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. Dr. Kim also is the endocrine divisional representative for Department of Medicine’s Team Science initiative (https://domteamscience.stanford.edu/)
Within SDRC, Dr. Kim’s group uses the Clinical & Translational Research Core, and has received support from the P&F Award program (in 2019 and 2021).
Katrin Svensson, PhD
Co-director for the Pilot and Feasibility Program; Associate Professor of Pathology
Dr. Katrin J. Svensson leads a research program focused on the discovery and characterization of peptide hormones and endocrine signaling pathways that regulate metabolism, energy balance, and glucose homeostasis. Her laboratory integrates computational biology, proteomics, biochemistry, human genetics, and in vivo physiology to identify mechanisms underlying obesity, diabetes, and metabolic disease. Her work has uncovered pathways controlling insulin-independent glucose uptake, hepatic nutrient sensing, and appetite regulation, and has established scalable platforms for peptide discovery and ligand-receptor deorphanization. Several discoveries from her laboratory have been patented, licensed, and advanced toward therapeutic development.
Dr. Svensson leads multiple research initiatives within the Stanford Diabetes Research Center, including the Pilot and Feasibility Program, the Metabolic Phenotyping Core, and the Metabolism and Signaling Affinity Group. She founded the Bay Area Metabolism Meeting (BAMM), an annual forum that brings together investigators across academia to accelerate collaboration and advance metabolism research. She contributes to international initiatives that establish standards for metabolic phenotyping and improve rigor and reproducibility in metabolism research.
As Co-Director of the SDRC Pilot and Feasibility Program, Dr. Svensson is committed to fostering interdisciplinary research and supporting early-stage investigators in diabetes and metabolism.