Sun Kim

Sun H. Kim, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Gerontology, and Metabolism, Stanford University School of Medicine

Research Description: Dr. Kim has been conducting patient-oriented research for over 10 years. Her research program has focused on mediators of type 2 diabetes development. She has led studies investigating the epidemiology and pathophysiology of prediabetes with a focus on insulin action and pancreatic beta-cell function. Recently, she has contributed new insights highlighting the role of insulin clearance in controlling glucose homeostasis. Her work also leverages collaborations among multiple disciplines with the shared goal to reduce the burden of cardiometabolic disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. Dr. Kim is a co-leader of the Metabolism and Signaling in Diabetes Research Affinity Group in SDRC.

Selected relevant publications (Stanford DRC members in BOLD):

  1. Kim SH, Abbasi, F, Nachmanoff C, Stefanakis, K, Kumar A, Kalra B, Savjani G, Mantzoros C. Effect of the glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue liraglutide versus placebo treatment on circulating proglucagon-derived peptides that mediate improvements in body weight, insulin secretion and action:  a randomized controlled trial. Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism 2021 23: 489-98. doi: 10.1111/dom.14242. PMID: 33140542; PMCID: PMC7856054. 

  2. Kim SH, Chang TI, Mahaffey KW. A Call for a New Paradigm for Diabetes Care in the Era of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors (SGLT2i). Cardiol Ther. 2020 Dec;9(2):219-225. doi: 10.1007/s40119-020-00190-7. PMID: 32661684; PMCID: PMC7584703. 

  3. Rhee JJ, Han J, Montez-Rath ME, Kim SH, Cullen MR, Stafford RS, Winkelmayer WC, Chertow GM. Antidiabetic medication use in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. J Diabetes Complications. 2019 Nov;33(11):107423. doi: 10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2019.107423. PMID: 31537413; PMCID: PMC6823164. 

  4. Jung SH, Jung CH, Reaven GM, Kim SH. Adapting to insulin resistance in obesity: role of insulin secretion and clearance. Diabetologia. 2018 Mar;61(3):681-687. doi: 10.1007/s00125-017-4511-0. PMID: 29196782; PMCID: PMC6095137. 

  5. Kim D, Cholankeril G, Kim SH, Abbasi F, Knowles JW, Ahmed A. Increasing Mortality Among Patients With Diabetes and Chronic Liver Disease From 2007 to 2017. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020 Apr;18(4):992-994. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2019.06.011. PMID: 31220638; PMCID: PMC7064319.  

  6. Rhee CM, Gianchandani RY, Kerr D, Philis-Tsimikas A, Kovesdy CP, Stanton RC, Drincic AT, Galindo RJ, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Neumiller JJ, de Boer IH, Lind M, Kim SH, Ayers AT, Ho CN, Aaron RE, Tian T, Klonoff DC. Consensus Report on the Use of Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Chronic Kidney Disease and Diabetes. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2025 Jan;19(1):217-245. doi: 10.1177/19322968241292041. Epub 2024 Nov 29. PMID: 39611379; PMCID: PMC11607725. 

  7. Abbasi F, Lamendola C, Harris CS, Harris V, Tsai MS, Tripathi P, Abbas F, Reaven GM, Reaven PD, Snyder MP, Kim SH, Knowles JW. Statins Are Associated With Increased Insulin Resistance and Secretion. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2021 Nov;41(11):2786-2797. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.121.316159. Epub 2021 Aug 26. PMID: 34433298; PMCID: PMC8551023. 

  8. Landry MJ, Crimarco A, Perelman D, Durand LR, Petlura C, Aronica L, Robinson JL, Kim SH, Gardner CD. Adherence to Ketogenic and Mediterranean Study Diets in a Crossover Trial: The Keto-Med Randomized Trial. Nutrients. 2021 Mar 17;13(3):967. doi: 10.3390/nu13030967. PMID: 33802709; PMCID: PMC8002540. 

  9. Bevacqua RJ, Dai X, Lam JY, Gu X, Friedlander MSH, Tellez K, Miguel-Escalada I, Bonàs-Guarch S, Atla G, Zhao W, Kim SH, Dominguez AA, Qi LS, Ferrer J, MacDonald PE, Kim SK. CRISPR-based genome editing in primary human pancreatic islet cells. Nat Commun. 2021 Apr 23;12(1):2397. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22651-w. PMID: 33893274; PMCID: PMC8065166. 

  10. Gardner CD, Landry MJ, Perelman D, Petlura C, Durand LR, Aronica L, Crimarco A, Cunanan KM, Chang A, Dant CC, Robinson JL, Kim SH. Effect of a Ketogenic Diet versus Mediterranean Diet on HbA1c in Individuals with Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: the Interventional Keto-Med Randomized Crossover Trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 May 31:nqac154. PMID: 35641199. 

  11. Bevacqua RJ, Zhao W, Merheb E, Kim SH, Marson A, Gloyn AL, Kim SK. Multiplexed CRISPR gene editing in primary human islet cells with Cas9 ribonucleoprotein. iScience. 2023 Dec 8. PMID: 38205242; PMCID: PMC10777115.