Jennifer Sun, MD, MPH, Promoted to Full Professor
Dr. Sun is a vitreoretinal surgeon and clinician scientist at the Beetham Eye Institute of the Joslin Diabetes Center and is one of the world’s most experienced and knowledgeable investigators in the design, implementation and analyses of diabetic retinopathy clinical trials. She is pioneering the use of advanced noninvasive ocular imaging for predicting future visual and anatomic outcomes in patients with diabetic eye disease. This spring, Dr. Sun was appointed Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Research for the Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a testament to her exceptional knowledge and leadership in this field.
Since 2005, Dr. Sun has served as Chief of the Center for Clinical Eye Research at Beetham Eye Institute. As a Senior Investigator in the Vascular Cell Biology Section of the Research Division of Joslin, she focuses on identifying predictors for visual and anatomic outcomes in diabetic eyes and discovering novel protective mechanisms against advanced diabetic eye complications. She has unique expertise in the development of biomarkers and in the conceptualization, implementation, performance and analysis of major clinical trials for diabetic eye disease. These trials have dramatically changed the standard of clinical care for diabetic eye disease over the last 20 years, not only in the US, but around the world.
Dr. Sun has addressed such diverse areas as anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment for diabetic macular edema, proliferative diabetic retinopathy and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, the relative effectiveness of various anti-VEGF agents for diabetic macular edema, the role of vitrectomy in treating vitreous hemorrhage from proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and step therapy for diabetic macular edema. Dr. Sun is a major clinical innovator in her field, and her work has played a principal role in redefining the standard treatment of diabetic eye disease.
Dr. Sun is also the Chair for Diabetes Initiatives of the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research (DRCR) Retina Network, an extensive, NIH-sponsored collaborative network for clinical trial research in retinal disease, and she was the first woman chair for the organization. She has been deeply involved in this network for over 15 years, having a major impact on its directions, operations, trial designs, and data dissemination.
Dr. Sun has made numerous efforts to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion within the Joslin Community and Harvard Medical School. Since 2010. She has served multiple times on the Taste of Ginger Planning Committee, which benefits the Joslin Asian American Diabetes Initiative, and was co-chair of this group in 2019. She was recognized for her research and contributions to the Joslin Asian American Diabetes Initiative by being named the Guest of Honor at the 2015 Taste of Ginger Event. She is also a member of the Harvard Medical School Joint Committee on the Status of Women and has mentored 27 women and minority clinical fellows, research fellows, or Harvard Department of Ophthalmology mentees during her tenure.
Dr. Sun has been recognized with a number of awards, including the 2018 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Mary Tyler Moore and the Robert S. Levine MD Excellence in Clinical Research Award in recognition of her contributions to clinical research in diabetic