Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Research Interests
Epidemiology; HIV/AIDS; Biomarkers; Aging; Mitochondrial function; Viral hepatitis; Liver cancer; Illicit drug use; Adverse childhood experience
Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
PhD
Drexel University
2015
MPH
University of Wisconsin
2011
MD
Guangdong Medical University
2008
Overview
I am a molecular epidemiologist in the area of HIV and aging. My research seeks to address the molecular factors that impact the long-term health outcomes of people living with chronic infections (e.g. HIV and viral hepatitis). My research in HIV and aging centers on investigating the role of age-related biomarkers (e.g. mitochondrial function) on multi-organ aging among people living with HIV. In addition, my research seeks to address the impact of viral hepatitis and HIV coinfections on liver disease among people living with HIV.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, my research in the National COVID Collaborative (N3C), a nationally sampled electronic medical record database, addressed the risk of severe outcomes and vaccine effectiveness among patients with immunosuppression and immunocompromised conditions. These studies have been quoted by the CDC as influential in their decisions regarding vaccine and treatment prioritization among patients with immune dysfunction.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, my research in the National COVID Collaborative (N3C), a nationally sampled electronic medical record database, addressed the risk of severe outcomes and vaccine effectiveness among patients with immunosuppression and immunocompromised conditions. These studies have been quoted by the CDC as influential in their decisions regarding vaccine and treatment prioritization among patients with immune dysfunction.
Honors & Awards
2019 CFAR (Center for AIDS Research) Scholar Faculty Development Award, Johns Hopkins University;
2018 Cooper Scholar, 20th International Workshop on Co-Morbidities and Adverse Drug Reactions in HIV;
2018 New Investigator Scholarship, Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2018);
2017 Mentoring Workshop for Junior Investigator Scholarship, HIV & Aging: From Mitochondria to the Metropolis;
2017 Young Investigator Travel Scholarship, 8th International Workshop on HIV & Aging 2017;
2016 Co-recipient of Provost’s Postdoctoral Diversity Programming Award, Johns Hopkins University;
2012 Student Research Award, American Public Health Association, Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section;
2017 Conference Travel Scholarship, Johns Hopkins University Department of Epidemiology.
2018 Cooper Scholar, 20th International Workshop on Co-Morbidities and Adverse Drug Reactions in HIV;
2018 New Investigator Scholarship, Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2018);
2017 Mentoring Workshop for Junior Investigator Scholarship, HIV & Aging: From Mitochondria to the Metropolis;
2017 Young Investigator Travel Scholarship, 8th International Workshop on HIV & Aging 2017;
2016 Co-recipient of Provost’s Postdoctoral Diversity Programming Award, Johns Hopkins University;
2012 Student Research Award, American Public Health Association, Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section;
2017 Conference Travel Scholarship, Johns Hopkins University Department of Epidemiology.
Select Publications
Selected Most Recent Publications
- Sun, J., Zheng, Q., Madhira, V., Olex, A.L., Anzalone, A., J., Vinson, A., Singh, J., A., French, E., Abraham, A. G., Mathew, J., Safdar, N., Agarwal, G., Fitzgerald, K.C., Singh, N., Topaloglu, U., Chute, C.G., Mannon, R.B., Kirk, G.D. (co-senior author), Patel, R. (co-senior author), on behalf of the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) Consortium, Association between Immune Dysfunction and COVID-19 Breakthrough Infection following Vaccination in the United States: A Cohort Study from a Nationally Sampled Database. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2021. In press
- Yang, X., Sun, J. (co-first author), Patel, R., Zhang, J., Guo, S., Zheng, Q., Olex, A., Olatosi, B., Weissman, S., Islam, J., Chute, C., Haendel, M., Kirk, G., Li, X., for the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) Consortium, The Role of HIV Infection in the Clinical Spectrum of COVID-19: a Population Level Analysis Based on US National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) Data. Lancet HIV, 2021. PMID: 34655550
- Sun, J., Mehta, S., Piggott, D., Genberg, B., Woodson-Adu, T., Benson, E., Thomas, D., Celentano, D., Vlahov, D., Kirk, G., Mortality among Persons who Inject Drugs: A Prospective Cohort Followed over Three Decades in Baltimore, Maryland, USA., Addiction, 2021. PMID: 34338374
- Sun, J., Longchamps, R., Piggott, D.A., Castellani, C.A., Sumpter, J.A., Brown, T.T., Mehta, S.H., Arking, D.E., Kirk, G.D., The Association between HIV Infection and Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in Peripheral Blood: A Population-based, Prospective Cohort Study. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2018.
- Sun, J., Althoff, K., Jing, Y., Horberg, M., Buchacz, K., Gill, M., Justics, A., Rabkin, C., Goedert, J., Sigel, K., Cachay, E., Park, Le., Lim, J., Kim, H., Lo Re III, V., Moore, R., Sterling, T., Peters, M., Achenbach, C., Silverberg, M., Thorne, J., Mayor, A., Crane, H., Kitahata, M., Klein, M, Kirk, GD., Trends in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Incidence and Risk among Persons with HIV in the United States and Canada, 1996-2015., JAMA Network Open, 2021. PMID: 33595662