Professional Bio
Sun H. Peck, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
She received her doctorate in chemical biology from Harvard University, where she developed novel molecular evolution techniques to study protein-protein interactions and protein function.
Dr. Peck's interests in macromolecular chemistry led her to pursue postdoctoral research in lysosomal storage disorders and pathological consequences of dysregulated metabolism, which resulted in an NIH F32 postdoctoral fellowship award in investigating failed vertebral bone formation in mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) disorders as a consequence of aberrant glycosaminoglycan metabolism. Through this award, Dr. Peck elucidated molecular mechanisms underlying failed bone formation during development in MPS, which has led to large animal model studies assessing potential therapeutic strategies. During her postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Peck also made important contributions to the field of disc biology by elucidating the transcriptomic profile of early disc development, which has significant implications in addressing the substantial clinical need for treating disc degeneration.
Dr. Peck's overall research interests are to combine her chemistry background with her postdoctoral experience in musculoskeletal biology to investigate carbohydrate-mediated signaling in musculoskeletal tissue development and homeostasis, to determine how dysfunction in these signals leads to degeneration and diseased states, and to develop biologic and engineering approaches to regenerative therapies.
In addition to her research activities, Dr. Peck is dedicated to serving the scientific community at large. She has been an active member of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research for several years, and has served on the Early Stage Investigator Subcomittee (2018-2021) and is currently on the ASBMR Membership Engagement Committee (2022-present). Previously, Dr. Peck was the chair for the 2022 Musculoskeletal Biology and Bioengineering Gordon Research Seminar.
Publications
Education
MS - Chemistry - University of Pennsylvania, 2005
PhD - Chemical Biology - Harvard University, 2011
Fellowship - Biology - Kansas State University, 2013
Fellowship - Orthopaedic Surgery - University of Pennsylvania, 2019
Contact
Email
Kimryn.Rathmell@Vumc.Org
Address
777 Preston Research Building
2220 Pierce Ave
Nashville, TN 37232-6307