Visiting Scientist — Division of Systems Biology

Jinchun Sun, Ph.D.
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov  

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About  |  Publications 

Background

Dr. Jinchun Sun studied chemistry at University of Kentucky during 2001-2006, and received her Ph.D. in 2006.  Dr. Sun was hired as a postdoctoral fellow at NCTR in 2006. Since 2008, she has been employed in the Division of Systems Biology as a visiting scientist. Her research interest is focused on 1) the use of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS)-based metabolomics- and lipidomics analysis in pre-clinical, clinical researches and the microbiome field; 2) to elucidate potential translational biomarkers and mechanism(s) of drug-induced toxicity and disease that will improve and protect human health. To date, Dr. Sun has published over 47 papers in scientific journals, contributed to two book chapters and two review papers. Currently, Dr. Sun serves as an editor for the Journal of Data in Brief.  Dr. Sun actively participates in national and/or international metabolomics best practices working groups or advisory boards, including The Metabolomics Quality Assurance and Quality Control Consortium (mQACC), and Use of Metabolomics in Population-Based Research Working Group.

Research Interests

Dr. Sun’s field of expertise is in mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and lipidomics. She looks to discover novel and more effective biomarkers of diseases at different stages as well as biomarkers of preclinical and clinical safety issues. She studies these topics as part of an FDA-wide biomarkers-development effort. Dr. Sun directs and coordinates highly sophisticated investigations into the development and implementation of new and improved hypotheses in the metabolomics field. She also works with academic and pharmaceutical-research groups to identify biomarkers of toxicity and disease, and to elucidate mechanisms of toxicity or disease progress. Dr. Sun plans, organizes, performs, oversees, and coordinates collaborations with other researchers from different scientific backgrounds.

Dr. Sun applies her research experience in developing novel LC/MS methodologies to discover more effective metabolic and lipidomic biomarkers of diseases or toxicity, thus to improve and protect the public. These studies are diverse ranging from preclinical animal studies to clinical studies involving human subjects. The goals of these projects are: 1) investigating potential biomarkers and mechanism(s) of toxicity and disease (e.g., acute kidney injury and lung cancer) using the cutting-edge LC/MS-based metabolomics technologies to analyze biofluids including urine, serum, and tissue extracts; 2) pharmacokinetics investigation of drug metabolism through urine analysis using metabolomics global profiling approaches; 3) applying LC/MS-based metabolomics in the microbiome field to study the host-microbiome interaction; 4) conducting and harmonizing quality control/quality assurance practice in the metabolomics field fostering collaborative efforts with other federal agencies, academia and pharmaceutical companies; 5) conducting MALDI-MS imaging researches when needed in acquiring the spatial distribution of a drug, neurotransmitters or lipids in liver, lung or brain tissues.

Professional Societies/National and International Groups

American Chemical Society
Member
2009 – Present

American Society for Mass Spectrometry
Member
2005 – Present

Metabolomics Society
Member
2009 – Present

Selected Publications

Bile Acid Profile and its Changes in Response to Cefoperazone Treatment in MR1 Deficient Mice.
Sun J., Cao Z., Smith A.D., Carlson P.E., Coryell M., Chen H., and Beger R.D.
Metabolites.  2020, 10(4), 127. doi: 10.3390/metabo10040127.

Metabolomics Test Materials for Quality Control: Urine Pilot Study.
Sheen D.A., Simón-Manso Y., Benner B.A., Rocha W.F., Bearden D.W., Blonder N., Lippa K.A., Raftery D., Beger R.D., Cheema A., Gowda N., Gu H., Marupaka R., Mehta K., Schnackenberg L., and Sun J.
Metabolites. 2019, 9(11):270. doi: 10.3390/metabo9110270.

Evaluation of the Performance of Lipidyzer Platform and its Application in the Lipidomics Analysis in Mouse Heart and Liver.
Cao Z, Schmitt T., Varma V., Beger R.D., and Sun J.
 J. Proteome Res. 2019. doi: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.9b00289.

Metabolomics Evaluation of the Effects of Smokeless Tobacco on Oral Microorganisms.
Sun J., Jin J., Beger R.D., Cerniglia C.E., Yang M., and Chen H.
Toxicol In Vitro. 2016, 36:133-41. doi: 10.1016/j.tiv.2016.07.020. Epub 2016 Jul 30.

Comprehensive Analysis of Alterations in Lipid and Bile Acid Metabolism by Carbon Tetrachloride Using Integrated Transcriptomics and Metabolomics.
Sun J., Schmitt T., Schnackenberg L.K., et al.
Metabolomics. 2014, 10: 0. doi:10.1007/s11306-014-0665-7.

LC/MS-based Metabolomics Applications in Biomarker Discovery.
Sun J., Schnackenberg L.K., and Beger R.D.
Future Science Medicine. Book chapter. 2014.

Evaluating Effects of Penicillin Treatment on the Metabolome of Rats.
Sun J., Schnackenberg L.K., Khare S., Yang X., Greenhaw J., Salminen W., Mendrick D.L., and Beger R.D.
J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2013, 932:134-43. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2013.05.030.

Metabolomics as a Tool for Personalizing Medicine: 2012 Update.
Schnackenberg L.K., Sun J., and Beger R.D.
Personalized Medicine. 2013, 10: 149-161.