Announcing Our New Co-Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center — Sandra Kim, MD, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

Sandra Kim, MD, a nationally recognized expert in pediatric and adolescent inflammatory bowel disease, is the co-director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center, a part of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Dr. Kim is also Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Prior to joining Children’s Hospital, Dr. Kim was co-director of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

In Pittsburgh, Dr. Kim, along with Sapana Shah, MD, will establish the hospital’s participation in Improved Care Now, a national consortium to improve the care of children with IBD. Dr. Kim’s clinical and research interests focus on pediatric inflammatory bowel diseases, including adolescent transitioning and quality improvement in pediatric IBD and the impact of the gastrointestinal microbiota in IBD. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). She has authored numerous studies on pediatric and adolescent inflammatory bowel diseases. Dr. Kim currently serves as past chair of Pediatric Affairs and current co – chair of Government Affairs/Advocacy for the CCFA nationally. In addition, she chairs the Clinical Practice and Adolescent Transitioning committees and serves on the Physician Leadership committee and Strategy Council for Improve Care Now. Dr. Kim also is involved as a member of the Medical Advisory Board for Flying Horse Farms and on the board of Directors for the Central Ohio CCFA chapter. As a reflection of her dedication to her profession, Dr. Kim was awarded the 2011 Rosenthal Award for her leadership in patient education and advocacy by the CCFA. She also was the 2015 faculty inductee at the Ohio State University College of Medicine chapters of Gold Humanism Honor Society and Alpha Omega Alpha.

Dr. Kim is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Inteflex (Integrated Pre-medical/Medical) Program, earning bachelors’ degrees in Biomedical Sciences and Psychology as well as her medical degree. She completed clinical training in General Pediatrics and Pediatric Gastroenterology at Texas Children’s Hospital and the Baylor College of Medicine. She was a recipient of the Outstanding Clinical Fellow Award during her GI fellowship and was on the NIH/NIDDK-funded T32 grant for her research project investigating zinc metabolism in children with IBD. After her clinical training, she pursued additional training as a post-doctoral fellow at the NIH-funded Center for GI Biology and Disease at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.