Zhongjie Sun, MD, PhD, FAHA, has been named chair of the Department of Physiology in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) and deputy director of the UT-Methodist Cardiovascular Institute. He will assume his new role in April.

Dr. Sun comes to UTHSC from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, where he was a professor of physiology, vice chair of research and chair of the research committee. In addition, he was the director of the Robert & Mary Cade Laboratory.

A renowned cardiovascular investigator, Dr. Sun received his medical degree from Jining Medical College in Jining, China, in 1983, and completed his Master of Science degree in physiology at Tongji Medical University. He received his PhD in physiology from Shanghai Medical University, and completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Florida.

His research areas of interest include integrative cardiovascular physiology, endocrinology, and neuroscience.