Umapathy Sundaram
Umapathy Sundaram | |
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| Alma mater | University of Michigan Medical Center, Yale School of Medicine |
| Occupation |
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| Employer | Marshall University |
| Known for | Gastroenterology research; Therapeutic biliary endoscopy; Inflammatory bowel disease; Hepatobiliary diseases |
Notable work | Leadership of WVCTSI; ACCORD Center; VA SCSI Award |
| Awards | VA Merit Review Senior Clinician-Scientist Investigator (SCSI) Award |
Umapathy Sundaram is an American academic gastroenterologist and translational scientist. He is a fellowship-trained, board-certified gastroenterologist specializing in therapeutic biliary endoscopy and the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and hepatobiliary diseases. In 2025, he was appointed Senior Advisor to the President for Veterans Affairs and Translational Sciences at Marshall University.
Early Life and Education
Sundaram earned his undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from Johns Hopkins University, where he conducted research at the National Institute on Aging and co-authored multiple publications in blood-brain barrier drug entry and distribution modeling. He earned his M.D. from the Medical College of Toledo and completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center.[1] He then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine, where his advisors included Howard M. Spiro and Henry J. Binder.
Career
Sundaram began his academic career as an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. He later joined the Ohio State University College of Medicine as a Tenured Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Physiology & Cell Biology, where he also served as Associate Director of the Division of Digestive Diseases.
He subsequently moved to the West Virginia University (WVU) School of Medicine, where he was Professor of Medicine, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology. At WVU, he served as Chief of the Section of Digestive Diseases until 2012, Director of the WVU Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, and founding Director of the WVU Digestive Disease Fellowship Program, established in 2006 as the state’s only gastroenterology fellowship.[2] During his tenure, Sundaram trained more than 33 MDs, MD/PhDs, or PhDs in his laboratory and provided clinical research training to 27 medical residents and gastroenterology fellows. He also served as Assistant Dean of the WVU School of Medicine and Assistant Vice President of the WVU Health Sciences Center. As the founding Director of the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI), Sundaram led initiatives that secured a $19.6 million NIH IDeA-CTR grant to develop research infrastructure and address major health issues affecting West Virginians. WVCTSI coordinated clinical and translational research activities across the WVU healthcare system and with community health partners.
Sundaram later joined the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, serving as Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education, Chairman of the Department of Clinical and Translational Sciences, and Director of the Appalachian Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI). In 2018, he was awarded a five-year, $10.78 million NIH COBRE grant that funded the Appalachian Center for Cellular Transport in Obesity-Related Disorders (ACCORD). As founding Principal Investigator and Program Director, Sundaram oversaw efforts to support obesity and obesity-related disease research, develop junior investigators, and strengthen the school’s biomedical research infrastructure. In 2025, he assumed his current role as Senior Advisor to the President for Veterans Affairs and Translational Sciences at Marshall University.[3]
Research
Sundaram’s research spans basic, clinical, and translational science, with a focus on the regulation of intestinal nutrient and electrolyte absorption in chronic gastrointestinal diseases. His work addresses conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, microscopic colitis, and eosinophilic colitis.[4] He has also investigated gastrointestinal alterations associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome, especially how they contribute to complications like hypertension and diabetes.
He has been supported by NIH R01 grants and has served on study sections for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the Veterans Affairs Merit Review.
In January 2022, Sundaram received the VA Merit Review Senior Clinician-Scientist Investigator (SCSI) Award, the most prestigious grant offered by the U.S. Veterans Affairs program. He is one of only 41 researchers nationwide to have achieved SCSI status, which includes a Merit Award extension for four additional years, for a total of eight years of support (including his 2021 renewed VA Merit Award and the preceding one from 2017).[5]
References
- Fellow, American Gastroenterological Association
- Member, American Gastroenterological Association
- Member, Gastroenterology Research Group
- Member, American College of Gastroenterology
- Member, American College of Physicians
- Member, American Physiological Society
- Member, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
- Member, Society for Clinical and Translational Science
- Member, American Medical Informatics Association
- Member, Association of Academic Health Centers
- Member, West Virginia State Medical Association
- Member, Southern Society of Clinical Investigation
References
- ↑ "Faculty Details". jcesom.marshall.edu. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
- ↑ "Umapathy Sundaram, MD, AGAF | Marshall Health". www.marshallhealth.org. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
- ↑ "Dr. Uma Sundaram appointed senior advisor to the president for Veterans Affairs and Translational Sciences at Marshall University". Marshall University News. 1 July 2025. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
- ↑ Matthews, Kyle (5 November 2025). "Mentorship in Medicine: Building the Next Generation of Physician-Scientists". The American Reporter. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
- ↑ "Sundaram honored with VA Merit Review Senior Clinician Scientist Investigator Award | VA Huntington health care". Veterans Affairs. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2025.