Jaime Chu, MD

Biography

I am a pediatric hepatologist and a “late bloomer” physician-scientist. I was a History major at Harvard College, a Division I and semi-professional soccer player, and never really had the “science bug”. During medical school and residency, I knew I wanted to care for children who had liver disease, both before and after liver transplantation, but it was only during my Pediatric Gastroenterology fellowship that I first stepped into the basic research laboratory, and it opened my eyes to an exciting and powerful avenue in which to contribute to the field of pediatric hepatology and advance clinical care.  During my fellowship and my junior faculty years, I received the inspiration, motivation, and scientific and financial support at Mount Sinai that propelled me to succeed as a young physician-scientist in both the lab and clinical arenas. This support included generous seed funding for the first 2 years of my lab, which enabled me to hire a full time tech and to pay for supplies. With this amazing mentorship and support, I was able to obtain critical NIH funding including competitive K08 and R01 awards. The climb over the “hump” from a mentored K08 award to an independent R01 award, particularly for a junior physician-scientist who splits their time between the lab and clinic, could only have been possible with the support of seed funding from the Mindich Child Health and Development Institute.  I believe a career as a physician-scientist is the most fulfilling way to help your patients, and am so fortunate to have had the continued support at Mount Sinai.