Cleveland Clinic Names Michelle Kang Kim, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

Cleveland Clinic has appointed Michelle Kang Kim, M.D., Ph.D., as chair of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition with Cleveland Clinic’s Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute. Dr. Kim’s will start Aug. 1. She will succeed Miguel Regueiro, M.D., who has served as interim chair of the department since May 2021, following his appointment as chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute.

Dr. Kim is the first woman to hold the position at Cleveland Clinic, and she is among the fewer than 10% of gastroenterology division chiefs nationally who are female.

Miguel Regueiro, M.D., chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute, said: “Dr. Kim is a brilliant researcher, top clinician and respected leader. She is a talented mentor who has dedicated herself to helping faculty with career advancement. She is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and is involved in national GI societies leading this effort. I am thrilled to have Dr. Kim join our institute and Cleveland Clinic’s family.”

Dr. Kim is an active researcher and clinician who plans to continue those responsibilities at Cleveland Clinic. She is renowned for the management and study of neuroendocrine tumors.

Previously, Dr. Kim served as vice chair for faculty affairs for the Department of Medicine at New York’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was a professor of medicine and co-director of the Center for Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumors.

Dr. Kim has lectured nationally and internationally on carcinoid and neuroendocrine tumors and is known for her work in translational and epidemiologic approaches in assessing patient outcomes. She is interested in the epidemiology of gastrointestinal cancers, particularly cancer disparities that occur in underserved populations.

She is chair of the Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumor Section of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and President of the Korean American Medical Association. She has served on multiple committees and panels for the AGA, the American Society of Cancer Oncology, the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society and the American Joint Committee on Cancer. She also is a former president of the New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, one of the largest regional endoscopic organizations in the United States.

In a question-and-answer interview with Consult QD, Dr. Kim discusses medicine, mentoring, neuroendocrine tumor research, and juggling personal and professional duties.