Mitchell Lunn, MD, MAS, FACP, FASN
Assistant Professor of Nephrology, Stanford University
Mitchell (Mitch) R. Lunn, MD, MAS, FACP, FASN (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Nephrology of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine.
As an internist and nephrologist with a strong interest in technology and sexual and gender minority health, Mitch’s research is designed to characterize the health and well-being of these populations. Sexual and gender minority (SGM) people – which primarily includes members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities – face numerous health and healthcare disparities. Through the use of existing and emerging technologies, Mitch focuses on improving understanding of the factors that positively and negatively influence SGM health including research on SGM health disparities, SGM societal experiences (in and out of health care), provider education about SGM health, and institutional climate towards SGM people.
As a gay man and active researcher in SGM health for over a decade, Mitch brings vital experience and scholarship in engaging diverse, vulnerable, and hard-to-reach populations using technology-based and traditional methodologies. Mitch is the co-director of PRIDEnet, a participant-powered research network of SGM people that engages SGM communities at all stages of the biomedical research process: research question generation and prioritization, study design, recruitment, participation, data analysis, and results dissemination. PRIDEnet accomplishes its goals through a highly active Participant Advisory Committee and a Community Partner Consortium comprised of ~33 SGM-serving health centers, community centers, and service/advocacy organizations across the country. Mitch is also the co-director of The PRIDE Study, a national, online, prospective, longitudinal general health cohort study (launched May 2017) of over 23,000 SGM individuals that employs innovative technologies to bridge research gaps in the health of these medically underserved and vulnerable populations. The PRIDE Study’s state-of-the-art web-based research platform enables robust participant recruitment, cohort management, real-time cohort statistics, comprehensive survey administration, facile deployment of studies to cohort segments, and linkage with mHealth devices.
Mitch is a long-standing advocate for SGM inclusion in research and higher education who lectures around the country on SGM medical education, SGM health, SGM cultural competency/humility, and SGM community engagement. In recognition of his work, he received the 2015 University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Chancellor’s Award for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Leadership. He currently serves on the American Society of Nephrology’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Mitch earned his Bachelor of Science degree with highest thesis honors from Tufts University in 2004, his Doctor of Medicine degree from Stanford University School of Medicine in 2010, and his Masters in Advanced Studies degree in Clinical Research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 2017. He completed internal medicine internship and residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2013 and nephrology fellowship at UCSF in 2016. Mitch is board certified in internal medicine, nephrology, and clinical informatics.