Featured Researcher: Raymond Lynch

Raymond Lynch, MD (Emory Department of Surgery)
3rd Place Poster Presentation, 4th annual Health Services Research Day at Emory (hosted by the Department of Medicine)

What is your professional background?
I am a liver transplant surgeon. I chose transplant because of the many unanswered questions regarding how patients become ill, are diagnosed, are screened and selected, and are managed after transplant. Health services research has the potential to shape patient care immediately and directly, and allows me to channel clinical dilemmas and frustrations into a productive means of assessing and improving outcomes.

In what division do you work, and who is your mentor?
I work in the Division of Transplant Surgery. My mentor is Dr. Rachel Patzer (Transplant Surgery/Renal Medicine).

Briefly describe your research. Why it is important?
We are studying how patient level factors, other than the biological severity of their disease and the regional supply of organ donors, shape the mortality risk of end stage liver disease patients on the wait list. These data are important because access to transplant has become synonymous with organ availability. Our findings suggest that both locally – at the level of the transplant center – and nationally, we should consider vulnerable populations for enhanced priority in organ access to minimize preventable deaths.

What do you like most about Emory?
We have a broad range of clinical and academic experience and an institutional culture that supports asking questions and working together. We used to have a Dunkin Donuts, and we may again.

What is your favorite movie or TV show?
Silicon Valley is my favorite TV show.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I don’t have much spare time.

Related Links

• Nominate a Featured Researcher
• Emory Department of Medicine Research Newsletter (“What’s Up”)
• Emory Department of Medicine – Office of Research
• Emory University Department of Medicine
• Emory University Division of Renal Medicine

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