Biography

Dr. Paul Lunn has been dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at NC State since 2012. In 2018, he launched the Global Health program to unite ongoing global health research with global health education.

Throughout the majority of his research career, his work focused on equine immunity and the development and improvement of vaccines for equine infectious diseases. This work primarily targeted diseases affecting performance and companion horses living in the developed world. However, from the mid-2000s, he started looking for ways to impact horses and donkeys in the developing world, which represent a large proportion of the global equid population.

In 2010, having established collaborations with faculty from overseas, he flew to Ethiopia to help identify new vaccine-based solutions for epizootic lymphangitis, a contagious fungal disease that has devastating impacts on working equids and the surrounding economy of the country.

This trip, and many that followed, helped him better understand the socioeconomic impacts of animal health on human livelihoods and food security, and the urgent need for more sustainable solutions.

Since becoming dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at NC State, Dr. Lunn has emphasized the importance of improving animal and human health not just in North Carolina and the US, but also on a global scale. By advocating for students, staff and faculty and creating new opportunities for global engagement and education, he is expanding the global impact of the college and addressing major health challenges faced by animals and humans worldwide. 

Dr. Lunn’s education and professional biography are available here.