Stephen Fortmann

Dr. Stephen Fortmann is an internist and epidemiologist who conducts research on heart disease prevention. He has conducted both population- and individual-level studies of cardiovascular risk factors and disease rates, smoking cessation, the influence of tobacco marketing on adolescent smoking rates, and exercise and diet change. Dr. Fortmann received his MD from the University of California, San Francisco, and postdoctoral training in cardiovascular disease prevention at Stanford University. From 1979 to 2010 Dr. Fortmann was a member of the faculty at Stanford University Medical School, where he was director of the Stanford Prevention Research Center (1998–2010) and the Stanford Preventive Cardiology Clinic (1990–2010). In 1999 he was appointed as the C. F. Rehnborg Professor in Disease Prevention (now Emeritus) and in 2005 he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. In 2010 Dr. Fortmann moved to the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (CHR) in Portland, OR, where he is a Senior Investigator.

Dr. Fortmann has more than 35 years of experience leading interdisciplinary community and clinical research, beginning with his work on the Stanford Five-City Project, a community cardiovascular disease prevention study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute from 1978 to 1998. Most of his past work has been sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program. At CHR, Dr. Fortmann continues his research on population health and prevention. Currently he is studying the health care cost impact of a new light rail line in Portland; how cardiovascular disease and diabetes affect Asians and Pacific Islanders in Hawaii and California the comparative effectiveness of four second-line drugs for treating diabetes (in addition to metformin); and a pilot study comparing the effectiveness of two standard diuretic drugs for treating high blood pressure. He also continues to work with Stanford colleagues studying the impact of retail advertising for tobacco and e-cigarettes on adolescent tobacco use.