Sean Iwamoto MD

Background 

Sean Iwamoto, MD, received his MD with distinction in community service from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry. He currently sees patients at UCHealth Integrated Transgender Program and Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center.  

Research + Funding 

In 2018, Dr. Iwamoto received funding from the Ludeman Center for his project titled, “Novel Evaluations of Aging and Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy on Vascular Endothelial Function and Metabolic Profiles in Transgender Women Compared to Age Group-Matched Cisgender Adults.” In 2020, he received the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) award for his project titled, “The Effects of Orchiectomy and Age on Vascular and Metabolic Health in Older Vs. Younger Transgender Women.” This study prospectively examines the effects of age and orchiectomy, a gender-affirming surgery to lower testosterone levels, on vascular and metabolic health in transgender women who have been taking estrogen (usually with an antiandrogen) for more than a year. 

Through mentorship, collaboration, feedback and funding from the Ludeman Center, Dr. Iwamoto is able to pursue his research work in this field.  

Transforming Women’s Health 

During his endocrinology fellowship, he co-founded the UCHealth Integrated Transgender Program in 2017, a multidisciplinary clinic to help meet the clinical needs of the growing transgender and gender diverse patient population in Colorado. Their mission is to develop and conduct pilot studies that intersect transgender health, obesity and aging. Through his opportunity from Dr. Lewis E. Braverman Endocrine Fellow-in-Training Educational Grant, he visited international endocrine leaders in transgender research and medicine in the Netherlands and Belgium and learned first-hand about the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence (ENIGI), a clinical and research cohort whose data has been used to inform gender-affirming hormone therapy guidelines. These collaborations with national and international leaders continue to inspire him to focus on this research area with broad implications for health in adults across age, sex and gender spectra.