Francis G. Lu's Credibility Rating

Professional Background and Accomplishments

Francis G. Lu, M.D. holds an eminent position as the Luke & Grace Kim Endowed Professor in Cultural Psychiatry, Emeritus, in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis. As a distinguished contributor to several books in the field, and a life-long fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Dr. Lu has significantly influenced areas of cultural psychiatry including the relationship with religion/spirituality, psychiatric education, diversity/inclusion, mental health equity, and psychiatry/film.

Dr. Lu has shown a consistent presence at every APA Annual Meeting since 1984. His contributions in the field have been recognized with several awards, such as the APA Special Presidential Commendations in 2002 and 2016, the APA Distinguished Service Award in 2020, the Advancing Minority Mental Health Award by the American Psychiatric Foundation in 2008, and the Lifetime Achievement in Education Award by the Association for Academic Psychiatry. Several other awards testify to his outstanding contribution, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture in 2020 and the Distinguished Service Award from the American College of Psychiatrists in 2021.

Past Roles and Present Engagements

Prior to his current position, Dr. Lu served as the Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and as the Director of the Cultural Competence and Diversity Program, Department of Psychiatry at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFGH) from July 1977 to June 2009. His move to UC Davis was marked by his assumption of the Kim Endowed Professorship in Cultural Psychiatry.

Even after his retirement from the University of California in 2013, Dr. Lu retains his engagement with the psychiatric community. Currently, he presents at Grand Rounds and film seminars, mentors residents/fellows, and continues to be professionally active with several associations including the APA, AADPRT, ADMSEP, ACP, GAP, and SSPC.

Selected Resources

Film Seminars

Since 1987, Dr. Lu has been an integral part of 37 film seminars at the Esalen Institute, in Big Sur, California. In collaboration with Brother David Steindl-Rast, he co-led 28 film seminars from 1990 to 2016. For further details about these film seminars, refer to the following resources - healing films and twenty favorite films.

The favorite film of both Dr. Lu and Brother David is Akira Kurosawa's “Ikiru,” as described here.