SUMMARY
Mayo Clinic researcher Manpreet S. Mundi, M.D., studies malnutrition across its full spectrum, from severe undernutrition and muscle loss to obesity. His research focuses on people who are unable to meet their nutritional needs through oral intake or whose intestines cannot adequately absorb nutrients. He investigates how nutrition status and nutrition support affect clinical outcomes, particularly before and after surgery.
Dr. Mundi explores how different intravenous fat formulations for nutrition support affect long-term liver health, how to prevent serious infections and tube-related complications, and how tube-feeding formulas and care approaches can improve quality of life. He also studies the emerging roles of telehealth and artificial intelligence (AI) in expanding access to expert nutrition care. With more than 180 peer-reviewed publications, active clinical trials, patented feeding tube innovations and contributions to international clinical guidelines, Dr. Mundi collaborates globally to advance the science and practice of nutrition support.
Focus areas
- Home parenteral nutrition and chronic intestinal failure. Dr. Mundi studies adults with chronic intestinal failure, including short bowel syndrome, who need IV nutrition at home. His research has established the real-world epidemiology of intestinal failure in the United States through landmark database analyses. His research addresses transitions from hospital to home, catheter safety, infection prevention, oral rehydration strategies, and ways to research addresses while preserving independence and quality of life.
- Lipid emulsions, metabolic complications and intestinal failure-associated liver disease. Dr. Mundi investigates how IV lipid formulations affect the long-term safety of parenteral nutrition. His research includes clinical trials and observational studies of lipid emulsions based on soybean oil, mixed oil and fish oil, and treatments for intestinal failure-associated liver disease.
- Home enteral nutrition and feeding tube care. Dr. Mundi leads research focused on adults and children who receive tube feeding at home. He evaluates blenderized tube feeding, peptide-based and disease-specific formulas, enteral feeding systems and connectors, feeding tube complications, and patient and caregiver experiences. He is the co-inventor of patented gastrointestinal feeding tube designs with enhanced skin surface bumpers designed to improve patient comfort and reduce complications. His broader goal is to make tube feeding safer, more tolerable, and easier for patients and caregivers to manage in daily life.
- Malnutrition, obesity and body composition. Dr. Mundi studies malnutrition across its full spectrum, including obesity, undernutrition and loss of lean muscle, called sarcopenia. His research explores adipose tissue metabolism, bariatric and endoscopic weight-loss therapies, anti-obesity medications — such as GLP-1 receptor agonists— sarcopenia in people with obesity, and body composition technologies. He also contributed to the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition consensus criteria, an internationally recognized standard for diagnosing malnutrition, and continues to study the application of these criteria across clinical settings.
- Nutrition support care models and innovation. Dr. Mundi studies how nutrition care is delivered and how multidisciplinary teams can improve patient outcomes. His research focuses on transitions of care, telehealth for home nutrition support, the roles of nutrition support physicians and dietitians, and innovations in feeding tube devices. A current area of emphasis is the integration of AI into clinical nutrition practice, including AI-generated meal planning, AI-assisted clinical decision support and dietitian perspectives on AI adoption. Through this work, Dr. Mundi seeks to translate research findings into practical, scalable solutions for patients, caregivers and clinicians.
Significance to patient care
Nearly 500,000 Americans rely on a feeding tube or IV nutrition to survive each day. Living at home while using these therapies can be challenging. Patients and caregivers must manage complex daily routines, including proper care of feeding tubes and IV lines, preparing nutrition formulas, watching for infections and complications, and figuring out who to call when something goes wrong.
Dr. Mundi's research seeks to make nutrition support safer, more effective and less burdensome. His studies identify IV nutrition formulas that protect the liver and reduce serious side effects, while preventing life-threatening bloodstream infections from IV lines and painful problems from feeding tubes. He also has helped invent and patent new feeding tube technologies designed to improve patient comfort and safety. Through telehealth tools and AI-powered nutrition support, his team is finding new ways to bring expert care directly to people's homes. His research on obesity and muscle loss also aims to identify hidden nutritional concerns earlier, before they become a crisis.
Professional highlights
- American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition:
- Board of directors, 2024-present.
- Stanley J. Dudrick Research Scholar Award, 2024.
- Vice chair, Physician Engagement Committee, 2022-2024.
- Chair, Conference Program Committee, 2022-2023.
- Chair, Education and Professional Development Committee, 2020-2022.
- Oley Foundation:
- Science and medicine advisor, 2022-present.
- Board member, 2016-2022.
- Contributing author, "GLIM Consensus Approach to Diagnosis of Malnutrition: A 5-Year Update, Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition," 2025.
- Associate editor, Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 2021-2024.
- Contributing author, "ESPEN Clinical Guidelines on Chronic Intestinal Failure in Adults," European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, 2023.
- Inventor, gastrointestinal feeding tubes with enhanced skin surface bumpers, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2020, 2022.