The health problems faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community are often the same as those in the general population. In some cases, however, LGBT people have been found to be at greater risk for health problems such as breast cancer, HIV, hepatitis, and stress-related conditions. As a result, the Center for LGBT Health Research was created.
The mission of the Center is to understand and improve the health of the LGBT community by maintaining an infrastructure that provides research concerning LGBT health and wellness needs.
Scroll down to read more about the latest events, news and research about the Center and its members…
May 2, 2012
Both researchers will share their updates on the work they are doing at Harvard and Northwestern University.
Dr. Austin is an award-winning researcher, teacher, and mentor. She is Director of Fellowship Research Training in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston and Director of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders: A Public Health Incubator at the Harvard School of Public Health and Children’s Hospital Boston: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/striped/. Dr. Austin’s primary research is in the behavioral sciences and social epidemiology, addressing social and physical environmental influences on physical activity, nutritional patterns, and eating disorders risk in school and community settings. In addition, her research interests include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adolescent health.
Brian Mustanski, Ph.D. is Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences and directs the IMPACT LGBT Health and Development Program. A central focus of his research is on the clustering of psychological, behavioral, and physical health, particularly as they relate to HIV in vulnerable populations. Dr. Mustanski received his doctorate in Psychology from Indiana University, where he trained extensively at the Kinsey Institute. He has been the Principal Investigator for multiple National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and other foundation research and training awards, including being named a William T. Grant Foundation Scholar. The majority of his research focuses on the health and development of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. In addition, he conducts applied research on HIV prevention among young men who have sex with men (MSM). Dr. Mustanski was an early adopter of using the Internet for health research and his ongoing work seeks to apply new technology to improve research and interventions.
May 2, 2012
The first Department of Health and Human Services “Healthy People 2020 Spotlight on LGBT Health” Webinar on Transgender Health is scheduled for Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 1:00 pm. During the webinar, listeners will be introduced to Healthy People 2020’s new lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) topic area. Other presentations will include an overview of transgender health, transgender health issues and development of gender identity.
Register today
Webinar Agenda:
Welcome and Introductions
AJ Pearlman (Moderator)
Immediate Office of the Secretary
US Department of Health and Human Services
Introduction to Healthy People and the New LGBT Topic Area
Don Wright, MD, MPH
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)
Director, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Overview of Transgender Health
JoAnne Keatley, MSW
Director, Center of Excellence on Transgender Health
University of California San Francisco
Development of Gender Identity and Mental Health
Walter Bockting, PhD
Professor, Program in Human Sexuality
University of Minnesota
Transgender Health Issues
Madeline Deutsch, MD
Director, Transgender Health Program
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
May 2, 2012
Anthony Silvestre, Ph.D.
“The battle against AIDS has produced effective prevention interventions that can help people change their unsafe sexual and drug-using behaviors, and effective treatments to keep people who are infected relatively healthy over the long run. However, the war against AIDS is stagnant. The institutional changes that are necessary to stop AIDS, and to prevent the outbreak of other sexually transmitted diseases, have not occurred. Our professional schools, funders of research, our churches and our educational systems have made precious few changes in how they do business. As a society, we have failed to integrate healthy views about sexuality into our everyday lives. We continue to treat it as the stuff of snickering adolescence or of slick merchandizing.
Clearly, there have been major advances in treatment and the prevention of AIDS. There have been few changes in the attitudes that stigmatize the at-risk populations, and that keep us from maturely responding to sexual-health matters in our schools and universities and other major institutions.”
You can read the full interview at Pittsburgh City Paper Online.
February 9, 2012
Dr. Ron Stall
University of Pittsbrugh Researcher Ron Stall talks about 30 years of HIV and gay men’s health on Web’s Huffington Post…
While no longer a singularly “gay disease,” gay, bisexual and transgender people remain severely impacted by HIV/AIDS in the U.S. For young gay, bi, and transgender youth of color, alarming rates of HIV rival those of some Sub-Saharan countries. What can we learn from the 30-year history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in order to forge a better, future response?
These are just some of the questions the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is posing this year as it reflects on lessons learned from the past 30 years of HIV/AIDS. Chief among these questions is why, 30 years into the crisis, are rates of HIV highest among young gay men, particularly men of color? According to federal officials, rates of HIV among gay men are 50 times higher than any other group and, while new cases have plateaued for other groups, among gay/bi men and transgender, they continue to climb.
Read the full article.
February 9, 2012
PITTSBURGH, June 22, 2011 – Young people who identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, experience same-sex attractions or engage in same-sex sexual ehaviors are more likely to experience sexual abuse, parental physical abuse and bullying from peers than other youth, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health study.
In addition, these adolescents – identified as “sexual minority youth” in the study – are more likely to miss school due to fear. The American Public Health Association recently published the findings online; the study will appear in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
“The higher rates of abuse experienced by sexual minority youths are clearly one of the driving mechanisms underlying higher rates of mental health problems, substance use, risky sexual behavior and HIV by sexual minority adolescents and adults,” said Mark S. riedman, Ph.D., assistant professor of behavioral and community health sciences. “However, I cannot stress enough that these youth experience sexual and physical abuse and bullying because they identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual or experience same-sex attraction; abuse does not ‘cause’ sexual orientation or identification.”
Go to the UPMC Media Relations Website for the full press release.
February 9, 2012
Contact Us
University of Pittsburgh/ Graduate School of Public Health/ Center for LGBT Health Research/ P.O. Box 7319/ Pittsburgh PA 15213/ (412) 383-3000 Fax: (412) 383-1513 Email: rgy2@pitt.edu .
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