Boston University School of Public Health's latest news, upcoming events, and announcements.
 
 
LGBTQ Health
 

SPH This Week | Special Edition

 
June is Pride Month. While Pride events are postponed or moved online because of COVID-19, we are dedicating this issue of SPHTW to the health of LGBTQ populations.
 
May 31, 2020
 
 
 
 
Message from the Associate Dean for Public Health Practice
 
Moving On: What I've Learned
 
 
 
 
Upcoming Signature Program
 
A Conversation on Race and Policing
 
 
JUN 3
5 p.m.–6 p.m.
 
 
Online
 
 
 
 
Dean's Note
 
 
Race, Justice, and COVID-19
 
COVID-19 and the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd reflect how communities of color face poorer health as a consequence of fundamental injustice.
 
 
School News
 
 
Professor Wins Early Career Investigator Award
 
Kimberly Nelson, associate professor of community health sciences, received the award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine for her behavioral research on sexual and racial/ethnic minority youth.
 
Research
 
 
Lifesaving Protections
 
Suicidality dropped by as much as half among gender minority patients in states that enacted nondiscrimination rules for private health insurance.
 
 
School News
 
 
Meet Craig Andrade: SPH's New Associate Dean of Practice
The SPH alum has held leadership roles at the Massachusetts Department of Health, where he oversaw health equity and education initiatives for LGBTQ youth, youth of color, and other underserved populations.
 
 
Public Health Post
 
 
Counting Trans Health
 
Transgender-specific screening guidelines would help ensure that trans people have the same chance at early, life-saving treatment as the rest of the population.
 
Public Health Post
 
 
Restoring LGBTQ Health
 
Following passage of Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act in March of 2015, nearly 60 percent of LGBTQ people reported poor health, compared to 20 percent of heterosexual people in the state.
 
 
COVID-19
 
 
COVID-19 and LGBTQ Populations
SPH experts weigh in on how the coronavirus is affecting sexual and gender minorities in the US and around the world.
 
 
PHX
 
 
Research for Policy Impact: Improving LGBTQ Health Equity
 
Using two of her own studies as examples, Julia Raifman talks about how health care providers and others working with LGBTQ people can improve health by shaping social environments.
 
 
 
 
LGBTQ Health News, Research, Viewpoints, and Interviews
 
 
Published on 5/4/2020
 
Stuck at Home and Online, How Are Queer Teens Handling COVID-19?
 
Kimberly Nelson is launching a sex education pilot intervention for 14-17-year-old sexual minority boys, adapted for the time of coronavirus.
 
Published on 4/16/2020
 
Professor Receives Award to Study Mental Health of Transgender College Students
 
Sarah Lipson has been selected as a William T. Grant Scholar to support her research on how campus policies shape mental health inequities for gender minority students.
 
Published on 3/6/2020
 
Transgender Cancer Survivors Have Complex Medical Needs
 
They are many times more likely to have diabetes and cardiovascular disease than cisgender survivors, and nonbinary cancer survivors have particularly high rates of depression and unhealthy lifestyle factors.
 
 
Published on 3/5/2020
 
Staff Member Appointed Vice-Chair of BU LGBTQIA+ Network
 
Thomas Lee, Jr. will develop activities and goals for the initiative, one of four new Faculty & Staff Networks to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across the university.
 
Published on 2/10/2020
 
More Teens Coming Out, But Suicide Attempts Still High
 
The proportion of high schoolers identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning doubled from 2009 to 2017, but they were almost four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.
 
Published on 2/7/2020
 
Putting ‘Health in All Policies’
 
Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, on the power of voting, health issues at stake in the 2020 election, and breaking barriers in government.
 
 
Published on 8/16/2019
 
Transgender College Students Face Enormous Mental Health Disparities
 
Gender minority students are four times more likely to experience mental health problems than their cisgender peers.
 
Published on 6/19/2019
 
‘Convincing Homophobes the World Isn’t Coming to an End’
 
Decriminalization of same-sex sexual conduct in Botswana on June 11 shows what the West can learn about advancing LGBTQIA+ rights and creating a more tolerant society.
 
Published on 6/7/2019
 
What about the “B” in LGBT+?
 
It’s time to stop neglecting bisexuals.
 
 
Published on 5/22/2019
 
LGB Cancer Survivors Have Less Access to Health Care
 
Access to care affects quality of life for sexual minority cancer survivors more than for their heterosexual counterparts.
 
Published on 5/13/2019
 
Student Wins Leather Leadership Conference Scholarship Award
 
Iris Olson received the $2,000 award for their work to reduce stigmas within and around the LGBTQ, BDSM, leather, and kink communities.
 
Published on 11/15/2018
 
The ‘Yes on 3’ Fight Showed Us We Are Not Alone
 
We found the way to defend transgender rights, we won by a landslide, and along the way, we made a space where trans, gender nonconforming, and other queer people could feel confident, safe, and strong enough to announce who they really were.
 
 
Published on 10/31/2018
 
For LGBT Caregivers, Dual Stresses May Contribute to Worse Health, with Exceptions
 
Sexual minority cisgender female caregivers experience worst physical and mental health; transgender caregivers identified as “young and remarkably healthy subpopulation.”
 
Published on 6/7/2018
 
What the Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision Means for Public Health and the Rule of Law
 
To permit the denial of services to same-sex couples fails to uphold equal rights for LGBT people; whether the discrimination is based on religion should be irrelevant.
 
Published on 1/17/2018
 
Young Men Who Have Sex with Men Receive Less HIV Education
 
Teens at high risk of HIV infection report receiving less HIV education than their peers.
 
 
Published on 1/22/2016
 
Difficulty—and Resiliency—for LGBTQ Youth of Color
 
Adele Levine’s practicum put Fenway Institute survey Our Health Matters into context.
 
 
 
 
 
In the Media
 
 
Washington Post
 
The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Turn into a Poverty Pandemic Unless We Act Now — opinion by Dean Sandro Galea.
 
 
The Conversation
 
4 Ways COVID-19 Has Exposed Gaps in the US Social Safety Net — opinion by Paul Shafer, assistant professor of health law, policy & management.
 
 
MedPage Today
 
Graduating Med School during a Pandemic — opinion by alum Faiz Kidwai.
 
 
WBUR
 
As Summer Unofficially Starts, How Worried Should We Be about a Second COVID-19 Wave? — interview with Davidson Hamer, professor of global health.
 
 
New York Times
 
The Coronavirus Quieted City Noise. Listen to What’s Left. — quotes Erica Walker, postdoctoral associate in the Department of Environmental Health.
 
 
VICE News
 
How to Weigh the Risk of Going out in the Coronavirus Pandemic, in One Chart — quotes Eleanor Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology.
 
 
WGBH News
 
How the Pandemic Is Harming College Students’ Mental Health — quotes Sarah Lipson, assistant professor of health law, policy & management.
 
 
View all media posts
 
 
 
 
Looking Ahead
 
COVID-19: Community Conversations
 
Tuesday, June 2, 10:00 am – 11:00 am, online.
 
 
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION SEMINAR—A Conversation on Race and Policing
 
Wednesday, June 3, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm, online.
 
 
DEAN’S SYMPOSIUM—Teaching Public Health: Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Justice (Part 1 of 3)
 
Thursday, June 4, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, online.
 
 
View full SPH calendar
 
 
 
 
Boston University School of Public Health