Learning Objectives

1. Identify psychosocial risk correlates to substance use development and initiation among LGBTQ+ Populations

2. Describe substance use disparities among LGBTQ+ populations

About the Speaker

Andrew Yockey is an incoming Assistant Professor of Public Health at the University of Mississippi and a member of the Texas Pride Collaborative. He also serves as the Statistical and Methods Editor for the journal, Journal of Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health. His research interests include substance use, mental health, and epidemiology among LGBT+ populations. He has written/co-authored nearly 100 peer-reviewed articles and his research has been featured in CNN, New York Post, and Double Blind Magazine.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand mental health problems facing transgender and gender diverse (TGD) children and adolescents 

2. Identify opportunities for training health care providers, parents and school counselors about ways to reduce mental health risks facing TGD youth.

About the Speaker

Michael Goodman, MD MPH is a Professor of Epidemiology, at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health.  The main area of Dr. Goodman’s current research is health status of gender minorities including patients diagnosed with disorders of sex development and transgender people.  The specific focus of this research is on life-course health care needs of gender diverse populations, and on long-term benefits and risks of gender affirming treatments.  In addition to his research activities, Dr. Goodman teaches courses in epidemiology both at Emory and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Learning Objectives

1. Name at least 2 health disparities faced by LGBTQ adolescents

2. Describe at least 2 ways to engage adolescents in LGBTQ health research using digital and multimedia approaches

About the Speaker

Kathryn Macapagal, PhD, is associate professor of medical social sciences, co-director of the THRIVE Center at the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, and co-director of the Developmental Core of the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research at Northwestern University. A licensed clinical psychologist, her career over the last decade has focused on translational and implementation research understanding LGBT adolescents’ sexual health needs and how they use social media and technology to meet those needs, and working with teens to create, test, and implement educational, multimedia and digital interventions to address those needs. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Chicago Department of Public Health, and private foundations.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe the context of aging with HIV in the US

2. Discuss community partnered approaches in HIV and aging research

3. Showcase a single project with the goal to help people age healthily with HIV

About the Speaker

Brandon Brown is a Professor in the Department of Social Medicine, Population and Public Health at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) School of Medicine (SOM). His primary research interests include the health impacts of aging with HIV and ethical issues in HIV research. He has received funding from both private and federal organizations, working closely with community partners in every step of the research process. The first in his family to attend college, Dr. Brown earned his bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from the University of California, Irvine, followed by an MPH in epidemiology from UCLA. He then attended the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to earn his PhD in international health with a focus on epidemiology. After returning from his dissertation studies in Peru, he conducted postdoctoral work at UCLA. Dr. Brown received additional training as a HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) Scholar, a Resource Center for Minority Aging Research Scholar, trainee at the Fordham HIV Research Ethics Training Institute (RETI), and visiting scholar at the Hastings Center for Bioethics. Brandon is on the Board of Directors of TruEvolution, a non-profit organization advocating for health equity and racial justice for LGBTQ+ people; faculty advisor for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program; a National Academy of Medicine emerging leader in health and medicine scholar, and member of the HIV Prevention Trials Network ethics working group. His recent efforts are focused on supporting junior faculty scholars of color, developing CITI training for community members, and investigating ethical payment practices in clinical HIV research. With nearly 200 publications, Dr. Brown is an avid collaborator and he enjoys spending his free time outside in nature working in his small farm.

Learning Objectives

1. List three potential risk factors for dementia among LGBTQIA+ older adults.

2. Describe some of the social and political barriers for LGBTQIA+ older adults living with dementia.

3. Identify two ways to improve healthcare experiences for LGBTQIA+ older adults living with dementia and their caregivers.

About the Speaker

Jason D. Flatt, PhD, MPH (Pronouns: He/Him/They/Them) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Public Health, Department of Social and Behavioral Health. Jason’s $5+ million-funded research portfolio works to better understand health concerns and needs of diverse sexual and gender minorities or LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and additional identities) people living with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and their care providers. Learn more about Jason’s research at www.RainbowsofAging.org

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the occupational stressors and mental health challenges harm reduction workers experience

2. Learn what TxCOPE is and how it’s being used for overdose response in Texas

3. Articulate the role of community and academic partnerships to improve overdose response efforts

About the Speaker

Dr. Claborn is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor of Social Work and Psychiatry at The University of Texas at Austin. She is the Steve Hicks Fellow of Addiction and Recovery Services and Director of the Addictions Research Institute. Dr. Claborn has been the Principal Investigator for several projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. To date, she has received over $14.3 million dollars in external funding for her research. Dr. Claborn’s research focuses on improving the addiction system of care through community based participatory research methods and system science. She has expertise in designing and building digital ecosystems to improve care coordination and community overdose prevention efforts. In 2021, Dr. Claborn received an international award from Google for her work developing a digital platform to improve data collection and inform real-time response among harm reduction organizations in Texas. She has built strong multisectoral partnerships to advance community-level, coordinated overdose response efforts. Dr. Claborn’s current work seeks to use innovative methods to combine traditional and non-traditional overdose surveillance methods to inform data-driven community response.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe how to use intervention mapping and human-centered design for developing and planning evaluations of programs

2. Identify individual-level and school-based interventions aimed at improving the well-being of sexual and gender diverse youth

About the Speaker

As Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Dr. Coulter's mission is to eliminate substance use and violence inequities for sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY; e.g., adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer [LGBTQ+]). To accomplish this mission, his research focuses on: (1) examining the complex social mechanisms producing SGMY health inequities; and (2) designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions aimed at reducing violence and substance use inequities for SGMY. Dr. Coulter's studies use multiple methodologies, including quantitative, qualitative, human-centered design, systems science, and collaborator-engaged research. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including Addiction, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Adolescent Health, and Prevention Science, and these results were subsequently highlighted in various media outlets, including Huffington Post, NPR, and Reuters.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the history of PBRNs: why they were established (and where), what they were supposed to accomplish

2. Understand the current role of PBRNs in research

3. Be able to list several key facilitators and barriers to establishing and maintaining a PBRN 

About the Speaker

Bill Tierney is a Professor of Community and Global Health and Associate Dean for Population Health & Health Outcomes at Indiana University’s Fairbanks School of Public Health’s as well as a part-time Professor of Population Health at the University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School. He served as the founding chair of Dell Med’s Department of Population Health from 2015-2020 but has spent the rest of his career at Indiana University’s School of Medicine where he’s served as President/CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, Associate Dean for Comparative Effectiveness Research, Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, and Chair of Medicine at Wishard/Eskenazi Health, the nation’s 4th largest safety net health system where practiced primary care, emergency medicine, and hospital medicine for 35 years and where he launched ResNet, a primary care Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) in 9 federally qualified health centers that used the local electronic health record to identify, approach, and enroll patients into multiple ongoing studies. During its first ten years, ResNet approached and screened more than 60,000 patients, and enrolled 25,000 (63% of those who screened eligible, two-thirds of whom were under-represented minorities) in 125 studies. He was also the Founding Director of AHRQ’s Primary Care PBRN Resource Center that supported a network of 23 large collaborating PBRNs. . 

Dr. Tierney’s personal research has focused on improving health care delivery and its outcomes through developing and implementing electronic health record systems, clinical decision support, and health information exchanges in Indiana, Texas, and East Africa while conducting clinical epidemiologic studies using these data. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2006 and is a Master in the American College of Physicians and a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI), the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics and the Royal College of Physicians of London. He served as President for the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) and ACMI and has received SGIM’s John M. Eisenberg and Robert J. Glaser Awards for Research and Generalism, ACMI’s Morris F. Collen Award for Career Achievements in Biomedical Informatics, and the National Award for Career Achievements from the Association for Clinical and Translational Science.

About the Speaker

A medical anthropologist by training, Dr. Kano conducts participatory, population based cancer research, and has worked with a number of health disparities designated, ethnic minority, rural and underserved communities. A primary focus of Dr. Kano’s work has been to increase health equity for Sexual and Gender Minority individuals and communities through NIH funded initiatives to improve access to behavioral health counseling, substance use treatment, and primary care (Willging PI), a Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) Pipeline to Proposal Award (2014-2017) (Kano, PI), and an NCI funded R25 to develop a curriculum for researchers interested in conducting SGM cancer research (Chang and Sanchez, PIs, Kano, Site-PI). Dr. Kano’s current study uses mixed methods approaches to identify factors that contribute to cultural- and cancer-specific challenges experienced by SGM patients receiving oncology, oncology/palliative, and survivorship care, and their informal cancer caregivers (Kano, PI).

Kano received a Bachelors of University Studies at the University of New Mexico in 1999. She completed a Master of Arts in Anthropology in 2002, and a Doctorate of Philosophy with Distinction in Anthropology at the University of New Mexico in 2013.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand The PRIDE Study’s research and ongoing projects.

2. Understand  The PRIDE Study’s Ancillary Study process and how to collaborate with The PRIDE Study.

3. Understand PRIDEnet, its work with The PRIDE Study and the All of Us Research Program, and how PRIDEnet works to engage LGBTQIA+ research participants and diversity of the research workforce.

About the Speaker

Mitchell (Mitch) R. Lunn, MD, MAS, FACP, FASN (he/him/his) is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology) and of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Lunn consults on hospitalized patients with renal diseases, electrolyte abnormalities, and acid-base disturbances at Stanford Hospital. Dr. Lunn is a physician-scientist investigating sexual and gender minority (SGM) health and utilizing existing and emerging technologies to characterize the health and well-being of these underrepresented and vulnerable populations. SGM people – which primarily includes members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities – face numerous health and healthcare disparities. Dr. Lunn’s work focuses on improving understanding of the factors that positively and negatively influence SGM health including research on SGM health disparities, SGM societal experiences, provider education about SGM health, and institutional climate towards SGM people. 

Dr. Lunn is the co-director of The PRIDE Study (pridestudy.org), a national, online, prospective, longitudinal general health cohort study (launched May 2017) of over 29,000 SGM adults. The PRIDE Study’s state-of-the-art web-based research platform enables robust participant recruitment, cohort management, real-time cohort statistics, comprehensive survey administration, facile deployment of studies to cohort segments, and linkage with other health data sources. Dr. Lunn is also the co-director of PRIDEnet, a participant-powered research network of SGM people that engages SGM communities at all stages of the biomedical research process: research question generation and prioritization, study design, recruitment, participation, data analysis, and results dissemination. PRIDEnet accomplishes its goals through a highly active Participant Advisory Committee and a Community Partner Consortium comprised of ~32 SGM-serving health centers, community centers, and service/advocacy organizations across the country. Dr. Lunn mentors research trainees at all levels from undergraduate students to junior faculty members.

Dr. Lunn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and French with highest thesis honors from Tufts University in 2004, a Doctor of Medicine degree from Stanford University School of Medicine in 2010, and a Master’s in Advanced Studies degree in Clinical Research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 2017. He completed internal medicine internship and residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2013 and nephrology fellowship at UCSF in 2016. Dr. Lunn maintains board certification in internal medicine, nephrology, and clinical informatics.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will be able to develop a dissemination plan with community partners for sharing research findings.

2. Participants will understand common pathways for sharing research findings outside of academic institutions.

3. Participants will understand the particular considerations for publishing and dissemination in research projects with community partners.

About the Speaker

Phillip W. Schnarrs, Ph.D., is an associate professor and associate chair of research in the Department of Population Health at The University of Texas at Dell Medical School. He is also the Director of The Texas PRIDE in Health Collaborative. Dr. Schnarrs' work is broadly focused on LGBTQ+ health. His current work is focused on understanding the role of early life adversity, specifically early life experiences that are unique to LGBTQ+ populations, on adult health outcomes. His projects span mental health, suicide prevention, sexual health and HIV prevention, as well as health care access. In addition, Dr. Schnarrs received his Ph.D. from Indiana University School of Public Health at Bloomington where he received extensive training on community-based participation research. He was also a 2017 - 2020 Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Fellow with The Robert Johnson Foundation where he received advanced training in CBPR methods and practice. 

Learning Objectives

1. Understand harm reduction as an evidence-based practice

2. Learn about harm reduction service delivery facilitated by people with lived experience

3. Understand the political context of practicing harm reduction in an unauthorized state

About the Speakers

Alexandra White is a licensed social worker who hails from the Northeast.  In her time here in Austin, she has founded a mutual aid based, harm reduction outreach team. Additionally, she's done extensive work in Austin's unhoused community and has experience working with detained trans women and families seeking asylum. Before joining THRA, Alex was on the team at The Other Ones Foundation, and before that, worked at Tapestry Health in MA. 

Jamie Diaz came to THRA because her radical nature to do things in this field of work aligns perfectly with THRA and its commitment to equity in advocating for PWUD. They've been a peer support specialist, outreach worker, and harm reductionist for 4 years.

Learning Objectives

1. Discuss the currently known information and stats around colorectal cancer (CRC)

2. Announce an initiative to get CRC awareness into Pride events throughout 2024

About the Speaker

As the Executive Director of Cheeky Charity, David Russo has become a key figure in advancing colorectal cancer awareness, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community. With an MBA from New York University and a background in engineering and marketing at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, David has been instrumental in steering Cheeky Charity to its current status as a recognized member of the American Cancer Society's National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (ACS NCCRT). His expertise in connecting with people is a driving force in Cheeky Charity's innovative approaches to health communication and community engagement. David's dedication to the cause is further exemplified by his active membership in the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), aligning clinical research with effective patient advocacy.His roles at Siemens, encompassing Global Marketing Manager, Project Manager, and Product Manager, have provided him with a unique blend of skills that he applies to his leadership at Cheeky Charity. David's commitment is further highlighted by his membership in the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), showcasing his dedication to the intersection of clinical research and patient advocacy. Under his guidance, Cheeky Charity has become synonymous with impactful, innovative health communication and community-focused initiatives.

Learning Objectives

1. Recognize LGBTQ+ and sexual health disparities within rural areas.

2. Identify key Federal and State policies which impact LGBTQ+ and sexual health within rural areas and opportunities for policy change.

3. Assess intervention opportunities to address the HIV epidemic within rural areas. 

About the Speaker

Dr. Randolph Hubach is Director of the Sexual Health Research Lab at Purdue University and Associate Professor of Public Health. He holds a Ph.D. in Health Behavior from Indiana University’s School of Public Health and MPH from California State University, Fullerton. Early in his career, Dr. Hubach’s research and practice experiences included serving as PI on a federally funded community-based sexual health intervention project, developing managed care programs for local public health and mental health jurisdictions, and serving in leadership positions in multiple community health coalitions and planning processes. As a behavioral scientist and public health researcher, he has gained a practical understanding of the challenges associated with the delivery of public health programs that are scientifically sound and responsive to the needs of diverse communities. 

Dr. Hubach’s research interests include using community engaged principles to address sexuality-related health disparities, sexual behavior, LGBT population health, and HIV/AIDS within urban and rural communities.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify lived experiences and social structures that influence health outcomes.

2. Describe unique cancer risk reduction and screening considerations for LGBTQI people.

3. Access resources for continued learning.

About the Speaker

Mandi Pratt-Chapman, PhD is an Associate Professor of Medicine for the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Associate Professor of Prevention and Community Health for the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health, and Associate Center Director, Community Outreach, Engagement and Equity for the GW Cancer Center. Her personal mission is to make evidence-based health care and disease prevention strategies available to more people as quickly as possible. Her research focuses on patient navigation, cancer survivorship, evidence-based cancer control, and health equity for intersectional lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) communities. 

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the importance of cervical cancer screening for LGBQ+ women.

2. Identify barriers to screening use, including those common across all women and those that may uniquely affect LGBQ+ women.

3. Understand important gaps in the current literature for LGBQ+ women and trans individuals with a cervix.

About the Speaker

Jenny Spencer completed her PhD in Health Policy and Management at the UNC School of Public Health and a postdoctoral fellowship through the Training in Oncology Population Science Program at the Harvard School of Public Health and Dana Farber Cancer Center. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at the Dell Medical School. Jenny’s work using econometric and simulation modeling methods to describe, characterize, and address inequities in cancer screening and prevention, including disparities cervical, breast and colorectal cancer — by race, ethnicity, income, and sexual orientation.

Learning Objectives

1. Share about Project SHINE’s purpose and process.

2. Provide insights into lessons learned about community engagement processes for PCOR.

3. Engage in a dialogue about ways to advance community engagement in collaborative projects like Project SHINE.

About the Speakers

Dr. Ali Talan, DrPH, MS (they/them) is a Research Scientist at Whitman-Walker Institute in Washington, DC. They have been involved in programmatic and community-based research with SGM populations for over 15 years. Dr. Talan holds a DrPH in public health and has substantial experience in the design, implementation, oversight, and dissemination of technology-based research with sexual and gender minority populations, with expertise in biomedical HIV prevention, and investigational drug and device studies, and applied qualitative research. Dr. Talan has particular expertise in the collection and analysis of data through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. They are passionate about the rights of SGM populations, having authored the American Public Health Association’s policy on Promoting Transgender and Gender Minority Health through Inclusive Policies and Practices. Dr. Talan currently serves as MPI, site PI, and Co-Investigator on several NIH-funded grants (UH3-AI133674; PI: Rendina; UG3-AI169544; MPIs: Rendina/Taggart; R01-AI150502; MPIs: Rendina/Talan; R01-MH114735; PI: Rendina).

Dr. Jenn Kwait, PhD, MHS (she/her) is a Research Scientist at Whitman-Walker Institute. Dr. Kwait has been involved in community-based programmatic and research work for many years ranging from providing health education and social support to clients seeking reproductive health care, to leading direct care providers at a community-based organization serving women with HIV, to leading a team of LGBTQ+ young people in developing a parent/guardian training about sexual orientation and gender identity. Dr. Kwait has particular interest in collecting and analyzing information about lived experiences and assessing needs and barriers to care -- and sharing these findings to inform educational and training tools and activities, advance policy and advocacy, and develop new measurements. She is the site-PI for several NIH-funded studies (U-01-HL146021; MPIs: Margolick/Brown; HL160326-01; PI: Friedman; and MH128955; MPIs: Wilson/Meyers; 4R33AI142685/4R61AI142685; PI: Clark). She also served as the site-PI for a study to assess the impact of a motivational interviewing intervention and the role of substance use on sexual health outcomes for young men who have sex with men and transfeminine young people of color, in local partnership with Children’s National Medical Center as the Washington, DC site (R01-DA043089; MPIs: Celentano/Sanders)

Learning Objectives

1. Describe perinatal health disparities among sexual and gender-minoritized people.

2. Identify two qualitative methods that promote participant engagement and power sharing in the research process.

3. Explain individual, interpersonal, and structural-level challenges for sexual and gender-minoritized people in expanding their families.

About the Speakers

Dr. Kodiak Soled, (she/her) is a Research Fellow in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. She is an expert in fertility, perinatal, and reproduction health among LGBTQ+ populations. She uses qualitative and quantitative research methods, community-based approaches, and social and structural determinants of health lenses to identify and address perinatal and reproductive health disparities and promote access to family formation among LGBTQ+ individuals. Her research has received funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses and national recognition for its innovation and impact. Dr. Soled holds a Ph.D. in Health Disparities and Health Services Research from Columbia University, MSN from Johns Hopkins University, and a BA in Critical Global Studies from Pitzer College.

Researcher Track Learning Objectives

1. Understand strategies for developing actionable research questions with community partners.

2. Describe how community member involvement and lived experiences can be used to formulate research questions.

3. Define actionable research.

4. Discuss strategies to shift power to communities while generating new knowledge.

Community Track Learning Objectives

1. Understand how to translate problems into actionable research.

2. Describe how data and lived experiences can be used to formulate research questions.

3. Discuss strategies for ensuring actionable research.

About the Speakers

TransFORWARD: Texas Transgender Health, is a six year collaboration between Texas Health Institute, Equality Texas Foundation, and Transgender Education Network of Texas. TransFORWARD educates clinicians and policy makers on what competent and necessary healthcare looks like for transgender and gender diverse people. We organize our work into three lanes. We lead with building transgender led research capacity for patient-centered outcomes research. We support and work with clinical effectiveness research focused on patient-centered outcomes research and priorities. Building capacity to disseminate research findings to the transgender and gender diverse community, and to be used in health policy decision-making, clinical practice, and curriculum development is completes our three lanes.

Community-Driven Initiatives is a program of the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School Department of Population Health that seeks to support and implement health solutions proposed by and for residents of Austin and Central Texas communities. 

Learning Objectives

1. Describe the two techniques used to engage participants in Convening activities.

2. Identify two ways the Convening centered language equity.

3. List two things you might choose to include in community-based workshops or convenings in the future. 

About the Speaker

Kelly Ducheny, PsyD (she/her) is a licensed psychologist and the Senior Advisor, Education and Clinical Practice at Howard Brown Health (HBH), an LGBTQ FQHC in Chicago. Kelly is the Co-Chair of the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force that is revising the Practice Guidelines for Working with Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People, co-lead for the Adult Assessment chapter of the WPATH Standards of Care Version 8, and the USPATH Education Committee Chair. Kelly served as the primary investigator (PI) for the Four Corners Health Research Advisory Network, a network of clinicians, researchers and TNB community members that centers TNB community voices and priorities, engaging in community-based participatory (CBPR) research that is deeply informed and led by TNB people and community needs, and was the PI of a 5-year HRSA SPNS grant exploring engagement and retention of transgender women of color in HIV care. Kelly has published and presented in the areas of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) health, HIV/PrEP, integrated care, behavioral health outcome assessment, and LGBTQ health care.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe current gaps in knowledge and controversies of changes in gender identities among youth.

2. Describe trajectories of gender diversity among youth.

3. Discuss the possible implications that gender identity changes may have for youth. 

About the Speaker

André Gonzales Real, M.D., M.Sc., is a psychiatrist from Brazil, and now am currently a third-year Ph.D. student in Human Development and Family Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. He has practiced psychiatry in Brazil for several years and now, as a Ph.D. student, is interested in developing research to deepen current understandings of gender identity development and disparities in mental health among sexual and gender minorities.

Learning Objectives

1. To discuss the structural factors that sustain health inequities among Latinx populations.

2. To describe opportunities to disrupt systems that cause health inequities in Latinx Populations. 

3. To illustrate strategies to work toward health equity in Latinx populations. 

About the Speaker

Dr. Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz is Professor and Chair of the Department of Community Health Sciences at Boston University-School of Public Health. Dr. Rodriguez-Diaz is a bilingual and bicultural community health scientist with two decades of experience practicing public health and conducting community-centered research in Puerto Rico, the Americas, and the Caribbean. His work has focused on health equity through actions on the social determinants of health, with particular attention to Latinx communities, sexual and gender minority populations, and people affected by HIV. His research and scholarship have been covered in well-known national and international media sources such as CNN, BBC, and Univision, and published in prestigious journals including Lancet, American Journal of Public Health, and Annals of Epidemiology. Dr. Rodriguez-Diaz completed post-doctoral training in HIV and Global Health Research, a Ph.D. in Public Health with a major in Community Health, and an MPH in Health Education. He has also completed post-graduate training in health policy, human rights, and health diplomacy.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify individual, interpersonal, and structural level barriers related to long-acting PrEP in transgender and gender expansive Texans. 

2. Examine the relationship between individual, interpersonal, and structural level barriers and intention to use different long-acting PrEP formulations among transgender and gender expansive Texans. 

3. Describe application of CBPR principles to PrEP for ALL.

About the Speaker

Phillip W. Schnarrs, Ph.D., is an associate professor and associate chair of research in the Department of Population Health at The University of Texas at Dell Medical School. He is also the Director of The Texas PRIDE in Health Collaborative. Dr. Schnarrs' work is broadly focused on LGBTQ+ health. His current work is focused on understanding the role of early life adversity, specifically early life experiences that are unique to LGBTQ+ populations, on adult health outcomes. His projects span mental health, suicide prevention, sexual health and HIV prevention, as well as health care access. In addition, Dr. Schnarrs received his Ph.D. from Indiana University School of Public Health at Bloomington where he received extensive training on community-based participation research. He was also a 2017 - 2020 Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Fellow with The Robert Johnson Foundation where he received advanced training in CBPR methods and practice. 

Learning Objectives

1. Introduce PCORI and patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research, detailing the critical role engagement plays in every aspect of the research process.

2. Highlight PCORI’s funded portfolio of research and engagement awards focused on LGBTQ+ health along with other related evidence products and editorial pieces.

3. Share information about PCORI’s application process for both research and engagement awards, as well as other ways to engage with PCORI.

About the Speaker

Rachel Mosbacher, MPA is a Senior Program Officer for the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award Program at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Mosbacher is responsible for strategic decision making and high-level management and monitoring of the program, its funded projects, and program activities that advance PCORI’s engagement mission. Prior to her role as Senior Program Officer, Mosbacher served as a National Urban Fellow and Program Manager for the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards Program, responsible for special projects, programmatic and evaluative support..

Before joining PCORI in 2015, Mosbacher was a School Partnerships Director at City Year New York (CYNY), where, as a member of the site’s leadership team, she collaboratively oversaw the training, management, partnership, and impact of CYNY’s 300 AmeriCorps Members and staff serving full-time in 24 under-resourced elementary, middle and high schools across New York City. During her six-year tenure at CYNY, Mosbacher also served as an AmeriCorps Member, Team Leader, and Program Manager before being promoted to Director.  

Mosbacher received a BA in psychology, with a minor in sociology, from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and an MPA from Baruch College’s National Urban Fellows Program in New York City. She is also certified in Youth Development by McClean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and in Nonprofit Management by the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance.

Learning Objectives

1. To identify the goals of a PCORI funded research engagement project.

2.  To describe the stakeholder process to reach the project goals.

3. To provide a summary of the achievements of the projects and future plans   

About the Speakers

Dr. Marylene Cloitre is a senior staff member at the National Center for PTSD Dissemination and Training Division at the Palo Alto VA and a Clinical Professor (Affiliate) in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Dr. Cloitre’s research and clinical work for the past 30 years has focused on the long-term effects of childhood trauma on social and emotional functioning. Her current research is dedicated to the development of effective, patient-tailored, flexibly-delivered mental health programs for trauma exposed populations. Dr. Cloitre is past-president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and was a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) ICD-11 working group on trauma-spectrum disorders and the formulation and testing of the Complex PTSD disorder. She is also the 2015 recipient of the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Practice of Trauma Psychology from Division 56 of the American Psychological Association. 

Leslie Einhorn is the Founder & Executive Director of Children's After School Arts (CASA), a nonprofit afterschool program in San Francisco that has a focus on art, social justice, and social emotional wellness. Leslie started CASA in 1996 to create a space where both kids & educators could feel free to be themselves and to celebrate their intersectional identities. Each year, Leslie collaborates with students and CASA's artist-educators to build an original musical exploring timely themes. Ms. Einhorn has written & produced over 20 original full-scale musicals exploring topics ranging from gentrification to gender. Outside of CASA, Leslie has worked as a Community Engagement consultant for PRIDEnet, and as part of the leadership team for a PCORI funded research study about PTSD treatments for the LGBTQ+ community.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the feasibility of training men with lived experience of sexual abuse to learn and deliver 6-session group-based, online Motivational Interviewing to sexual and gender minority male sexual abuse survivors with emotional distress. 

2. Describe and provide results of a comparative effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing versus Motivational Interviewing with trauma-informed, sexual and gender minority affirmative care in male-identifying sexual abuse survivors.  

3. Detail the mental health treatment needs, preferences and past experiences of male-identifying sexual abuse survivors who are part of the sexual and gender minority community.  

About the Speaker

Vanessa Simiola, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist whose expertise and primary interests are in traumatic stress studies, with an emphasis on dissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatments, patient preferences, education and training, and stakeholder engagement. She is currently a Collaborative Investigator at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii’s Center for Integrated Health Care Research. Her research also focuses on minority health and health disparities, particularly among indigenous and socially disadvantaged patient populations.