2017 LGBTQ Health Conference: Bridging Research and Practice

The 2017 LGBTQ Health Conference will bring together leading researchers and practitioners, trainees and students to bridge research and practice with the aim of addressing health disparities for LGBTQ populations. This proposal requests funding for a 3-day conference in Chicago, the 5th annual LGBTQ Health Conference, organized by a long-term successful academic-community partnership between the Northwestern IMPACT LGBT Health and Development Program (now the Northwestern Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing) and Center on Halsted, the most comprehensive LGBTQ community center in the Midwest. The conference aims to improve both research and practice on LGBTQ health by convening leading practitioners and researchers to present and discuss cutting-edge translational findings in the field; to train the next generation of practitioners and researchers in LGBTQ health; and to disseminate the findings to a broad group of audiences that includes the general public, policymakers, LGBTQ communities nationwide in addition to academics, clinicians and service providers. A major goal of the conference is to increase participation by traditionally underrepresented groups in science, including women and transgender people, racial/ethnic minorities and people with disabilities, not only as audience members but as organizers, presenters, keynote speakers and moderators. In the past, our LGBTQ Health Conferences have stimulated new research and collaborations, trained clinicians and service providers, and created opportunities for trainees, students, and junior investigators to learn and connect with leaders in the field. We plan to build on our past accomplishments to expand the 2017 Conference from one to three days, thus increasing the number of lectures, panel sessions, networking opportunities, poster presentations and by expanding our successful Professional Development Institute. The overall goal of this Conference is to catalyze research to reduce and eventually eliminate health disparities among LGBTQ people. These disparities are severe and affect LGBTQ people’s life expectancy, mental and physical health, access to and quality of care, and overall quality of life. Critical disparities are found in risk and incidence of mental health issues including suicide, substance abuse, HIV and other STIs and are linked to minority status, stigma, discrimination, and denial of human and civil rights. As is the case among other minorities experiencing disparities, these disparities are not born equally among all LGBTQ people: transgender people, LGBTQ people of color and low-income people bear a disproportionate burden of these disparities. The proposed 2017 LGBTQ Health Conference will be a unique opportunity to gather the best knowledge and practice in the field through an intersectional lens to improve the lives of all LGBTQ people.