National Academies' Institute of Medicine Appoints First-Ever Committee on LGBT Issues

Press Release from the Fenway Institute

THE FENWAY INSTITUTE’S DR. JUDITH BRADFORD AND DR. HARVEY MAKADON APPOINTED TO FIRST-EVER LGBT ISSUES COMMITTEE AT NATIONAL ACADEMIES’ INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE

Judith B. Bradford, PhD, and Harvey J. Makadon, MD, of The Fenway Institute have been appointed to the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health Issues and Research Gaps and Opportunities at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of The National Academies, advisors to the nation on science, engineering and medicine. At the end of the Clinton administration, the IOM conducted a workshop study on lesbian health that was critical in developing this area of science. This more extensive study of the broader LGBT population will be used by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for planning purposes and it's likely that other federal agencies and the United States Congress will take notice of its findings.

Read the rest.

[Chicago's Dr. Robert Garafolo of the Howard Brown Health Center is also part of this committee. Learn more about this work here.)

Full cmte roster:


Bobbie Berkowitz
Robert Blum
Walter Bockting
Judith Bradford
Brian de Vries
Robert Garofalo
Greg Herek
Elizabeth Howell
Daniel Kasprzyk
Harvey Makadon
Charlotte Patterson
Caitlin Ryan
Mark Schuster
Lowell Taylor
Ruth Zambrana

Sexual Mixing Patterns and Partner Characteristics of Black MSM in Massachusetts at Increased Risk for HIV Infection and Transmission

A new study by the Fenway Institute of Boston is highlighting the need for a nuanced approach to HIV prevention in the Black MSM community. Findings suggest that sexual risk
behaviors of Black MSM differ across partner type and by the characteristics of their sexual
networks and that this sub-population of MSM are at high risk for HIV acquisition and
transmission.

For instance, men who reported having serodiscordant unprotected anal sex (UAS) with a male partner in the past 12 months also reported being at risk for social isolation, having unstable housing, and using poppers at least weekly during sex. But those who reported having unprotected vaginal intercourse with a female partner in the past 12 months had different risk factors, including those with unstable housing, those who used cocaine at least weekly during sex, and those who were HIV-infected.


The study underlines the need for effective prevention strategies that address the distinct sexual and behavioral risk patterns presented by different sexual partnerships reported by Black MSM.

You can check out the abstract here.

Harm reduction and a focus on the holistic - Boston's MALE Center goes beyond ...

MALE Center equips men to avoid HIV infection
via Bay Windows by St. John Barned-Smith

Excerpt:

"The whole premise behind the MALE Center was to help reengage the community around HIV prevention, around [the sexual] health of the community," said Shankle. "We moved the focus from just doing HIV prevention, but talking about a whole approach to gay and bisexual men’s health. So we’re looking at things like substance abuse, like how people engage in the community, homelessness, the fact that unemployment - these are all things that lead people to make decisions that may not be the best decisions related to their sexual health."

Read the whole thing.

The Fenway Institute Awarded Historic Grant to Advance LGBT Health Research

Under a presidential administration that has been accused of hampering scientific research in general and research on gay men in particular, the Fenway Institute at Fenway Community Health Center received a $1 million grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish the first federally funded research center focused on conducting population research on the LGBT community.

The grant - $1 million over 5 years - will support the creation of technical resources and compiling of data with the goals of producing cutting-edge research on LGBT communities and training the next generation of LGBT scholars. Priority areas are behavioral research on the transmission of HIV; characteristics and quality of life of LGBT families and households; and demographic aspects of LGBT health, morbidity, disability and mortality.

Read the coverage in Bay Windows here.

In Newsweekly's story is here.

Fenway's press release is here.