Dr. Sari Reisner is Director of Transgender Research in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Reisner is also Director of Transgender Health Research at The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Trained as a social and psychiatric epidemiologist, his research addresses health disparities in sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations, with specialization in transgender and gender diverse health, HIV prevention, mental health, young adult health, and community-engaged research approaches. Dr. Reisner is an investigator of multiple studies funded domestically and internationally, including a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) project to enroll and follow a cohort of 4,500 transgender patients in Boston and New York City to prospectively assess the impact of medical gender affirmation on physical and mental health outcomes. He has co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, the majority in TGD health. In 2016, he was profiled in The Lancet as a global leader in transgender health and was honored as a member of the 2015 Trans100 List which celebrates work “by” and “for” transgender people, in recognition of his contributions in transgender health.
Dr. Rodrigo Aguayo-Romero obtained their doctoral degree in the Clinical/Community Psychology program at George Washington University. They are completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Transgender Health Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, with affiliations at Harvard Medical School and The Fenway Institute. They are the co-chair of the joint task force of the American Psychological Association’s Division 44 and the Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity revising the Professional Practice Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People. Their research focuses on risk behaviors and health disparities faced by gender, sexual, ethno-racial, and socioeconomically disadvantaged minorities impacted by HIV and AIDS. Their research examines health disparities impacting transgender people of color and Latino MSM using intersectionality and syndemics frameworks.
Meg Quint graduated with a BS in biochemistry from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 2021 where they engaged in research focused on cancer biology and genomics. After graduation, Quint worked as a full-time research assistant at The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health on Adolescent Trials Network studies. Currently, they work full time at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Transgender and Gender Diverse (TGD) Health Research and remain affiliated with The Fenway Institute. Quint’s research interests focus on healthcare outcomes and health disparities faced by TGD individuals, particularly those with multiple stigmatized and disadvantaged identities, the impacts of minority stress on physical health outcomes, strengths-based approaches to TGD community health, and the development of comprehensive LGBTQ+ medical education. Quint aims to complete an MD/MPH and work with transgender and gender diverse populations in clinical and research settings. In their free time, Quint is an avid sourdough and plant enthusiast.
Transgender and Gender Diverse Health Equity Study (TGD HES)
TGD HES aims to better understand the experiences of transgender and gender diverse individuals in healthcare settings, including barriers and facilitators to care, accessing care, and experiences in healthcare settings, with the goal of improving transgender and gender diverse healthcare offerings at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. We will enroll a total of 50 individuals from three populations (1) key informants (providers and administrators) who are involved in transgender and gender diverse health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, (2) transgender and gender diverse individuals who receive care through Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and (3) transgender and gender diverse individuals living in the Greater Boston Area who do NOT receive care through Brigham and Women’s Hospital. All enrolled participants will take a 10-20 minute demographic questionnaire and then participate in a 45-60 minute audio recorded interview via Zoom.
If interested in learning more about this study please contact the Research Assistant, Meg Quint (they/them).
Funder: Brigham and Women’s Hospital HEIP Internal Grant
Dates: Enrollment to open starting in mid-late February 2022
PI: Sari Reisner, ScD
To learn more about Dr. Reisner’s other currently enrolling studies
at other institutions
please visit the TRANSGENDER HEALTH RESEARCH website.
Featured Publications
Global Health Burden and Needs of Transgender Populations: A Review
Transgender people are a diverse population affected by a range of negative health indicators across high-income, middle-income, and low-income settings. Studies consistently document a high prevalence of adverse health outcomes in this population, including HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, mental health distress, and substance use and abuse. However, many other health areas remain understudied, population-based representative samples and longitudinal studies are few, and routine surveillance efforts for transgender population health are scarce. The absence of survey items with which to identify transgender respondents in general surveys often restricts the availability of data with which to estimate the magnitude of health inequities and characterize the population-level health of transgender people globally. Despite the limitations, there are sufficient data highlighting the unique biological, behavioral, social, and structural contextual factors surrounding health risks and resiliencies for transgender people. To mitigate these risks and foster resilience, a comprehensive approach is needed that includes gender affirmation as a public health framework, improved health systems and access to health care informed by high quality data, and effective partnerships with local transgender communities to ensure responsiveness of and cultural specificity in programming. Consideration of transgender health underscores the need to explicitly consider sex and gender pathways in epidemiological research and public health surveillance more broadly.
Advancing Methods for US Transgender Health Research
Purpose of review: This article describes methodological challenges, gaps, and opportunities in US transgender health research.
Recent findings: Lack of large prospective observational studies and intervention trials, limited data on risks and benefits of sex affirmation (e.g., hormones and surgical interventions), and inconsistent use of definitions across studies hinder evidence-based care for transgender people. Systematic high-quality observational and intervention-testing studies may be carried out using several approaches, including general population-based, health systems-based, clinic-based, venue-based, and hybrid designs. Each of these approaches has its strength and limitations; however, harmonization of research efforts is needed. Ongoing development of evidence-based clinical recommendations will benefit from a series of observational and intervention studies aimed at identification, recruitment, and follow-up of transgender people of different ages, from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and with diverse gender identities.
Summary: Transgender health research faces challenges that include standardization of lexicon, agreed upon population definitions, study design, sampling, measurement, outcome ascertainment, and sample size. Application of existing and new methods is needed to fill existing gaps, increase the scientific rigor and reach of transgender health research, and inform evidence-based prevention and care for this underserved population.
This report describes the evolution of a Boston community health center’s multidisciplinary model of transgender healthcare, research, education, and dissemination of best practices. This process began with the development of a community-based approach to care that has been refined over almost 20 years where transgender patients have received tailored services through the Transgender Health Program. The program began as a response to unmet clinical needs and has grown through recognition that our local culturally responsive approach that links clinical care with biobehavioral and health services research, education, training, and advocacy promotes social justice and health equity for transgender people. Fenway Health’s holistic public health efforts recognize the key role of gender affirmation in the care and well-being of transgender people worldwide.
Transgender Community Voices: A Participatory Population Perspective
Understanding the global health burden and needs of transgender communities necessitates meaningful engagement and involvement of transgender people. Against the backdrop of widespread social and economic exclusion facing people of diverse gender identities and experiences, community empowerment is essential for clinical services, public health programmes, and human rights efforts that seek to design and implement effective services and population-level interventions to improve the health and wellbeing of transgender people.
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