This year, The Fenway Institute (TFI) remained steadfast in its commitment to research, education, and advocacy in service of LGBTQIA+ communities and those affected by HIV. We would like to take this opportunity to share some of the truly incredible accomplishments of our faculty and staff in 2024.
We had a LOT to say.
TFI faculty, work, or publications were featured more than 1,700 times in public media coverage this year, and we published more than 140 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Some notable publications and contributions include:
- Alex Keuroghlian wrote the first editorial on transgender health research published in the prestigious journal, Science, in its 150-year history.
- A Research Letter from faculty members, Sari Reisner and Alex Keuroghlian published in JAMA Internal Medicine highlighted significant and growing health disparities between transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) adults and their cisgender peers across the United States, especially when it comes to mental health.
- Ken Mayer spoke to NBC News about the alarming rise in US syphilis cases.
- In July, Sean Cahill, Health Policy Research Director, and Northeastern Co-op student, Connor DiBlasi released a policy brief reviewing the impact of Project 2025 on LGBTQIA+ equality, as well as health, racial, and gender equity. Sean also highlighted this work at presentations at Columbia University Medical School’s Pediatric Department Grand Rounds, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors Annual Meeting.
We celebrated several remarkable milestones:
- We graduated our first cohort of Ken Mayer Fellows, and hosted a poster session of their work, along with that of our inaugural American Medical Foundation LGBTQIA+ Health Fellow, Harvard Medical School mentees, and other trainees. Some notable projects included:
- Outstanding Clinical Poster– Thomas Freitag for their poster on “Gender-Affirming Care for Adolescents: Understanding the Fundamental Components and Scientific Support for Lifesaving Gender Affirmation.”
- Outstanding Research Poster – Dr. Abigail Batchelder and colleagues for their poster on “Project 4U”, an implementation science project aimed at adapting and piloting an evidence-based alcohol intervention for sexual minority women and gender expansive people.
- Outstanding Education Poster– Son Quyen Dinh and colleagues for their poster on “Advancing Graduate Medical Education in LGBTQIA+ Health.”
- Eli Goldberg’s AMA Fellowship project focused on the integration of gender-affirming care and primary care in rural New England.
- In October 2024, The Division of Education and Training marked 10 years of teaching skilled, confident, evidence-based gender-affirming health care to the whole healthcare team, with the Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health Conference.
- In early September, the Governor signed into law the landmark legislation, “An Act to establish LGBTQI Long Term Care Facility Bill of Rights”. This bill included enumerating language for sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination in housing and public accommodations and will help ensure older LGBTQI+ individuals, and those living with HIV who access long-term care, will be met with compassion and dignity. TFI Faculty Sean Cahill and Lisa Krinsky were powerful and strategic advocates for this legislation.
- This year also marked the start of the Behavioral Health Equity Program, led by TFI faculty member, Abby Batchelder. This program works to increase access to community tailored evidence-informed psycho-behavioral interventions for individuals and systems who have been historically underserved by behavioral healthcare (e.g., people who use drugs, people with and vulnerable to HIV, and sexual and gender minority people).
We shared what we’ve learned from our community:
- Jennifer Potter and co-authors presented on groundbreaking LGBTQIA+ professional education initiatives at several high-profile events.
- At the AMA Foundation Annual LGBTQ+ Fellowship Convening in New York City, they shared on the creation of a Community Advisory Committee to guide the development of the Harvard Medical School-Fenway Health LGBTQIA+ Health Fellowship curriculum.
- At the GLMA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina they presented on the creation of an LGBTQIA+ Health Casebook to teach clinicians how to provide care to diverse LGBTQIA+ patients.
- At the Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting in Boston, they presented on the creation of a longitudinal seminar series to teach clinicians leadership skills in LGBTQIA+ health.
- Ken Mayer traveled to India in February to conduct a series of workshops in Mumbai and Delhi as part of the TFI-Johns Hopkins ACCELERATE Initiative. This project’s focus is to expand the cultural competence of healthcare providers in India to take care of sexual and gender minority people and to increase their knowledge and familiarity with the use of contemporary HIV prevention approaches.
- Amy Ben-Arieh, JD, MPH presented on LGBTQIA+ Community Competent research practices, leveraging the resources of the Division of Education and Training and the Multi-Regional Clinical Trial Networks new LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Research Toolkit at the second Health Equity Congress in Clinical Trials.
- Taimur Khan served on the Leadership Advisory Council for the U.S. Business Action to End HIV Coalition.
We led and collaborated in major research:
TFI was awarded over $2.9 million in new funding, representing a total of 12 grants and so much exciting new work. Some work we’d like to highlight includes:
- The successful completion of the Purpose2 Study, which demonstrated the superiority of lenacapavir, a biannual injection in preventing HIV in men who have sex with men and transgender people compared to the standard oral form of PrEP. TFI was the only site in New England that was part of this multinational study. The findings from the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial, together with a similar study in cisgender women, has the potential to reshape the future of HIV.
- TFI faculty members, Abby Batchelder, Sean Cahill received funding on their project, “Bridge to Belonging” (B2B). TFI’s newest faculty member, Dr. Jacklyn Foley will also serve as a Co-Investigator for this project. This project’s focus is producing an intervention (B2B) to link older sexual minority men with HIV who experience loneliness and depression with local, community services through a peer delivered friendship and motivational interviewing intervention. Dr. Conall O’Cleirigh, TFI Faculty member, will also serve as a consultant on this project.
- Several faculty members including Doug Krakower, Julia Marcus, and Ken Mayer received NIH funding on their project, “Over-the-Counter PrEP: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Potential Impact of Access without a Prescription (OFFSCRIPT).” This project is exploring the feasibility and potential impact of making PrEP over the counter.
We were recognized on the local and national stage:
- Kenneth Mayer was selected to receive the Michael Tye Award from Fenway Health, in recognition of his exemplary leadership and service on behalf of Fenway’s mission and the communities we serve
- Alex Keuroghlian was selected for the 2024 STATUS List of Leaders in Life Sciences, which features 50 influential people shaping the future of health and life sciences across biotech, medicine, health care, policy, and health tech.
- Jennifer Potter was the recipient of the 2024 MedEdPORTAL Associate Editor of the Year Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). This distinction is given to those who have completed the timeliest and highest quality editorial comments.
- The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) included the LGBTQIA+ Health Education website in their historical collections of web content as part of their mission to make materials available to the public that provide free important information in medicine and public health.
We welcomed new voices and visions:
- After serving as co- interim Executive Director alongside Dr. Taimur Khan, Amy Ben-Arieh was appointed as the new Executive Director of The Fenway Institute in April 2024.
- TFI welcomed new faculty member, Jacklyn Foley. Dr. Foley’s research focus is on psycho-behavioral intervention development and testing to improve the health and well-being of older people with HIV in the United States.
- Keep your eyes open for some new faces who will be joining us in 2025!