Welcome to PRIDEnet, our Community Engagement effort to catalyze LGBTQ health research

PRIDEnet is a network of organizations and individuals dedicated to involving LGBTQ people in all stages of health research, which includes helping to create research questions, as well as analyzing, and disseminating results from The PRIDE Study. We are a patient powered research network (PPRN) funded by PCORI and staffed by Carolyn Hunt and Micah Lubensky.

We build on decades of work by political activists, health advocates, service providers, and researchers to improve the health and well-being of LGBTQ communities. We are one link in a very long chain and we’re happy you found us.

In working with us as a participant of The PRIDE Study, Participant Advisory Committee (PAC) member, community partner, or community member, we want you to experience:

Access

Because of a long history of discrimination, stigma, and medical neglect, many LGBTQ people have difficulty accessing adequate care and achieving optimal health. In addition, many are marginalized from healthcare due to age, language, race and ethnicity, and legal or socioeconomic status. The PRIDE Study strives to be accessible by offering participants the ability to join from any Web-enabled smartphone, tablet, desktop, or laptop, or by telephone.

We want you to be included.

Belonging

Many of us have experienced rejection by families and society. As a result, we have created communities of broad diversity, extraordinary experience, hard-earned wisdom, and passionate leadership. PRIDEnet seeks to build on these strengths by incorporating your input and responding to your questions.

We want you to feel welcome.

Meaningful Participation

Historically, LGBTQ voices have not been included in most research efforts. Many studies don’t collect data that could help us answer the most basic questions about our health. PRIDEnet strives to engage these voices by seeking, collecting, and incorporating input from our PAC and Community Partners.

We want you to be heard.

Our Strategic Values:

How we do our work is as important to us as what we do. In catalyzing health research in LGBTQ communities, we aspire to:

Develop Give-and-take relationships:

we want you to get as much out of working with us as our projects benefit from your input.

Recognize Complex Identities and Communities:

we respect that many of you belong to multiple communities and resonate with many identities.

Create Equity:

each of our communities has unique needs and we strive to work with you in the most appropriate way, rather than in the same way.

Create Transparency:

we want you to know what we’re up to and strive to communicate openly and clearly.

PRIDEnet Participant Advisory Committee (PAC)

Ward Carpenter, MD

Dr. Ward Carpenter is a Board--Certified Internist and expert in HIV medicine, transgender medicine, and LGBT primary care. He earned his medical degree from UMDNJ – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School where he first discovered his passion for community health. He did his residency training in Medicine-Pediatrics at St Vincent’s Hospital in New York City. Following his passion for LGBT health and care for the underserved, he worked at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in NY, one of the premier LGBT health centers in the country. Dr. Carpenter then transitioned into private practice, taking over a busy HIV and primary care practice in Manhattan. Seeking an escape from NY’s long winters, Dr. Carpenter moved to Los Angeles in 2013 and returned to his LGBT community health roots, accepting a position as the Director of Primary Care at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. In this role, he continues to expand and optimize the Center’s offerings in primary care, HIV treatment and prevention, and transgender health.

Laura Durso, PhD

Laura E. Durso is Senior Director of the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress. Using public health and intersectional frameworks, she focuses on the health and well-being of LGBT communities, data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity, and improving the social and economic status of LGBT people through public policy.

Prior to joining the Center for American Progress, Laura was a public policy fellow at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, where she conducted research on the LGBT community, including LGBT homeless and at-risk youth, poor and low-income LGBT people, and the business impact of LGBT-supportive policies. Earlier in her career, Laura conducted research on the health impact of weight-based discrimination. Her research has been published in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals, including Sexuality Research and Social Policy, Obesity, and the International Journal of Eating Disorders, and she has presented her work at both national and international conferences.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard University as well as master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.

Porsha Hall, MPH, MA

Porsha Hall is the Program Manager for Health and Wellness at Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders (SAGE), where she oversees and evaluates the health management, exercise, and nutrition programming for the organization's five senior centers located throughout New York City. At SAGE, she also assisted with the evaluation of the nation’s first federally-funded National Resource Center on LGBT Aging. She has worked in the fields of aging and health education for over a decade, conducting gerontological health research in academic institutions, providing case management to homebound older adults, and working as a fitness consultant for community-dwelling retirees. She holds an MPH in Community Health Education from Hunter College and an MA in Gerontology from Georgia State University.

Tari Hanneman, MPA

Tari Hanneman is the Director of the Health Equality Project at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. In this role she oversees the annual LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) and other projects related to LGBTQ health and aging.

Tari has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, primarily focused in the areas of health and women’s issues. Prior to joining HRC, she served as the initial Director of The Women’s Fund of Winston-Salem where she led all aspects of developing The Fund’s programs and brand in the community. Prior to her move to North Carolina, she served in a number of roles at The California Endowment, one of the nation's largest health foundations. She has also worked for elected officials and non-profits focused on the environment, reproductive rights and HIV. She has a Master’s in Public Administration with an emphasis on Nonprofit Management from the University of Southern California, where she also did her undergraduate work.

Gabe Murchison, MPH – Co-Chair

Gabe is a doctoral student in Population Health Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research interests include mental health and substance use among LGBTQ youth, and the primary prevention of sexual and dating violence in teens and young adults. Previously, Gabe was Senior Research Manager at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, where his publications included Supporting & Caring For Transgender Children, a guide co-published with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians; and Preventing Substance Use Among LGBTQ Teens, co-published with the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. He holds a BA in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and an MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Yale University.

Tonia Poteat, PhD, PA-C, MPH

Tonia Poteat is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a joint appointment in the Department of International Health. Her research, teaching, and practice focus on HIV and LGBT health with particular attention to transgender health. She completed her doctoral dissertation on stigma, HIV risk, and access to health care for transgender adults, co-authored a global meta-analysis examining the burden of HIV among transgender women worldwide, and is lead author of a comprehensive review of HIV among transgender sex workers in The Lancet HIV and Sex Workers series. In addition to her academic work, she provides medical care for people living with HIV at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Dr. Poteat graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1991 and received a Masters of Medical Science from Emory University’s Physician Assistant (PA) Program in 1995. She earned a Masters of Public Health from Rollins School of Public Health in 2007 and completed a PhD in the Social and Behavioral Interventions Program in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 2012. During her 20 years as a PA, she has devoted her practice to providing medically appropriate and culturally competent care to members of the LGBT community as well as people living with HIV. Dr. Poteat is a certified HIV Specialist by the American Academy of HIV Medicine; and she has provided primary care for trans-identified individuals since 1996.

Asa Radix, MD, MPH, MPhil

Dr. Asa Radix is trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Connecticut, and also holds postgraduate qualifications in tropical medicine and public health. Previously Dr. Radix held the position of Associate Medical Director at Callen-Lorde. In addition to having a clinical practice (HIV primary care and transgender health), Asa coordinates electives in LGBT health for medical and nursing students and is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at NYU and Yale.

Dr. Radix is of West Indian origin and has a special interest in the needs of LGBT populations of immigrant status. For 7 years, Asa was the director of a public health department in the Netherlands Antilles and assisted in the development of insular strategic plans for HIV prevention as well as federal guidelines for communicable disease prevention. Other positions prior to Callen-Lorde have included being the medical director at the University of Hartford, serving a population of 5,000 undergraduates under 24 years of age and being an infectious disease specialist in private practice in West Hartford, Connecticut. A major focus of Dr. Radix’ work has been the development and dissemination of prevention, treatment and care guidelines for HIV+ and at-risk persons in the Caribbean including provision of LGBT cultural competency training to Caribbean healthcare providers.

Dr. Radix is an associate editor of Transgender Health and member of the editorial boards for the International Journal of Transgenderism and the PRN Notebook. Other contributions include being a consultant for the World Health Organization/PAHO on transgender health issues and the co-chair of the WHO/PAHO HIV/STI technical advisory committee. Dr. Radix is the site-PI/co-investigator for 3 NIH/NIMH studies, including a demonstration project on PrEP.

Javier Ríos, MA

Javier Ríos was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is a New Mexican of diverse Irish, Mexican, and LGBTQ background. Javier joined UNM Truman Health Services in the Manzano School Based Health Center as the Health Educator in October 2016, bringing 11 years of non-profit and government experience focused in health equity, HIV/AIDS prevention, harm reduction, immigrant health, and cultural humility. In 2017 and 2013 Javier participated in the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission program Líderes a través de las Fronteras/Leaders across Borders addressing binational and border health. Since 2005 Javier has worked in HIV/AIDS prevention with LGBTQ+ communities of color focusing in community organizing, outreach, and education. His community recognitions include the 2013 Pride and Equality Vincent R. Johnson Models of Hope Award, the 2012 NMCPAG Kahlo Benavidez Leadership Award, and service as a 2012 HIV/AIDS Embajador/Ambassador for the National Latino AIDS Action Network at the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. Currently Javier is the Communications Chair of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities Region VI Southwest RHEC, as well as the co-chair for the Immigrant Committee of the City of Santa Fe. Javier earned his M.A. in Spanish: Southwest Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2005 where he taught Spanish as a Heritage Language. Javier received his B.A. from Creighton University in 2001. Javier is excited to be a part of The PRIDE Study team that cultivates health awareness of our diverse LGBTQ+ communities.