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The transgender identity of the attacker in a Minneapolis mass shooting has led some to describe the event as "trans terrorism." YSPH Professor John Pachankis says trans people are not linked to higher rates of violence. "A school shooter who happens to be transgender has more in common with other school shooters than with other transgender people," Pachankis tells The New York Times.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has moved to restore hundreds of grant awards, but researchers - including Yale School of Public Health's Dr. John Pachankis - say restarting their work has been slow and resource-intensive.

In this Q&A, Nature Mental Health speaks to Dr. John Pachankis, a clinical psychologist and professor of public health, psychology, and psychiatry, and the director of Yale’s LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative. His research explores mechanisms, including developmental and biopsychosocial components, that contribute to the elevated burden of mental health disorders observed in LGBT+ people and that may serve as targets for reducing risk and for treatment.

Whether developing a new test for malaria, exposing health risks associated with climate change, or highlighting the impact of stigma on LGBTQ+ population well-being, Yale School of Public Health faculty advanced science in a variety of impactful ways over the past year.

John Pachankis, whose research studies the mechanisms explaining the sexual orientation disparity in mental health and examines the efficacy of LGBTQ-affirmative mental health interventions, was recently appointed the David R. Kessler, M.D. ’55 Professor of Public Health, effective immediately.

The Yale LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative, a New York City-based group co-sponsored by the Yale School of Public Health and the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, was recently honored with the prestigious 2024 Emery Award by the Hetrick-Martin Institute. The award ceremony took place Oct. 24 at Nordstrom in Midtown Manhattan.

In Connecticut, there are LGBTQ community centers in New Haven, Norwalk and, most recently, Bridgeport. There have also been recent efforts to launch a queer hub in West Hartford.

Professor John Pachankis has received a nearly $4 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to implement LGBTQ-affirmative cognitive behavioral therapy in 90 LGBTQ community centers nationwide.

Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ youth living in U.S. states with discriminatory policies, such as “Don’t Say Gay” laws, are more likely to be depressed than their peers in the most LGBTQ+- affirming states, according to new research from Yale School of Public Health scholars.