Email - Fenway e-News: Welcome Sean Cahill; Meet June Kelly

September 2011

Newsletter Archive

From Our President
	Many of you likely saw last month’s Boston Globe coverage of the federal government’s redistribution of HIV/AIDS prevention funding which has resulted in a $4.3 million cut to those programs here in Massachusetts. If not, you can read those stories here and here. The money is being taken away from programs in Massachusetts that have successfully reduced the incidence of HIV infection and will be reallocated to programs in states that have not been as successful in curtailing new infections. Read more.

National LGBT Health and HIV/AIDS Advocate Sean Cahill Joins The Fenway Institute as Director of Health Policy Research

Sean Cahill, PhD, a national leader in the fight for LGBT equality and science based HIV/AIDS prevention and care for twenty years, has joined The Fenway Institute as Director of Health Policy Research. In his new role, Cahill will oversee efforts to adapt Fenway’s LGBT health and HIV/AIDS research data and findings to better advocate for a progressive public health policy.

“We’re very excited to have Sean join The Fenway Institute as Director of Health Policy Research,” said Rodney VanDerwarker, Administrative Director of The Fenway Institute. “His track record speaks for itself and we’re confident that he will be able to work with our research and policy advocacy teams and our partner organizations to further advance our LGBT health and HIV/AIDS policy agenda at the state and federal levels.”

Read more about Sean here.

Study of medical school teaching highlights need for greater focus on LGBT health

This week’s publication of ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender–Related Content in Undergraduate Medical Education’ by Obedin-Maliver et. al. in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is an important and well constructed look at what medical students are and are not learning about LGBT health and related issues. The article finds that one-third of American and Canadian medical schools have no formal teaching of LGBT content during clinical instruction, which is astounding given what the Institute of Medicine has recently pointed out regarding deficiencies in our knowledge about disparities to care for LGBT people.

The Fenway Institute’s Professional Education and Development Program is spearheading the effort to ensure that clinicians of all types are better informed about issues related to the care of LGBT people. Read more.

Audre Lorde Cancer Awareness Brunch October 15

SAVE THE DATE for the 13th annual Audre Lorde Cancer Awareness Brunch. Join us at this annual inspirational event for women and their friends who have been affected by cancer. This unique gathering provides an opportunity for women to share, network, laugh, cry and rediscover our resilience and strength. This year's theme is Together in Sisterhood: “Without Community, There is No Liberation”.

“The Audre Lorde Brunch is an amazing event in which sisters reach out to hold each other's hands and touch each other's hearts,” said Dr. Jennifer Potter, Director of Fenway’s Women’s Health program.

Read more about the 13th annual Audre Lorde Cancer Awareness Brunch online. To RSVP or volunteer for this year's Brunch, email Kendra at kmoore@fenwayhealth.org.

Dr. Kenneth Mayer consults on HIV/AIDS, LGBT health with Vietnamese government and community stakeholders

Dr. Kenneth Mayer, Medical Research Director and Co-Chair of The Fenway Institute participated in a national consultation organized by the Harvard AIDS Initiative in Vietnam in Hanoi which included around 100 stakeholders from the Vietnamese government, non-governmental organizations and implementers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USAID, UNAIDS and the World Health Organization. Ken then traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, where he gave two talks to community-based LGBT group leaders, one an update on HIV prevention, and the other on the key elements of LGBT health.

Footage of Ken taken during his visit was incorporated into the ‘Born to Love’ video of public voices supporting LGBT people in Vietnam. The video is available on Youtube and Ken appears around the 2 minute, 20 second mark.

June Kelly
Fenway Health and Harbor to the Bay supporter

I’m June Kelly, and I live just south of Boston in Mansfield. Although I’m a native of Minnesota, after nearly twenty years in New England, I can’t imagine living anywhere else. When I’m not training for bike rides, I work in postsecondary education, supervising a group of vocational schools in Southern New England.

Getting involved with Fenway was a happy accident. Around six years ago, a girlfriend of mine convinced me that I needed to attend a gala event in downtown Boston called The Women’s Dinner Party. At the time, I expected nothing more than to have a pleasant evening, but the experience was profound and inspiring. The sense of empowerment and community that I experienced that night among those thousand women told me clearly that I had found something very special. I wanted to know more.

From providing compassionate health care of outstanding quality, to performing groundbreaking research in the fight to stop AIDS, Fenway has established itself as a singular, irreplaceable resource for our community. In today’s climate of strained public resources and divisive politics, I think that demonstrating a firm commitment to support Fenway is more important than ever. Riding with Harbor to the Bay is a fun and rewarding way to show that commitment.

Read more about June, and why she supports Fenway Health and Harbor to the Bay, online.