ALTHOUGH a search on the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website still yields a null result – ‘No pages were found containing “intersex”.’ – intersex does crop up in searches on related websites such as those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and Health Resources & Services Administration where searches on the term LGBTI are also starting to yield results.

A recent email, below, from an HHS officer informs us of new LGBTI and intersex-inclusive grants funding.

Screenshot of email on intersex and LGBTI grants funding from AJ Pearlman, Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services.

Colleagues:

I wanted to make sure you are aware of recent funding opportunities coming out of HHS. Specifically, last week, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced two grant competitions to identify, evaluate, and promote successful strategies for getting HIV-positive transgender women of color into primary care and retaining them in care. In addition, this week, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reissued a program announcement, Research on the Health of LGBTI Populations, seeking proposals for basic, social, behavioral, clinical and health services research relevant to the missions of the sponsoring Institutes and Centers and the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) and other sexual and gender minority populations. I encourage you to share these announcements with anyone who might be interested in applying. More information is provided below from both NIH and HRSA.

Best,
AJ Pearlman
Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs
Department of Health and Human Services

NIH Funding Opportunities

The NIH has reissued a program announcement, Research on the Health of LGBTI Populations, seeking proposals for basic, social, behavioral, clinical and health services research relevant to the missions of the sponsoring ICs and the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) and other sexual and gender minority populations. (Prior versions of this PA were titled Research on the Health of Diverse Populations.) The Institute of Medicine reported in March, 2011 that these populations experience substantial health risks and called on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to implement a research agenda to “advance knowledge and understanding of LGBT health.” The NIH is committed to supporting research that will increase scientific understanding of the health status of various population groups and improve the effectiveness of health interventions and services for individuals within those groups. High priority is placed on research in populations, including sexual and gender minority populations, that appear to have distinctive health risk profiles but that have received insufficient attention from researchers. Links to the FOAs are:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-12-111.html
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-12-112.html
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-12-113.html

…

Both programs are funded under HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS), which provides grants to identify, evaluate and replicate innovative models of HIV/AIDS care and treatment for hard-to-reach and at-risk populations. Applications are due no later than April 16, 2012 at www.grants.gov.

HRSA’s website includes direct links to all open funding announcements, as well as tips for applicants at: http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/index.html. HRSA also has a new Webinar series on the grants process, linked from: http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/apply/index.html.

You can sign up to receive e-mail notifications on grant funding opportunities on: http://www.grants.gov/applicants/email_subscription.jsp

Last but not least, HRSA is always looking for a diverse group of expert grant reviewers. Anyone interested in being a HRSA grant reviewer is encouraged to register at: http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/reviewers/index.html

AJ Pearlman
Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20201

Internal links:

• The Intersex Network – OII’s Bhakti Ananda Goswami’s open letter about intersex to organizers of the White House LGBT Conference on Health, February 16th, 2012, in Philadelphia
• The Intersex Network – The White House LGBT Conference on Health, Thursday, February 16th in Philadelphia