Yale LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative receives prestigious award

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

HMI, also based in New York, creates a safe and supportive environment for LGBTQ youth and young adults ages 13-24 and their families. The Yale initiative was selected for the award because of its impact on improving the mental health of LGBTQ individuals. LGBTQ people experience highly disproportionate rates of depression, suicidality, and substance use.

The Yale initiative is the first group to be honored with the Emery Award. Other honorees have included American activist Monica Lewinsky (2023); New York Governor Kathy Hochul (2022); vogue dancer, choreographer, and actress Leiomy Maldonado, a judge on the HBOMax show Legendary and former HMI youth member (2022); television personality, actress, and author Ts Madison (2022); New York State Attorney General Letitia James (2021); and Pose star Dominique Jackson (2021).

"It’s an incredible honor to receive an award named for Dr. Emery Hetrick, who recognized decades ago the mental health promise of providing LGBTQ people with stability, support, and purpose in their local communities," said founding director Dr. John Pachankis, PhD, the David R. Kessler, MD '55, Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences) at YSPH, and a professor of psychiatry and psychology.

“To the extent that our work at Yale advances his mission, we are honored to be recognized as following in Dr. Hetrick’s footsteps,” he added. “We look forward to continuing our community-research partnerships to optimize mental health support for LGBTQ people locally and across the country.

Dr. Danielle Chiaramonte, PhD, a YSPH community psychologist and associate research scientist, coordinates many of initiative’s research projects. Working alongside Pachankis and Dr. Skyler Jackson, PhD, assistant professor of public health (social and behavioral sciences) at YSPH, she helps supervise a team of postdocs, MPH students, and research assistants.

“It is really exciting to see such enthusiasm for mental health research and practice in New York,” Chiaramonte said. “We may work at Yale, but our research takes place in the LGBTQ community, so it means a lot to us to be recognized by one of New York City's oldest youth-serving LGBTQ organizations. None of our work would be possible without community organizations like HMI and the clients they serve.”

Dr. Trace Kershaw, PhD, chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at YSPH and Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Public Health, said the HMI honor acknowledges the important work both the initiative and Pachankis are doing and the impact they’re making on real-world community health.

“This is the first organization and research-focused group that has been honored with this award,” Kershaw said. “It demonstrates the tremendous recognition that John’s group has made in impacting community mental health practices and policies for LGBTQ youth.”

Dr. Skyler Jackson, PhD, an assistant professor at YSPH and another member of the Yale LGBTQ MHI team, used to lead a youth-focused, community-based non-profit in California before becoming a researcher to Yale.

"As an academic and scholar, I have always hoped that my voice and work would continue to be relevant, accessible, and valuable to those on the ground engaging the community, particularly marginalized youth," Jackson said. "It’s thus incredibly meaningful and humbling to be recognized in this way by the Hetrick-Martin Institute. Receiving an Emery Award suggests that we are a part of something greater—the larger effort to build a more LGBTQ-affirming society, both within the local community and beyond."

Pachankis launched what was originally known as the Esteem Research Group in 2013; the name was changed to the Yale LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative in 2019 as the group’s scope expanded. It serves as a home for scholarship and scholars across YSPH and Yale University who are who are devoted to improving LGBTQ people’s mental health by translating scientific findings into programs and interventions with real-world impact.

Creating pathways for translating outstanding science into local and global impact is one of several key strategic priorities at YSPH recently announced by Dean Megan L. Ranney, MD. The initiative also aligns with other YSPH priorities in fostering interconnected, inclusive, and interdisciplinary public health communities within and beyond Yale.

“The Yale LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative conducts rigorous research using large cohort studies, clinical trials, and implementation science to try to understand why disparities exist and to reduce them through evidence-based mental health practice and community building,” Pachankis said. He added that the initiative has formed partnerships with 90 LGBTQ community centers around the country, while the treatments they have developed are being delivered around the globe.

Notably, the LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative team led by Pachankis recently developed LGBTQ+-affirmative cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), the first evidence-based mental health treatment created by and for LGBTQ+ individuals to address the unique stressors that LGBTQ+ people face across life.

Ten years in the making, the value of the treatment was established across randomized trials. Last year, Pachankis received a nearly $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health to test the best ways of implementing LGBTQ+-affirmative cognitive therapy at 90 LGBTQ+ community centers around the country.

Mental health providers can learn to deliver evidence-based LGBTQ+-affirmative cognitive behavioral therapy through low-cost online training, which would help deliver more evidence-based mental health care to LGBTQ+ people and support its implementation across practice settings, according to a recent study by the Yale LGBTQ+ Mental Health Initiative.