Mission
Our mission is to develop a supportive institutional climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, other sexual and gender minorities, and community allies (LGBTQ+), including faculty, staff, students, and patients at Weill Cornell Medicine and its affiliates. This inclusive climate encompasses professional development, community outreach, clinical education, LGBTQ health-related research, and the implementation of best clinical practices for LGBTQ patients. Through continuous staff and student feedback, the committee strives to develop the infrastructure and activities that address the LGBTQ+ community's personal and professional needs.
History
In 2012, Dr. Nelson Sanchez submitted a document titled “Recommendations to Build a More Supportive Climate for Lesbian, Gay, bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Students, Staff, and Patients at Weill Cornell Medical College" to Dean Laurie Glimcher. That year, Dr. Jess Zonana was leading efforts in securing the establishment of a cross-departmental LGBT committee connected to the Office of Diversity. They brought together students, faculty, and staff to form the LGBT committee at Weill Cornell Medicine, with a mission to increase the visibility of the LGBT community and to advocate for the rights of our patients and ourselves in the medical center, hospital, and community beyond.
This includes creating and fostering an open and accepting environment for LGBTQ+ students at WCM, as well as holding events that provide forums for discussion of sexual orientation and identity in the medical context. The group organizes social events and has worked with the WCM administration to increase institutional LGBTQ+ visibility and to incorporate education on LGBT health issues into the medical student curriculum. Dr. Jess Zonana chaired the committee in 2012 and led the initiative for sexual orientation and gender identity data inclusion in the WCM outpatient electronic medical records system. In 2014, Dr. Nelson Sanchez became chair of the committee and leads research initiatives and allies trainings at the institution. The committee was re-named LGBTQ+ in 2018, to recognize the broad diversity of community members.
For additional information, please contact lgbt-info@med.cornell.edu
Accomplishments
- Annual on campus networking event [2013-Present]
- LGBT Allies Training Course. Created in 2013 to train staff, faculty and students on how to serve as a campus “ally” to LGBT individuals. The program is designed to increase the overall campus community's understanding of and capacity to address issues faced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) persons. Over 200 faculty, staff and students have completed the course to date. An online version of the course was created in 2016. [2013-Present]
- Electronic Medical Records. In 2014, sexual orientation and gender identity (SO/GI) data fields were created in the outpatient electronic medical record system at WCM. By the end of 2016, nearly 40,000 patients have SO/GI data collected in the outpatient EMR and an IRB protocol is currently being reviewed at WCM to assess health disparities and quality metrics at among LGBT patients and their non-LGBT peers at WCM. [2014-Present]
- Institutional sponsorship and hosting of National Annual LGBT Health Workforce Conference. The LGBT Health Workforce Conference provides an overview of up-to-date practices (climate, educational, research, and clinical) in preparing the health care workforce to address the health concerns and disparities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities. This conference is designed for health professionals (M.D., D.O., P.A.-C., R.N., N.P., D.D., social workers, psychologists, etc.), educators, and students (pre-health professions, professional schools, and graduate), but all interested are invited to attend. [2015-Present]
- Monthly networking mixers [2016-Present]
- LGBT health research and education elective for WCM and visiting medical students. [2017-Present]
Committee Members
- Nelson Sanchez, M.D., WCM LGBT Steering Committee Chair, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center/WeillCornell Medicine (email: nes2014@med.cornell.edu)
- Marlin Mattson, M.D., Committee Faculty Representative, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College
- Jessica Zonana, M.D., Committee Faculty Representative, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College
- Matthew Moronta, Committee Student Representative, Weill Cornell Medicine
- Spyridon Mylonas, Ph.D., Committee Community Engagement Representative, Weill Cornell Medicine
- Curtis Cole, M.D., Associate Professor, Chief Information Officer, Weill Cornell Medical College
- James Holahan, Weill Cornell Medical College, Clinical and Translational Science Center
- Jason Hu, M.D., Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, NY Presbyterian Queens
- Jennifer Moon, Ph.D., Writer/Editor, Weill Cornell Medical College
- Paul Richards, NY Presbyterian Hospital
- Gwen Zornberg, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College