Dear USPATH colleagues,

I hope you are all well following our hiatus to attend the WPATH conference in Lisbon, Portugal. Since our last communication in August, USPATH has been busy providing input on a variety of matters germane to our mission. USPATH responded to the “Draft Guidance on Reporting Gender, Sex, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, and Age in Medical and Scientific Publication—Call for Review and Comment” by JAMA. As one of the leading journals covering all aspects of biomedicine, we wanted to ensure they guide researchers on appropriate measures of sex, gender, and sexual orientation. We eagerly await their final guidance on these matters.  

At WPATH, I had a wonderful time meeting many of you and hearing about your remarkable work to advance the science and care of transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse communities. In addition to learning about new research regarding the benefits of hormone therapy, the latest methods in community-led research, and future advances in surgical techniques (e.g., uterine transplantation), we had the opportunity to discuss governance and staff updates for WPATH and USPATH. In the coming months, we will be conducting a search for a new Executive Director for WPATH and USPATH. More details will be available as this process progresses.  

Having heard about the latest science at WPATH, I was well prepared to give a plenary presentation at GLMA’s annual conference in Charlotte, NC. In my plenary, I detailed the great strides we’ve made in research characterizing the needs of transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse communities. In addition to stressing the importance of trans-led research, I put out a call for more research that moves beyond proving the benefits of gender-affirming care and focuses on how we can optimize and maximize its benefits across the lifespan. As such, I’m eager to see what science you all submit for our 2025 Scientific Symposium.

Lastly, in what has been a whirlwind of meetings for many of us, I attended the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) convening to discuss a potential new study, “Understanding and Improving the Well-Being of Transgender and Gender Expansive (TGE) Populations.” If funded, this new report will build on prior NASEM reports, such as “Understanding the Status and Well-Being of Sexual and Gender Diverse Populations,” “Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation for the National Institutes of Health,” and “Supporting the Health and Well-Being of Gender Diverse Youth: A Workshop.” We will keep you updated as this work moves forward.

During our October USPATH board meeting we covered several items that I would like to highlight:

1. Our Student and Trainee SIG is holding a virtual mentoring event this Sunday, October 20 at 1pm Eastern. If you are interested in joining this event, please email uspath@PROTECTED ASAP. 
2. We will be holding our annual election for open seats on the USPATH Board. You will receive a separate email with details of this call for nominations as well as a call for applicants to serve on our nominations committee, tasked with reviewing candidates’ eligibility and fitness to serve on the USPATH Board.
3. Our Research Committee is announcing a call for applicants to join the committee. You will receive a separate email detailing the application process.
4. With WPATH behind us, we are gearing up for USPATH 2025 in Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Jo Olson-Kennedy will be leading planning for our next Scientific Symposium. You will receive a separate email detailing how to get involved.
5. Our member survey in collaboration with Whitman-Walker Institute will be launched soon. Please be sure to complete this survey and share with your colleagues (even folks who are not yet members of USPATH).

All this to say, expect a few more emails from us in the coming weeks.

As always, while we do our best to monitor and respond to every issue related to transgender health, we are not omniscient. As such, we appreciate any USPATH member sending us local or national issues that warrant USPATH consideration to uspath@PROTECTED.

By the time of November newsletter, the US Presidential Election will be complete. As such, we wish to remind our members to exercise their rights and civic duty to vote and to engage in local as well as national elections. We wish to remind everyone to double check their voter registrations status and local deadline to register. There is also additional guidance we have found helpful for our transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse colleagues to ensure they can vote. As a scientific organization, USPATH sees a clear connection between science, health, and civic engagement and we hope you all get out the vote for this election and every election to come.

In Solidarity,
Carl G Streed, Jr., MD, MPH, FACP, FAHA
President, US Professional Association for Transgender Health

What I’ve been reading lately (in no particular order):

Falsehoods About Transgender People and Gender Affirming Care. By Irving Washington and Hagere Yilma. https://www.kff.org/health-misinformation-monitor/falsehoods-about-transgender-people-and-gender-affirming-care/

Serious Inquiries Only: Actual Experts Debunk the Cass Review. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sio460-actual-experts-debunk-the-cass-review/id803584715?i=1000670137098

Here’s what the limited research we have on transgender health tells us. By Lara Salahi and Tara Haelle. https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2024/09/heres-what-the-limited-research-we-have-on-transgender-health-tells-us/

Immune system adaptation during gender-affirming testosterone treatment. By Tadepally Lakshmikanth et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39232147/

Doing Justice: Ethical Considerations Identifying and Researching Transgender and Gender Diverse People in Insurance Claims Data. By Ash Alpert et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39394534/

Hormones, stress, and heart disease in transgender women with HIV in LITE Plus. By Tonnia Poteat et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39389223/

Changes In High-sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I After 12 Months Of Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy. By Ada Cheung et al. https://academic.oup.com/jes/article/8/Supplement_1/bvae163.1571/7813876

Conferences I’m looking forward to (in order by date):

10th Annual Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health, Boston, MA, October 25-27, 2024. https://cmecatalog.hms.harvard.edu/advancing-excellence-transgender-health

TransPride YOUniting Health & Wellness Conference, Virtual, November 7 – 9, 2024. https://www.transpridepgh.org/

USPATH Scientific Symposium, Albuquerque, NM, September 26-30, 2025.

If you would like to have your event considered for advertising in future newsletters, please email USPATH@PROTECTED.