Presenter: Jillian Parisi, Public Health Science, Global Public Health Scholars
Over the summer and fall semester, I volunteered as a research assistant in a social science lab at the University of Maryland School of Public Health in the Family Science Department focused on sexual orientation, gender identity and health (SOGI). I was responsible for organizing relevant variables from the codebooks of surveys including the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and formatting transcripts of conversations on Q Chat Space, an online live chat service for LGBTQ+ teens. Although I assisted with various projects, the project I primarily worked on is an international study focused on LGBTQ+ teens’ mental health where I created Microsoft Excel spreadsheets of variables of interest from various surveys that may be important as the study progresses. Studies surrounding LGBTQ+ teens’ mental health are not of great abundance, so the research taking place in the University of Maryland SOGI Lab will hopefully help to bring more awareness to LGBTQ+ health in the future.