Northwestern, Hospital Honored For LGBTQ Contributions

CHICAGO --- Northwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital recently were honored at a celebration of new milestones in the LGBTQ community during the Center on Halsted’s 2014 Human First Gala.

Local leaders and organizations that have contributed to the good of the LGBTQ community were honored, and the legalization of same sex marriage in Illinois was among the key milestones celebrated.

The University and Northwestern Memorial were honored as community partners of the Center on Halsted and were recognized for their long and progressive history of serving LGBTQ people through research, education and health services. 

Brian Mustanski, associate professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, accepted the award on behalf of the University. He does leading research on mental and behavioral health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, with a particular focus on youth.

“The Northwestern partnership with Center on Halsted is really about leveraging each institution’s assets to further our joint missions in producing quality research and serving the LGBTQ community,” Mustanski said when accepting the award. “Through this partnership our science can be used to improve the health of the LGBTQ community, and we can learn from service providers about pressing questions facing the community that then become our next research studies.”

Mustanski was joined at the gala by Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, associate provost for faculty and professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern, and Richard J. Gannotta, president of Northwestern Memorial.

“It is an honor for Northwestern to receive this award,” said Chase-Lansdale. “We are striving to be a center of excellence of research, health care, training and education regarding the LGBTQ community.”

Mustanski, who is the director the IMPACT program, spoke about the fruitful partnership between the Center on Halsted and Northwestern.

The IMPACT program conducts research on the sexual and physical health of sexual minorities and resides in the Center on Halsted, which has a large HIV testing program and youth program. The partnership allows research findings to be put into practice in a tangible and immediate way that benefits the community. 

The IMPACT program and Center on Halsted currently collaborate on HIV prevention studies such as Keep It Up! and ChiGuys. Each year, IMPACT and the center also co-organize the LGBTQ Health & Wellness Conference. 

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and former State Sen. Carol Ronen were among the attendees at the gala.

More than 700 guests, including civic leaders, local, state and federal elected officials, attended the event to recognize the contributions of individuals, businesses and organizations to the LGBTQ community in Chicago. The gala raised more than $650,000.

For more information about the Center on Halsted, please visit the website.