Last month the Tegan and Sara Foundation put on an event that literally felt like all my interests came to life. The Queer Health Hackathon brought together data scientists, health providers, and policy experts to better understand health disparities in the LGBTQ+ community. I was invited to join 75 tremendously smart, talented, and passionate individuals in Cambridge, MA for an amazing weekend full of ideas, collaboration, and coding.
Photos by Erin Arnason.
We were given access to a large de-identified patient-level dataset from a prominent academic medical center in the area. Sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) was well documented (HUGE deal by itself!) and LGBTQ+ patients made up 25% of the set. The data lended itself to a variety of important research questions including disease prevalence and clinical outcomes of the LGBTQ+ community (and different subgroups), SOGI data completeness and integrity, access to care, and intersectional identities.
I was part of a multidisciplinary team exploring the expansiveness of provider networks utilized by sexual and gender minorities, and the impact of this on quality of care. We were nicknamed team “L Word” or “The Chart” due to parallels between the provider networks we were building and the famous relationship chart of the TV show! We used network analysis and multivariate modeling techniques to test our hypotheses and come up with promising preliminary findings in under 36 hours. Our efforts paid off, as the winning team we have been given the chance and support to continue this important research! We are thrilled to keep exploring and better understand how the LGBTQ+ community accesses health services.
I cannot express how unprecedented and inspiring this entire event was. Since starting Gayta Science, I have been constantly surprised and encouraged by the number of data-minded LGBTQ+ folks and allies I have had the pleasure of encountering.The Queer Health Hackathon was like all these encounters and more! The amount of passion was absolutely electric the entire weekend. Just being in the same room with so many talented folks, all bringing their diverse expertise to make a difference in the lives of LGBTQ people, was incredible. I was constantly inspired by the skills and ideas of others, made so many meaningful connections, and am still overwhelmed by the simple experience of getting to do the thing I love in such a supportive and affirming environment. Truly powerful.
Photos by Erin Arnason.
The biggest thank you to the Queer Health Access team and all the organizers and sponsors who made this momentous event a reality.
The work that went into the planning, preparation, and logistics of this event was not unnoticed and it is inspiring to see this amount of support committed to advancing LGBTQ+ health research. I cannot wait to see what the future holds 🙂
