Biography
Lauren B. Beach, JD/PhD is an interdisciplinary researcher who works as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Evaluation, Data Integration, and Technical Assistance (EDIT) program led by Dr. Gregory Phillips II. EDIT is housed within the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University. Lauren's appointment is within the Department of Medical Social Sciences in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. Lauren's focus as an emerging independent investigator has been three-fold: 1) To characterize the epidemiology of diabetes across the life course among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual populations (often called "sexual and gender minority," or "SGM" populations within the scientific research community) 2) To investigate care continuum outcomes of people living with both HIV and diabetes using clinical informatics approaches and 3) To study the effects of stigma on the quality and delivery of healthcare, chronic condition management, health behaviors, and health disparities among SGM populations.
Prior to joining the EDIT team at Northwestern, Lauren served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the research group of Dr. Kerri Cavanaugh, where she began development of a novel measure of diabetes stigma. During her time at Vanderbilt, Lauren was also named the Director of LGBTI Research within the Program for LGBTI Health. Prior to joining Vanderbilt, Lauren spent a year in Lusaka, Zambia, where she served as co-investigator of ACADEMIC, a large child mortality survey, run by the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ).
An alumna of the University of Minnesota's Joint Degree Program in Law, Science and Technology, Lauren completed her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics. For her dissertation research in Dr. Louis M. Mansky's lab, she investigated the molecular mechanism of action of a novel class of anti-HIV drugs. In December 2012, Lauren received her law degree magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School, with a concentration in Health Law and Bioethics. A major focus of her academic legal work included an interdisciplinary independent study under professor Ralph Hall about the intersections of comparative effectiveness research policy, public health, virology and the law. In 2014, Lauren became a member of the Minnesota bar.
While developing her academic career, Lauren has been a leading advocate to improve the public health of LGBTQIA and especially bisexual communities. As an undergraduate at Michigan State University, Lauren held multiple student leadership roles dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion on campus. As a graduate and law student at the University of Minnesota, Lauren not only continued her work with LGBTQIA groups within the campus setting, but also expanded into serving the community at large. From 2010-2013, Lauren led the 501(c)(3) organization Bisexual Organizing Project (BOP) as Chairperson, transforming it from a largely Twin Cities focused organization into a nationally recognized non-profit. From 2009-2014, Lauren also served as a core organizer of BOP's annual BECAUSE Conference on bisexuality. Additionally, Lauren has served on the boards of the 501(c)(3) organizations the Queer Student Cultural Center, the Minnesota GLBTA Campus Alliance, the China AIDS Orphan Fund, and Healthy Kids: Brighter Future. In 2015, she helped co-found Tennessee's first non-profit organization dedicated to serving bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer, QTPOC, and unlabeled communities, Bi Tennessee.
In recognition of her academic excellence and community-minded leadership, Lauren has received many scholarships, fellowships and leadership awards. Among other honors, Lauren holds a Health Disparities Loan Repayment Award from the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities, is a former National Institutes of Health Ruth L Kirchenstein National Research Service Award F31 fellow, a two-time Point Foundation alumna, a Mary A. McEvoy Award for Public Engagement and Leadership honoree, one of Advocate Magazine's 2013 40 Under 40 LGBT activists in the United States, a 2013 winner of the Minnesota Jaycee's Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans award and one of the United States Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Americans. On several occasions, she attended White House events and celebrations recognizing the LGBTQIA and bisexual communities, including co-leading the discussions on HIV/AIDS and the bisexual community on Celebrate Bisexuality Day.
In total, Lauren has given over 30 peer-reviewed and 40 invited expert presentations about SGM health disparities, health research, and communities at national research and community forums. Taken together, her track record demonstrates her lifelong commitment to work toward a larger objective of promoting health equity and improving healthcare quality for sexual and gender minority people through research, education, policy advocacy, and community engagement.
Prior to joining the EDIT team at Northwestern, Lauren served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the research group of Dr. Kerri Cavanaugh, where she began development of a novel measure of diabetes stigma. During her time at Vanderbilt, Lauren was also named the Director of LGBTI Research within the Program for LGBTI Health. Prior to joining Vanderbilt, Lauren spent a year in Lusaka, Zambia, where she served as co-investigator of ACADEMIC, a large child mortality survey, run by the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ).
An alumna of the University of Minnesota's Joint Degree Program in Law, Science and Technology, Lauren completed her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics. For her dissertation research in Dr. Louis M. Mansky's lab, she investigated the molecular mechanism of action of a novel class of anti-HIV drugs. In December 2012, Lauren received her law degree magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School, with a concentration in Health Law and Bioethics. A major focus of her academic legal work included an interdisciplinary independent study under professor Ralph Hall about the intersections of comparative effectiveness research policy, public health, virology and the law. In 2014, Lauren became a member of the Minnesota bar.
While developing her academic career, Lauren has been a leading advocate to improve the public health of LGBTQIA and especially bisexual communities. As an undergraduate at Michigan State University, Lauren held multiple student leadership roles dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion on campus. As a graduate and law student at the University of Minnesota, Lauren not only continued her work with LGBTQIA groups within the campus setting, but also expanded into serving the community at large. From 2010-2013, Lauren led the 501(c)(3) organization Bisexual Organizing Project (BOP) as Chairperson, transforming it from a largely Twin Cities focused organization into a nationally recognized non-profit. From 2009-2014, Lauren also served as a core organizer of BOP's annual BECAUSE Conference on bisexuality. Additionally, Lauren has served on the boards of the 501(c)(3) organizations the Queer Student Cultural Center, the Minnesota GLBTA Campus Alliance, the China AIDS Orphan Fund, and Healthy Kids: Brighter Future. In 2015, she helped co-found Tennessee's first non-profit organization dedicated to serving bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer, QTPOC, and unlabeled communities, Bi Tennessee.
In recognition of her academic excellence and community-minded leadership, Lauren has received many scholarships, fellowships and leadership awards. Among other honors, Lauren holds a Health Disparities Loan Repayment Award from the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities, is a former National Institutes of Health Ruth L Kirchenstein National Research Service Award F31 fellow, a two-time Point Foundation alumna, a Mary A. McEvoy Award for Public Engagement and Leadership honoree, one of Advocate Magazine's 2013 40 Under 40 LGBT activists in the United States, a 2013 winner of the Minnesota Jaycee's Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans award and one of the United States Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Americans. On several occasions, she attended White House events and celebrations recognizing the LGBTQIA and bisexual communities, including co-leading the discussions on HIV/AIDS and the bisexual community on Celebrate Bisexuality Day.
In total, Lauren has given over 30 peer-reviewed and 40 invited expert presentations about SGM health disparities, health research, and communities at national research and community forums. Taken together, her track record demonstrates her lifelong commitment to work toward a larger objective of promoting health equity and improving healthcare quality for sexual and gender minority people through research, education, policy advocacy, and community engagement.
Curriculum Vitae
Click here for a copy of Lauren's CV (last updated August 2018).
Click here for a copy of Lauren's CV (last updated August 2018).
Press
Articles and blog posts featuring Lauren:
Listen to Lauren's interview of David Jay, founder of the Asexual Visibility Education Network
Listen to Lauren's interview on Illinois Public Media about her paper showing LGBQ teens may be at higher risk for diabetes
(story starts ~43 minutes into recording)
Diabetes Risk Higher among LGBQ Teens Than Heterosexual Teens, Study Finds
Dr. Lauren Beach Featured in ThinkProgress Article on Bisexual Health
Dr. Lauren Beach Speaking at "We See You: Countering the Invisibility of Bisexual Health"
Three Bisexual Point Leaders Attend First Ever White House Roundtable Discussion on Bisexuality
Listen to Lauren's interview of David Jay, founder of the Asexual Visibility Education Network
Listen to Lauren's interview on Illinois Public Media about her paper showing LGBQ teens may be at higher risk for diabetes
(story starts ~43 minutes into recording)
Diabetes Risk Higher among LGBQ Teens Than Heterosexual Teens, Study Finds
Dr. Lauren Beach Featured in ThinkProgress Article on Bisexual Health
Dr. Lauren Beach Speaking at "We See You: Countering the Invisibility of Bisexual Health"
Three Bisexual Point Leaders Attend First Ever White House Roundtable Discussion on Bisexuality
