# A Structural Approach to Understanding and Addressing Suicidality among Transgender and Gender Nonconforming College Students

> **NIH NIH K01** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · 2022 · $147,816

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Dr. Lipson's career objective is to become a leading mental health disparities researcher, contributing novel evidence about
structural determinants of disparities in adolescent and young adult populations, specifically for transgender and gender
nonconforming (TGNC) individuals (those who have a gender identity that differs from assigned sex at birth or does not fit the
male-female binary). Dr. Lipson is particularly interested in mental health disparities among college students, which include
~70% of adolescents and young adults nationwide. Though TGNC students represent just 3-4% of all undergraduates, they
account for ~15% of reported suicide attempts. The proposed K01 focuses on how exposure to structural stigma, in the form of 6
campus policies, is associated with suicidality and mental health service utilization among TGNC college students.
This K01 includes 3 specific aims, each requiring further training and expert mentorship: Aims 1 and 2 leverage the natural
experiment in which students have low/no exposure to campus policies in the pre-period (before arriving in fall of the 1st
undergraduate year). In Aim 1, Dr. Lipson will apply her K01 training in causal inference to compare changes suicidal ideation
and attempts between TGNC and cisgender students on campuses with and without structural stigma. In Aim 2, Dr. Lipson will
analyze a national database of counseling center records to assess how structural stigma is associated with treatment dropout by
TGNC and cisgender students. Supported by her K01 training in qualitative research, in Aim 3, Dr. Lipson will conduct
interviews with TGNC students and counseling center directors. This formative research will be in accordance with the
preparation phase of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST), a principled framework for optimizing/evaluating
interventions. The preparation phase will inform development and evaluation of future interventions to address structural stigma
and its underlying mechanisms. With her K01 research and training, Dr. Lipson will have the skills, knowledge, and evidence to
lead intervention evaluation and effectively collaborate on intervention teams. At the end of the K01, she will be prepared to
proceed with subsequent phases of MOST, for which she will seek R01 funding. As an assistant professor at the Boston
University School of Public Health (BUSPH), Dr. Lipson is opportunely positioned to accomplish the proposed research and
achieve her overall career objectives. Her mentors from BUSPH, Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard, and Rutgers University
bring interdisciplinary expertise in: TGNC health disparities (Dr. Austin), causal inference (Dr. Lin), qualitative research (Dr.
Jernigan), intervention development and evaluation (Dr. Stein), and suicide epidemiology (Dr. Gradus).
NIH has designated TGNC as a disparity population, yet there remain large gaps in knowledge that undermine development of
public health interventions, including evidence t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10469474
- **Project number:** 5K01MH121515-03
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah Ketchen Lipson
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $147,816
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-20 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10469474

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10469474, A Structural Approach to Understanding and Addressing Suicidality among Transgender and Gender Nonconforming College Students (5K01MH121515-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10469474. Licensed CC0.

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