# Improving Measurement of Alcohol Use and Other Disparities by Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity through Community Engagement

> **NIH NIH R01** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $99,083

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This proposal seeks to address gaps in Intersex and Variations of Sex Development (I/VSC) health by
investing directly in Intersex-led, grassroots research efforts. The proposed study represents a strong
collaboration between members of the Intersex Research Coalition (IRC) and researchers who lead the EDIT
and ADVOCATE Programs within Northwestern University‘s Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health
and Wellbeing (ISGMH). The IRC is a coalition of community partners, medical students, Intersex activists,
physicians, and public health professionals who are interested in learning more about what it means to deliver
affirming care to I/VSC people. The EDIT and ADVOCATE Programs both are dedicated to advancing
community-led research that promotes intersectional sexual and gender minority (SGM) health equity. We
recognize that community participatory action research is a pathway to change in policies and practices that
center intersectional equity for I/VSC people. In brief, we will recruit 200 I/VSC individuals diverse in race,
ethnicity, and gender to complete a survey to elicit feedback on I/VSC health research priorities, experiences of
erasure and affirmation within sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity (SSOGI) measurement in I/VSC
populations, and alcohol use. Qualitatively, we will conduct in-depth interviews with up to 20 I/VSC participants
to identify what existing measurement tools have been used in I/VSC populations, shortcomings of these
measurement tools, what SSOGI information I/VSC people are willing to share in different settings, the nuance
of intersex vs. VSC specific language, and future directions for improved I/VSC population measurement. The
supplement will apply minority stress, intersectionality, and life course theoretical frames and use participatory
action research methods to ensure that future I/VSC research is more effectively positioned to be affirming,
contextually valid, meaningful, and positively impactful to multiply minoritized I/VSC populations. This proposal
leverages the strong foundation for interdisciplinary collaboration, community insight, and effective
dissemination established within Project Recognize, as well as our team’s clear and unique insights into the
current gaps and opportunities in SSOGI measurement that are also responsive to the NASEM report’s call to
measure I/VSC populations. Overall, our interdisciplinary team of investigators, mixed-methods strategies, and
the foundation of community engagement and trust on which the parent grant is built support feasibility of the
completion of all study aims and objectives. This project will result in the development of measures that are
affirming, reliable, and valid in diverse I/VSC populations across multiple contexts. Future adoption of these
measures in public health research will yield the first affirming population assessments of I/VSC health and
inform a community-led, evidence-informed research agenda to pave the way...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11019419
- **Project number:** 3R01AA029076-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Lauren Brittany Beach
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $99,083
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-09-21 → 2026-12-18

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11019419

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11019419, Improving Measurement of Alcohol Use and Other Disparities by Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity through Community Engagement (3R01AA029076-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11019419. Licensed CC0.

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