LHF Grant Application Guidelines

The Lesbian Health Fund (LHF), a program of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, was established in 1992 to define, study, and educate lesbians and other sexual minority women, as well as their healthcare providers, about health issues facing the community. Today, we are still committed to improving the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ women & girls through funding rigorous scientific research. LHF is the only US research fund dedicated solely to the unique health needs of LGBTQ+ women and girls.

Eligibility

Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty interested in pursuing a research career focused on LGBTQ+ women or girls are invited to apply. Senior scholars, faculty, and non-profit organizations interested in expanding their program of research into this population are also welcome to apply. Applicants’ organizations or institutions must have a US tax ID. 

Grant award checks will be made to the primary institution or organization identified on the application cover page. Proposed research may not begin until you have received funding from LHF. Grant money is NOT awarded for completed research or for projects in progress. Current LHF grantees may not participate in a new grant as PI or Co-Investigator until LHF receives the written Final Report for their current grant.

2024 Research Areas

For the 2024 grant cycle, we plan to fund grants in the range of $5,000 to $10,000 each. The LHF Grant Committee welcomes all proposals that identify or address health disparities among LGBTQ+ women and girls (e.g., sexual and/or gender minority women or girls, gender diverse people assigned female at birth); however, special consideration will be given to proposals that focus on the following:

• Research that generates pilot data for subsequent training or early-stage
  investigator grants
• Subpopulations that are often underrepresented in sexual and gender minority
  (SGM) research, including but not limited to:
  • Adolescents/Youth
  • Bisexual people
  • Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color
  • Gender diverse people
  • Intersex individuals or individuals with differences of sex development (DSD)
  • Older adults
  • People who experience multiple points of marginalization
  • Rural communities
• Methods & frameworks
  • Measurement & methods of LGBTQ+ people
  • Community-informed/community-based participatory research
  • Trauma-informed research
  • Social & behavioral research
  • Intersectionality
  • Sexual and Gender Minority Health Disparities Research Framework
• Topical areas
  • Sexual and reproductive health, including family & parenting issues
  • The impact of the pandemic on health and wellbeing 
  • Educational initiatives (e.g., curriculum development)
  • Acute care/hospitalization experiences
  • Access to healthcare issues
  • Across the lifespan issues
  • Violence prevention

Previously funded LHF grants can be found here.

Evaluation

LHF will give a higher ranking to proposals that:

• Test hypotheses or evaluate research questions that advance the science of LGBTQ+ women and girls’ health through a rigorous study design and innovative methodology
• Aim to make a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ women and girls
• Include one or more priority research area(s)
• Support investigators with a commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ women and girls

Reporting Responsibilities

Interim and final reports are to be submitted by the principal investigator. Upon completing the project, the investigator will be encouraged to present the results at the GLMA Annual Conference on LGBTQ+ Health in 2025 for one-year grants and 2026 for two-year grants. Within six months of project completion, the investigator is expected to submit a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. A copy of the manuscript is to be sent simultaneously to the LHF Program Manager at LesbianHealthFund@glma.org. All publications resulting from the research conducted from the award must acknowledge that the project was funded by the Lesbian Health Fund of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality. The project narrative will be publicized with the Principal and Co-Investigator(s) names if the grant is funded.

Important Dates

The deadline for receipt of the 2024 application cycle is March 15th, 2024, at 11:59 pm ET. Funding decisions will be announced by July 15, 2024. Receipt of funding can occur as soon as IRB approval is obtained and the funding agreement has been signed.

Final IRB Approval/Exemption should be submitted no later than August 1st, 2024, at 11:59 pm ET. For those applying from institutions or as an international applicant without an Institutional Review Board, arrangements must be made for you to seek IRB approval from another investigator or institution, OR you must propose a valid and legal process that would serve as an alternative. If you are unsure how to proceed, please send an email to LesbianHealthFund@glma.org.

Proposal Submission Guidelines

In addition to asking you to provide some contact information and demographic data for the primary investigator and, if applicable, the co-investigator(s), please review the proposal submission guidelines for further details of proposal requirements.