Focus on complementary care at Lesbian Health Conference, June 18

By Eve Harris

The UCSF Lesbian Health Research Center (LHRC) will provide insight into subjects such as Chinese traditional medicine, herbs and supplements, and guided imagery—the realm of complementary medicine—during its fifth annual conference on Saturday, June 18.

Titled “A Day of Complementary Care,” the Lesbian Health Conference is set for 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Women’s Building, 3543 18th St. in San Francisco. This public education event reflects a partnership between the LHRC and community health practitioners.

Speakers will include Misha Cohen, OMD, LAc, UCSF visiting assistant researcher and director of the Bay Area’s Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine clinic; Cathi Dennehy, Pharm D, UCSF associate clinical professor in clinical pharmacy, and Ellen Hughes, MD, PhD, director of education for the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and clinical professor in general internal medicine. Emcee will be comedian Rene Hicks.

Presenters during afternoon breakout sessions will include Maya Scott-Chung and Leisha Anders of the National Holistic Institute; Beverly Burns, MS, LAc, medical director of the Bay Area’s Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic, and Trinity Ordona, PhD, former associate director of the LHRC.

During the conference, UCSF clinical professor and psychiatrist Nanette Gartrell, MD, will receive an award in recognition of her achievements in engendering lesbian health. Gartrell, the first openly lesbian member of the Harvard Medical School faculty, has conducted and published landmark research on lesbians including a survey of psychiatrists’ attitudes. Since 1986 she has conducted the longest longitudinal study in the nation on children of lesbians.

Tickets are $12 through online pre-registration or $15 at the door. Scholarships are available. For more information or to register for the conference visit www.lesbianhealthinfo.org or contact the LHRC via email at [email protected] or by phone at (415) 502-5209.

The UCSF Lesbian Health Research Center enhances clinical practice and informs policy about the health care needs of and delivery of services to lesbians, bisexual women and transgendered individuals. The program includes research, post-graduate education and training, and public service. For more information about the LHRC, contact Program Coordinator Lisabeth Castro-Smyth, at 415-502-5209 or [email protected].

NOTE TO REPORTERS: Media are invited to attend. For credentialing or to arrange interviews with speakers or LHRC Co-Director Suzanne L. Dibble, DNSc, RN, call Eve Harris in the UCSF News Office at (415) 885-7277.