The campus community is invited to attend the annual presentation of the Chancellor’s Award for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and/or Transgender Leadership (GLBT).
The event takes place on Monday, June 16 from noon to 1 p.m. in the UCSF School of Nursing, room 225 on the Parnassus campus.
The award recognizes contributions to the advancement of GLBT communities at UCSF. Three individuals – one faculty, one staff member and one student are being honored and will each receive $2,000.
This year’s awardees are:
• Lowell Tong, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry,
• Lisabeth Castro-Smyth, research associate, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and
• Amanda Yeaton-Massey, third-year medical student, UCSF School of Medicine.
The chancellor’s GLBT award is an example of how UCSF nurtures diversity. To receive the award, one does not need to be a member of the GLBT community. The award is bestowed on an individual whose leadership contributions advance and support the diversity of GLBT communities at UCSF.
Lowell Tong
Over the past two decades, Tong has served as a faculty member in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and has led several initiatives aimed at elevating the status of GLBT individuals on campus and increasing the visibility of GLBT people in society.
Tong has chaired the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on GLBT Issues, in addition to serving on numerous GLBT-related committees.
“Lowell Tong has worked hard to promote and advance diversity within the GLBT campus communities,” said Ellen Haller, MD, director, residency training program, adjunct professor, Department of Psychiatry, and herself a GLBT leadership awardee.
One way in which Tong has worked to keep diversity issues at the forefront is by serving as an active GLBT voice on the UCSF School of Medicine admissions committee.
Tong also has led efforts to increase GLBT content in the curriculum and served as the chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s GLBT Committee. Notably, he organized a symposium in 1998 on the 25th anniversary of the removal of homosexuality as a diagnosis from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). The event was widely covered in the press and led to public awareness about the changes in how psychiatry has viewed homosexuality over the decades.
To help educate students and continue to serve as a mentor, Tong regularly participates on “out” faculty panels. “Tong is a fantastic role model and well-loved teacher,” said Haller. “He is an innovator with a keen and creative mind, and he richly deserves this award.”
Lisabeth Castro-Smyth
Castro-Smyth has demonstrated her creativity in numerous GLBT leadership positions at UCSF. She is the creator of Mujeres de Ambiente: Sociuales y Activas (MASA), a group of queer Latina leaders addressing issues of health policy through social support and political action.
From 2005 through 2007, she served as the coordinator of the UCSF Lesbian Health & Research Center (LHRC).
Earlier this year, Castro-Smyth convened an elective series on Latino health in the School of Medicine, where one of the sessions focused on health issues among lesbian and bisexual Latinas. Castro-Smyth served as the moderator and helped to foster an exchange between students and panelists. The session received the highest evaluation score of all the courses in the section.
A letter to GLBT Committee members signed by representatives from the UCSF Lesbian Health & Research Center and the Institute for Health & Aging states, “Lisabeth has actively contributed to the dissemination of knowledge on GLBT health by establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with numerous community organizations, leading several GLBT initiatives at UCSF and advancing the appreciation for the role of diversity within the GLBT and campus communities.”
Amanda Yeaton-Massey
While serving as a student member of the medical school admissions committee, Yeaton-Massey arranged to have David Wofsy, MD, associate dean of admissions, speak to the chancellor’s GLBT committee and worked with Alma Martinez, MD, director of outreach and academic advancement in the UCSF School of Medicine, to explore how to improve relationships with GLBT applicants.
This past spring, Yeaton-Massey worked to ensure meaningful participation for GLBT students at an event for underrepresented, newly admitted medical students. During her first two years at UCSF, she organized the GLBT health elective.
“Amanda is an excellent example of a boundary spanner, active in many activities inside and outside the GLBT community that relate to health care access and social justice,” said Maxine Papadakis, MD, associate dean for student affairs.
Prior to beginning her academic career at UCSF, Yeaton-Massey earned a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in anthropology from UCLA, graduating summa cum laude.
