Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office (SGMRO) Staff
Karen L. Parker currently serves as Director of the Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office (SGMRO) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Parker was instrumental in the formation of the office in the fall of 2015 and was appointed Director in June 2016. In her role as Director, Dr. Parker is co-chair of the trans-NIH Sexual and Gender Minority Research Coordinating Committee (RCC), a committee on which she has served since its inception in 2011, and co-chair of the NIH SGM Research Working Group of the Council of Councils. Dr. Parker is also a member of the NIH Anti-Harassment Steering Committee and serves as the co-chair of the NIH Office of the Director Equity Council. Additionally, she sits as an ad-hoc member on the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director Working Group on Diversity. Dr. Parker is involved in several SGM-related initiatives beyond NIH. She serves as co-chair of the Measuring Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Research Group, an entity of the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology, as well as an Executive Director of the Department of Health and Human Services LGBTQI+ Coordinating Committee. In 2021, Dr. Parker received the LGBTQ Health Achievement Award, from GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, for her contributions towards advancing the field of SGM health and health equity for SGM communities. Dr. Parker began her NIH career in 2001 as a Presidential Management Fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). She spent several years at NCI, serving in various roles in the Office of the Director. Dr. Parker received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Indiana University and her Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan, where she studied community organization, social policy, and evaluation. She subsequently completed her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, School of Social Work. |
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![]() Operations Coordinator Pronouns: He/Him Phone: 301-402-9616 Anthony Anderson is the Operations Coordinator for SGMRO. Anthony is a native Washingtonian and began his time with NIH in 2013 at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) as an Administrative Technician. He later worked for the Division of Management Support (DMS) as a Junior Program Analyst and moved to his new role as Operations Coordinator with SGMRO in August. On a personal note, Anthony is an avid sci-fi movie watcher and has seen the movie Avengers: Endgame roughly 25 times (so far). His greatest joy is being a father; Anthony’s son Rahmaan is an honor roll student and is a sophomore in high school. |
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Willow has served, since the inception of the office, as the program analyst for the Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office (SGMRO) in the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, located in the NIH Office of the Director. In this capacity, Willow supports all aspects of the SGMRO, including the implementation of the trans-NIH SGM Research Strategic Plan, collaborations with the Tribal Health Research Office and other ICOs, data collection and analysis, and the measurement of progress towards our strategic goals. Before joining NIH, Willow worked in consulting at private firms specializing in program evaluation in human services, and as a clinician. Willow has worked in a wide range of clinical and social science research settings, with supranational, national, state, provincial, and local governments, always contributing to ground-breaking research, and organizational evolution in vulnerable populations, including children, the poor, sexual and gender minorities, the imprisoned, and Native Americans. Willow began their college education at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, PA. They then completed a B.A. in psychology with a minor in history, and went on to earn a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. Willow identifies as male and gay and prefers the gender-neutral pronouns 'they' and 'them.' They live in Maryland with their schnoodle, Oliver, and both adore peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. |
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Measurement and Data Lead Pronouns: She/Her
Christina serves as the Measurement and Data Lead in the SGMRO. Her main role includes operationalizing the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report, “Measuring Sex, Measuring Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation for the National Institutes of Health”. Previously she served as the Sexual and Gender Minority Data Lead in Medicare’s Office of Minority Health and as the data analyst for the Health People 2020 LGBT Health topic area at the National Center for Health Statistics, CDC, as well as working on the Healthy People 2020 LGBT Health topic are in the earlier stages of development while at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). While not directly related to SGM populations, Christina also worked on two infectious disease public health emergencies, the Ebola Response (2015-2016) with the CDC and the COVID-19 pandemic response (2020-2021) while working to protect worker safety and health with OSHA.
Christina has served in leadership of the LGBTQ Health Caucus of the American Public Health Association since 2012 in roles from secretary, to chair, to policy chair. She serves as the Terminology Subgroup lead for the Measuring Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Research Group, part of the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM). She holds a Masters’ Degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a double major from Smith College in Neuroscience and Woman and Gender Studies. A native New Mexican, Christina is deeply committed to intersectional research and public health practice, the idea that populations and communities must achieve equity through data representation, and an eternal love of green chile. In her free time, she reads, runs marathons, and goes on adventures with her plott hound, Dawson. |
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![]() Communications Specialist (C) Pronouns: She/Her Nicole Kazi serves as the Communications Specialist for the Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office at the National Institutes of Health. Previously Nicole worked as a Communications and Membership Coordinator for Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church. She also worked at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in the International Development program for four years. Nicole earned an M.A. in Liberal Arts at Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in International Development at UMBC. She is passionate about the accessibility of knowledge and earned a certificate in Science Writing also at Johns Hopkins University. Nicole volunteers with various national and local non-profit organizations translating their promotional and marketing materials from English to Spanish. She lives with two cats, Bucky and Peanut, and when she is not writing or reading science fiction and fantasy, she loves to bake. |
Office Contact Information:
Office Email: SGMRO@nih.gov
Office Fax: 301-480-4632
This page last reviewed on July 12, 2022