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 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 Anti-Harassment Champions Working Group. 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 co-chair for the Department of Health and Human Services LGBT Coordinating Committee. Previously, Dr. Parker worked at the National Cancer Institute for 14 years, where she served as Acting Branch Chief in the NCI Office of Science Planning and Assessment and as Special Assistant to the President’s Cancer Panel. She began her career at NIH in 2001 as a Presidential Management Fellow. 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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Ryan 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, Ryan 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, Ryan worked in consulting at private firms specializing in program evaluation in human services, and as a clinician. Ryan 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. Ryan began his college education at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, PA. He 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. Ryan 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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Office Contact Information:
Office Email: SGMRO@nih.gov
Office Fax: 301-480-4632
This page last reviewed on October 14, 2020