On February 16, PHMC researcher Lee Carson joins the inaugural White House LGBT Conference on Health to be held in Philadelphia and co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services in partnership with Mazzoni Center. Carson, research associate in PHMC’s Research and Evaluation Group, will be the co-moderator on mental health and substance abuse among LBTQ communities. The event provides an opportunity for advocates, community leaders, and health care providers to discuss the health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans and also features remarks by Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of US Department of Health & Human Services and John Berry, director of U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Carson has worked in the areas of HIV prevention and substance abuse rehabilitation in the LGBT population for the past 13 years and has participated in several projects related to HIV prevention among men who have sex with men. Carson also works part-time as a mental health therapist for the Mazzoni Center, a health center serving Philadelphia's LGBT population and he serves as an adjunct instructor in the graduate social work department at Temple University.