Lifetime Achievement Award
JOHNSON CITY (Oct. 18, 2018) – A faculty member in the East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine has received the highest honor in his field.
Dr. George Brown, associate chairman for Veterans Affairs and professor in the Department of Psychiatry at ETSU, was awarded the Lifetime Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). The award recognizes Brown for making important contributions to advancing the knowledge and quality of care in transgender health through the research he has conducted over his entire career.
Brown has served on the ETSU faculty for 25 years, during which time he has also held an appointment at the Mountain Home Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He was chief of psychiatry at the VA for 16 years before being promoted to conduct health disparities research at the VA Central Office in Washington, D.C.
He served 12 years in the United States Air Force as a psychiatrist and worked with transgender active duty service members and with transgender veterans during his 30 years of active clinical work and research in the area of gender dysphoria. He was the first to publish research data on transgender issues among military members and veterans.
His publications on transgender topics span over 30 years, and he has presented his original research findings at nearly every WPATH Scientific Symposium since 1987. Brown has published more than 150 articles and abstracts as well as 24 book chapters on transgender health care issues. He developed the largest studies ever published on the health of transgender people using comprehensive medical, psychiatric and pharmacological data from the largest integrated health care system in the country.
Brown, who has served three terms on the WPATH board of directors, is also actively involved in working with court cases on behalf of transgender individuals seeking access to nondiscriminatory transgender health care and employment opportunities. He has served as an expert witness in numerous national precedent-setting cases that have benefited transgender and transsexual people, including his current work as a key expert witness on behalf of transgender American military troops seeking to remain on active duty service.
“The first patient I ever interviewed as a 20-year-old medical student was a transwoman who had had sex reassignment surgery and was an Army veteran. In 1979, there was no internet, no Wikipedia, and little had been researched on this topic. I decided to devote a big part of my career to understanding gender dysphoria, in spite of contrary advice from my mentors,” Brown said. “I have seen many positive changes for transpeople during my career, and I am proud to have been a part of that change. Much more work needs to be done, however.
“This award means a great deal to me, and I hope that others in health care will learn
from my work and take it to the next level to further the cause of reducing health
disparities and improving the lives of transgender individuals and their families.”
Media contact
Amanda Mowell
mowella@etsu.edu
423-439-4317