>good morning Ralph
>Terry Schilling vows to uncover controversial $9.7 million NIH study on transgender minors
>A transgender-identifying child in New York,
House Republicans press NIH on suppression of federally funded puberty blocker research
By
Gabrielle M. Etzel
November 4, 2024 9:00 am
House Republicans launched an investigation on Monday into the efforts of a prominent youth transgender medicine physician to withhold results from a federally funded study on the mental health effects of puberty blockers for political reasons.
Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, medical director for the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, said she was delaying publication of the results from a multiyear study funded by the National Institutes of Health for fear that her findings could be used by critics of transgender medicine for minors.
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Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), chairwoman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Healthcare and Financial Services, sent a letter to NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli regarding the status of the trans youth care, or TYC, study conducted by Olson-Kennedy with a $9.7 million NIH grant.
“NIH is responsible for overseeing its extramural research projects to ensure supported researchers practice transparency, exemplify scientific integrity, and are proper stewards of taxpayer funds,” McClain wrote, requesting that Bertagnolli provide all documents regarding the TYC study by Nov. 18.
Olson-Kennedy told the New York Times in an interview that early findings of her longitudinal study showed that puberty blocker treatments for adolescents with gender dysphoria did not lead to mental health improvements. She claimed that the children didn’t show major improvements because they were doing well when the study began.
“They’re in really good shape when they come in, and they’re in really good shape after two years,” Olson-Kennedy said, adding that she did “not want [her] work to be weaponized.”
McClain’s letter to Bertagnolli highlights that the results Olson-Kennedy shared with the New York Times are significantly different than the paper she authored in 2020, funded by the NIH, that said the cohort of 95 children involved in the study did experience adverse mental health symptoms at the beginning of the experiment.
“Dr. Olson-Kennedy’s apparent mischaracterization of the TYC study’s results and refusal to publish taxpayer-funded research because they contradict her pre-existing biases and could be cited by critics of ‘gender-affirming’ medical interventions is an irrefutable example of politicization of scientific research to further an ideological agenda,” McClain wrote to Bertagnolli.
Under Olson-Kennedy’s leadership, the Center for Transyouth Health and Development prescribed 103 minor patients with cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers and performed 165 cross-sex surgical procedures on minors, according to insurance billing records published by the medical advocacy group Do No Harm.
The Center for Transyouth Health and Development has not responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for an interview with Olson-Kennedy.
McClain’s subcommittee is not the only one in the House to be investigating the reasons why the results of the TYC study have been withheld.
House Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) told reporters that her committee would also begin to investigate the Olson-Kennedy study as a “clear example of the politicization of science at the expense of children.”
“Research funded by taxpayer dollars through the NIH should be publicly disclosed regardless of the results, and Americans deserve access to the truth,” Rodgers said.
The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation in August into pressure put on professional medical organizations from key players in the Biden administration to loosen age restrictions on transgender surgeries for minors, such as double mastectomy and vaginoplasty.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, also started an investigation into the dearth of research on the efficacy of hormonal and surgical interventions for gender nonconforming minors.
The NIH did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment regarding the Olson-Kennedy study.
https://archive.ph/H0eVA
>efforts of a prominent youth transgender medicine physician to withhold results from a federally funded study on the mental health effects of puberty blockers for political reasons.
>Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, medical director for the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, said she was delaying publicationof the results from a multiyear study funded by the National Institutes of Healthfor fear that her findings could be used by critics of transgender medicine for minors.
> https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Letter-to-NIH-on-withholding-research.pdf
Dear Director Bertagnolli:
The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting oversight of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) grant of $9.7 million to an ongoing research project titled, “The
Impact of Early Medical Treatment in Transgender Youth.”1 We are alarmed that the project’s
principal investigator, Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, is withholding publication of the project’s
research findings which cast doubt on the efficacy of the “gender affirming” model, because she
believes the findings could be “weaponized” by critics of transgender medical interventions for
children.2 NIH is responsible for overseeing its extramural research projects to ensure supported
researchers practice transparency, exemplify scientific integrity, and are proper stewards of
taxpayer funds. Therefore, in light of the NIH grantee’s unwillingness to release the research
project’s findings, we ask that you provide documents and information to assist the Committee’s
oversight of this matter.
One research study in this project, known as the Trans Youth Care (TYC) study, gave
medical puberty blockers to 95 children in the early stages of puberty and observed subsequent
mental health outcomes over two years.3 Nine years after the study began, Dr. Olson-Kennedy
claims the TYC cohort did not report any mental health improvements after initiating puberty
blockers.4 Furthermore, Dr. Olson-Kennedy claims the TYC cohort’s mental health was “in
really good shape” when the study began, implying that puberty blockers have no adverse
clinical impacts on mental health.5 However, a 2020 paper authored by TYC researchers
conflicts with Dr. Olson-Kennedy’s account.6 According to this paper, the children in th
>Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy
> said she was delaying publication
>for fear her findings could be used by critics of transgender medicine for minors.
The Impact of Early Medical Treatment in Transgender Youth
Project Number5R01HD082554-08
Former Number2R01HD082554-06
Contact PI/Project LeaderOLSON-KENNEDY, JOHANNA L
Other PIs
Awardee OrganizationCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES
Description
Abstract Text
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Transgender children and adolescents are a poorly understood and a distinctly understudied population in the United States. The limited available data suggest that youth with gender dysphoria are at increased risk for negative mental and medical health outcomes including anxiety, depression, HIV acquisition, suicide, and substance use compared to their peers. Therefore, medical intervention is aimed at alleviating gender dysphoria and ameliorating potential negative outcomes. In 2011, the Institute of Medicine called for research to understand and improve the lives of gender minority populations. In 2015, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles/USC, Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Benioff Children’s Hospitals/UCSF and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago/Northwestern University were awarded NIH grant R01HD082554 to develop and implement a multidisciplinary, prospective, observational study: The Impact of Early Medical Treatment in Transgender Youth (TYC). The original aims were to examine physiological and psychosocial effects of medical intervention for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth with gender dysphoria observed for 24-months. To date, TYC has successfully recruited beyond its targeted baseline sample in two cohorts: (i) 95 youth initiating pubertal suppression with gonadotropin releasing hormone analogs (GnRHa) along with one parent/guardian (n=95), as well as (ii) 316 youth initiating gender-affirming hormone (GAH) therapy (testosterone or estrogen). Early results have demonstrated a positive trend regarding mental health response to gender affirming interventions. The primary objective of this observational, longitudinal, multicenter renewal study is to evaluate the longer-term physiological and psychological impact of existing medical treatment protocols initiated in adolescence on youth with gender dysphoria for up to an additional 4 years. A second objective is to enhance the diversity and size of existing cohorts by enrolling additional youth of color (YOC) into both cohorts (n=89) and enroll additional assigned males at birth specifically into the GAH cohort (n=110). The final objective is to add measurements of psychosocial variables required to answer new questions posed in this renewal application. A key feature of the renewal period is that most individuals in the original GnRHa cohort will be starting GAH treatment. By examining outcomes of TGD youth who initiated GAH treatment with and without histories of puberty suppression, TYC will be well positioned to examine key questions about the sequencing of puberty suppression and GAH treatment on health outcomes. Continuing our current research is imperative to expand the scant evidence-base currently guiding the clinical care of TGD youth and thus, is of considerable public health significance. Results from this study have the potential to significantly impact services provided to TGD youth in the U.S. by making available rigorous scientific evidence outlining the longer-term impact and safety of early treatments based on pubertal development stage.
> https://reporter.nih.gov/search/OPTb_4f5-kOe2wU2YYzolA/project-details/10615754
Johanna Olson-Kennedy, MD
Faculty • Advisory Board
Johanna Olson-Kennedy, MD is an Adolescent Medicine physician specializing in the clinical care of gender non-conforming children and transgender youth. Board certified in Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Dr. Olson-Kennedy an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the USC Keck School of Medicine. She is the Medical Director of The Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, the largest transgender youth clinic in the United States and has been providingmedical intervention for transgender youth and young adults includingpuberty suppression and cross sex hormones for the past fifteen years. Dr. Olson-Kennedy has appeared frequently on national television, and spoken all over the country to educate providers, parents, and other communities about the needs of transgender youth.
> https://www.lgbtqiahealtheducation.org/us/faculty-advisory-board/johanna-olson-kennedy-md/
>hormones for the past fifteen years
Contact PI / Project Leader Other PI or Project Leader(s)
OLSON-KENNEDY, JOHANNA L CHAN, YEE-MING ;GAROFALO, ROBERT ;ROSENTHAL, STEPHEN M
Program Official Information
WINER, KAREN
FREUND, LISA S
> https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10122677#description