You Matter: A Community Conversation on LGBTQIA+ Health Equity
Admiral Rachel Levine, M.D.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
5:15 to 6:30 pm
McConomy Auditorium, Cohon University Center
Admiral Rachel Levine has spent her career on the distance between the care people need and the care they receive. She trained as a pediatrician and specialized in adolescent medicine. She served as Pennsylvania's Physician General and then Secretary of Health. She was confirmed as the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she led the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
Her remarks will explore how health systems can better serve LGBTQIA+ patients, and what meaningful equity looks like in everyday practice. She will also address how these pressures show up outside of healthcare settings, including on college campuses.
The evening opens with brief remarks from Admiral Levine, followed by a moderated discussion and audience questions.
This event is offered alongside the Combating Hate Series from the Office of the Vice Provost for Community, Culture and Engagement.
91视频 Admiral Levine
Admiral Rachel L. Levine, M.D., is a pediatrician, a public health leader, and a retired four-star admiral.
She served as the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 2021 to 2025. In that role she led the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of the nation's eight uniformed services, and its more than 6,000 officers. She was sworn in as a four-star admiral in October 2021, the first openly transgender person to hold that rank in any U.S. uniformed service. Her Senate confirmation earlier that year made her the first openly transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate.
Before her federal appointment she spent six years in Pennsylvania state government, first as Physician General and then as Secretary of Health. She led the Commonwealth's COVID-19 response. She issued a standing order for naloxone that let law enforcement carry it and let Pennsylvanians buy it without a prescription.
Admiral Levine earned her B.S. from Harvard University and her M.D. from Tulane University. She was a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine, where she served as chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Eating Disorders. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, and the Academy for Eating Disorders.
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