Don Allensworth-Davies, PhD, MSc is an Assistant Professor with the School of Health Sciences at Cleveland State University and CSU Program Coordinator for the Consortium of Eastern Ohio Master (CEOMPH) in Public Health program. He holds an MSc in Epidemiology and a PhD in Health Services Research from the Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Allensworth-Davies also serves as a member of the Gender and Health Advisory Committee and is currently Chair of the Gender and Health Interest Group at AcademyHealth, a national professional organization for health services research, health economics and health policy. His research interests include: healthcare outcomes, access to health services, and health disparities among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) elders and GBT prostate cancer survivors; addictions health services research; and research ethics and protection of human subjects.
Dr. Allensworth-Davies is very passionate about including local communities in health research, not just from a data collection perspective but by giving the community a voice in how the research is conducted, how the results are interpreted and in prioritizing their own healthcare needs and areas for intervention. Recently, he has submitted a grant to the National Institute on Aging to better understand health among LGBT elders in the Midwest. Community partners for this grant proposal include the LGBT Center of Cleveland, Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago, the Department of Aging in Milwaukee and two SAGE centers: one in St. Louis and one in Milwaukee (SAGE is a national resource and advocacy organization for LGBT elders). Historically, the Midwest is largely underrepresented in the LGBT health literature with most research participants residing on either the East or West Coast. With this grant, his aspiration is to help establish a network of Midwestern LGBT and mainstream aging organizations not just to create a foundation of health knowledge for this region of the country, but also to work directly with the communities to find new ways to improve their health, access to healthcare services and quality of life as they age.
Dr. Allensworth-Davies states that some of the things he finds exciting about living in Cleveland, Ohio are his colleagues, friends, students, the local LGBT community, Lake Erie, the West Side Market, Crop Bistro, Penzey’s Spices, the historical architecture, Akron Art Walk, the Cleveland Museum of Art and Playhouse Square.