How will the study work?

Participants of TURNNT will be asked to provide data for a one-year period. Starting in 2019, TURNNT will recruit 300 transgender women of color in New York City to take part.

As a participant, you will be asked to share information about relationships, networks and neighborhoods. You will also be asked about your health and life. Participants’ time and travel expenses will be compensated at every interview.

Will my information be private?

Your privacy is our primary concern. All data provided will be de-identified, which means that we take steps to make sure that anything you share cannot be linked to you personally. Study data will be stored on an encrypted server that only a small number of researchers will have access to. As this project is funded by the National Institutes of Health, there will be additional protections that limit the access of the data by other parties, such as law enforcement.

How will my information be used?

Your information will be used to look at the factors that affect the health and well-being of trans women of color. At the end of the study, we will share the outcomes of this study at events around New York City. These events will be an opportunity for you and other women in the community to have a say about how the data will be best used to meet the needs of New York City’s diverse trans communities.

Who is running the study?

TURNNT is run by researchers at Columbia University’s Spatial Epidemiology Lab, and is in partnership with researchers at Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. We also have an advisory board of community members who oversee the study—meet them here.