Jason D. Flatt

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Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Health

Expertise: LGBTQ health, Gerontology, Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, Health disparities, Social and behavioral health, Neurodegenerative diseases

Biography

Jason D. Flatt is an associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Health at UNLV's School of Public Health. His most recent research works to better understand the concerns and needs of LGBTQIA+ seniors living with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as the needs of their chosen families. He also teaches courses on community based participatory research and social and behavioral health theory.

For the last decade, Flatt has leveraged his platform as a public health researcher to work as an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. To further the reach of his advocacy efforts in Las Vegas, he partners with the LGBT Center of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas Trans Pride, Nevada Alliance for Student Diversity, and the Nevada Minority Health Equity Coalition. He is also working with several Southern Nevada community leaders to create Building H.O.U.S.E. Las Vegas, a group dedicated to organizing and creating affordable and welcoming housing for LGBTQIA+ people aged 50 and older.

Flatt’s work has been featured on NPR, U.S. News & World Report, The Advocate, and Newsweek, as well as in Alzheimer's Association outreach.

Education

Ph.D., Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
M.P.H., Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina
B.S., Health Science, University of Florida

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Jason D. Flatt In The News

Trump administration defunds UNLV research on Alzheimer’s in LGBTQ+ community

UNLV professor Jason Flatt’s research into Alzheimer’s and its effect on the LGBTQ+ community was inspired by his grandmother’s social isolation and struggle with the disease. But his dreams of improving the lives of caregivers and elderly LGBTQ+ people were dashed earlier this year when the federal government canceled all federal funding toward his work — nearly $5 million in grants — on the basis that the projects dealt with transgender issues.

UNLV professor faces loss of grant money for LGBTQ+ caregiving work over Trump crackdown

Jason Flatt has conducted public health research since 2013 examining how diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s affect the LGBTQ+ community.

What happens to health research when ‘women’ and ‘diversity’ are banned words?

Researchers say threats to federal research funding and President Donald Trump’s promise to eliminate any policy promoting “diversity, equity and inclusion” are threatening a decades-long effort to improve how the nation studies the health of women and queer people, or improve treatments for the medical conditions that affect them. Agency employees have been warned not to approve grants that include words such as  “women,” “trans” or “diversity."

What happens to health research when ‘women’ is a banned word?

The 19th

Trump's federal funding cuts are shutting down studies on Alzheimer’s care, uterine fibroids and pregnancy risks — all because they focus on gender.