Nicole Kahn, PhD, MEd

About

Nicole Kahn (she/her) is a clinical research scientist at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, an acting assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Dr. Kahn’s research focuses on working with diverse groups of adolescents to understand their needs and experiences in the healthcare system and to promote their autonomy and engagement with their own healthcare. At Seattle Children’s, much of her work has focused on the health and development of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth and on improving and expanding the provision of pediatric gender-affirming care. Before working at Seattle Children’s, she served as a program officer at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC where she led a consensus study of adolescent health behavior programs for the U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and the development of a suite of online tools to promote emotional well-being and resilience among children and youth for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Honors and Awards

Building the Next Generation Award
2019, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Delta Omega, Theta Chapter
2018, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Jessie Ball DuPont Dissertation Fellowship for Adolescent Studies
2017-2018, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Predoctoral Traineeship
2015-2018, Carolina Population Center

Second Place, Three Minute Thesis Competition
2017, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Cynthia H. Cassell Doctoral Dissertation Award
2017, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Teaching Interests

- Human sexuality
- Teaching skills seminar

Research Activities

Work in North Carolina:

- Carolina Demography and the My Future NC statewide commission on postsecondary educational attainment
- Community Care of North Carolina depression screening project

General interests:

- Child and adolescent health
- Sexual health
- Sexuality education
- The life course

Key Publications

Associations between patterns of sexual initiation, sexual partnering, and sexual health outcomes from adolescence to early adulthood. Kahn NF, Halpern CT (2018). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(6), 1791-1810.

Promoting Positive Adolescent Health Behaviors and Outcomes: Thriving in the 21st Century. Graham R & Kahn NF (Eds.) (2020). National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Gender diverse youth’s healthcare experiences across clinical settings. Sequeira GM, Boyer T, Coulter RWS, Miller E, Kahn NF, Ray KN  (2022).  Journal of Pediatrics.

When youth are experts in the field. Fox EK, Kahn NF, Battle G (2022). Issues in Science and Technology.

Education