(*PLEASE NOTE* - To register as a Student Member, you must select the "Graduate Student", "Resident", or "Fellow" option as a specialty in your account creation.)
The WPATH Student Initiative (WSI) provides opportunities for graduate students to become active in the work of WPATH, a multidisciplinary professional association which works on behalf of transgender people around the world. Student members serve as liaisons to committees and to the Board of Directors. Members of the Student Initiative have access to a mentoring program and a database of training programs. The WSI also works to support student research by awarding small research grants and fostering opportunities for students to present their research at WPATH and other transgender-related conferences across the world.
Student members of WPATH are afforded numerous benefits to enrich their career development and opportunities to influence the field of transgender health.
Student members are individuals enrolled in a graduate program who, upon graduation, would be eligible for professional membership in the association. Areas of study include law, medicine, social work, counseling, psychology, speech and language therapy, public health, family studies, psychotherapy, marriage and family therapy, women/gender/queer studies, sexology, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, pharmacology and other academic and applied disciplines that contribute, or have the potential to contribute, to the wellbeing of transgender individuals and to the field of transgender health.
Student membership is available at $35 (US) per year and requires proof of current enrollment as a graduate student through by uploading one of the following documents:
To join, please complete the WPATH Membership Application.
Co-Chairs/BOD Liaisons:
Luke Allen, MA
Co-Chair of the WPATH Student Initiative
Representative to the WPATH Board of Directors
Luke Allen, MA, is a Counseling Psychology PhD student based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Currently, he is involved in research assessing the mental health outcomes of gender diverse young people after gender-affirming medical interventions.
Alex Laungani, MD
Full Member Co-Chair of the WPATH Student Initiative
Alex is a Plastic Surgeon trained in Belgium, currently in the process of re-training in the USA in order to be able to work in North America. He is currently based at Mayo Clinic, Rochester Minnesota. His research focuses mainly on technical aspects and outcomes of gender-affirming surgical procedures.
Penelope Strauss, MPH
Interim Student Vice Co-Chair of the WPATH Student Initiative
Penelope is a PhD student based in Perth, Australia. Her research is focused on the mental health of gender diverse young people and the barriers faced in accessing medical and mental health services.