Mats J. Olsson

Dr. John Pachankis, Professor at Yale University, is one of the world’s leading scholars in the psychological study of stigma and the mental health of sexual minority individuals. He has published over 200 scientific manuscripts, which have been cited over 21,000 times and have influenced national policies, clinical guidelines, and public discourse. His research is internationally recognized for its rigorous scientific methodologies, including experiments, population cohorts, clinical trials, and implementation science. Over the past 13 years, Dr. Pachankis’s research had been funded by the National Institutes of Health (USA). However, in March 2025, this funding (~10 million USD) was suddenly terminated, placing at risk one of the world’s most productive sources of scientific knowledge about the psychological experience of stigma and sexual minority mental health. Dr. Pachankis’s proposed relocation, planned for 1 January 2026, offers the opportunity for Sweden to serve as the European, and global, hub for this research field, and to continue to build prominence in the psychological sciences more broadly. Plans for the relocation include continuing partnerships with Karolinska researchers on the epidemiology and treatment of sexual minority people’s elevated mental health risk and pursuing new collaborations through the prodigious resources afforded by the home department (Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology) and its affiliated centers.