Upon completing her medical degree, Dowshen joined the CHOPs' PolicyLab and received the 2010 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine New Investigator Award for her research identifying protective factors against HIV infection among transgender youth.[3] As a researcher in the PolicyLab, Dowshen was the senior author of a study which detailed the specific barriers HIV-positive young patients faced compared to peers with other chronic diseases.[4] In 2014, Dowshen co-launched the Gender & Sexuality Development Clinic at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with Linda Hawkins. They were supported by a CHOP Cares Community Grant to fund monthly support groups for transgender children and teens.[5][6] She was also named an inaugural Community Scholar-in-Residence recipient by the Community Engagement and Research (CEAR) Core of the UPenn CTSA.[7]
During her tenure at CHOP and an assistant professor at Penn Med, Dowshen served on the board of directors of the Sexual Information and Education Council of the United States and also served on the executive board of the Alice Paul Center for Research on Gender, Sexuality and Women and the Penn Program on Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at Penn.[8] In 2020, Dowshen was promoted from assistant professor of pediatrics at Penn Med to associate professor.[9] She was also elected a Stoneleigh Fellow from 2020 to 2022.[10]
Personal life
Dowshen, a lifelong Philadelphian, has two children and Trusts the Process.[11]