Research Projects
Spotlight
International Collaboration
Professor William Yarber and Dr. Yarber's students Robin Milhausen (PhD '04) of Guelph University of Ontario Canada and Richard Crosby (PhD '98) of the University of Kentucky have teamed up with Stephanie Sanders of the Kinsey Institute and Cynthia Graham of Oxford University, United Kingdom to pioneer research on male condom use and errors.
Documents
- Life Sciences in AHS
- 2008 Grants and Contracts
- 2008 Faculty Publications
- 2008 Faculty Presentations
- 2007 Grants and Contracts
- 2007 Faculty Publications
- 2007 Faculty Presentations
Research Projects & News
- 2009 summer – Dr. Michael Reece has been invited to present as part of the Presidential Symposium panel at the upcoming International Academy of Sex Research (IASR) conference. The meeting will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in August 2009. Presenters of the symposium (“Correlates of Impulsive/Compulsive Sexual Behavior”) have been selected by IASR President Dr. Eli Coleman, Director of the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine.
- 2009 summer – Drs. Brian Dodge and Michael Reece has been invited to attend the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) scientific meeting entitled “Advancing HIV Prevention Intervention Research with MSM”. The event will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, in August 2009. The NIMH and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have partnered to hold this meeting of experts at the National HIV Prevention Conference in order to address the HIV prevention needs of men who have sex with men (MSM) living in the United States. This event has been arranged by Dr. Cynthia Grossman, Program Officer at NIMH.
- 2009 summer - The Center for Sexual Health Promotion actively represented Indiana University at the recent International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research (ISSTDR) conference in London, England, in July. In her invited symposium, "New Horizons in STD Testing," CSHP core faculty member Dr. Barbara Van Der Pol (IU School of Medicine) provided data regarding the use of a universal specimen collection material for STD diagnostics. This universal medium performed as well as the collection kits provided by manufacturers of diagnostic test kits. Use of a universal medium is likely to encourage screening in settings that have not traditionally provided STD testing and improve provision of services to populations at need. In another invited session, "Vaginal Swabs are In," Dr. Van Der Pol presented data that coincides with the CDC STD Diagnostic Guidelines that recommend use of vaginal swabs rather than cervical specimen as the sample of choice for screening. This advancement is critical to expanding the coverage of STD testing beyond clinical settings. Use of vaginal swabs will encourage innovative testing strategies such as home based sampling and community based service provision. The talks were sponsored by BD and Abbott Pharmaceuticals. During the meeting, Dr. Van Der Pol was one of three individuals elected to the ISSTDR Board of Directors. During her 6-year term, she will be involved in setting the course of future meetings and the Society as a whole. Other CSHP members who presented at the conference included Associate Director Dr. Brian Dodge, doctoral students Joshua Rosenberger and Alexis Roth-Graneros, former doctoral student Dr. Amanda Tanner (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) and core faculty members Drs. J. Dennis Fortenberry and Greg Zimet (IU School of Medicine).
- 2009 spring - William Yarber and Dr. Yarber’s students Robin Milhausen, PhD ’04, and Richard Crosby, PhD ’98, have teamed up with Stephanie Sanders, Associate Director of the Kinsey Institute and Cynthia Graham of Oxford University to pioneer research into condom use.
- 2009 spring - Dr. Michael Reece was selected as a recipient of a grant from the most recent cycle of School of HPER Faculty Research Support Program. He will serve as Principal Investigator of “Factors Impacting Intentions to be Tested for Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-2) Among Women,” together with Dr. Brian Dodge of the Department of Applied Health Science, Dr. Barbara Van Der Pol of the Department of Infectious Disease at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Greg Zimet of the Department of Pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and Alexis Roth-Graneros of the Department of Applied Health Science. The project is a collaborative effort among the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, the Indiana University School of Medicine, and The Bell Flower Clinic of the Marion County Health Department. The data from this pilot study will be directly integrated into a developing series of linked R01 grant proposals to be submitted to the National Institutes of Health.
- 2009 spring - Dr. Brian Dodge has been awarded a R21 research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) entitled “Sexual Health Among Bisexual Men” for $425,000. The aims of the study are: 1. To identify the individual and socio-cultural determinants related to their sexual interactions that increase risk of HIV acquisition through in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of bisexual men in an underserved area of the Midwestern United States (Indianapolis); 2. To evaluate the feasibility of engaging a diverse sample of bisexual men, in terms of recruitment and participation, in a multi-method study aimed at understanding the levels of risk to sexual health in order to inform a subsequent sexual health intervention; 3. To acquire information useful for designing relevant, accessible, and culturally-appropriate HIV/STI prevention information to be used in a subsequent grant proposal aimed at promoting sexual health for bisexual men via interventions tailored to the needs of these men. Team members of this developmental research project include Dr. Barbara Van Der Pol (Department of Infectious Disease, IU School of Medicine), Dr. Michael Reece (IU Department of Applied Health Science, School of HPER), Dr. J. Dennis Fortenberry (Department of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine), Dr. David Malebranche (Department of General Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine), and Mr. Omar Martinez (IU Schools of Law and HPER). The grant is sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
- 2009 spring – The preliminary findings from Dr. Brian Dodge’s 2008 School of HPER Faculty Research Support Program grant award have been accepted for fast-track publication in International Journal of STD & AIDS. In the paper, “Field Collection of Rectal Samples for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Diagnostics Among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM),” the study team reports an overall high level of acceptability and comfort-level involved with self-sampling for rectal STI among MSM in community-based venues. Co-authors include Dr. Barbara Van Der Pol (Department of Infectious Disease at the IU School of Medicine), Drs. Michael Reece and Debby Herbenick (Center for Sexual Health Promotion at IUB), doctoral students Joshua Rosenberger and Alexis Roth-Graneros (Department of Applied Health Science at IUB), and senior scientist Dr. J. Dennis Fortenberry (Division of Adolescent Medicine at the IU School of Medicine).
- 2009 spring – For the first time, the Indiana Prevention Resource Center (IPRC) will be including questions on the Indiana version of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a national survey sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 2009 Indiana version of the survey will include 12 questions contributed by researchers at the IPRC ranging from alcohol use and purchasing to prescription and over-the-counter drug use. Gambling behavior questions will also be asked.
- 2009 spring – Dr. Brian Dodge has been invited to attend and present at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) scientific meeting entitled “Conference on Behavior Change in the Era of HIV”. The event will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 2009. The conference is funded by a R13 grant to Dr. Dolores Albarracin, Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Academic Partner of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University.
