Learn More About The Center for Sexual Health Promotion

The Center for Sexual Health Promotion is a collaborative of sexual health scholars from across the campuses of Indiana University and strategic partner academic institutions around the globe who, in partnership with practitioners from community-based health organizations, government and industry, work toward advancing the field of sexual health through our research, education and training initiatives. Founded in 2007, the Center for Sexual Health Promotion is directed by Drs. Brian Dodge, Debby Herbenick, and Michael Reece and is based in the Department of Applied Health Science in the School of Public Health-Bloomington. Over a dozen core faculty members of the Center are based in departments throughout Indiana University and other a number of other academic and community-based institutions.

 

 

                            

The primary aim of the Center is to conduct research in sexual health that is consistent with the objectives and priorities established by leading public health entities, is guided by the principles of community-based participatory research, and strives to be progressive with regard to scope, methodologies, and application. At the core of the Center’s research agenda is a commitment to managing a diversified portfolio of extramural funding for a wide range of innovative research initiatives. A significant amount of core infrastructure funding for the Center has been facilitated by a unique partnership with one of the world's leading sexual health products companies, Church & Dwight, Inc. (manufacturer of Trojan brand condoms). The agreement establishes the IUB center as a strategic research, education and consulting partner with Trojan and has enabled the collection, analysis, and dissemination of several waves of data collection for the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), a nationally representative survey of sexual behaviors among men and women in the United States. In addition to resources from this partnership, Center research efforts have been enabled with funding from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, The Patty Brisben Foundation, and a number of other federal, state, private, and corporate entities.

For over a decade, faculty within the Center facilitate research training to future sexual health scholars and practitioners through both research experience and linkages to strategic partners on campus and in the community. Faculty and students serve as collaborative partners with other academic departments, institutes, and centers in order to play a supportive role in the ongoing development of the field of sexual health. Many doctoral student graduates maintain connections and partnerships with the Center in a range of faculty and postdoctoral research positions at a wide range of peer institutions, including Indiana University School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Princeton University. A number of students who train at the Center during the course of the School’s Master of .Public Health program pursue internships and careers at a variety of community-based partner organizations both domestically and abroad

During the course of the past decade, the Center has served as a powerful model for strategic and community-based partnerships that has resulted in millions of dollars in extramural research funding, hundreds of peer-reviewed research papers and scientific presentations, and numerous doctoral- and masters-level student graduates who are actively engaged in academic, research, teaching, and community-engaged sexual health initiatives in the United States and worldwide.