The Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality
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The Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality (CRGS) is an interdisciplinary community of San Francisco State University faculty, students, and staff dedicated to studying innovative social science research questions, methods, and theories, and training new investigators. Frequently working in collaboration with community organizations, the CRGS is committed to producing new and useful knowledge about sexuality and gender. Our goal is to promote social justice and well-being by empirically challenging how inequalities undermine healthy sexuality.
CRGS is proud to be a part of the National Centers on Sexuality (NCS) at San Francisco State University. At the NCS, interdisciplinary sexuality science, advocacy, capacity building and training come together through the collaboration of three organizations:
CRGS, producing new knowledge to advance social justice and social change;
Department of Sexuality Studies (SXS), creating scholarship and leadership in the field of sexuality studies; and
National Sexuality Resource Center (NSRC), building capacity and public awareness to advance healthy sexuality.
Recently Posted
Principal Staff
CRGS Faculty:Dr. Colleen Hoff, Director
E-mail: choff@sfsu.edu
Dr. Héctor Carrillo, Research Faculty
E-mail: hector@sfsu.edu
Dr. Jessica Fields, Research Faculty
E-mail: jfields@sfsu.edu
Dr. David Frost, Research Faculty
Email: frost@sfsu.edu
Dr. Gil Herdt, Research Faculty
E-mail: gherdt@sfsu.edu
Dr. Rita Melendez, Research Faculty
E-mail: rmelende@sfsu.edu
Dr. Lynn Sorsoli, Research Faculty
E-mail: lsorsoli@msn.com
Dr. Deborah Tolman, Founder
Research Teams:
Adult Male Circumcision:
Héctor Carrillo, Principal Investigator
E-mail: hector@sfsu.edu
Michael Diaz, Research Assistant
E-mail: michaeldiaz06@gmail.com
Walter Gomez, Research Associate
E-mail: wgomez@sfsu.edu
Rachel Howard, Research Assistant
E-mail: rachelhoward1@gmail.com
Female Adolescent Risk Project (FARP):
Lynn Sorsoli, Principal Investigator
E-mail: lsorsoli@sfsu.edu
Gabriela Candelaria, Research Asst.
E-mail: gabyc@sfsu.edu
Allegra Hirschman, Project Coordinator
E-mail: allegra.hirschman@gmail.com
The Gay Couples Study Team:
Colleen Hoff, Principal Investigator
E-mail: choff@sfsu.edu
Brianne Amato, Research Assistant
E-mail: bamato@sfsu.edu
Sean Beougher, Project Director
E-mail: seancb@sfsu.edu
Deepalika Chakravarty, Statistician
E-mail: deepalika.chakravarty@ucsf.edu
Anthony Freeman, former RA
E-mail: afreeman@sfsu.edu
Carla Garcia, Research Associate
E-mail: ccgarcia@sfsu.edu
Walter Gomez, Research Associate
E-mail: wgomez@sfsu.edu
Trayectos Research Team:
Héctor Carrillo, Principal Investigator
E-mail: hector@sfsu.edu
Julia Sinclair-Palm, Research Assistant
E-mail: palmjulia@gmail.com
Honoring Leadership and Diversity - Women of Color and the CRGS (HOLD):
Sydney Seifert, Research Assistant
E-mail: sydney.seifert@gmail.com
Desiree Valdez, Research Assistant
E-mail: dc.valdez@gmail.com
Research on Inequality, Sexuality and Education (RISE):
Jessica Fields, Principal Investigator
E-mail: jfields@sfsu.edu
Lanice Avery, Research Assistant
E-mail: princessnicie@yahoo.com
Kendra Bloom, Research Assistant
E-mail: kbloom8@gmail.com
Allyse Grey, Research Assistant
E-mail: msgray86@yahoo.com
Sheerein Hosseini, Research Assistant
E-mail: activistforhumanity@yahoo.com
Christina Monroe, Research Assistant
E-mail: cmonroe@sfsu.edu
Women, Sexuality and Religion:
Rita Melendez, Principal Investigator
E-mail: rmelende@sfsu.edu
Allison Kirschbaum, Research Assistant
E-mail: akirschbaum@gmail.com
Alberto Rodriguez, Research Assistant
E-mail: alberto_rf@hotmail.com
Administrative Staff:
Liz McClelland, NCS Operations Manager
E-mail: lizm@sfsu.edu
Brianne Amato, CRGS Administrative Assistant
E-mail: crgs@sfsu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
Body Image & Wellness, Awareness & Education, Communications, Media & Gender, Culture & Identity, Disparities, Family & Society, Higher Education, Religion & Spirituality, Sexuality & Gender, Women's, Gender & Feminist Studies, Communications, Culture & Society, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Health, Reproductive Rights & SexualityMember Experts:
Projects & Campaigns
Research
The Girls' Risk Project, with PI Dr. Lynn Sorsoli at the helm, was recently completed. This study examined girls' decisions to engage in noncoital sexual behaviors, and the ways girls' narratives of those experiences differ by racial/ethnic group. It also explored the roles played by girls' health beliefs, gender beliefs, and behavioral contexts. Dr. Sorsoli and Project Coordinator Allegra Hirschman are now hard at work on an innovative new project that will examine the risks IRB members perceive regarding adolescent participation in sexuality studies, how adolescents perceive risk and experience study participation in sexuality studies and how the perceived risk and actual experiences of adolescents compare to the risks perceived by IRB members.
While wrapping up on his Trayectos Study, Dr. Héctor Carrillo began work on a new project focused on adult male circumcision. In the Circumcision Study, Dr. Carrillo will study the cultural factors of adult circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy for Mexican immigrants. After facing some initial recruitment challenges, the study is now just 5 participants away from reaching the desired sample size.
Dr. Jessica Fields and her research team recently capped off their Jailed Women and HIV Education project, a feminist analysis of incarcerated women's experiences of HIV education and risk, with culminating experience events at both the CRGS and the San Francisco County Jail. The Jailed Women and HIV Education study brings new attention, funding, and employment opportunities to the concerns of women of color locked up in San Francisco and other county jails. In addition, Dr. Fields continues to work alongside Drs. Rita Melendez and Amy Sueyoshi on H.O.L.D. (Honoring Leadership and Diversity) which involves interviews with administrators, faculty, and graduate students to investigate the barriers for women of color’s involvement at sexuality centers such as CRGS and within academia more broadly.
Dr. Rita Melendez is examining the relations between gender roles, religion, and HIV prevention among Latina and African-American women, and has recently begun work on the interview portion of her study.
Reports & Resources
Choi, K., Hoff, C., Gregorich, S., Grinstead, O., Gomez, C., Hussey, W. (2008), The Efficacy of Female Condom Skills Training in HIV Risk Reduction among Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial, American Journal of Public Health. 98(10). 1803-1813.
Hoff, C., Pals, S., Purcell, D., Parsons, J, Halkitis, P, Remien, R., Gomez, C. (2006). Is sexual risk behavior with main partners impacted differentially than risk with non-main partner in an HIV prevention trial targeting HIV-positive gay and bisexual men? AIDS and Behavior, 10(3).
Fisher, H., Purcell, D., Hoff, C., Parsons, J., O’Leary, A. (2006) Recruitment source and behavioral risk patterns of HIV-positive men who have sex with men. AIDS and Behavior, 10 (4).
Opportunities, Grants & Fellowships
Training
What We Do
NCRW is a network of leading university and community based research, policy, and advocacy centers with a growing global reach dedicated to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls. We also have a Corporate Circle comprised of senior diversity professionals from leading U.S. and global member companies and a Presidents Circle of college and university leaders who share our commitment. NCRW harnesses the collective power of its network to provide knowledge, analysis, and thought leadership on issues ranging from reducing women’s poverty to building a critical mass of women’s leadership across sectors.
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