Previous Research

All Gender Health: Seminars for Minnesota’s Transgender Community

Walter Bockting, PhD, was the lead investigator of this innovative HIV/STI prevention education program that addressed transgender-specific risks in the context of comprehensive sexuality education. The project was funded as part of a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health. Two weekend seminars were held. As part of this intervention program, a DVD of the transgender coming out process was produced entitled Transgender Stories. For further information, contact Dr. Bockting at bock001@umn.edu or by phone 612-625-1500.

B4REAL

Bean Robinson, PhD, was the lead investigator for B4REAL, a research project looking at how African American men practice safer sex.

GLBT Twin Cities Cancer Screening Survey

In an effort to identify barriers to health screening in the GLBT community, Eli Coleman, PhD, advised medical students in a research study that looked at the rate of cancer screening, specifically at the rates of cervical, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer screening among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender adults living in Minnesota. The research team included Cory Jaques, Paul Bechard, Rachael Blackman, Rebecca Swinburne Romine, PhD, and Eli Coleman, PhD.

Minnesota Community PROMISE/PLUS

Bean Robinson, PhD, was the lead investigator for Minnesota Community PROMISE/PLUS, a research project that was a collaboration between the Minneapolis Urban League and the Program in Human Sexuality. The goal of the project was to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS through encouraging African American men who have sex with men to use condoms and build healthy lives through a program in which men reach out to their community, friends, and family using stories about how they made changes to start practicing safer sex.

Minnesota Outreach Programs

The following programs, funded through the MN Department of Health and other agencies, were developed for persons or communities at high risk for HIV/STI.

• All Gender Health (Walter Bockting, PhD, principal investigator) For transgender persons and their partners.
• Beyond (Walter Bockting, PhD, principal investigator) For women who have sex with or are attracted to women and men. Participants learned about sex, identity, and sexuality. Sponsors: Chrysalis Center for Women, Planned Parenthood of Minnesota and South Dakota, and University Family Physicians-North Memorial Clinic.
• Man-to-Man: Sexual Health Seminars (Simon Rosser, PhD, MPH, principal investigator) For men who have sex with, or are attracted to, other men. Over 500 participants attended these seminars, designed to assist men to explore and enhance their sexual health, examining such issues as talking about sex, sexual attitudes, attractions, and behaviors, same sex relationships, intimacy, spirituality, aging, and living with HIV.
• Our Sexual Health For gay, bisexual, lesbian, and transgender persons, their families, and friends.
• SHARE For African American women, men, and couples.
• Women's Initiative for Sexual Health (WISH) (Bean Robinson, PhD, principal investigator) For women at highest risk for HIV. Free two-day seminar was among the first in the nation to present sexual health education to women from a woman's perspective. Provided a place for women to explore and celebrate healthy sexuality and relationships; topics were body image, positive sexuality, anatomy and physiology, barriers to health sexuality, African American culture and sexuality, touch masturbation, sexual health care and fantasy, sexuality and spirituality.

Research Programs Conducted through HIV/STI Intervention and Prevention Studies

• Rapid HIV Testing Funded by CDC. Studied whether rapid result technology positively affects the number of high-risk individuals who receive their test outcomes.
• Internet Sex Among Latino Men Funded by NIH. Examined how sexual liaisons mediated via the Internet impact the risk behavior in this minority population.
• Gender, HIV Risk, and Transgender Persons Funded by NIH. Examined how gender identity and roles impact HIV risk behavior. First national study of transgender persons' risk for HIV.
• Cara a Cara Funded by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization and the United States Mexico Border Health Association. A five-day course provided HIV prevention workers information on prevention approaches, cultural sensitivity, counseling and assessment skills, and scientific data regarding prevention.
• Evaluation of Women's Initiative for Sexual Health (WISH). (Bean Robinson, PhD, principal investigator) 320 African-American women evaluated the WISH program.
• The Minnesota 500 Men's Study (Simon Rosser, PhD, MPH, principal investigator) Funded by CDC. Evaluated the Man-to-Man program and a video film targeting gay men. Focused on safer sex patterns and internalized homophobia.
• Transgender HIV Prevention (Walter Bockting, PhD, principal investigator) Funded by AmFAR. Workshop addressed transgender specific HIV risk factors, safer sex, and sexual negotiation in a transgender sensitive and affirmative context.
• HIV Mental Health Counseling (Simon Rosser, PhD, MPH, principal investigator) Funded by Hennepin County Community Health and the Minnesota Department of Health, AIDS/STD Prevention Services Section under Ryan White CARE Act. Free mental health counseling to persons living with HIV/AIDS, their spouses, and families.