Columbia University is a national leader in research on the social and behavioral dimensions of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. Our work is notable for the degree to which it is theoretically-driven, for its unusually strong emphasis on social structural dimensions of health risk, and for its concern with HIV/AIDS and reproductive health policies as themselves the outcome of researchable social processes. Across a wide range of topical areas, our research demonstrates particular attention to the impact of gender inequality on the sexual and reproductive health of both women and men.
Integrating research from faculty in the Mailman School of Public Health, the School of Social Work, and the School of Arts and Sciences, the work of the HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health group covers a wide range of topics, including:
- the country’s longest running cohort study of HIV-infected men (Peter Messeri)
- pioneering work on intimate partner violence in relation to HIV risk (Nabila El-Bassel)
- the structure of adolescent sexual and romantic networks, same-sex preference, the impact of virginity pledges, and STD risk (Peter Bearman)
- the effects of school, neighborhood, and country-level behavioral norms on youth sexual and fertility behaviors (Julien Teitler)
- a multi-site study of religious responses to AIDS in Brazil (Richard Parker)
- comparative ethnographic research on the social factors that shape married women’s risk of HIV/AIDS (Jennifer Hirsch)
- how women and men live with HIV as a chronic illness (Karolynn Siegel)
- population-based research on the pattern and determinants of minority men’s use of sexual health services (Debra Kalmuss)
- community-based research on hip-hop music and sexual risk among minority youth (Miguel Muñoz-Laboy)
- the impact of discrimination and stigma on the health of sexual minorities (Ilan Meyer)
- the social organization of sexual risk-taking among minority men who have sex with men in New York City (Patrick Wilson)
- the intertwining of the continuing European fertility decline, the lack of adequate work-family reconciliation policies, and rising rates of assisted reproductive technology use (Wendy Chavkin)
This represents only a selection of the faculty whose collaborations are enhanced through their participation in the HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health group. For a full list of researchers, click here.
Conveners
To ensure successful dialogue and collaboration amongst its multidisciplinary members who are spread across multiple campuses, schools and departments, the HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health Signature Research Area Group is co-convened by the following faculty from the School of Social Work and from two departments at the Mailman School of Public Health:
Jennifer Hirsch, Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, jsh2124@columbia.edu
Wendy Chavkin, Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, wc9@columbia.edu
Julien Teitler, Associate Professor of Social Work, jot8@columbia.edu