Academy Fellow

Professor Gary W. Dowsett, PhD, FASSA, is Deputy Director and Chair in the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. A sociologist, he has long been interested in sexuality research, particularly in relation to the rise of modern gay communities. Since 1986, he has been researching the HIV epidemic, particularly in Australia’s gay communities, and has worked on many international HIV/AIDS and sexual health projects since the late 1980s. He was Associate Professor in Sociomedical Sciences (2002-2005) and in Clinical Sociomedical Sciences (2005-2009), in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, New York, USA. In 2003, he was elected to the International Academy of Sex Research. In 2005-2010, he was awarded a prestigious Victorian Health Promotion Foundation Senior Research Fellowship for a five-year study of men, sexuality and health. In 2006, he was appointed to a Personal Chair in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University.In 2008, he was admitted as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. In 2014, he was appointed Adjunct Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW, Australia. His research focuses on: (1) gay men and sexual recovery after prostate cancer treatment; (2) young men’s body image, sexualisation and body culture; (3) ethical and social aspects of ‘HIV cure’ research; (4) ‘crystal’ use, gay men and hepatitis C; and (5) LGBTI experiences of cancer survivorship and care; and (6) the intersection of sexuality, technology and the law. He was a founding member of the International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society, and of the Association for the Social Sciences and Humanities in HIV. He has published seven books, 120 refereed journal articles and book chapters, 35 research reports, and over 70 other publications. Other areas of expertise include:

•Qualitative research methodology

•Critical Sexuality Studies and Queer Theory

•Research training in HIV/AIDS and international sexual health

•Various consultancies and temporary advising activity for WHO, UNAIDS and UNDP, 1989 to present.

• Dowsett, Gary W. (2009) HIV/AIDS: a case study in moral panics and sexual rights, In Moral Panics, Sex Panics: The Fear and the Fight over Sexual Rights. G. Herdt (eds.). New York: New York University Press.
• Dowsett, Gary W., Williams, Heru, Carballo-Dieguez, Alex & Ventuneac, Ana (2008) Taking it like a man: masculinity and barebacking online, Sexualities 11(1): 121-141.
• Rowe, Mathew S. & Dowsett, Gary W. (2008) Sex, love, friendship, belonging and place: is there a role for 'gay community' in HIV prevention today?, Culture, Health and Sexuality 10(4): 329-344.
• Dowsett, Gary W. (2007) Researching Gay Men's Health: The Promise of Qualitative Research, In The Health of Sexual Minorities: Public Health Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Populations. Ilan H Meyer & Mary E Northbridge (eds.). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
• Dowsett, Gary W. & Couch, Murray (2007) Male circumcision and HIV prevention: is there really enough of the right kind of evidence?, Reproductive Health Matters 15(29): 33-44.