President 2023-2025

Justin Sitron, PhD
Widener University

President Elect 2023-2025
President 2025-2027

Karen Beale, PhD
Maryville College

Treasurer 2023-2025

Sasha Canan, PhD
University of North Carolina, Wilmington

I am an assistant professor in the Public Health Program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where I coordinate the Sexuality Education and Attitudes Lab.  My research work focuses on sexual assault and LGBTQ+ heath using mixed-method techniques.  I have been a member of SSSS for 10 years, attending every conference since 2012.  I've been active with the organization starting as a student ambassador (1yr), then serving on the membership committee (2yrs), as well as later being a student involvement co-chair (4yrs).  The latter role allowed me to serve on SSSS' Board of Directors for two years.  Most recently, I'm not serving in a mentorship role in SSSS' mentor/mentee program that has been coordinated by Shayna Skakoon-Sparling throughout the pandemic.  After shifting institutions, I now have the time to volunteer with SSSS again in a more involved capacity as the treasurer.  

Member-At-Large 2023-2025
Senior Student Representative 2023-2025

Megan Korovich, MA
Rowan University, Clinical Psychology PhD Program

Megan is a rising third-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at Rowan University, receiving training with an emphasis on health psychology. She received her master’s degree in forensic psychology from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2020. Her combined interests of forensics and health psychology have influenced her research on sexual violence victimization and prevention. She is interested in promoting knowledge that decreases risk and encourages healthier sexual relationships and behaviors. Her published work involved analyzing perceptions of criminal attributions for sex trafficking victims and understanding characteristics of in-flight sexual assaults. Megan has been a member of SSSS since 2021 and has attended annual research conference for the past two years, presenting on topics of sexual ambivalence and its influence on consent indicators, and how ambivalence may differ due to one’s sexual orientation.

She looks forward to the opportunity to become a more involved member of SSSS in the future. During her master’s program she served on the executive board of the Master’s Student Research Group. Her duties included planning and implementing the annual psychology research conference, organizing research and professional development talks between faculty and students, and implementing clinical training workshops for the program. She helped as a liaison between the students and faculty; acting as an advocate for student needs, pursuing positive growth in extracurricular activities and encouraging participation from students in her program. Currently, Megan leads the ASSeRT lab at Rowan University as lab coordinator. She oversees research productivity, managing a lab of over 25 research personnel comprised of undergraduates, post-bacs, and doctoral students.

Junior Student Representative 2023-2025
Senior Student Representative 2025-2026

Brianna Akers
Indiana University Bloomington
 

I am a Counseling Psychology doctoral student at Indiana University under the mentorship of Dr. Zoe Peterson. My research interests include 1) investigating how identity status, particularly being from a marginalized or vulnerable group, can impact the experience of sexual assault and 2) decreasing sexual assault perpetration through educational initiatives. I believe researchers need to do a better job of highlighting the lived experiences of individuals from diverse backgrounds and strive to uphold this value in my own research. I have explored the prevalence of sexual assault and mental health outcomes for members of the Deaf community, in the military, and continue to do so in my current research on individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

After attending my first SSSS conference in 2018, I volunteered at two annual conferences for the Ambassador program and served on the Scientific Review Committee once. As the Administrative Assistant for my local Boys and Girls Club (3 years), I worked alongside the Board of Directors to plan fundraising events, solicit feedback from members about improvements, track funding allocation, and increase our social media visibility within the community. I also served as a Junior Board member for the South Florida Horse Show Association (1 year), where my role consisted of interfacing with members and bringing their comments, complaints, and suggestions to the Board. As a Research Coordinator (3 years), I mentored graduate and undergraduate students in the lab and served as an intermediary for our leadership. I have worked with students in my other roles as a sexual assault hotline operator (4 years), undergraduate teaching assistant (1 year), undergraduate instructor (6 months), and counselor-in-training (6 months). Fostering a sense of belonging and personal/professional growth is a value I prioritize consistently in my interactions with all students.

Membership Chair 2024-2026

Dennis Li, PhD, MPH
Northwestern University

Dennis Li (he/him), PhD, MPH, is an assistant professor at Northwestern University in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing. He is a community-engaged implementation scientist whose work primarily aims to improve equitable delivery of and access to HIV prevention, treatment, and supportive services to help end the HIV epidemic in the US. Focusing on individuals with complex needs as well as LGBTQ+ communities, his current projects include a citywide implementation of low-barrier, walk-in HIV care for those with highest needs and implementation of various digital HIV interventions for sexual minority young people.

He also develops resources to support researchers and practitioners’ learning about implementation science as part of the national HIV Implementation Science Coordination Initiative. In addition to being a Member at Large on the SSSS Board, Dennis chairs the Adolescent and Young Adult Health Committee in the Maternal and Child Health Section of the American Public Health Association. He is deeply committed to the speedy translation of research to practice and the use of practice to drive research.

Scientific Co-Chair 2023-2025

Leo Wilton, PhD, MPH
State University of New York at Binghamton

Leo is a Professor in the Department of Human Development at the State University of New York at Binghamton. His research interests include health disparities and inequities (HIV prevention and care); Black psychological development and mental health; critical community-based participatory research; and mixed- and multi-methods research. His scholarly research on the HIV epidemic focuses on the intersectionality of race, gender, and sexuality as situated in macro- and micro-level inequalities in African and African Diaspora communities. His scholarly research program explores how intersectional inequalities provide a praxis framework for developing culturally-congruent HIV prevention interventions for communities of color.

He has served as Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-Investigator on several National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research studies. He teaches courses on the Psychology of Racism, Black Child and Adolescent Development, Black Families, Black Sexualities, and research methods. For The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, he serves on the Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee and Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression (SOGIE) Committee

Chair 2025

Mark Levand, PhD

Director, Graduate Programs
Center for Human Sexuality Studies
Widener

Mark A. Levand (pronounced “Luh-vond”), PhD, (he/him) is an interdisciplinary sexuality researcher, educator, and consultant. He is an associate professor of practice and director of graduate programs at Widener University’s Center for Human Sexuality Studies. In his work, Dr. Levand develops deeper understandings at the intersection of research and practice around topics like sexual consent, sexual diversity, and the formation of sexuality professionals.

He also explores aspects of sexuality and Catholic theology from both theological and ethical perspectives. He holds a bachelor’s degree in theology and pastoral ministry from Notre Dame College, a master’s in theology and religious studies from John Carroll University where he focused on ethics and world religions, and a master’s and doctoral degree in human sexuality studies from Widener University. Dr. Levand’s work has been the recipient of awards such as Widener University’s Koch (pronounced ‘coke’) award for Research Publication in Sexuality for his research on sexuality and organizational change in Catholic higher education. He also received AASECT’s Schiller Prize for his joint presentation on Cross-cultural Code Switching for Sexuality Professionals. Dr. Levand is currently on the CE review committee for SSSS, and is the Certification Steering Committee Chair for AASECT.

Dr. Levand is an ad hoc reviewer for several journals in the fields of sexuality and religion and serves on the editorial board for LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal.  He was a guest editor for a special issue of the Journal of Sexual and Relationship Therapy on sexuality, spirituality, and religion and is the author of the book Inclusion and Sexuality in Catholic Higher Education: Possibilities for Institutional Change, published by Routledge in 2023. He is also the writer, host, and producer of The Sexual Catholic podcast where he addresses aspects of sexual health and research in the context of Catholic theology in sex-positive ways.

Chair 2025

Eric Schrimshaw, PhD
Chair, Dept of Population Health Sciences
College of Medicine
University of Central Florida 

Dr. Eric W. Schrimshaw is Professor and Chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine which he joined in July 2019. Before joining UCF, he spent 22 years at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health’s Department of Sociomedical Sciences. With a PhD in social/personality psychology, Dr. Schrimshaw’s research is focused on LGBT health disparities and HIV prevention and treatment. His past research includes studies of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents, HIV-positive women and older adults, behaviorally-bisexual men, use of pornography by gay and bisexual men, and use of hook-up apps by gay and bisexual men.

Dr. Schrimshaw’s research makes extensive use of longitudinal designs and a mixed-methods approach that features both online surveys as well as in-depth qualitative interviewing to understand health behaviors. His research makes frequent use of social media marketing campaigns for participant recruitment, data collection, and retention. He currently serves as PI on three current NIH R01 studies funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities including studies of sexual scripts among gay and bisexual youth (with Dr. Ellen Benoit), male sex workers who meet partners on hook-up apps (with Dr. Karolynn Siegel), and protective factors for suicide among young lesbian and bisexual women (with Dr. Lindsay Taliaferro). 

Chair 2022-2024

Carlos Rodríguez-Díaz PhD, MPH, MCHES
Professor and Chair of the Department of Community Health Services
Boston University School of Public Health

Dr. Carlos Rodríguez-Díaz is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Community Health Services at the Boston University School of Public Health. He is also the President of The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. Dr. Rodriguez-Diaz is a community health scientist with over fifteen years of experience practicing public health and conducting action research in Puerto Rico, the United States of America, and the Caribbean Region. His work has focused on sexual health, LGBT health, infectious diseases, particularly HIV care and prevention, and health equity through actions on the social determinants of health. Dr. Rodriguez-Diaz is currently studying health and racial disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has led several programs and research projects addressing health inequities among populations made socially vulnerable including people with HIV, Hispanic/Latinxs, incarcerated populations, and sexual and gender minority groups.

Chair 2025

James Laidler, BSc (Hons), PgDip

James Laidler is a British Academy Award-winning journalist, certified life coach, consultant, and broadcaster.  

Originally from London, James fell in love with Chicago and moved there in June 2016, being given a Green Card as an ‘Alien of Extraordinary Ability’ for being in the top 1% of his field globally.

James spent more than a decade at BBC News, most recently as an Executive Producer of BBC Breakfast - the UK's highest-rated morning show - winning a BAFTA Award in 2015. He has trained and coached journalists across the world, including at Reuters and The New York Times. He was also a member of the BBC's diversity board for five years, championing fair LGBTQ+ representation in the Corporation's output and employment practices.

During his tenure at the BBC he managed several major operations and technology projects, including the biggest relocation of any broadcaster in history. Upon moving to the USA, he was headhunted to become a change management consultant, designing training plans and operational improvement approaches for several billion-dollar companies. He now blends that experience with his journalistic background to provide a holistic coaching and consulting service to clients around the world.

James is an undergraduate of the University of Southampton, where he studied Physics, and a postgraduate of Bournemouth University, where he graduated top of his class studying Multimedia Journalism and was awarded one of 12 BBC News scholarships. He founded Pointerway in 2019, coaching queer men how to lead authentic lives.

In his free time he volunteers as a local historian with Chicago Greeter; is co-organizer of Communaked, the Midwest’s only sex-positive nudist community; and is an avid quilter and sewist. He lives with his husband in Chicago’s kinkiest neighborhood, Rogers Park, home of the Leather Archives and Museum.

Chair 2025

Megan K. Maas, PhD, MPH
Michigan State University

Megan Maas, PhD, is an assistant professor in Human Development & Family Studies at Michigan State University. She received her PhD in 2016 from The Pennsylvania State University where she was trained as a developmental psychologist and prevention scientist. Her award-winning research, recognized by the American Psychological Association and funded by the National Institutes of Health, focuses primarily on adolescent sexual development. Specifically, she investigates how experiences of social media, sexting, and online pornography play a bi-directional role in the development of attitudes and behavior related to sexuality and gender.

Born and raised in California, Megan earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from California State University, Sacramento. Before pursuing her doctoral work, Megan worked as a certified sexual health educator for a variety of settings including Planned Parenthood. She has been training teachers, social workers, and school counselors on pornography use among teens for the last 10 years resulting in 43 invited talks and keynote addresses. Now, she sits on her local sex education advisory board to direct her district’s curriculum and works closely with the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH) to integrate sexual media literacy into existing sex education curricula across the state of Michigan. Her goal is to prevent sexual harassment and violence through education that deconstructs harmful cultural norms and promotes mutually pleasurable and respectful sexual experiences.

She also enjoys teaching Human Sexuality, Adolescence, and Women’s and Gender Studies and serves as a consulting editor for the Journal of Sex Research. Her passion for research has led to 40 conference presentations and 24 publications. In addition to publishing in academic journals, she also writes for and publishes her work in mass media outlets such as HuffPost, CNN, and Salon.

Chair 2025

Justin Garcia, PhD
Kinsey Institute
Department of Gender Studies
Indiana University

Dr. Justin Garcia is an evolutionary biologist and sex researcher. He trained under Dr. David Sloan Wilson and conducted a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral research fellowship under former Kinsey Institute Director Dr. Julia Heiman. His research focuses on the evolutionary and biocultural foundations of romantic and sexual relationships across the life course. A specialist in interdisciplinary collaboration, Garcia’s research draws from and cuts across multiple fields of study. This approach aids his lab's exploration of the relationship context of sexuality and the meaning, expression, and impact of romantic and sexual attitudes and behaviors. Garcia has a dual faculty appointment with the Kinsey Institute and Indiana University's Department of Gender Studies. He is also adjunct faculty with Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI and holds affiliate faculty appointments with the IU Network Science Institute, as well as the Cognitive Science and Human Biology programs at Indiana University Bloomington.

Garcia serves as Scientific Advisor to Match.com. In this role, Garcia lends his expertise to Singles in America (SIA), the online dating company's annual study on the attitudes and behaviors of single people in the United States.

Chair 2025

Karen Beale, PhD
Maryville College

Chair 2025

James Brooks, PhD

Assistant Professor of Counseling and Counseling Psychology

Applied Psychology in Education & Research Methodologies

School of Education

Indiana University Bloomington

Chair 2025

Jessica Hille, J.D., Ph.D.