SSSS Congress 2009: Plenary Speakers 

Sérgio Carrara: Prof. Sérgio Carrara received a degree (1982) in Social Sciences, Master’s (1987), and PhD (1995) in Social Anthropology. He is an associate professor at the Institute of Social Medicine, State University of Rio de Janeiro, where he coordinates the Latin American Center on Sexuality and Human Rights. Prof. Carrara has conducted anthropological research on health and sexuality, with emphasis on homosexuality, violence and human rights. He currently coordinates the research project Homosexuality, Violence and Justice, on experiences of violence and discrimination against Brazilian LGBT. Prof. Carrara has authored two books - Crime and madness: The creation of the asylum for criminally insane in Brazil (1998), and A tribute to Venus: the fight against syphilis in Brazil (1996); co-edited the volume Sexuality and knowledge: Social conventions and boundaries; and published numerous articles on associated topics. He is editor of Sexuality, Health and Society – A Latin American Journal. As a specialist in this area, Prof. Carrara has coordinated the Human Rights Commission of the Brazilian Anthropological Association, and he is currently a member of a National Ministry of Education Technical Committee, overseeing the “Brazil without Homophobia” Program.

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Héctor Carrillo: Dr. Carrillo was recently appointed as an associate professor of sociology and gender studies at Northwestern University. Previously, he taught at the Department of Sexuality Studies, San Francisco State University. Dr. Carrillo is interested in issues of health, biomedicine, and sexuality for Mexican and Latino/a immigrant populations. He is the author of the award-wining book The Night Is Young: Sexuality in Mexico in the Time of AIDS (University of Chicago Press, 2002). He currently investigates the intersections of sexuality, migration, and heath among Mexican gay and bisexual men who have relocated to California. In collaboration with Mexican coinvestigators, he also studies the meanings associated with adult male circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy for Mexican male immigrants and their sexual partners.

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Lisa M. Diamond: Dr. Diamond is an associate professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on the nature and development of affectional bonds and same-sex sexuality. She has been particularly interested in the longitudinal course of sexual identity development, and in factors that influence the expression of same-sex sexuality at different stages of life. Dr. Diamond also studies how attachment relationships with friends, parents, and romantic partners help adolescents and adults regulate negative emotions and physiological reactivity. Her research has been supported by grants from NIMH, the Templeton Foundation, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the American Psychological Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation.

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Mariela Castro Espín is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana and an activist for LGBT rights in Cuba.Mariela Castro is president of the Cuban Multidisciplinary Centre for the Study of Sexuality, president of the National Commission for Treatment of Disturbances of Gender Identity, member of the Direct Action Group for Preventing, Confronting, and Combatting AIDS, and an executive member of the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS). She is also the director of the journal Sexología y Sociedad a magazine of Sexology edited by the own National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX).

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Konstance McCaffree: Dr. McCaffree is an adjunct professor in Widener University’s Program in Human Sexuality. She consults internationally, assisting in the development of sexuality education curriculum and the training of teachers. She has taught sexuality in secondary schools for over thirty years. She is the co-author of the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) award winning and nationally promoted curricula for minority youth Be Proud! Be Responsible! Making a Difference, and Making Proud Choices. In recent months she has served as the president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS). In addition, she has trained college professors in Nigeria and coauthored a chapter on sexuality education for Sexuality Education: Past, Present and Future, edited by E. Schroeder and J. Kuriansky.

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Richard Parker: Dr. Parker is a professor of sociomedical sciences and the director of the Center for Gender, Sexuality and Health in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. He is also the president of the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) and co-chair of Sexuality Policy Watch. As a researcher, Dr. Parker's work has focused on the social and cultural construction of gender and sexuality, the social aspects of HIV and AIDS, and the relationship between social inequality, health, and disease. He has conducted long-term research in Brazil, as well as comparative studies in Africa, Asia, and North America. He is a founding editor of the journal Culture, Health and Sexuality and the editor-in-chief of Global Public Health. His recent books include Sexuality, Health and Human Rights, co-authored with Sonia Corrêa and Rosalind Petchesky; and Bodies, Pleasures and Passions: Sexual Culture in Contemporary Brazil. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Commission on Citizenship and Reproduction (CCR) based in Sao Paulo, Brazil; the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO); and International Planned Parenthood Federation-Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF-WHR).

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Eusebio Rubio-Aurioles: Dr. Rubio-Aurioles is a professor at the Departamento de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. In 1987 he founded the Asociación Mexicana para la Salud Sexual, A.C., where he is the director. He has completed more that twenty clinical trials for the development of drugs for the treatment of sexual dysfunction in males and females. He served as president of the World Association for Sexual Health (formerly World Association for Sexology) from June 2005 to June 2009, and is currently a member of the executive and advisory committees of the World Association for Sexual Health, an associate editor of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, and a member of the standards and education committees of the International Society of Sexual Medicine.