NSRC’s Sexuality Experts 

Need commentary, advice or information on sexuality? NSRC staff and colleagues bring almost 100 years of combined expertise—grounded in research and flavored by the real-life experiences of the communities they work with. Contact us to see how our voices can strengthen your work!

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Our Experts

Brian de Vries, Ph.D., is professor of gerontology at San Francisco State University. He received his doctorate in life-span developmental psychology from the University of British Columbia in 1988 and was a post-doctoral fellow at both Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and the University of Southern California. He is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and Board member of the American Society on Aging (ASA) and co-Chair of the LGBT Aging Issues Network constituent group. Most recently, Dr. de Vries has become a policy advisor for the AARP California. Dr. de Vries is editor of Sexuality Research and Social Policy, an online academic journal; he is former associate editor of The International Journal of Aging and Human Development (2000-2006). He has served as guest editor of Omega: Journal of Death and Dying (1997 and 2004) and as a guest co-editor of Generations (2001). In addition, he has edited four books, including Kinship Bereavement in Later Life (1997), End of Life Issues (1999), Narrative Gerontology (2001), and Gay and Lesbian Aging (2004); he has authored or co-authored over 75 journal articles and book chapters and he has given over 100 presentations to professional audiences on a variety of topics such as the social and psychological well-being of midlife and older LGBT persons, friendships and social relationships across the adult life course, as well as end of life issues and bereavement.

Jessica Fields, PH.D, is a Research Associate at the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality (CRGS), an Associate Professor of Sociology, and Interim Director of the Public Research Institute at San Francisco State University. In all of her work, Professor Fields is interested in the potential for research and education to promote social justice and to challenge sexual, race, and gender inequalities. Fields is the principal investigator of a participatory action study of sex education and HIV prevention among imprisoned women of color in San Francisco. The study centers on a series of sixteen workshops in San Francisco County Jail. The workshops integrate HIV education and research and train incarcerated women as they develop research and interview questions, conduct interviews, learn the nuances of coding, and discuss emerging analysis about incarceration and HIV education. Fields is also the author of Risky Lessons: Sex Education and Social Inequality (Rutgers Press, 2008). Fields is board president of Health Initiatives for Youth, a San Francisco-based community organization whose mission is to improve the health and well-being of young people by empowering them through education, advocacy and leadership opportunities.

Héctor Carrillo, Dr.Ph, is a faculty member in the Department of Sexuality Studies, San Francisco State University, where he teaches courses on the cross-cultural aspects of sexuality and gender, sexual identities, and sexuality and public policy. He is the author of the prize-winning book The Night Is Young: Sexuality in Mexico in the Time of AIDS (University of Chicago Press, 2002). He currently conducts ethnographic research on sexuality and HIV among Mexican gay and bisexual immigrant men in California, and about sociocultural aspects of adult male circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy. He was co-chair of the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Science track of the 2008 International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. His areas of expertise include cross-cultural aspects of sexuality, Latino sexualities, Mexico, sexuality and migration, HIV/AIDS prevention. Recent publications: “Risk Across Borders: Sexual Contexts and HIV Prevention Challenges among Mexican Gay and Bisexual Immigrant Men. Findings and Recommendations from the Trayectos Study.”

Gilbert Herdt, PhD, a cultural anthropologist, is the founder and Executive Director of the National Sexuality Resource Center, and Professor of Human Sexuality Studies and Anthropology in the Department of Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University. Dr. Herdt has written about sexual cultures, and sexual and gender identity development crossculturally and in the United States. Dr. Herdt’s studies of the Sambia people of Papua New Guinea, made famous in a series of books and papers beginning with Guardians of the Flutes
(1981), is a key case study that analyzes how culture and society create sexual meanings and practices. In the U.S. Dr. Herdt has studied adolescents and their families, the emergence of HIV and gay culture, and the role that social policy plays in people’s sexual health. A Fulbright, NIMH, and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, Herdt has taught at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Washington. His publications include nearly 30 single and edited books, and more than 100 scientific papers.

Colleen Hoff, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist is a Professor of Human Sexuality Studies and Director of the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality. Prior to coming to San Francisco State in September 2008, Professor Hoff was an Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF and on Faculty at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. Professor Hoff has worked extensively in the field of HIV Prevention by developing and implementing community level, social network, group and individual level intervention trials aimed at reducing sexual risk among gay men. She has also worked on two different studies aimed at promoting female condom use among sexually active women in the Bay Area. Professor Hoff is currently the Principal Investigator of a large scale couples study that focuses on agreements gay male couples make about whether or not to engage in sex with partners outside their relationship. Her particular interest is in the nuances of the negotiations between partners and how partners influence each other’s behavior and ultimately their risk for HIV and other STI’s. Professor Hoff is also an AASECT certified sex therapist and keeps a small private practice in Oakland where she works with couples and individuals facing sexual problems. Professor Hoff has published several journal articles, and has presented the results of her studies at several professional conferences in the area of AIDS prevention and sexual health.

Joy O'Donnell is Director of Outreach for the National Sexuality Resource Center at San Francisco State University where she works in partnership with organizations to strengthen their capacity to include lifelong sexuality education within their work. Joy has worked as a sexuality educator and community outreach specialist for adult populations for over 10 years and was a founding staff member of NSRC in 2003. Her primary areas of expertise include sexuality education as it relates to disability, aging, religion and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ) rights. Joy is a graduate of San Francisco State University, where she received both a Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts in History with a focus on cross cultural gender and sexuality.

Christopher White, Ph.D., is the Director of Education and Training at the National Sexuality Resource Center and the Director of the NSRC's annual Summer Institute on Sexuality. Dr. White's interests are in preparing young scholars for careers in sexuality education and research through training, mentorships, and professional development. In addition, he has developed workshops that aim to encourage individuals and communities to look critically at current models of sexuality education and research, including so-called "comprehensive sex education," and to consider using sexual literacy as a more wholistic framework. He is in the process of developing training programs that utilize sexuality education as a tool for advancing social justice and human rights. Dr. White is also a Certified Health Education Specialist (C.H.E.S.) and is interested in the use of popular culture and contemporary media as a strategy for teaching about sexuality. He has been a sexuality educator for over 15 years working with a diverse range of audiences from elementary school children to parents with teenage children.

Bonnie Zylbergold, MA, is an expert in the field of human sexuality. She has leant her sexual savvy to projects ranging from televised documentaries to sex positive workshops and trainings in the greater San Francisco area. She is a pioneer in the study of heteroflexibility, the newest permutation in sexual identities to hit the western cultural landscape, and has presented her research in various social and academic arenas. She also claims four years of sex research working at the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality in San Francisco where she worked on longitudinal studies focusing on adolescent sexual health and the media. She is currently the assistant web content editor for American Sexuality magazine and host of Getting it on with Bonnie, both online projects of the National Sexuality Resource Center. Mrs. Zylbergold’s degrees in both Communications and Journalism from Montreal’s Concordia University, along with her Master’s degree in Human Sexuality from San Francisco State University, have further supported her social and academic aptitude for writing on everything from media to sexuality to culture and politics.