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+ health 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 now serving in a mentorship role in SSSS’ mentor/mentee program that has been coordinated by Shayna Skakoon-Sparquez throughout the pandemic. After shifting institutions, I now have the time to volunteer with SSSS again in a more involved capacity as the treasurer.

Secretary 2024-2026

Rose Grose, PhD
University of Northern Colorado, Greely
 

Dr. Rose Grace Grose (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Community Health Education in the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley Colorado. She earned her PhD in Social Psychology with an emphasis in Feminist Studies from UC Santa Cruz and is a certified sex educator through San Francisco Sex Information. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Global Health at Emory University and was a Satcher Health Policy Leadership Fellow at Morehouse School of Medicine. 

Dr. Grose is passionate about using research to inform policy and evidence-based programs to reduce sexual health disparities and promote gender equity. Her expertise is in mixed methods research, understanding social determinants and structural influences on sexual health, and evaluation of community-based programs in partnership with local organizations. In the classroom she creates experiences to help students understand the connections between social contexts, relationships, and individual health behavior. She recently co-facilitated a workshop called “Exploring Artificial Intelligence in Public Health Practice, Research, Teaching, and Learning” and could aid the SSSS board in understanding AI and its potential impact on sexuality scholarship, teaching, and advocacy.

Dr. Grose’s university, professional, and community service focuses on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. She is a faculty mentor for the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center at UNC, receiving their Faculty Advocate of the Year award in 2019. She serves on the Colorado SPH Inclusive Excellence Committee and was a Faculty Ambassador for the UNC Disabilities Resource Center for a 2-year term. In the community, Dr. Grose is the meeting facilitator for the local Comprehensive Sex Education Alliance and was Secretary to the Northern Colorado Equality Board of Directors for a term.

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.

Member-At-Large 2023-2025

Heather Tillewein, PhD, CHES
Austin Peay State University

Dr. Heather Tillewein is an Assistant Professor in Public Health at Austin Peay State University. She also serves on the Executive Committee as Communication's Chair for the LGBTQ Health Caucus for the American Public Health Association. She recently was appointed, by the President and Executive Director of APHA, to serve on the Committee on Women’s Rights for APHA. Dr. Tillewein serves on the Continuing Education Committee, Co-Chair for the Scientific Program, and SIG Leader for Queer Sexualities/ Trans* Experience/ Identity for the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. Recently, Dr. Tillewein was appointed to serve on as Co-Chair for the SSSS Scientific Program. She collaborates on several research projects with the Kinsey Institute, SIU School of Medicine, the California Institute of Integral Studies, and others. Dr. Tillewein's research focuses on sexuality, gender identity, sexual health, LGBTQIA+ health, and reproductive health. 

Member-At-Large 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

Member-At-Large 2024-2026

Karen John, PhD, MS, BS

My name is Dr. Karen John. I am a native New Yorker, born in the Bronx with a deepened sense of family whose roots run deeply across this continent, touching down in the Caribbean, and extending to the shores of Africa, an existence I have yet to explore. Acceptance was modeled for me early on by my great and grandparents despite their clouded journey of non-acceptance. Regardless, my ancestors instilled their beliefs of equality and openness giving me the voice that I now use today. Thus, from a shy and reserved, little girl emerged a voice of humanism. Having been an active second year member of The Society, I began my membership as a student. Upon graduating, I renewed my membership as a professional. Shortly thereafter, I became active members of both the JEDI Committee and most recently the Race/Ethnicity Special Interest Group (SIG). I am an educator, developmental psychology researcher, and humanitarian. My work alongside of education continues to focus on contextualizing the consequences of marginalization and the resulting disparities. My most recent research was rooted within the LGBTQA+ communities with its primary focus being the lesbian population with resiliency and intimacy being primary to my study. Further interests include race, gender, and sexuality in terms of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion and how that is reflected in society by means of policies and politics. My humanitarian efforts extend beyond the classroom and into the realm of social media in the form of a podcast which discusses such policies and politics as it relates to the past, the present, and the impending consequences of not addressing the latter to create both a humane and inclusive future. The idea being our duty as humans, is to therefore leave this world in a better state than which we found it. It is my intension to do my part to create a portion of the blueprint necessary for achieving this not just for me because I may not experience it, but for all those who come after me.

Member-At-Large 2024-2026

G. Nic Rider, PhD
Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health
National Center for Gender Health

G. Nic Rider, Ph.D. (they/them) is an associate professor, a licensed psychologist, and the Adult Gender Services Coordinator at the Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (ISGH). They are also the Director of the National Center for Gender Health. Dr. Rider's research broadly focuses on improving healthcare for and exploring resilience among marginalized communities, with a focus on sexual and gender diverse people of color. They often focus on social and structural factors affecting the lived experiences of historically excluded communities and resilience/strengths identified by these communities. Dr. Rider's clinical training includes psychotherapy and assessment experiences in a university counseling center, hospital settings, private practice, community clinic, residential treatment, and juvenile justice settings. Their professional interests are in the areas of intersectionality, improving various health disparities, sexual health and pleasure, decolonizing healing justice, systems change and social justice advocacy. They served as the past Co-Chair for the Asian American Psychological Association's Division on LGBTQQ and participate on committees advocating for queer and trans individuals globally. Dr. Rider received a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Howard University in Washington, D.C. 

Member-At-Large 2024-2026

Val Wongsomboon, PhD 
Yale University
Kinsey Institute 

I am a postdoctoral associate in Yale University’s Department of Psychology, a faculty affiliate at the Kinsey Institute, and a social-health psychologist specializing in the intersections of stigma and sexuality. My research focuses on sexual health and well-being in stigmatized contexts (e.g., casual sex) and among marginalized populations, with the goal of addressing disparities including the orgasm gap affecting women and LGBTQ+ individuals. Another line of my research focuses on relationship-seeking, particularly online dating, as a context for understanding sexual health and well-being. My work spans sexual and relational health across diverse relationship types, with a focus on the unique challenges faced by stigmatized groups, especially those encountering intersecting stigmas, and populations underrepresented in sex and relationship science (e.g., LGBTQ+ singles). My research has informed sex-positive, judgment-free interventions, education, and therapies aimed at helping youth navigate online dating safely and healthily, and I collaborate with scholars and practitioners across disciplines to conduct translational research with real-world impact. I am deeply involved in the field of sexuality research, serving as a Consulting Editor for the Journal of Sex Research, regularly reviewing for multiple sexuality-focused journals, and participating on review committees for gender/sex/sexuality research grants. As an immigrant woman of color from a small, low-income, conservative country with stigmatizing attitudes toward sex and sexuality, I hope to be a role model for others in this field and create pathways for the next generation to thrive. My commitment to service is deeply rooted in my lived experiences and dedication to supporting the next generation of scholars, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds. 

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.

Executive Director

James Laidler, BSc (Hons), PgDip

James Laidler (he/him) is a transformative leader whose experience bridges storytelling, organizational change, and social impact. He brings to SSSS decades of experience steering high-profile teams through complex challenges—from managing the BBC’s largest-ever relocation as an Executive Producer to advising Fortune 500 companies on operational reinvention.

A British Academy Award-winning former journalist and certified life coach, James has spent his career mobilizing systems and people toward bold goals. At the BBC, he championed diverse on-screen representation as a longtime DEIB board member—a role that cemented his belief in leadership as a force for equity. His work training journalists at Reuters, The New York Times, and beyond reflects his passion for empowering others to excel.

After relocating to the USA, James pivoted to change management consulting, designing scalable solutions for billion-dollar corporations and nonprofits. In 2019, he founded his own coaching company, Pointerway, helping queer men lead authentic lives. He is a sexuality science researcher-practitioner and published author.

James holds degrees in physics and multimedia journalism. In his free time, he 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.

Membership/Conference Coordinator