Dennis Li, PhD, MPH, (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University. He is core faculty at the Center for the Dissemination and Implementation Science and Co-Director of the Northwestern University clinical and Translational Sciences Institute’s Translational science Pilot Award Program. As Founding Director of the ACCELERATE Research Program, Dr. Li and his team focus on public health approaches to improving the delivery of HIV treatment and prevention interventions to end the HIV epidemic in the US. He has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on 19 NIH-funded projects in this area, including an ongoing R01 that is facilitating and studying the implementation of low-barrier HIV care clinics across the Chicagoland area. Additionally, he is Multiple Principal Investigator of the national HIV Implementation Science Coordination Initiative, which coordinates and supports researchers’ and practitioners’ use of shared implementation science methods to contribute to generalizable HIV implementation knowledge.

Personal Statement

Hello, SSSS Membership. My name is Dennis Li. I am an assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine focused primarily on HIV implementation science, and I am running for reelection as Membership Chair of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. I believe my perspectives, skills, and experiences equip me with the right tools to continue to be effective in this role.

In 2021, ten years after I first encountered SSSS as a new doctoral student, I was persuaded by a colleague to get more involved in the organization, so I ran for and was selected by the membership as a Member at Large in 2022. For two years in that role, I worked primarily on the Membership Committee but also contributed to the Strategic Development and Recommendations Committee when the SSSS thought it was time to take the organization in new directions. On the latter committee, I co-led the refinement of the SSSS mission and vision statements. Working closely with more senior leaders helped prepare me for role of Membership Chair in 2024, when the previous chair stepped down.

During my time as a membership chair, I have co-hosted a series of community support webinars during the 2025 mass terminations of federal grants; conducted a landscape analysis of membership fees and types; refreshed the membership committee; and, with the membership committee, conducted ongoing instructional webinars for members around abstract writing and grand funding. I have also contributed to the broader strategic planning and decision-making of the executive committee and board of directors.

I bring to this position both professional and personal experiences. In my day-to-day work, I am a community-engaged researcher focused on marginalized communities, including sexual and gender minorities and people with HIV with complex needs. There is no step I take in my work without the guidance and blessing of either members from those communities or those who can advocate for them. I apply those same principles as membership chair, putting into place more ways for members to provide feedback to the board so that they feel they’re getting maximum value from their membership. I envision a SSSS where join not only because of the annual meeting but because they feel connected to the organization throughout the year. I also use my skills as am implementation scientist, I know how to work on large, interdisciplinary teams. I have experienced my fair share of team conflicts when people of different disciplines and backgrounds, including researchers and community members, disagree on how to do something. My approach in those situation has been to first listen to all groups’ needs and priorities and then identify the intersection where we can find the shared goals to work towards. This approach continues to serve me well in my leadership role in this organization.

Regarding my personal experiences, I bring to the board various identities, including as a gay man, a person of color, a researcher in liberal state that came from a conservative one, and others. It is important for me to understand my positionality, including identities that are not marginalized or even privileged, because each one is a lens through which I can ask the question: how would a particular decision by the SSSS board affect members who have this identity or don’t have this identity. For example. I recognize many SSSS members view this organization as their primary professional home. Because of my research, I have a lot of other professional organizations that I am affiliated with, but SSSS is the one that I have sought leadership roles in even thought the direct benefit to me professionally is lower. I hope that demonstrates my passion and dedication to this group and how as membership chair, I aim to make sure members of all types and backgrounds are being served by the Society. Thank you.