Coming Together for Sexual Health

This special episode features Dr. Ina Park discussing monkeypox: what it is, what's the hype, and how worried (hint: not very) she is about the spread.

Follow Dr. Ina Park on Instagram and Twitter.

Download the transcript of the episode here.

Resources:

CDC

Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs. 

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Dr. Ina Park, MS, is the medical director at the California Prevention Training Center. She is a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and a medical consultant in the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.   

Jen Jackson, Disease Intervention Specialist and Harm Reductionist, walks us through the history of harm reduction, the principles that guide the movement, and gives us some personal examples of disease intervention and harm reduction values in action. Listen in to learn how theories of harm reduction apply in myriad settings, and how a foundation in these theories is essential to providing effective sexual healthcare. 

Download the transcript of this episode. 

Resources: 

Report on UN's Stance on Harm Reduction

Drug Policy Alliance

Harm Reduction International

National Harm Reduction Coalition

The National Network of Disease Intervention Training Centers

Cultural Humility Collaborative

"HIV, Gender, Race, Sexual Orientation, and Sex Work: A Qualitative Study of Intersectional Stigma Experienced by HIV-Positive Women in Ontario, Canada"

The Harm Reduction Journal

HealthHIV 

CAPTC-Related Training and Resources: 

Drugs 101 Training Series   

Harm Reduction Resources 

Virtual Syringe Services Workshop 

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CW: Ableism

Download the transcript of this episode.

Follow Andrew Gurza on Instagram.

Resources: 

Disability After Dark

Hot, Wet, and Shaking: How I Learned to Talk about Sex by Kaleigh Trace 

Purchase or financially support The Joystick: The World’s First Accessible Sex Toy by Get Bump’n 

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Andrew Gurza is an award-winning Disability Awareness Consultant and the Chief Disability Officer and Co-founder of Bump’n, a sex toy company for and by disabled people. Their work has been featured on BBC, CBC, Daily Xtra, Gay Times UK, Huffington Post, The Advocate, Everyday Feminism, Mashable, Out.com, and several anthologies. They were the subject of an award-winning National Film Board of Canada Documentary “Picture This." Andrew has guested on a number of podcasts including Dan Savage’s Savage Love and Cameron Esposito’s Queery. They have spoken all over the world on sex, disability and what it means to be a Queer Cripple. They are also the host of Disability After Dark: The Podcast Shining a Bright Light on Disability Stories which won a Canadian Podcast Award in 2021, a Queerty Award, and was chosen as an Honoree at the 2020 Webby Awards. The show is available on all platforms. Andrew is also the creator of the viral hashtag #DisabledPeopleAreHot. 

We speak with Dr. Rosalyn Plotzker about her work with UCSF’s ANCRE Center, the world’s first clinic devoted to anal cancer prevention. Anal cancer incidence is on the rise despite it being associated with HPV, a highly preventable (and extremely common!) virus. Roz takes us through her work with the clinic, anal cancer screening and risk factors, and debunks many of the stereotypes and stigmas surrounding anal cancer and its causes. 

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If you work in sexual health, you have probably had the experience of becoming the "sexpert" for your friends and family. We have gathered some (but by no means all!) of the questions Dr. Rosalyn Plotzker has received from her various circles to try and demystify at least some of these aspects of sexual health. 

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We continue our conversation with Dr. Paul Nash, Associate Professor in Gerontology at USC.

In Part 2 of this discussion about ageism, host Duran Rutledge and Paul dive into the harmful stigma surrounding sex and aging, particularly for people at the intersections of various identities and life experiences. 

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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Paul Nash, Associate Professor in Gerontology at USC. His research spans over a decade and focuses on ageism, discrimination, sexual health, and the built environment. 

He partners with several non-profit organizations on his research into HIV and aging as well as ageism and intergenerational communication. Paul currently serves as a Commissioner on the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV, and he consults with the World Health Organization on ageism. He is active in teaching and recently published the book, Critical Questions for Ageing Societies.

We talk with anti-racist activist, Dante King. He’s worked with organizations like the San Francisco Metropolitan transportation agency and the San Francisco Department of Public Health to cultivate environments that are anti-racist and inclusive.

He discusses how capitalism reinforces racism, the creation of anti-blackness through policy, and the systems and structures that have led to white supremacist ideology.

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"Sex positivity" has become quite a buzzy phrase in sexual health and advocacy spaces in the last decade. But what does that actually mean in practice? Today we will talk with JaDawn Wright of the Pacific Aids Education training Center, about just that. JaDawn is the Deputy Director of the organization and a long-term trainer in the world of sexual health. She tells us why creating healthcare experiences that are welcoming, nonjudgmental, and unbiased can go so far in helping us realize positive health outcomes.

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Ana Delgado, CNM, is a Clinical Professor in the UC San Francisco Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, San Francisco General Hospital Division. She acts as the Assistant Director of Inpatient Obstetrics and Co-Director for Anti-Racism, Equity, Inclusion, and Structural Change. She talks with us about racial inequities in healthcare, how structural racism permeates every facet of life, and why "race is always an issue for folks who are racialized.”

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Dr. Aisha Mays is a Family Physician who focuses on Adolescent Medicine. She is the Founder and Medical Director of the Dream Youth Clinic of Roots Community Health Center, in Oakland, California -- a youth-led, youth-engaged adolescent clinic co-located within Oakland’s two youth shelters. Dr. Mays’ work centers on adolescent reproductive health, reproductive justice for highly vulnerable youth, and the health risks associated with childhood commercial sexual exploitation. Her research focuses on exploring reproductive justice barriers and supporting sexual health for youth.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Mays about her important work.

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Dana Cropper recently took the helm of the California Prevention Training Center as its new Director after Alice Gandelman's retirement. She previously served as Director of Education at HealthHIV.

We talk with Dana about her new position, why Oprah and Sojourner Truth are two of her heroes, and why she thinks to reduce stigma, we must each engage in deep and ongoing self-reflection “about how we navigate through the world”.

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On Jan 21, 2021, the FDA approved Cabenuva, the first once-monthly injectable HIV treatment for adults. Dr. Kelly Johnson, a fellow in infectious diseases and in sexually transmitted diseases at the University of California, San Francisco, explains the implications of this new treatment and how it affects the 1.2 million Americans living with HIV. Dr Johnson is a physician focused on HIV at San Francisco General Hospital Ward 86.

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Dr. Monica Gandhi is an infectious disease physician and professor of medicine at UCSF, and the Medical Director of the Ward 86 clinic. She talks about the efficacy of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine (that was submitted to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization on 2/8/2021), and theorizes as to when we may return to some normalcy.

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