Sex researcher can be a lonely job

Being a sex researcher can be a lonely task, said IU professor William Yarber.\n"Friends and neighbors don't know quite how to react that someone is a sexual scientist," he said. "They don't understand the nature of the field … I don't think they quite understand the rigors and difficulties of doing the research."\nOn Saturday, Yarber was praised for his work, when he received the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. The award is for "outstanding contributions to the field of sexology in the areas of research, education, or therapy," according to the SSSS Web site. \nYarber is a professor of applied health science and senior director of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention -- a joint project of IU, Purdue University and Texas A&M University. \n"This place (IU) has been the beacon for academic freedom in sex research," Yarber said.\nYarber, who received his doctorate from IU in 1973, became interested in the study of sexual behavior when he was a high school health and sex education teacher. Eight years ago at IU, he helped to start the RCAP. \n"We'd go to these meetings and everyone is talking about these urban areas," Yarber said. "But we needed attention in the rural communities."\nThe RCAP is the only center in the country that focuses on HIV and STD incidence and prevention in rural areas. The center sponsors international meetings and provides educational materials and monthly fact sheets, the most recent titled "AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the Rural South."\nYarber's colleagues say he deserves the honor.\n"He has a significant body of work," said James G. Anderson, a professor of sociology at Purdue University and a co-director of the RCAP. "He's been involved in the development of texts, films, and software. He's done research and been published in scientific journals. He has been a real pioneer in the area of STD and HIV prevention."\nOne of Yarber's bigger achievements was developing the first AIDS curriculum in 1987. It was endorsed by the federal government and became a model curriculum for schools across the country. \n"It was a very intense, exciting time," Yarber said. "We sold 200,000 copies in the U.S. and Canada. We could hardly print it fast enough."\nAt the RCAP, Yarber and his colleagues have been focusing on AIDS and STD prevention in adolescent and rural populations.\n"As co-directors, we have done research in the area of public opinion and condom use, and developing knowledge and attitude tests with regard to STDs and HIV/AIDS," said Mohammad Torabi, chair of the Department of Applied Health Science and another co-director of the RCAP. "We've done studies about need assessments for rural communities and HIV/STD programs."\nAnderson worries that AIDS will continue to spread because people have become complacent with the availability of retroviral therapies. \n"It doesn't cure it," Anderson said. "The only thing we have is prevention. This (the RCAP) is a very important effort. Rural areas have not had the attention urban areas have. It's spreading rapidly among rural areas."\nYarber credits the SSSS with providing a sense of belonging for sex researchers. He's also very grateful to Herman B Wells for standing up for Alfred Kinsey's work.\n"I am blessed to be at Indiana University, an academic center that has a long and rich history of conducting important and cutting-edge sex research," he said. "Ever since Alfred Kinsey did his landmark work and then-President Herman B Wells supported it against severe criticism, IU has been a supportive and nourishing home for many sex researchers."\nIU has more recipients of the award -- five -- than any other university. In addition to Yarber, the other recipients were original Kinsey researcher Wardell Pomery, Past Kinsey Institute director Paul Gebhard, current Kinsey Institute director John Bancroft, and Martin Weinberg of the Sociology department.