Mark Padilla, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Padilla told the Council that his research was made possible by the support he received from the NCMHD Loan Repayment Program.

While there have been numerous studies on HIV/AIDS and female sex workers, Padilla’s study focused on male sex workers. He selected the Caribbean because it has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates outside of sub-Saharan Africa.