Freya Sonenstein Wins Researcher of the Year Award

Healthy Teen Network presents award during national conference in Pittsburgh

Freya Sonenstein, PhD, director of the Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was presented with the Researcher of the Year Award on October 12 at the annual conference of the Healthy Teen Network, a national organization focused on adolescent health with an emphasis on issues related to teen pregnancy.

Pat Paluzzi, DrPH, president of Healthy Teen Network, bestowed the award on Sonenstein during a ceremony at the national conference in Pittsburgh, Pa. Past winners include John Santelli, Claire Brindis, Barbara Sugland, Laurie Zabin, Wilhelmina Leigh and Doug Kirby.

“The Healthy Teen Network honors Dr. Freya Sonenstein with our Researcher of the Year Award for her early and ongoing commitment to include young men in efforts to improve the health and well-being of young people,” Paluzzi said. “Dr. Sonenstein has long been a pioneer in including young men when we consider teen pregnancy, STI and HIV prevention, as well as teen parenting. She clearly has been a thought leader in this arena.”

Sonenstein’s work has primarily concentrated on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. For more than three decades, she has conducted applied research in family and children’s policy. She is currently conducting a review of research funded under the Title X Family Planning Service Delivery Improvement Program, an assessment of programs that involve males in preventing teen pregnancy, and an analysis of how young men establish stable romantic relationships. Sonenstein has designed and conducted several major studies related to men’s fertility. In addition to her position as director of the Center for Adolescent Health, she also directs the National Survey of Adolescent Males funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development to study sexual behavior and reproductive health among a national sample of young men ages 15 to 19. Sonenstein currently serves on the National Scientific Advisory Committee for the Redesign of the Young Adult 2000 Survey (NLSY), and the Advisory Panel for the National Evaluation of Federal Abstinence Efforts. Previously, she was the director of the Population Research Center at the Urban Health Institute in Washington, D.C.