The Masters and Johnson Award recognizes extraordinary contributions to clinical sexuality and/or sexual research over the course of a lifetime and achievement of excellence in clinical and/or research areas of sexual disorders. Nominations should be sent to the attention of the SSTAR president at info@sstarnet.org by March 1 each year.
2023 Recipient: Cynthia Graham, PhD
As part of SSTAR’s vision to advance sexual wellbeing, the organization honors exceptional contributions to the field by recognizing outstanding consumer books on sexuality with its Consumer Book Award. The goal of the award is to recognize the best recent book for consumers (intended for the lay public or general reader and NOT for therapists, mental health specialists or other health care providers) that contributes to the understanding of human sexuality and/or sexual problems.
The award will be presented at the 2027 Annual Meeting.
2025 Recipients: Andrew Goldstein, MD; Caroline Pukall, PhD; Irwin Goldstein, MD; and Jill Krapf, MD
When Sex Hurts: Understanding and Healing Pelvic Pain; Hachette Book Group
The SSTAR Health Professional Book award recognizes outstanding books, published in English within the last two years, that are significant contributions to professionals’ understanding of human sexuality and the provision of treatment for sexual problems. Many of the previous winners have become seminal texts in the area. Eligible books are aimed at professionals, are not collections of previously published works, and must be readily available in bookstores or libraries.
2026 Award: “New Directions in Sex Therapy: Innovations and Alternatives (3rd Edition) edited by Peggy J. Kleinplatz, PhD and published by Routledge (2025).
Here is what Caroline Russell Smith, Chair of the SSTAR Health Professional Book Award Committee has to say about the book:
New Directions in Sex Therapy: Innovations and Alternatives (3rd Edition) serves as a compass for new and seasoned sexual health professionals, orienting us into the future of sex therapy with careful consideration of the influences of power, identity, relationship and social context on our work. We found the book to be thought-provoking and diverse in its theoretical offerings. The committee appreciated constructive critiques of our field, attention to marginalized populations and practices, and explorations of our role as creative and ethical providers of care. Dr. Kleinplatz and her contributors share their fierce commitment to moving our field forward as well as their reverence for those we serve in an accessible and informative way. Your clinical library is better with this book in it.
Thank you to members of the Health Professional Book Award Committee -- Amanda Adili, Ruth Koelling, Caroline Maykut and Mary Beth Golden -- for their willingness to turn many pages with discernment.
The SSTAR Sandra R. Leiblum Student Research Award recognizes the scholarly work of students who are developing a career in the field of sexual disorders and sexual health and fosters the professional development of individuals beginning their careers in this area.
2026 Recipient: Marta Kolbuszewska, M.A. :Biopsychosocial predictors of sexual function in perimenopause: A systematic review
Leiblum Student Fund | Criteria | Past Winners
The SSTAR Service Award recognizes that some individuals have contributed greatly to the evolution and history of the organization, a fact that may not have been sufficiently appreciated at the time. Hence the notion of a Service Award which allows for enduring memory.
