Debby Herbenick

Dr. Herbenick is the Principal Investigator of the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), an ongoing U.S. nationally representative probability survey of Americans’ sexual life that began in 2008 and recently completed its 8th wave of data collection. The award-winning NSSHB covers nine decades of live and has included tens of thousands of Americans. In total—between the NSSHB and several other separately supported studies—Dr. Herbenick has led or co-led 14 U.S. nationally representative probability surveys dedicated to understanding contemporary sex in the United States. Most recently, through both US nationally representative studies and college campus-representative surveys, she has turned her attention to studying population-level increases in rough sex behaviors, with a particular focus on understanding people’s experiences with sexual choking, which is a form of strangulation, as well as collaborating with an interdisciplinary group of scholars to identify its health sequelae. Dr. Herbenick’s research has been widely covered, and her expertise included, in thousands of articles, television shows, radio shows, and podcasts including the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, NPR, Savage Love, Men’s Health, Cosmo, Slate, Mashable, Stats + Stories, among many others (see Media page). An award-winning researcher and educator, Dr. Herbenick is internationally known for her creative ways of sharing sexual science with the general public. She has published five best-selling books about sex (visit her Amazon author page), several thousand newspaper and magazine articles and columns (e.g., in the Washington Post, New York Times, Men’s Health, The Guardian), served as co-producer for the Emmy-nominated documentary Hot Girls Wanted, and has consulted on sexuality topics for various films and television shows. In addition, Dr. Herbenick wrote The Kinsey Institute’s Kinsey Confidential columns and podcasts for 17 years. She has appeared on various television (e.g., Tyra, Katie, Tamron Hall Show, Tiffany Cross’ Cross Connection, PBS, Discovery Curiosity, The Doctors), radio, and web-based video series talking about sex and sex research. She is also the founder and host of the Bloomington Sex Salon, a popular event series dedicated to creating campus-community conversations about sexuality topics. Dr. Debby Herbenick is an internationally recognized sexual and reproductive health professor, researcher, and educator. She is a Provost Professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health and director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion. For more than 20 years, she has dedicated her efforts to understanding how people experience their bodies and sexual lives. Among her 200+ peer-reviewed scientific publications, she has published on population-level sexual health issues (including Zika knowledge and adolescent/young adult sexuality education), college sexual health, and changing sexual behavior trends. Dr. Herbenick has also developed and validated measurement scales to assess genital self-image (which can be thought of as how people feel about their genitals and is relevant to people’s willingness to seek healthcare) as well as sexual pleasure. For more than 25 years, Dr. Debby Herbenick's research has focused on understanding how people experience their bodies and sexual lives. Among her 225+ scientific publications, she has developed and validated measures to assess genital self-image, the quality of sexual experiences, and has consulted on the development of other sexuality-related measures. In 2022, she was named one of the Top 2% cited scientists in the world. She has also earned recognition as an educator, having earned IU’s Trustees Teaching Award and Career Teaching Award. Dr. Herbenick is the Principal Investigator of the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), an ongoing U.S. nationally representative probability survey of Americans' sexual lives that began in 2009 and was described by Time Magazine as “the most comprehensive survey of its kind in nearly two decades.” The award-winning NSSHB covers nine decades of life and has included tens of thousands of Americans. To date, there have been eight waves of data collection for the NSSHB. In total—between the NSSHB and several other separately supported studies—Dr. Herbenick has led 14 U.S. probability surveys dedicated to understanding contemporary sexual health issues in the United States. Dr. Herbenick’s research has examined genital self-image, sexual function, emerging sexual practices, and sexual violence. She has also developed and tested educational messages aimed at helping to reduce (a) the risk of sexual assault and (b) people engaging in certain types of sex that may cause harm to themselves or a partner. Most recently, she has turned her attention to studying population-level increases in what some call rough sex behaviors, with a particular focus on understanding people's experiences with sexual choking, which is a form of strangulation, and also understanding the health consequences of being/choked. To do so, she has collaborated with colleagues who have expertise in brain health and hypoxia. Dr. Herbenick’s research support has come from the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Church & Dwight Co., Inc., and numerous private foundations and individual philanthropists. An award-winning researcher and educator, Dr. Herbenick is internationally known for her creative ways of sharing sexual science with the general public. She has published six best-selling books about sex, several thousand newspaper and magazine columns, served as co-producer for the Emmy-nominated documentary Hot Girls Wanted, and has consulted on sexuality topics for various films and television shows. In addition, Dr. Herbenick wrote The Kinsey Institute's Kinsey Confidential columns and podcasts for 17 years. She has shared her professional expertise on various television, radio, and web-based video series. She is also the founder and host of the Bloomington Sex Salon, a popular event series dedicated to creating campus-community conversations about sexuality topics.