Walter Bockting, PhD

Walter Bockting, PhD is a clinical psychologist and an internationally known sexuality researcher, and is Co-Director of Gender, Sexuality, and Health at the New York State Psychiatric Institute / Columbia Psychiatry. He is Professor of Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry and Nursing) at Columbia University, and a Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He is currently Principal Investigator of a NHLBI-funded longitudinal study of transgender identity development and health across the lifespan (with Donald Edmondson), and PI of a NIA-funded study on the role of social support in cognitive aging and resilience, comparing LGBT and cisgender, heterosexual adults in the New York area.

After received his doctoral degree in psychology from the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Dr. Bockting for 20 years directed transgender health services at the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He co-founded the University of Minnesota Leo Fung Center for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and Disorders of Sex Development. Currently, he is the Director of the Program for the Study of LGBT Health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Bockting’s research interests include gender identity and sexual development, transgender health, HIV prevention, and the promotion of sexual health. His work has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, the New York Community Trust, the MAC AIDS Fund, and a number of other private foundations.

Dr. Bockting is the author of many scientific articles and textbook chapters, and editor of five books, including Transgender Health and HIV Prevention (Haworth Press, 2005) and Guidelines for Transgender Care (The Haworth Press, 2006). He is a former Editor of the International Journal of Transgender Health, Associate Editor of Sexual and Relationship Therapy, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Homosexuality and the International Journal of Sexual Health. He is past president and fellow of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, as well as past president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. In 2010-2011, Dr. Bockting served on the National Academies' Institute of Medicine Committee on LGBT Health Issues, Research Gaps and Opportunities, which culminated in the IOM Report “The Health of LGBT People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding.”