SWYPPe

Gunter De Win is professor in Urology at the University of Antwerp, Adolescent and Reconstructive urologist in University Hospital Antwerp (UZA) and a Congenital Lifelong Urologist in University College London Hospitals (UCLH)
His major clinical expertise and interests are urogenital conditions in emerging adulthood such as ketamine bladder disorder, erectile dysfunction in young males, varicoceles and lifelong follow up of patients with a congenital urogenital condition (spina bifida, hypospadias, exstrophy, …)
As a urological surgeon he is highly specialized in urethral and penile reconstructive surgery.

After obtaining his medical degree at the University of Leuven (2003), Belgium he started a research project about Laparoscopy and Simulation Training. With this research he obtained his Phd Degree in Health Science at the University of Leuven Belgium. In the meantime he specialised in urology. After obtaining his specialist degree in urology, he did a fellowship in Adolescent Urology (with Prof Woodhouse en Mr Dan Wood) in University College London hospitals and in Paediatric urology in Great Ormond Street Hospitals London and several times he visited prof Sanjay Kulkarni's urethral center in Pune, India where he obtained his skills in urethral surgery. He joined the urology team in University Hospital Antwerp in 2012 and became a professor in Urology at the university of Antwerp in february 2018. In September 2018 he joined University College London hospitals where he became a part time consultant in congenital lifelong urology.

One of his major research interests are Adolescent varicocele, sexual dysfunctions in young males and teaching and learning with surgical simulation. He authored and co-authored several research articles about urethral reconstruction, and sexual and fertility problems in young patients, and co-edited the SIU-ICUD book about Congenital Lifelong Urology. In 2019 he took the initiative for the recent published Male Sexual Health study where the association between pornography and sexual dysfunction in young male was studied on a large scale.

Maarten Albersen is an associate professor at the faculty of medicine of KU Leuven. He obtained his medicine degree in 2006 and completed a doctorate dealing with the possibility of stem cell treatment for neurogenic erectile dysfunction following pelvic surgery in 2012. His research focused on molecular biology with emphasis on understanding the pathophysiology of diseases affecting male sexuality.

More recently he is conducting research aiming to gain a better understanding of penile cancer development and developing novel therapeutic strategies to combat this disease, funded by the Belgian Foundation against Cancer. He is a member of the scientific office of the European Association of Urology (EAU), an associate editor for European Urology and a member of the executive committee of the Euopean Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM). He has received several international grants and awards most notably the Crystal Matula Award of the EAU and the Award of Excellence of the ESSM. His clinical expertise lies in andrology and cancers of the urogenital tract.

Stefan De Wachter is professor of Urology at the Antwerp University and Chairman of urology at the Antwerp University Hospital in Belgium. He subspecialized in neuro-urology, voiding dysfunction, neuromodulation, urodynamics and female pelvic medicine at an academic level. His scientific expertise is focused on restoration of normal function in the small pelvis, including bladder and bowel function and sexual function. His research focuses on developing and standardizing neurophysiological tools to assess these functions.

Erick Janssen is a Professor of Human Sexuality at the Institute for Family and Sexuality Studies (IFSS) at the University of Leuven, Belgium. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Kinsey Institute, where he was a research scientist for almost 20 years. Erick has published extensively on the topics of sexual psychophysiology, sexual aggression, hypersexuality, sexual dysfunction, risky sexual behavior, and sexuality in close relationships.

During his years at the Kinsey Institute he developed, together with John Bancroft, the Dual Control Model of Sexual Response. This model, with its focus on individual differences in the propensity for sexual excitation and inhibition, has opened up a new research agenda with wide relevance and is being used and tested by researchers around the world. Erick is past President of the International Academy of Sex Research (IASR) and has received a number of awards, including twice the Hugo G. Beigel Award for best publication in the Journal of Sex Research and, with his students, the SSTAR Award, IASR Best Student Manuscript Award, and Reiss Theory Award. His current research interests include sexual arousal as a dyadic process, sexuality in the early stages of romantic relationships, the determinants of sexual aggression in young, heterosexual men, hypersexuality, and the association between porn use and sexual response and function.

Gily Coene is professor in Moral Philosophy and in Gender- and Diversity Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). She is director of RHEA, Centre of Expertise Gender Diversity and Intersectionality and one of the co-founders of the interuniversity master in gender and diversity. Gily obtained her PhD in Moral Sciences at the UGent in 2004. Over the years, she has built up extensive experience in multi- and cross-disciplinary research that centralizes the importance of understanding gender in interaction with other inequalities, particularly concerning, harmful cultural practices, intimate partner violence, sexual rights and reproductive justice.

More details on her work and publications can be found on: https://researchportal.vub.be/en/persons/gily-coene

Alexis Dewaele is hoofddocent kwalitatieve onderzoeksmethoden aan de Faculteit Psychologie en Pedagogische Wetenschappen van de Universiteit Gent. Hij is coördinator van PSYNC, een interdisciplinair consortium gericht op het verbeteren van de mentale gezondheid van elke burger. Alexis is daarnaast voorzitter van Sensoa, Het Vlaamse expertisecentrum voor seksuele gezondheid. Als wetenschappelijk coördinator van de Sexpert-studie (2009-2013) verwierf hij expertise over diverse aspecten van seksuele gezondheid. Hij is op dit moment actief lid van de European Sexual Medicine Network en één van de partners van de Academic Network of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Policy Hij is één van de promotoren van het Single Case Archive, een database met meer dan 3500 psychotherapeutische gevalstudies. Van 2018-2020 was hij vice-projectcoördinator van Mentally, een project gericht op het verbeteren van Europese geestelijke gezondheidszorg.

As a social scientist, I established the Research Unit Social Epidemiology and Health Policy within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. The Research Group has extensive experience with quantitative and qualitative research methodology. Research topics addressed in recent years include: tobacco prevention, substance use, cancer screening, migrants and participation in cancer screening, proactive medicine and drug use among sex workers. Methodologies used are quantitative questionnaires, in depth interviewing and focus group discussions. I have supervised eight defended PhDs and 12 PhDs are ongoing.

I am coordinator of the learning line ‘Physician & Society’, covering the first five years of medical education at the University of Antwerp and I am coordinator of the course ‘Public Health, Policy and Practice’ for the Master of Epidemiology, University of Antwerp, Belgium. This Master consists of students from very different parts of the world. I am appointed as an expert at the Superior Health Council of Belgium, member of the European Public Health Association, member of the Belgian Association of Public Health and member of the Flemish Taskforce for Population Screening. I have published over 100 articles (Web of Science).

Kristien Michielsen is Professor in Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. She works at the International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH) in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (Ghent University, Belgium). Being trained in social and political sciences, Kristien has been doing multidisciplinary research in the field of sexual and reproductive health since 2006, mainly focusing on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. She obtained her PhD in Social Health Sciences in November 2012 on the topic of adolescent sexual health (HIV prevention). Her main research topics are comprehensive sexuality education, structural determinants of health, including gender norms, and complex evaluations. Kristien has research experience in several countries including Belgium, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Ecuador.

She is a member of the board of Sensoa, the Flemish expertise centre for sexual health, of the European Expert Group on Sexuality Education, and of the UNESCO Partnership Forum on Sexuality Education. She is also an independent consultant in Global Health research. More details on her work and publications can be found on her ORCID profile.

Michel Walrave (PhD) is a professor at the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Antwerp, where he leads the research group MIOS. His research is centered around online self-disclosure and privacy. He investigates individuals’ self-disclosure and privacy in interpersonal online communication. More particularly, his research focuses on self-disclosure’s motives, opportunities (e.g., sharenting) as well as risks (e.g., cyberbullying, cyber dating abuse). He also investigates motives and consequences of intimate online disclosures (e.g., sexting). Next to interpersonal online self-disclosures, he investigates internet users’ entrusting of personal data to organizations and how individuals deal with interactive and personalized persuasive communication.

Sam is a clinical sexologist and psychotherapist connected to the PXL University College of Aplied Arts and Sciences’ Healthcare Department, where he lectures on sexual health, counselling sklills and ethics. As a clinician he is connected to the Outpatient Center for Sexual Health at the Sint Fransiscus Hospital in Heusden- Belgium where he counsels patients/couples with divers sexual problems. Previously he was conected to the Student Sex Work Project at Swansea University as a clinical and reasearch consultant, counselling student sex workers and developing training for professionals on how to counsel student sex workers.

Koen Ponnet (PhD in Psychology, 2004) is an associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Ghent University, and is associated with the research group Media, Innovation and Communication Technologies (imec-mict). He teaches several theoretical as well as methodological courses, and conducts research in the field of Public Health, Media Psychology and Social Psychology.

In his research, he examines the determinants of online and offline health and risk behaviors of adolescents and adults (e.g. sexting, online self-disclosure, depressive symptoms, drug use, unsafe and unsecure behavior, attitudinal changes). Koen Ponnet deliberately conducts research that has implications for theory-building as well as relevance for practice and policy. His research is built on various theoretical frameworks and combines insights from social psychology, communication sciences and sociology. In his research, Ponnet also pays attention to the situation of vulnerable groups, like those who are at risk of poverty. He co-operated in many national and international data collection projects, and has extensive expertise in developing questionnaires and research designs.

Koen Ponnet is (co-)author of several books and book chapters. He has co-authored over 140 papers in WOS-ranked journals (Q1: 41.4%; Q2: 35.1%; Q3: 18.0%; Q4: 5.4%) and over 40 VABB-SHW articles. He is leading a team of 10 PhD researchers and 1 post-doc.