WAS Celebrates Outstanding Presentations at the 27th Congress
Updated: Jul 23, 2025
PRESS RELEASE
[Brisbane, Australia] – Conference Awards Recognize Excellence Across Seven Key Tracks
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19 June 2025
The World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) is proud to announce the recipients of the WAS Congress Awards 2025, presented during the Closing Ceremony of the 27th WAS Congress in Brisbane, Australia.
These awards honor the most impactful and innovative ideas and findings presented at the Congress. Winners were selected from a range of exceptional contributions across the broad and evolving field of sexual health and rights.
“We are deeply inspired by the caliber of work, from basic science to educational initiatives and clinical innovations, shared at this Congress,” said Erick Janssen, WAS Secretary General and Chair of the WAS Scientific Committee. “These awards celebrate excellence as well as the passion and purpose that drive our global field forward.”
WAS 2025 Congress Award Recipients
WAS 2025 Congress President's Award:
Author: Katrina Marson
Presentation: Keynote: Preventing sexual violence isn't good enough, but is it a good enough place to start?
Track - Basic Science:
Authors: Stefan Ückert, Karin Richter, Andreas Bannowsky, Markus A. Kuczyk
Presentation: A re-evaluation of the expression and distribution of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the human vagina using the Tyramide Signal Amplification (TSA) technique
Track - Education:
Authors: Marielle Le Mat, Hannah Kabelka, Chantale Al Lakis, Kathleen Chau, Leonie Werner, Yasmine El Addouli, & Maryse Kok
Presentation: Adolescent and youth perceptions on sexuality education in LMICs
Track - Social & Behavioral Sciences:
Author: Janet Ross
Presentation: Girl Talk: A qualitative study on how Sub-Saharan African women living in the United States learn about sex and pleasure
Track - Sexual Medicine:
Authors: Alexandra Lipa, Sarah Maunsell, Cherie Bennett, Courtney Gibbs, Lona Brown, & Sara Whitburn
Presentation: Implementation and evaluation of a learning framework to guide evidence-based and patient-centred contraceptive consultations
Track - Public Health & Policies:
Author: Nadia Morand
Presentation: Anti-Ableism and Sexual Health: fostering autonomy and self-determination for people with disabilities
Track - Sexual Rights & Ethics:
Authors: Raphaël Jacques, Artemis C. Guay, & Geneviève Pagé
Presentation: Navigating sexual and reproductive health services as a neurodivergent adult in Quebec (Canada): a qualitative study of obstacles and strategies
Track - Clinical Sciences & Therapy:
Authors: Maxi Xie & Hailey Lin
Presentation: Behind Closed Doors: Navigating Love, Shame, Sex, and Healing in Chinese-Speaking Communities in Australia
Gratitude to the WAS Scientific Committee
WAS extends sincere thanks to the Scientific Committee for their vision, guidance, and rigorous selection process, which shaped a rich and globally relevant academic program.
The committee was led by Erick Janssen as Chair, with Kristen Mark and Terry Humphreys serving as Vice-Chairs.
WAS also thanks the Congress Organizing Committee, chaired by Congress President, Armin Ariana, and supported by Christopher Fox, Margaret Redelman, Rosediani Muhamad, Elna Rudolph, Luis Perelman, Alain Giami, René de Klerk, Hanna Saltis, Merle Meyer, and Ella Shannon, for their exceptional coordination and commitment to the success of WAS 2025.
Track Leads and Review Panel
Track 1 – Sexual Rights & Ethics: Faysal El Kak, Eszter Kismodi, Osmar Matsui, Tommi Paalanen
Track 2 – Social & Behavioral Sciences: Joana Carvalho, David Paternotte
Track 3 – Clinical Sciences & Therapy: Stefano Eleuteri, Denise Medico, Patricia Pascoal, Mehmet Sungur
Track 4 – Basic Science: Jim Pfaus, Nicole Prause
Track 5 – Sexual Medicine: Béatrice Cuzin, Mijal Luria, Tomoko Saotome
Track 6 – Public Health & Public Policies: Jaime Barrientos Delgado, Jeyarani Kamaraj, Kenneth Rochel De Camargo
Track 7 – Education: Amé Atsu David, Osmo Kontula, Lin Myers
Acknowledging the International Scientific Committee
WAS extends heartfelt appreciation to the members of the International Scientific Committee, who generously contributed their time and expertise to the abstract review process.
Armin Ariana, Heather Armstrong, Ane Amondarain, Daniela Barsotti-Santos, Esben Esther Pirelli Benestad, Aurelie Bourmaud, Alma Brand, Dejan Bratus, Patti Britton, Joana Carvalho, Estela Citrin, René De Klerk, Stefano Eleuteri, Itor Finotelli Junior, Frances Foulkes-Taylor, Tonia Frame, Terry Gachie, Jacopo Grisolaghi, Dee Hartmann, Yusuke Hayashi, Jacqui Hendriks, Felipe Hurtado-Murillo, Alexandra James, Rodrigo Jarpa, Vinicius Jobim Fischer, Yassine Jrad, Koukiyoani Koutiangba, Paula Loveday, Jack Lukkerz, Meriem Mahbouli, Andreia A. Manão, Susan Milstein, Sarra Mokadmi, Amy Mullens, Jean-Paul Ngueya, Maria Lucia Pop, Antonio Prunas, Margaret Redelman, G. Nic Rider, J. Nalubega Ross, Roberta Rossi, Alessandra Sallum, Sry Lanka Bendjy Sanon, Juan Carlos Sierra, Seray Soyman, Alejandro Villena, Francisco Juan Jose Viola, Yanyi Zhang.
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About WAS
Founded in 1978, the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) is a global confederation of professional organizations, academics, health providers, educators, and activists dedicated to promoting sexual health, rights, and justice. With over 80 organizational members and 6 regional federations, WAS leads initiatives that bridge science, advocacy, and community action to advance sexual wellbeing for all.
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Media Queries
Dr. René de Klerk, WAS Executive Director
Email: exec@worldsexualhealth.net
Lisa Welsh, WAS Communications Lead.
It's wonderful to see the WAS Congress recognizing such a diverse range of work, from basic science to education and sexual rights. Every award recipient clearly brought something meaningful to the field, and the breadth of topics is inspiring. On a related note, if you enjoy sharing news like this on social media, I've been using font changer to make my posts stand out with different text styles. It's a fun little tool that works almost anywhere you can paste text.
Congratulations to all the award recipients, it's inspiring to see such diverse and impactful work recognized, from sexuality education in LMICs to patient-centred contraceptive consultations. Celebrating excellence like this truly moves the field forward. After reading something this uplifting, I like to unwind with Tiny Fishing, a relaxing idle fishing game where you drop your line and reel in cash. Simple fun, and a nice way to decompress after engaging with serious research news.
Congratulations to all the award recipients! It's wonderful to see such diverse and meaningful work recognized, from sexuality education to inclusive health services. Reading inspiring stories like this always lifts my mood, lately I've been celebrating good news by creating custom songs with AI song generator, an AI song generator. It's a fun way to turn positive feelings into music. Well done to WAS and everyone honored in Brisbane!
Congratulations to all the 2025 WAS Congress Award recipients! It's wonderful to see such diverse work recognized, from youth sexuality education to sexual health for people with disabilities. Studies like "Girl Talk" and the neurodivergent adults research in Quebec show how important inclusive perspectives are. If anyone wants to review their congress presentation recordings slide by slide, video frame extractor is a handy free tool that converts videos to frames right in your browser, no login needed.
Wonderful to see WAS honoring such diverse and impactful work across all seven tracks at the Brisbane Congress, these awards truly highlight how broad and vital the field of sexual health is. Congratulations to all recipients! Reading inspiring news like this is a nice break in my day, usually right after my morning puzzle on poople unlimited, a fun little practice site for the daily word ladder game. Looking forward to more updates from WAS.