Rate My Professor Alexis Martinez

Alexis Martinez is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology & Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University, part of the College of Health & Social Sciences, where she joined the faculty in 2007. As a UCSF-trained medical sociologist, Dr. Martinez has a strong background in community-based research with structurally vulnerable and marginalized populations. Her scholarship integrates qualitative and quantitative methodologies to investigate the interplay of space, place, and spatial dynamics in health outcomes across the United States. Key areas of focus include opioid prescribing patterns, opioid overdose epidemics, and racial disparities within jail populations. She also examines the criminalization of drug use as a critical structural factor influencing the HIV risk environment for injection drug users. Before her tenure at San Francisco State University, Dr. Martinez participated in the Urban Health Study at the University of California, San Francisco, exploring connections between arrests, incarceration, and HIV risk among street-based injection drug users in San Francisco.

In addition to her research contributions, Dr. Martinez has taken on significant leadership roles within her department, including serving as Vice Chair from 2020 to 2024 and Graduate Coordinator for the Master of Arts program in Sexuality Studies from 2016 to 2020. She holds an affiliation as research faculty with the Center for Research & Education on Gender and Sexuality since 2013. Her commitment to excellence in teaching was recognized with the 2024 College of Health & Social Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award for tenured faculty, honoring the quality and impact of her pedagogical achievements. Dr. Martinez has taught courses such as SOC 392: Introduction to Research Methods, SOC 375: Sociology of Drugs and Drug Use in the United States, SOC 393: Quantitative Analysis of Social Data, and SOC 476: Medical Sociology, fostering critical thinking in social science research and health-related topics.