Rate My Professor Sam Winter

Sam Winter is an Associate Professor in Sexology in the Curtin School of Population Health within the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University. He holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Southampton (1973), a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Coventry College of Education (1974), an MEd, and a PhD. Winter's career spans over four decades, beginning with teaching and research positions before serving as Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong from 2000 to 2014. During his 30 years at the University of Hong Kong, he developed, led, and taught three campus-wide undergraduate courses in sexology, with Sexual and Gender Diversity accommodating up to 300 students per semester. In 2015, he joined Curtin University as Associate Professor in the School of Public Health, now the School of Population Health, where he heads the sexology team. His research specializations include transgender health, sexology, sexuality and gender diversity, romantic partner selection, and behavioral aspects of health promotion.

Winter has authored around 150 publications, including monographs, book chapters, refereed journal articles, and encyclopedia entries. Key works include leading the authorship of 'Transgender people: health at the margins of society' (The Lancet, 2016), the first paper in a landmark series on transgender health, and contributions to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care version 7. Recent publications encompass 'Diverse Gender and Sexual Identity in Romantic Partner Selection Experiences' (2025), 'Exploring Lay Understandings of Romantic Chemistry' (2025), and 'Australian teacher attitudes, beliefs and comfort towards sexuality and gender diverse students' (2022). He has received the 2015 Curtin University academic year excellence award and two 2016 Curtin prizes for publications with the highest impact factors. Winter serves on the WPATH board, chairs the policy committee for the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH), and has collaborated with WHO, UNDP, UNAIDS, and UNESCO. His advocacy supports organizations like the Asia-Pacific Transgender Network and Global Action for Trans* Equality, influencing global transgender health policy and practice.