The Kinsey Institute - Staff - van Anders [About the Institute]

Sari van Anders

Assistant Research Scientist

The Kinsey Institute

Assistant Professor

The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences

Affiliate (Adjunct)

The Department of Gender Studies

Morrison Hall 313
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone: (812) 855-7686
E-mail: smvanand@indiana.edu

Dr van Anders' Lab website

Education

Ph.D., Simon Fraser University, 2007
M.A., University of Western Ontario, 2003

Research Statement

During Dr. van Anders' time at the University of Western Ontario, she focused on associations between testosterone and sexual desire, spatial abilities, and patterns of fat deposition, and separately looked at issues relating to gender and academia. At Simon Fraser University, she conducted research on associations between testosterone and social behaviors including sexual activity, partnering, and competition, among other topics.

At The Kinsey Institute, Dr. van Anders will be focusing on how partnering and androgens are linked, and what the implications of this association are for health, evolutionary understandings of pair bonding, and new conceptualizations of relationships. She will also be studying how sexuality and androgens are related, attending to orgasms, desire, and activity, and trying to address the significance of these interrelations. As an ongoing research interest, she is looking forward to addressing human biological rhythms in hormones - like seasonal or diurnal rhythms - and how these interplay with her main social variables of interest.

Dr. van Anders is also looking forward to expanding her research program in social neuroendocrinology to include additional markers of androgen activity (like androgen receptors), possible neural substrates (using imaging), and indicators of health (like immune parameters and fertility).

Research Interests

Hormones and Social Behaviors in Humans
Testosterone and Sexuality in Women
Androgen-related Trade-offs between Competitive and Bond-maintenance Behaviors
Gender/Sex
Evolutionary Bases of Hormone-Behavior Associations
Biological Rhythms
Inclusive Research Practices

Selected Honors

Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Young Investigator's Award, June 2007
Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council, Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 2007 (declined).
Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Post-Doctoral Award, 2007 (declined).
Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Post-Graduate Study Award, 2001-2003, 2003-2005.
For Women in Science Award, UNESCO-NSERC-L’Oreal, 2003

Selected Publications

van Anders, S.M., Hamilton, L.D., Schmidt, N., & Watson, N.V. 2007. Associations between testosterone secretion and sexual activity in women. Hormones and Behavior, 51, 477-482.

van Anders, S.M., Hamilton, L.D., & Watson, N.V. 2007. Multiple partners are associated with higher testosterone in North American men and women. Hormones and Behavior, 51, 454-459.

van Anders, S.M., Hampson, E., & Watson, N.V. 2006. Seasonality, waist-to-hip ratio, and testosterone. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31, 895-9.

van Anders, S.M., & Watson, N.V. 2006. Menstrual cycle irregularities are associated with testosterone in healthy premenopausal women. American Journal of Human Biology, 18(6), 841-4.

van Anders, S.M., & Watson, N.V. 2006. Social neuroendocrinology: Effects of social contexts and behaviours on sex steroids in humans. Human Nature, 17(2), 212-237.

van Anders, S.M., Vernon, P.A., & Wilbur, C.J. 2006. Finger-length ratios show evidence of prenatal hormone transfer between opposite-sex twins. Hormones and Behavior, 49(3), 315-19., 31, 1-13.

van Anders, S.M., Chernick, A.B., Chernick, B.A., Hampson, E., & Fisher, W.A. 2005. Preliminary clinical experience with androgen supplementation for pre- and post-menopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 31, 1-13.

For a full list of Kinsey Institute research publications, with selected .pdf files, please visit our Kinsey Institute Staff Publications page.