Back to
Professor Martin Holt
Research Director

Professor Martin Holt

BSc (Hons) Psychology, The University of Birmingham.
MSc Social Psychology, London School of Economics and Political Science.
PhD in Psychology, The University of Birmingham.

Arts,Design & Architecture
Centre for Social Research in Health

I specialise in HIV prevention research with gay and bisexual men. I'm a social scientist by training, and have worked at the Centre for Social Research in Health since 2003. Over the last 10 years I have investigated the impact of new forms of HIV prevention, particularly pre-exposure prophylaxis and treatment as prevention, on community norms, attitudes and practices. I have also been working with colleagues to assess the impact of COVID-19 and now monkeypox virus (MPXV) on the communities with whom we work.

I lead the Gay Community Periodic Surveys, the main part of Australia's behavioural surveillance system for HIV, supported by federal and state/territory health funding and NHMRC Partnership Project funding (2021-26). I also lead a long term study of the social aspects of biomedical HIV prevention for gay and bisexual men (the PrEPARE project). I am a chief investigator on a range of other projects, including:

I am actively involved with the HIV sector, gay community organisations, and professional societies. I have been a Deputy Editor of the Journal of the International AIDS Society since 2013 and an Associate Editor of AIDS and Behavior since 2018.

In 2022, I was appointed as Research Director (Compliance and Capacity Building) in the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, UNSW Sydney.
Phone
+61 2 9385 6410
E-mail
m.holt@unsw.edu.au
Location
326 Goodsell Building

  • NHMRC Partnership Project, Implementation research to guide the elimination of HIV transmission in NSW, 2021-26, CI
  • NHMRC Partnership Project, Extending the reach and relevance of behavioural surveillance to gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in a changing HIV epidemic, 2021-26, lead CI
  • ARC Discovery Project, Evidence-making and implementing interventions in a viral elimination era, 2021-23, CI
  • ARC Discovery Project, Networks in Flux: Examining how sector relationships adapt to rapid change, 2021-23, CI
  • NHMRC Project, Crystal methamphetamine use, sex and risk practice among gay and bisexual men, 2017-19, CI
  • NHMRC Partnership Project, The HIV prevention revolution: measuring outcomes and maximising effectiveness, 2015-20, CI
  • NHMRC Project, Identifying undiagnosed HIV infection among Australian gay men: delivering HIV testing through a national, community-based study, 2013-16, lead CI
  • ARC Linkage Project, The role of the internet in producing social capital for homosexually active men: virtual communities in HIV prevention, 2006-09, CI

Fellow (elected), Royal Society of New South Wales, 2019.
Australia Awards Endeavour Executive Fellowship, 2015.
Dean's Award for Social Research Impact, 2014 (jointly awarded to Gay Community Periodic Survey team).

Associate Member, Australasian Society for HIV Medicine
Member, International AIDS Society
Member, The Australian Sociological Association
Deputy Editor, Journal of the International AIDS Society
Associate Editor, AIDS and Behavior

My Research Supervision

Brandon Bear, Salutogenic behaviours in sexuality and gender diverse individuals
Curtis Chan, Identifying characteristics of men who have sex with men at high risk of HIV infection not reached by gay community-focused public health messaging
Johann Kolstee, Changes to the use of HIV prevention strategies and norms during rapid PrEP uptake among gay and bisexual men in Australia
Simin Yu, Understanding and reducing barriers to HIV prevention and sexual health among gay and bisexual men who have recently migrated to Australia