When I was a Master’s student on the East Coast, I was thrilled to learn that I had been accepted into the USC Department of Sociology. On the East Coast, I had been well trained in quantitative methods, but USC had so much unique expertise in qualitative methods: ethnography, in-depth interviews, content and textual analysis, and focus group methodology. Overall, I knew that I wanted to become a well rounded expert at all methodologies. Therefore, I bought a one way ticket to the West Coast to join the Department of Sociology at USC. The experience exceeded my expectations—there was rigor in theory and methods, encouragement from many excellent mentors, and the graduate student culture was well supported socially and financially, providing a strong sense of community and intellectual stimulation. Two of the most important aspects of my time at USC that have helped me to launch a successful career were (1) my Graduate Certificate in Gender Studies in the Program for the Study of Women and Men--and (2) the expertise in the Sociology Department on the intersection of gender, race, sexuality, and class relations. After I graduated with my PhD, and after gaining teaching experience for a few years at Pitzer College, I took a postdoctoral research position at the Columbia University HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies. Right now, the face of HIV/AIDS in the global community is the face of a woman from the Global South. Hence, experts on gender relations and gender inequality in particular were sought after and well respected in the field of HIV/AIDS research. I became an Assistant Professor in Behavioral Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University from 2005-2008.  From 2007-2008, I was the Associate Director of Training of the NIMH T-32 Postdoctoral Program in HIV Infection at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University. In 2008, I was hired as an Associate Professor in the UCSF Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Currently, I am the Director of Doctoral Studies in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF and am Affiliated Faculty at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), UCSF. My research portfolio centers on four main areas: (1) the intersection of economic empowerment and HIV/AIDS prevention for at-risk women (2) Masculinities, anti-violence, and HIV/AIDS prevention (3) Global HIV/AIDS policies and (4) media, culture, sport, and the body.