About me: Maheswar Satpathy (FIAHP) is a trained Clinical Psychologist and a young Doctoral Scholar in Health, Sexuality &

Culture at National Centre in HIV Social Research (NCHSR), Sydney with Australian Government (AusAIDs) most prestigious Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) researching on HIV/AIDS. He has a B.A. Psychology (Hons; Gold Medalist) from Utkal University, Masters in Applied (Clinical) Psychology from University of Delhi (Gold Medalist) and Certificate in HIV/AIDS Management (SidAction, France). He has received several accolades including Presidents Holiness Pope Scholarship, Best Paper Award (IACP, 2008), MHRD PG Merit Scholarship & UGC Junior Research Fellowship (Govt. of India). He possesses a rich and diverse work experience with NAMI India, NCERT, Amity University, ICFAI University, Lovely Professional University and IIT Kanpur, India (Teaching & Research). In past, he has led organizations like Amity Centre for Community Services (Chief Coordinator, Aug, 2007-March, 2008). During this short tenure he has contributed heavily towards innovative behavioral training package development, implementation, community mobilization and sensitization of students towards community issues by engaging them in community services. He has presented several scientific papers at International & National forums and has been publishing extensively in refereed journals and books as book chapters. His research interest concerns the areas of Social Policy, Public health and Community Mental Health, Sexuality and LGBT studies, Male Psychology and emerging cultures. Besides research work he also contributes certain amount of his daily life towards advocating on issues of LGBT Community, Public healthcare, Gender and Human Rights, etc. He was recently been invited to coordinate the activities of the Marriage for Equality Rally in Sydney MardiGras Festival by Socialist Party, NSW, Australia which brought around more than 300 volunteers to march for this cause. Demonstrated leadership ability in the HIV/AIDS or relevant fields: I am associated with the field of HIV/AIDS since 2008 when I decided to plunge into area of public health focusing on HIV/AIDS. My professional engagement started with a certificate course in HIV/AIDS Management by SidAction, France and SAI, Mumbai which trained me in skills of dealing practically with PLWHA. Since then, I have trained people on LGBT Empowerment as a trainer and consultant at organizations like NAZ Foundation International, Humsafar Trust, etc. I have acted as a consultant in events like National Consultation (30-1st October 2009) on "Taking the Delhi High Court Decision Forward-Next Steps: A policy document to influence the decision makers of the nation, Humsafar Trust, Mumbai (Sponsored by UNDP (UNO) AND RFSU-SIDA); Expert Consultant(3rd-4th December, 2010), 2nd National Meeting of LGBTI Human Rights Professionals for Taskforce creation of South Asia Human Rights Commission for Marginalized Sexualities and Genders (SAHRCMSG), Bangalore, India and Expert Consultant & Representative of Sakha (20th December, 2010) in National Consultation of NGOs/CBOs working for HIV/AIDS issues in India convened by IPACHA, New Delhi. I have conducted few projects and published/presented papers on HIV/AIDS, LGBT Empowerment & Lifestyle, and Issues surrounding homosexuality. At present I am researching on a comprehensive cross-national HIV/AIDS health prevention and promotion study.

I have been recently invited to present my paper at Asia-Pacific week 2011 (10-14th July, 2011) which gathers top 100 scholars from all over the world this year on Asia-pacific week out of 650 applicants all over the world. In August, 2011 I have been invited to present 2 papers on HIV/AIDS focusing on Asia-pacific region (one focusing especially on India) at 10th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP10 LOC) to be held at Busan, Korea. I am also going to present a paper on Gay Elderly men in the Asia-Pacific at 4th APRU Ageing Symposium, Fudan University, Shanghai China (28-30th October, 2011), and ICT in Public Healthcare with special emphasis on HIV/AIDS at ICTD 2012 to be held at Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. Few of my papers are already accepted and in press, and few in pipeline, and they specifically focus on several issues like Stigma (psychosocial antecedents, consequences and the interventions) Description of my work/activity/participation at your community/organisation:

I am trying to strengthen and empower the LGBTI community applying my training as a clinical psychologist. My major interest lies in working for LGBTI rights and advocating for the needs (focus on integral health and wellbeing) of the community. In 2002 it started with an awareness seminar on Drug use and its impact in our college for college youth. I have dealt with people who use psychoactive substances (Epidemiological study of Alcoholic dependence in Bhubaneswar, India). I am lifetime consultant to Sakha, an LGBT Empowerment & Human Rights organization working on HIV/AIDS, STIs, etc. where I conduct training programs, facilitating & encouraging Oriya youth to achieve equanimity with their own sexuality & Identity & safe sex practices, etc. Presently, I am working on my PhD. at National Centre in HIV Social Research, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, one of the most internationally acclaimed centres on HIV Research. I am trying to develop a health promotion and prevention model for Gay Youth by testing the impact of creative engagements (Arts, Music & Drama) and life-skills training on producing attitudinal and behavioural change so as to produce more health-sustaining behaviours and avoidance of high-risk sexual behaviours among gay youth at NCHSR, UNSW, Australia.