Rate My Professor Alex Washington

Dr. Alex Washington is a Professor and BASW Program Director in the School of Social Work at California State University, Long Beach, within the College of Health and Human Services. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2002, an M.S.S.W. from the University of Tennessee-Health Science Center in 1998, and an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Memphis in 1995. Before joining CSULB, he was a visiting professor in the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Department of Medicine, a Faculty Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Disparities Solutions, and an associate professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Additionally, he provided outpatient treatment group therapy in the Department of Psychiatry at the VA Medical Center in Memphis. Washington teaches research methods and statistics and serves as co-director of the Population Research Institute for Science and Medicine (PRISM), an NIGMS/NIH-funded affiliate of Charles Drew University.

Dr. Washington's research focuses on transgender health, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, gender identity and human sexuality, HIV/AIDS primary and secondary prevention, health disparities, and web-based research protocols. His projects include the PrEP Project examining barriers to uptake among men who have sex with men and the Peer Promotion of Wellness and Enhancement to Resources (PPOWER2) to prevent tobacco and cannabis misuse among young Black men who have sex with men. He has received funding from NIDA/NIGMS/NIH, SAMHSA, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and presented findings at international conferences in Thailand, Canada, Egypt, Australia, South Africa, Amsterdam, and Peru. Key publications include Washington et al. (2021), "Alcohol and condomless insertive anal intercourse among Black/Latino sexual-minority male non-PrEP users," Urban Social Work, 5(1), 43-58; Washington (2013), "Factors associated with HIV testing history among Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) in Los Angeles County"; and recent studies on psychological distress and suicidal ideation among transgender adults. His impact is recognized through awards such as the 2025 CSWE Two-Spirit, Queer, and Trans People of Color (2-QTPOC) Award, 2022 Ellen Ward Leadership Icon Award from the LGBTQ Center Long Beach, 2019 CSULB President’s Award for Outstanding Faculty Achievement, 2017 Distinguished Faculty Scholarly Achievement Award, CSULB Early Academic Career Excellence Award, and NAESM Gerald A. Ludd Lifetime Achievement Award for HIV leadership in the Black community.