Cindy M. Meston, Ph.D.

Cindy M. Meston, Ph.D.

Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
Director, The Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory

CINDY M. MESTON is a Professor of Clinical Psychology and the Director of the Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin (www.mestonlab.com). She has received numerous international awards and accolades for her ground-breaking research on women’s sexual function/dysfunction (For cv, see https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/psychology/faculty/mestoncm). In 2016 Meston was named one of the 100 most influential and inspirational women in the world by the BBC, (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-38012048). Meston has made several television appearances (e.g., The Rachel Ray Show, The Dr. Phil Show, ABC (20/20), NBC National News), and has given over 300 professional presentations (See her presentation at Idea City here: https://www.ideacity.ca/video/cindy-meston-people-sex/)) and over 50 national radio interviews (e.g., NPR, CNN Headline News). Her book Why Women Have Sex (co-authored with Dr. David Buss) has been translated into nine languages and has received extensive media coverage. Articles on Meston’s research and on her book Why Women Have Sex have appeared in over 300 newspapers (e.g., Science Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA today), magazines (e.g., NewYorker, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Glamour, Marie Claire, Penthouse, Men’s Health, Runner’s World, Canadian Living, Ladies’ Home Journal, Chatelaine, Macleans, Good Housekeeping), and online publications.

Meston has published over 200 peer-reviewed academic publications, book chapters, and a book, Women’s Sexual Function and Dysfunction (coauthored with Dr. Irwin Goldstein, Dr. Susan Davis, Dr. Abdul Traish). In 2022 and 2023 she was named one of the 1000 most influential Psychologists by Research.com. She is the Past President of the largest professional society for women’s sexuality, the International Society for the Scientific Study of Women’s Sexual Health, and is an endowed Fellow of the Wayne H. Holtzman Regents Chair in Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She has served as a consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.

Awards for Meston’s research include a fellowship from The Ford Foundation, NY, an International Research Award from the Athena Institute for Women’s Wellness, a Distinguished Professor Award from the Canadian Research Foundation, the Raymond Dickson Centennial Endowed Teaching Fellowship, the Wulf H. Utian Endowed Lecturer Award from the North American Menopause Society, and the Career Service Award from the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. She has
won ten awards for best peer-reviewed manuscript by international academic societies.