Michael is the first author on a paper entitled "Social determinants of suicide attempts in a cohort of young men who have sex with men", which he presented at the 4th Annual AIDS Impact Conference on Bio-psychosocial Aspects of HIV Infection in July 1999 in Ottawa and again at the 8th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research in May 1999 in Victoria. Michael has since turned this presentation into a paper which is currently in pres with the Canadian Journal of Public Health.

He is also a co-author of "Defining the high end: Health care service use among young gay and bisexual men in Vancouver", which was presented as a poster at the 9th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research and again at the XIII International Conference on AIDS in July 2000 in Durban, South Africa. A paper based on this presentation is in progress.

"Working with the Vanguard Project means working with great people, tons of data and important issues," says Michael.

Michael has previously worked at AIDS Vancouver's Man to Man Program and has also served as Chair of the Gay & Lesbian Centre and Vice Chair of the Vancouver Pride Society.

Michael's first book ­ Gay Community Survival in the New Millennium ­ was published recently. His research interests include social movements, particularly the gay and lesbian movements and the social impact of HIV/AIDS and gay men's health in general.

As an instructor of Sociology, Michael was nominated for the UBC Outstanding Teaching Assistant Prize in 1999. His doctoral dissertation ­ which should be finished before the end of the next millennium ­ is based on a qualitative and quantitative assessment of risk, choice, meaning and, of course, sex.