Our Expertise Public Health and Human Sexuality The Henne Group has been on the forefront of research in the fields of public health and human sexuality for the last twenty years: The company began its work in these fields in the early days of the HIV epidemic, conducting some of the first qualitative and quantitative studies with men who have sex with men (MSM) that were ever conducted. This path-breaking work (which consisted of many focus group interviews and five quantitative studies) helped the city of San Francisco shape its early response to the HIV epidemic. Studies were also conducted throughout this period for the state of California and the city of Minneapolis; From the mid 1980's onward, THG has been involved in over a dozen projects for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). THG was involved in all of the concept testing for the America Responds to AIDS program, as well as the surgeon general's brochure on HIV. In addition, THG has conducted studies for the CDC on the emerging risk of tuberculosis, and the stigma of HIV in the African-American community; From the mid-1980's through the 1990's, THG conducted a half dozen large scale quantitative studies for the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). These studies involved tens of thousands of interviews, and covered issues surrounding sexual practices, sexual orientation, HIV, drug and alcohol usage, and childhood sexual abuse. The early studies were among the first probability studies on human sexuality in the United States; In the last ten years, THG has worked with over a dozen pharmaceutical companies on projects that involved sexual functioning in one way or another, including Auxilium, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Fujisawa, Galagen, King Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi-Aventis. Many of these projects have had six-figure budgets, and a number of them have had budgets approaching $1,000,000. Gay and Lesbian Issues The Henne Group has worked on many studies regarding gay and lesbian issues including topics such as gay and lesbian marriages; crystal meth use in the gay community; Men who Have Sex with Men (MSM) behavior in bathhouses; correlating drug use and sexual practices in the Asian/Pacific Islander MSM community; HIV messaging outreach with the CDC; POZ magazine reader's survey; and the incidence of anal dysplasia in gay men (including self testing techniques). In 2005, THG worked with the Gill Foundation to survey 2400 Americans across the country concerning the subject of gay marriage. This 30-minute survey covered a variety of current events topics but focused mainly on perceptions of gays and lesbians across the country regarding their rights to marriage and adoption. In 2006 and 2007, THG recruited more than 100 MSMs from bathhouses in 12 major U.S. cities for The University of California, San Francisco. These men participated in focus groups where they discussed their sexual practices and drug use while at a bathhouse. As an industry leader in social marketing research, we at THG, realize that your research objectives are truly unique. Because of the sensitive nature of the studies, such as these that we undertake, THG assumes the necessary steps to ensure confidentiality in all aspects of each study. This includes formal confidentiality agreements as well as thorough training of all of those involved in project procedures. THG achieves all project objectives and sufficiently monitors work progress so that if any inability to achieve objectives do occur, THG communicates these issues at the earliest possible date to the study team leadership involved. Hard to Reach Populations We are known throughout the market research world for being the "go-to team" if a study involves hard to reach populations. We love getting creative and innovative when presented with a study requiring a very certain population. We have found people with specific health conditions, drug use profiles, and sexual practices, and have recruited people from many ethnicities to participate in focus groups and in-depth-interviews in many languages. Our studies have included injection drug users, MSMs, men with sexual functioning problems, including erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, and Peyronie's Disease. Our experience has also included women with vulvodynia, men who admit to having sex with men but who do not identify as gay or bisexual, and men and women with HIV. Our research team was also involved in a study regarding tuberculosis and another project that encouraged people to get tested for tuberculosis, with special emphasis on gay/bisexual, African-American, Latino, and injection drug using populations. These difficult to reach population segments are the ones that appear to show an increase in drug use, in newly reported HIV cases, as well as in tuberculosis. Our research has been instrumental in the development of social marketing campaigns to change behavior or to provide services for the effected population for many of the above mentioned study populations. And so, THG's research continues to have a positive impact on societal segments with whom we interact. Usability Since 1999, THG has become one of the country's leading usability testing suppliers. Working with a variety of website development companies and individual companies, THG has conducted usability testing interviews for dozens of new and existing websites for clients covering many different business sectors including Wells Fargo, eLuxury, Michelin, Swell.com, MonsterSkate.com, and San Francisco Jazz. We have the ability to include picture-in-picture video taping technology, and to conduct tests in domestic as well as in foreign markets.