Dr. Crosby conducted HIV prevention studies in 21 U.S. cities and in Canada. Much of this work has occurred in the southern U.S. where the epidemic has taken a particularly large toll on young Black males who have sex with males. His CDC-designated Evidence-Based Intervention known as Focus on the Future is his primary contribution to the field. 

As a sex researcher, Dr. Crosby has also specialized in developing methodologies specific to the measurement of condom use behaviors; this expertise led him to obtain the largest grant ever awarded by NIH to evaluate condom efficacy against non-viral sexually transmitted infections.  

As a principal investigator, he has been a two-time winner of the CDC’s prestigious award for Prevention Research Centers – the largest congressional expenditure for prevention research in public health. In both 5-year cycles of this grant Dr. Crosby directed cancer prevention research in rural southeast Kentucky, where poverty rates are among the highest in the nation.  

He also conducted HPV-related research in the Mississippi Delta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Having been the principal investigator on grants totaling about $20,000,000, Dr. Crosby has used these funds to publish more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles. 

As a dedicated teacher and scholar, he has authored more than 60 book chapters and has edited or authored nine textbooks (each being used in schools of public health). Dr. Crosby has received three teaching awards and enjoys mentoring graduate students, post-docs, and assistant professors.  

He served at the CDC for three years, began his career as an endowed professor at Emory University and continued as an endowed professor at the University of Kentucky, where he served as department chairperson for 9 years.