The Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (ISGH) is one of the largest clinical, teaching, and research institutions in the world specializing in human sexuality and gender. We have a strong research agenda in sexual aggression and compulsive sexual behavior, transgender and gender diverse health, relationship and sex therapy, and sexual health that has been supported by millions of dollars in state and federal funding. We have developed innovative and effective treatment approaches to sexual and gender challenges. ISGH has led the way nationally and internationally in crucial, often controversial, sexual and gender issues and has worked with local, national, and international health agencies to advance public health policies promoting sexual and gender health and well-being.

In 1970, the University of Minnesota Medical School partnered with the Lutheran Church to create the Program in Human Sexuality (PHS), and assigned it the task of teaching and conducting research in the field of human sexuality. The program started to take shape June 2-3, 1970, with the first Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR) in Minnesota. A medical school curriculum was established that included a SAR with lectures and readings. In 1973, PHS began offering therapeutic and educational services to individuals with sexual dysfunctions and other relationship problems, and in 1977 the program became a unit within the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. In 2021, PHS was elevated into an Institute within the University of Minnesota Medical School, and the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (ISGH) was named on May 20, 2021. In May 2023, the Institute was renamed the Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health to honor Dr. Eli Coleman, the first Chair in Sexual Health and director of the Institute for over 30 years.