Alexa Albert, a pediatrics resident at
Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, is publishing a book about the lives and practices of the women who work as licensed prostitutes in Nevada's legal brothels, as well as those who employ them and the men whom they service. The book,
Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women, is scheduled for publication by Random House later this month.
Albert earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Brown University in the 1980s. While working in an outreach program for prostitutes in New York City, Albert became interested in Nevada's legal brothels and how they functioned to reduce the spread of HIV. In Nevada, licensed prostitutes are required to take a monthly HIV test in addition to multiple other tests for sexually transmitted diseases. To date, no licensed prostitute in Nevada has tested positive for HIV.
Albert published two studies in the American Journal of Public Health in collaboration with Robert A. Hatcher, professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. The first study in 1993 addressed the efficacy of condom use in Nevada brothels. The second study in 1995 investigated the negotiation techniques of Nevada prostitutes who are legally obligated to have their clients wear condoms.
Albert received her M.D. from Harvard, and is a native of Seattle.
