The Best of Two Worlds: Drs. Joanne Mantell and Theo Sandfort

By Jessica Adams-Skinner

When I was accepted into the HISTP and needed to identify a primary mentor, Dr. Mantell was a natural choice for me given our history of informal mentoring. Here was an opportunity to formalize the mentoring process through scheduled ongoing meetings and to take the mentor/mentee relationship to the next level. Dr. Mantell leads by example, provides motivation and guidance, but also allows me to evolve, and to contribute meaningfully to the mentoring dynamic. She welcomes my ideas, provides constructive criticism when necessary, and has demonstrated openness in learning from me. A good mentor has a mentee’s best interests in mind, and will work to fill any gaps in the mentoring relationship. Accordingly, Dr. Mantell was forthright about having limited experience with my study population of interest, West Indian men who have sex with men (WI-MSM), so she referred me to Dr. Theo Sandfort, a colleague who works extensively with MSM, both nationally and internationally.

Like Dr. Mantell, Dr. Sandfort has always been willing to share his experiences, knowledge, and expertise working with MSM over the years, and this has helped me tremendously in my work with WI-MSM. Dr. Sandfort continually challenges me to perform effectively, to adopt alternative perspectives, and to do so constructively and intelligently for the sake of others. He is also a good listener, very empathetic, and supportive and understanding of the competing priorities in my life. He always finds ways to re-focus my attention to short- and long-term goals, and holds me accountable for both. In so doing, he has been very instrumental in helping me to manage my time more effectively.

Multiple mentors are able to complement each others’ substantive areas of expertise, expose their mentees to different communication styles, and allow for additional mentoring opportunities structurally by essentially doubling the availability of a mentor at any given time. Having two mentors has been an asset for me as I move forward in my research career, and I am so grateful to both Dr. Mantell and Dr. Sandfort for their continuing support.