Global - Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis

Postdoctoral researcher addresses intimate partner violence and HIV treatment in Uganda

admin — Thu, 15 May 2025 20:32:11 +0000

Intimate partner violence is hindering HIV treatment efforts for adolescent girls and young women in Uganda, according to a recent correspondence in The Lancet, co-authored by Josephine Nabayinda, a postdoctoral research associate at the Brown School’s International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD). The correspondence highlights a connection between abuse and reduced adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART), an essential treatment for people living with HIV. Co-authors include Samuel Kizito, research assistant professor, and Fred Ssewamala, the William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor—both of 17�Թ�’s Brown School—as well as Mary McKay, executive vice provost. Uganda continues to face some of the highest HIV rates among young people, especially adolescent girls and young women, who are disproportionately affected. According to the Joint...

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Lateef receives travel grant to explore global Muslim connections

admin — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 15:59:00 +0000

Husain Lateef, an associate professor at the Brown School, has received a Newman Exploration Travel Fund Award from 17�Թ� Libraries. Lateef will travel to several cities in Morocco to study the historical, cultural, and religious influences that link a community of African American Muslims in Phoenix, Arizona, to the broader global Islamic community. “I’m honored to receive this award,” Lateef said. “I’ve imagined this trip for a long time, and I’m deeply thankful for the forthcoming experience.” The NEXT Award program supports 17�Թ� students, faculty, and staff seeking to explore the world as a means of personal and professional growth. Each recipient is awarded up to $10,000 to pursue their explorations. Lateef is one of eight individuals selected for the...

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Faculty members awarded $3 million NIMH grant for HIV prevention in Africa

Roger — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 21:52:53 +0000

Three members of the Washington University in St. Louis faculty have been awarded a $3 million research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to address the economic and structural barriers associated with access and use of an oral medication to prevent HIV infection. The new study called Suubi4PrEP is a multilevel combination intervention focused on oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) access, initiation and adherence among 15- to 24-year-old adolescent girls and young women living within HIV hotpots in Uganda. Recipients of the grant are Fred Ssewamala, the William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor at the Brown School and director of the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD); Proscovia Nabunya, an assistant professor at the Brown School and co-director of ICHAD;...

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Naseh analyzes Afghan forced migration to Iran in journal article

Myra — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 19:21:35 +0000

Mitra Naseh, an assistant professor at the Brown School, has authored an invited article on Afghan refugees in Iran for the Migration Information Source, the online journal of the Migration Policy Institute (MPI). In the article, Naseh, who serves as the research director of the Initiative on Social Work and Forced Migration (ISWFM), examines five distinct periods of forced migration from Afghanistan to Iran in the modern era, highlighting the increasing policy restrictions imposed on Afghans in Iran over the past four decades. Naseh’s scholarly focus is on the in-depth study of refugees’ social and economic integration, using a multidimensional approach shaped by her diverse academic background. Her research is deeply influenced by her personal experiences and informed by her previous...

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NIH funding to build research capacity among refugee youth in Uganda

Myra — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 14:28:27 +0000

Three Brown School Assistant Professors—Nhial Tutlam, Proscovia Nabunya and Mitra Naseh—have been awarded $150,000 from the Fogarty International Center (FIC) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to build research capacity among refugee youth living in refugee settlements in Uganda. The project, titled RCap4Youth: Research Capacity for Refugee Youth, is an administrative supplement to the current ICHAD’s ACHIEVE D43 Training Program led by Fred Ssewamala, the William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor at the Brown School and Mary McKay, Vice Provost of Interdisciplinary Initiatives at 17�Թ�. The project will recruit refugee youth residing in refugee settlements in Uganda with the ultimate goal of training a cadre of young people to engage in research focused on addressing health issues faced by vulnerable populations in humanitarian settings. Forcibly displaced...

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Addressing poverty key to better TB and HIV treatment in Uganda

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 14:39:24 +0000

Experts from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis are calling on HIV and tuberculosis researchers in Uganda to focus on combating poverty as a key strategy to improve treatment outcomes for those co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis (TB). In a correspondence published in the August 31 issue of The Lancet, the authors highlight that poverty—a key social determinant of health—drives poor treatment outcomes for both HIV and tuberculosis. In Uganda, for example, many health facilities lack TB treatment services, forcing patients to travel long distances at high costs to access care. “Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death among people living with HIV and, despite being curable, is responsible for over one-third of all HIV-related deaths worldwide.1 Uganda is one of...

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Study to focus on support for young adults in Uganda

Myra — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 17:01:34 +0000

Fred Ssewamala, the William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor at the Brown School and Founding Director of the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD), has been awarded a $3.3 million research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for a new study focused on adolescent girls transitioning into young adulthood. The new study, known as Suubi4Her-Round 2 (2024-2029) will extend the original Suubi4Her study (2017-2023), that was implemented in Uganda among 1260 school-going adolescent girls aged 14-17 years at enrollment. The study will follow up with the participants for an additional 4-year period, with three data points. In the original study, participants received an economic empowerment intervention consisting of incentivized youth development accounts for school tuition and income-generation, workshops on...

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People, Health & Place Unit expands global initiatives with new collaborations in Brazil

admin — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 18:23:46 +0000

Health disparities in Brazil are often shaped by geography, with access to resources limited by social and racial inequalities. The People, Health & Place (PHP) Unit at the Brown School’s Prevention Research Center is working to address these challenges by forming new partnerships and research initiatives that focus on the impact of local factors on population health and disparities in urban settings. “When we have inequalities, people aren’t making choices — they’re forced into decisions. They’re responding to needs, not preferences,” said Professor Rodrigo Reis, co-director of the PHP Unit. Recently, the PHP Unit organized a three-and-a-half-day workshop in Florianópolis, Brazil, supported by the Brown School’s Global Programs Faculty Research Fund. The workshop brought together Reis and top experts from...

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Ugandan Women’s Autonomy Key to Safer Sex

Roger — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 21:42:01 +0000

Ugandan women’s ability to negotiate the conditions and timing of sex, such as refusing sex and asking for condom use with their partners, is key to preventing several reproductive health outcomes, say experts from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “The cultural norms that sanction unequal power dynamics in relationships; unjustly acknowledge male sexual freedom over female autonomy; restrict women’s mobility; and reinforce female submission to their partners’ sexual needs; exacerbate this vulnerability,” wrote the authors of a correspondence in the Aug. 10 issue of the journal The Lancet. Sub-Saharan Africa represents nearly 30% of all new HIV infections globally. Uganda stands out as one of the countries with the highest burden of young people living with HIV, with...

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Group-Based Interventions Potentially Address HIV Stigma Among Adolescents Living with Virus

Myra — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 15:45:48 +0000

Group-based interventions have the potential to address HIV-related stigma among adolescents living with the virus, finds a recent study from researchers at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and Makerere University in Uganda. HIV stigma is a major barrier to all aspects of the HIV care continuum. However, few HIV stigma reduction interventions exist, especially those targeting adolescents. To address these gaps, a research group led by Proscovia Nabunya, an assistant professor at the Brown School, pilot tested the Suubi4Stigma cluster randomized clinical trial, to address stigma and improve treatment adherence among adolescents with HIV in Uganda. The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, recruited 89 adolescent-caregiver pairs from nine HIV health clinics. Participants...

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Kazakhstan Launches CDA Policy Informed by Center for Social Development Research

Myra — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 18:51:52 +0000

In a historic move to prepare future generations for emerging economic realities, Kazakhstan has launched a national Child Development Account (CDA) policy informed by research from the Center for Social Development (CSD). The development opens the door on a policy structure for channeling natural-resource wealth to invest in children and build human capital. Through this innovative policy, each child in Kazakhstan receives an asset-building account, and 50% of the dividends from the National Fund will be transferred yearly into the new National Fund for Children for distribution to the CDAs of individual beneficiaries. “Providing this opportunity to children today will not only ensure their financial stability in the future, but it will also be a step towards achieving UN Sustainable...

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Stark, Seff Work to Adapt Refugee Tool to Measure Self-Reliance of Ukrainian Refugees

admin — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 17:08:41 +0000

Amid the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as attention falls not only on geopolitical maneuvers but also on the human toll of displacement, Brown School scholars Lindsay Stark and IIana Seff are working to adapt a refugee assessment and support tool for Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Poland has emerged as a key destination for Ukrainian refugees, currently hosting nearly 1 million of the more than 6 million Ukrainians displaced across Europe. Stark, a professor, and Seff, a research assistant professor, both at the Brown School, recently returned from Poland, where they were collaborating closely with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) as part of their ongoing work with the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative (RSRI), a multi-stakeholder initiative dedicated to advancing...

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Washington People: Kim Thuy Seelinger

Roger — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 17:28:32 +0000

Kim Thuy Seelinger first became interested in the sobering field of gender-based violence in armed conflict while attending law school. She had just begun her final year at New York University when the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks took place. She had planned to work in international human rights, but in the wake of Sept. 11, her city faced questions about balancing national security with immigrants’ rights. Seelinger was enrolled in an immigration clinic that year, and the experience convinced her to switch tracks and practice deportation defense. Her first few years of legal practice involved representing survivors of domestic violence and conflict-related sexual violence. “All the research and policy work I do now is still informed by what my...

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Seelinger Helps Draft New ICC Policy on Gender Crimes

Roger — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 20:16:58 +0000

Kim Thuy Seelinger, research associate professor at the Brown School, visiting professor at the School of Law, and director of the Center for Human Rights, Gender and Migration at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, led the review and drafting process for the International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor’s new policy on gender-based crimes. The new policy, launched Dec. 4 at the United Nations during the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties annual meeting, focuses on the investigation and prosecution of gender-based violence that manifests as war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide. “This is the first ICC policy to explicitly take a survivor-centered, trauma-informed approach to our investigation and prosecution work,” Seelinger said. “This...

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Improving Heart Health to Save Lives During, After Pregnancy Aim of Programs

Myra — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 19:52:00 +0000

The United States and Nigeria may be an ocean apart, but each has distressingly high rates of infant and maternal death in the year following childbirth. In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the U.S. maternal mortality rate to be nearly 33 deaths per 100,000 births — about 10 times higher than such rates in several other high-income counties. And in Nigeria, it’s much worse: According to the World Health Organization, the rate is more than 530 deaths per 100,000 births. To reduce these numbers and save lives, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Abuja in Abuja, Nigeria, have received grants to work with community organizations in St. Louis and Abuja,...

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