February Update | RTI Global Gender Center

February was a quick month, but we have accomplished so much! This month, we hosted a lunch and learn about sexual assault (SA) in the US Air Force, posted a series of tweets related to combating intimate partner violence through youth-based approaches and tech innovations and current research our affiliates are conducting. We have much to look forward to in the next few weeks, as we have been busy planning a packed March. RESCHEDULED due to snow, we will welcome WomenNC and their Commission on the Status of Women scholars to RTI for WomenNC's 11th Annual Local to Global Forum on March 4. The scholars, who have been working in partnership with their RTI GGC FEMtors for the past 9 months to complete original research projects focused on addressing gender issues in North Carolina, will present their research prior to heading to UN Women in New York. We will also celebrate 5 years of the RTI Global Gender Center jointly with International Women's Day via a week-long celebration of affiliate-led lunch discussions (see more info below)!

RTI Gender-related Project Wins in February

Acceptability of Implants for HIV Prevention from PHS NIH NIMH

Asia Local Solutions IDIQ RFTOP from USAID Burma Mission

Tier 1: Kenya/East Africa Regional Integration and Stronger Economies (RISE) from USAID Kenya Mission

Duchenne Early Check Newborn Screening from Sarepta Therapeutics

RTI Gender-related Publications in February

Breaux, R., Babinski, D. E., Willoughby, M. T., Haas, S. M., Coles, E. K., Pelham, W. E., Waxmonsky, J. G., & Waschbusch, D. A. (2020, Feb). Examining Psychopathic Traits in Children Using the Child Psychopathy Scale - Revised. J Abnorm Child Psychol, 48(2), 251-263.

García-Albéniz, X., Hernán, M. A., Logan, R. W., Price, M., Armstrong, K., & Hsu, J. (2020, Feb).Continuation of Annual Screening Mammography and Breast Cancer Mortality in Women Older Than 70 Years. Ann Intern Med.

Komesu, Y. M., Dinwiddie, D. L., Richter, H. E., Lukacz, E. S., Sung, V. W., Siddiqui, N. Y., Zyczynski, H. M., Ridgeway, B., Rogers, R. G., Arya, L. A., Mazloomdoost, D., Levy, J., Carper, B., Gantz, M. G., & Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network (2020, Feb). Defining the relationship between vaginal and urinary microbiomes. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 222(2), 154.e151-154.e110.

Oga, E. A., Mark, K., Peters, E. N., & Coleman-Cowger, V. H. (2020, Feb). Validation of the NIDA-modified ASSIST as a Screening Tool for Prenatal Drug Use in an Urban Setting in the United States.J Addict Med.

Sung, V. W., Gantz, M. G., & Network, N. P. F. D. (2020, 02). Measuring Clinical Importance in a Trial of Interventions for Mixed Urinary Incontinence-Reply. JAMA, 323(5), 479-480.

Williams, P. A., Poehlman, J., Moran, K., Siddiqui, M., Kataria, I., Rego, A. M., Mehrotra, P., & Saldanha, N. (2020, Feb). Strategies to address anaemia among pregnant and lactating women in India: a formative research study. Public Health Nutr, 1-11.

Duby, Z., Katz, A. W. K., Browne, E. N., Mutero, P., Etima, J., Zimba, C. C., Woeber, K., Atujuna, M., Reddy, K., van der Straten, A., & MTN-020/ASPIRE Study Team. (2020, Feb). Hygiene, Blood Flow, and Vaginal Overload: Why Women Removed an HIV Prevention Vaginal Ring During Menstruation in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.AIDS Behav, 24(2), 617-628. http://bit.ly/2wW6lXu

Harmon, H. M., Jensen, E. A., Tan, S., Chaudhary, A. S., Slaughter, J. L., Bell, E. F., Wyckoff, M. H., Hensman, A. M., Sokol, G. M., DeMauro, S. B., &Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. (2020, Feb). Timing of postnatal steroids for bronchopulmonary dysplasia: association with pulmonary and neurodevelopmental outcomes. J Perinatol.

Namazy, J. A., Blais, L., Andrews, E. B., Scheuerle, A. E., Cabana, M. D., Thorp, J. M., Umetsu, D. T., Veith, J. H., Sun, D., Kaufman, D. G., Covington, D. L., Mukhopadhyay, S., Fogel, R. B., Lopez-Leon, S., & Spain, C. V. (2020, Feb). Pregnancy outcomes in the omalizumab pregnancy registry and a disease-matched comparator cohort. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 145(2), 528-536.e521.

Rogers, R. G., Sung, V. W., Lukacz, E. S., Fairchild, P., Arya, L. A., Barber, M. D., Markland, A. D., Siddiqui, N. Y., & Bann, C. M. (2020, Feb).Accidental Bowel Leakage Evaluation: A New Patient-Centered Validated Measure of Accidental Bowel Leakage Symptoms in Women. Dis Colon Rectum.

Weinrib, R., Browne, E. N., Shapley-Quinn, M. K., van der Straten, A., Beksinska, M., Mgodi, N., Musara, P., Mphili, N., Schwartz, J. L., Ju, S., Hanif, H., Montgomery, E. T., & the Quatro Study Team (2020, Feb). Perspectives from Young South African and Zimbabwean Women on Attributes of Four (Placebo) Vaginal Microbicide Delivery Forms.AIDS Behav, 24(2), 637-647.

We update our website regularly with all RTI Gender-related publications underresources. Please let us know if we missed any of yours.

Calls to Action

Please consider donating your soda pull tabs to Sister Rosemary who lives in Uganda and takes in children who have been released from rebel soldiers after being kidnapped. The bag in the image above is an example of what they make. At this point at least 30,000 kids have been kidnapped. She takes care of 300 to 500 kids each night to help them recover from sex trafficking. She provides them with access to education, food, shelter, and teaches them to sew. Thank you for your help!

Sewing Hope Foundation website: http://www.sewinghopefoundation.com/
Sister Rosemary at TEDxUCO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2hgG9BAJLo

PLEASE EMAIL ERIN DOBBINS (edobbins@rti.org) TO COORDINATE SENDING YOUR PULL TABS BEFORE JUNE 5th!

Upcoming Events

Due to the snow in February, we had to postpone WomenNC's Local to Global Forum We have since rescheduled the event for NEXT Wednesday, March 4th at 7 pm on the RTI International campus. We would love to have you join us! ? RSVP by MONDAY, March 2 and let us know you are coming.

This event is a chance to hear the work of WomenNC's student scholars from UNC-CH, NCSU, NCCU, and Duke. Each of them has worked on a project to improve the lives of North Carolina’s women and girls, partnered with FEMtors from the RTI Global Gender Center, for the past 9 months. Examples of their research include The Impact of Environmental Toxins on Maternal Health in Durham NC; Oral Health Disparities in Women within Eastern North Carolina; and How to Reduce Violence Against Women Who Experience Intimate Partner Violence in Durham NC.

We will be joined by North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, North Carolina RepresentativeCynthia Ball, and Wake County Commissioner Jessica Holmes who will share their journeys as women to positions of leadership, as well as local motivational speaker and performer Sandra Dubose.

The scholars will travel to New York later in March to present this research and policy proposals to the United Nations 64th Annual Commission on the Status of Women where they will join scholars and activists from around the world in service to our mission to eliminate injustice against women and girls.

International Women's WEEK:
Celebrating 5 Years of the RTI Global Gender Center

LUNCH DISCUSSIONS in collaboration with WALS
March 9, 10, 11, & 13 12:00 - 1:00 PM EST
Rooms listed below / Zoom Meeting ID: 955 546 900

RSVP BY MARCH 5

Join expert affiliates as they facilitate an intimate and thought-provoking discussion with each session covering one of four major areas contributing to gender inequality.

Sessions will raise questions about timely gender-related issues on a global scale, share new innovations in gender-driven research, and showcase what RTI and the world are doing to combat inequality.

At the end of each session, we encourage you to take part in a group photo honoring the #EachforEqual International Women's Day campaign for social media!

*FOR RTI STAFF: A Special Reminder that on Thursday, March 12 (9:00 - 11:00 AM), RTI is hosting the first ever RTP International Women's Day Forum on "Breaking Bias - Advancing Women as Leaders in Science and Technology", with speakers from RTI, Lenovo, and Randstad! See the RTI Insider for more information and to register to attend in person by March 5. To commemorate 5 years of the RTI Global Gender Center, there will also be cake.

February Events Recap

Air Force Sexual Assault: Implementation Barriers Lunch N' Learn

On February 27, 35 attendees attended the lunch n learn regarding RTI's Air Force Sexual Assault project to learn about the Military and Family Risk Behavior Research group's most recent intervention and barriers to implementation. RTI experts Nichole Scaglione, Jessica Nelson, and Randy Eckhoff discussed the prevalence of sexual assault within the Air Force, their technology-based intervention, and the innovations required when working with military restrictions and while directing a program remotely.