June Monthly Update

 

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We are at the end of June, and half of the year and for some of you, a holiday break with a long weekend.
June has been especially important for the RTI Global Gender Center as we journey together to be inclusive, less stigmatizing and collaborative across RTI and with our partners recognizing Pride month (see more below).
This month has been a busy one for me as we held the 15th InWomen's conference in Denver, Colorado that is also co-sponsored with NIDA and other longstanding supporters. It was filled with academic and clinical presentations from around the world that were recorded (if you want to hear them) and women with lived experiences sharing from their hearts. 
Because it was Pride Month, we had a lot of amazing co-sponsored events and further advancements in the Gender Center's +Rising efforts to address LGBTQIA+ equity. See more information below on the Pride Month keynote event. A special shoutout to our LGBTQIA+ Rising working group chairperson, Marcel Foster, and their awesome team for their hard work and efforts this month, and stay tuned for next month's announcement.
The National Institutes of Health office of Sexual and Gender Minority research has recently launched a website on measurement and data to understand the health of sexual and gender minorities involved in NIH-funded research. 
Additionally, the new business development group, mostly of RTI's International Development Group, held a meeting on the new USAID gender policy which included discussion of how to best incorporate and operationalize gender, equity, and social inclusion (GESI) efforts into international project work.
This all has been a journey and a learning...
We have had a busy month for conference presentations, where the RTI Global Gender Center supported a gender symposium at the AIDSImpact conference in Stockholm, Sweden! Affiliates have also been attending and presenting at conferences across the United States and the world this month, and that continues throughout the coming months -- keep us informed and travel safe!

In health,
Wendee
she/her/hers

 

 RTI Gender-related June Publications

  • Borello France D, Newman DK, Markland AD, Propst K, Jelovsek JE, Cichowski S, Gantz MG, Balgobin S, Jakus-Waldman S, Korbly N, Mazloomdoost D, Burgio KL; NICHD Pelvic Floor Disorders Network. Adherence to perioperative behavioral therapy with pelvic floor muscle training in women receiving vaginal reconstructive surgery for pelvic organ prolapse. Phys Ther. 2023 Jun 15:pzad059. doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzad059.
  • Boyce SC, Minnis AM, Deardorff J, McCoy SI, Challa S, Johns N, Aliou S, Brooks M, Nouhou AM, Gochyyev P, Wilson M, Baker H, Silverman JG. Measuring social norms of intimate partner violence to exert control over wife agency, sexuality, and reproductive autonomy: an item response modelling of the IPV-ASRA scale. Reprod Health. 2023 Jun 14;20(1):90. doi: 10.1186/s12978-023-01632-w.
  • Cope H, Lincoln-Boyea B, Gwaltney AY, Biesecker BB, Moultrie R, Alexander AA, King NMP, Check J, Corbo A, Tzeng J, Porter KA, Peay HL. Use of a web-based portal to return normal individual research results in Early Check: Exploring user behaviors and attitudes. Clin Genet. 2023 Jun;103(6):672-680. doi: 10.1111/cge.14325.
  • Devlin LA, Hu Z, Ounpraseuth S, Simon AE, Annett RD, Das A, Fuller JF, Higgins RD, Merhar SL, Smith PB, Crawford MM, Cottrell LE, Czynski AJ, Newman S, Paul DA, Sánchez PJ, Semmens EO, Smith MC, Whalen BL, Snowden JN, Young LW; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network and the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program Institutional Development Awards States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network. The influence of mediators on the relationship between antenatal opioid agonist exposure and the severity of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome. Matern Child Health J. 2023 Jun;27(6):1030-1042. doi: 10.1007/s10995-022-03521-3.
  • Ehrenthal DB, McNeil RB, Crenshaw EG, Bairey Merz CN, Grobman WA, Parker CB, Greenland P, Pemberton VL, Zee PC, Scifres CM, Polito L, Saade G. Adverse pregnancy outcomes and future metabolic syndrome. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2023 Jun 1. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2023.0026.
  • Ettinger de Cuba S, Bovell-Ammon A, Ahmad N, Bruce C, Poblacion A, Rateau LJ, Coleman SM, Black MM, Frank DA, Lê-Scherban F, Henchy G, Ochoa E Jr, Sandel M, Cutts DB. Child care feeding programs associated with food security and health for young children from families with low incomes. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2023 Jun 9:S2212-2672(23)00301-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2023.06.003.
  • Hughes K, Evans K, Earley EJ, Smith CM, Erickson SW, Stearns T, Philip VM, Neuhauser SB, Chuang JH, Jocoy EL, Bult CJ, Teicher BA, Smith MA, Lock RB. In vivo activity of the dual SYK/FLT3 inhibitor TAK-659 against pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia xenografts. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 Jun 20:e30503. doi: 10.1002/pbc.30503.
  • Lepeule J, Pin I, Boudier A, Quentin J, Lyon-Caen S, Supernant K, Seyve E, Chartier R, Slama R, Siroux V; SEPAGES study group. Pre-natal exposure to NO2 and PM2.5 and newborn lung function: An approach based on repeated personal exposure measurements. Environ Res. 2023 Jun 1;226:115656. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115656.
  • Lorvick J, Hemberg JL, Browne EN, Comfort ML. Nonurgent emergency department use among women sentenced to probation. J Correct Health Care. 2023 Jun;29(3):182-189. doi: 10.1089/jchc.21.11.0122.
  • Maierhofer CN, Powers KA, Matoga MM, Chen JS, Jere E, Massa C, Mmodzi P, Bhushan NL, Phiri S, Hoffman IF, Lancaster KE, Miller WC, Rutstein SE. Characterizing network-based HIV testing interventions to guide HIV testing and contact tracing at STI clinics in Lilongwe, Malawi. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2023 Jun 21. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000003240.
  • Oommen AM, Basu P, Cherian AG, Zomawia E, Manoharan R, Pricilla RA, Viswanathan V, Oldenburg B, Subramanian S, Hawkes D, Saville M, Brotherton JML; SHE-CAN collaborators. Protocol for the formative phase of a trial (SHE-CAN) to test co-designed implementation strategies for HPV-based cervical screening among vulnerable women in two diverse settings in India. Implement Sci Commun. 2023 Jun 8;4(1):62. doi: 10.1186/s43058-023-00436-0.
  • Reddy SM, Wiecha N, Nguyen CT, Barch DH. The role of adverse pregnancy outcomes in conventional cardiovascular risk prediction. Matern Child Health J. 2023 Jun 6. doi: 10.1007/s10995-023-03725-1.
  • Reynolds E, Blanchard S, Jalazo E, Chakraborty P, Bailey DB Jr. Newborn screening conditions: Early intervention and probability of developmental delay. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2023 Jun-Jul 01;44(5):e379-e387. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001179.
  • Saleem S, McClure EM. The importance of quality data to track global progress in addressing stillbirths and neonatal mortality. Lancet Glob Health. 2023 Jun;11(6):e801-e802. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00200-0.
  • Triplett NS, Roberts ST, Hartmann M, Wagner D, Reddy KR, Mathebula F, Tolley EE, Baeten JM, Palanee-Phillips T, Montgomery ET. Examining associations between mental health, IPV exposure, HIV risk behaviors, and PrEP use in South African women: An analysis of data from the CHARISMA study. AIDS Behav. 2023 Jun;27(6):2030-2040. doi: 10.1007/s10461-022-03936-7.
  • Warren LK, Adams J, Bobashev G. Trends in opioid misuse among individuals aged 12 to 21 years in the US. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Jun 1;6(6):e2316276. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.16276.
  • Washio Y, Raines AL, Lv M, Pei S, Taylor SN, Zhang Z. The association of maternal smoking and drinking changes during pregnancy and postpartum breastfeeding pattern and duration. Breastfeed Med. 2023 Jun;18(6):449-461. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2022.0130.
  • Wilson M, McDade C, Beby-Heijtel AT, Waterval-Overbeek A, Sundaram V, Perdrizet J. Assessing public health impact of four pediatric pneumococcal conjugate vaccination strategies in the Netherlands. Infect Dis Ther. 2023 Jun 15. doi: 10.1007/s40121-023-00828-8.
  • Workalemahu T, Dalton S, Son SL, Allshouse A, Carey AZ, Page JM, Blue NR, Thorsten V, Goldenberg RL, Pinar H, Reddy UM, Silver RM. Copy number variants and fetal structural abnormalities in stillborn fetuses: A secondary analysis of the Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network study. BJOG. 2023 Jun 1. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.17561.
  • Young LW, Ounpraseuth ST, Merhar SL, Hu Z, Simon AE, Bremer AA, Lee JY, Das A, Crawford MM, Greenberg RG, Smith PB, Poindexter BB, Higgins RD, Walsh MC, Rice W, Paul DA, Maxwell JR, Telang S, Fung CM, Wright T, Reynolds AM, Hahn DW, Ross J, McAllister JM, Crowley M, Shaikh SK, Puopolo KM, Christ L, Brown J, Riccio J, Wong Ramsey K, Akshatha, Braswell EF, Tucker L, McAlmon KR, Dummula K, Weiner J, White JR, Howell MP, Newman S, Snowden JN, Devlin LA; ACT NOW Collaborative. Eat, sleep, console approach or usual care for neonatal opioid withdrawal. N Engl J Med. 2023 Jun 22;388(25):2326-2337. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2214470.
  • Zangeneh SZ, Wilson EA, Ahluwalia S, Donnell DJ, Chen YQ, Grinsztejn B, Melo MG, Godbole SV, Hosseinipour MC, Taha T, Kumwenda J, McCauley M, Cohen MS, Nielsen-Saines K. Pregnancy rates and clinical outcomes among women living with HIV enrolled in HPTN 052. AIDS Care. 2023 Jun;35(6):824-832. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2022.2141187.

 

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

 

June Publication Feature

Maternal smoking and drinking can have significant impacts on the health and wellbeing of infants. RTI International researchers conducted a cross-sectional study utilizing Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data between 2009 and 2017 to evaluate associations between changes in maternal smoking and drinking patterns and breastfeeding likelihood and duration. While no association was found between changes in drinking and breastfeeding patterns, the researchers did find that smoking the same or more, or resuming smoking during pregnancy were associated with shorter durations and the lowest likelihood of breastfeeding. Read more here.

Washio Y, Raines AL, Lv M, Pei S, Taylor SN, Zhang Z. The association of maternal smoking and drinking changes during pregnancy and postpartum breastfeeding pattern and duration. Breastfeed Med. 2023 Jun;18(6):449-461. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2022.0130.

 

RTI Gender-related June Project Wins

Congratulations to:

  • Alexandra Minnis and team on their win, Using a discrete choice experiment to determine preferences for STI testing models for Black adolescent males, from Emory University
  • Tania Brunn and team on their win, Rwanda KWA Ukraine add-on, from the USAID Rwanda Mission
  • Elizabeth McClure and team on their win, Postpartum IV Iron to Treat Iron Deficiency Anemia: Ancillary study, from Thomas Jefferson University
  • Tatyana Marshall and team on their win, Empower East and Central Africa (EE CA) (EAEP Follow-on), from the USAID Southern Africa Regional Mission

 

 June Project Win Feature

Sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing is critical to improving reproductive health, especially for adolescents. Congratulations to Alexandra Minnis and team on their recent project win, Using a discrete choice experiment to determine preferences for STI testing models for Black adolescent males from Emory University!

 

 June Event Recap

On June 16th, the 15th Annual InWomen's conference was held in Denver, Colorado! This conference is the only feminist conference focusing on intersecting issues related to substance use and is chaired by RTI Global Gender Center Director, Dr. Wendee Wechsberg. The conference is also sponsored by the RTI Global Gender Center, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Southwest Institute for Research on Women. The day was filled with impactful presentations, empowering networking sessions, and other opportunities to connect and engage with attendees on critical topics in the field of substance use treatment and prevention. You can view our program here. 

 

On June 21st, in collaboration with the RTI PRIDE Employee Resource Group (ERG), the RTI Global Gender Center sponsored an event featuring transgender activists Dominique Morgan and Josefine Parker to discuss the inclusion of transgender individuals in all facets of research, from inclusion in datasets to serving in consulting roles on the design side of research. This event was moderated by RTI Global Gender Center affiliate Dr. Stephanie Hawkins, and was well attended by over 200 individuals virtually and at in-person viewing events at the RTI International offices in Research Triangle Park and Washington, D.C. If you are interested in viewing the recording of this event, please reach out to ivanderdrift@rti.org for more information.

Upcoming Events

JULY 2023 
Join us for an event honoring Minority Mental Health Awareness Month! Details coming soon.

 

AUGUST 2023 
Join us for an event honoring Women's Equality Day!

 

Gender Science News 

Randomized evaluation of a school-based, trauma-informed group intervention for young women in Chicago
Endometriosis may be caused by a common gut bacteria, small study suggests
New study links contraceptive pills and depression
Dads are key in supporting breastfeeding, safe infant sleep

 

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