START research assistants present findings on project work at 2025 Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH)

In December 2024, START research assistants successfully submitted four abstracts to present posters on project research at the 2025 Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) international conference, hosted in Atlanta, GA in February 2025.

In a 2024 engagement with the Gates Foundation, the START Center was asked to conduct a literature review to understand the effect of menstrual health product use (menstrual pads, menstrual cups, reusable pads, and homemade alternatives) on infectious outcomes (sexually transmitted infections, urogenital infections, and bacterial vaginosis), and identify corresponding gaps in the literature. Results from this project revealed a lack of high-quality evidence regarding menstrual health product use and reproductive and urinary tract infections. At present, no definitive associations have been established between the menstrual products and adverse health outcomes of interest. In December 2024, three of the START research assistants involved in this work, Ana Krause, Andrea Rivas, and Abigail Mulugeta, successfully submitted an abstract to present a poster on this work at the 2025 CUGH international conference. The poster abstract was titled “Menstrual products and reproductive and urogenital tract infections: a literature review.”

Click Here to View the Menstrual Health CUGH 2025 Poster

Click Here to View the Menstrual Health CUGH 2025 Abstract

You can learn more about the START Menstrual Health Product Use Literature Review project here.

In February 2024, the Polio team at the Gates Foundation enlisted the START Center to execute a literature review to identify and describe gender-related factors affecting vaccine demand and healthcare seeking behavior in Nigeria to inform the creation of study instruments being designed for research on polio in Northern Nigeria. START research assistants Lasata Shrestha and Abigail Mulugeta engaged in this project work, and successfully submitted a poster abstract titled, “Gender Barriers to Polio Vaccination in Nigeria: A Literature Review.”

Click Here to View the Gender Barriers to Polio Vaccination in Nigeria CUGH 2025 Poster

Click Here to View the Gender Barriers to Polio Vaccination in Nigeria CUGH 2025 Abstract

You can learn more about the START Gender-Related Factors Affecting Immunization and Healthcare Seeking Behavior in Nigeria and Related Contexts project here.

The START Center provides ongoing support to the Gender Equality team at the Gates Foundation. In a 2024 workstream START RAs conducted a targeted literature review, including articles published through June 2024, that explored the association between anemia and Hormonal contraceptives (HC) , including long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods (IUDs and implants), and other HC methods like oral contraceptives (OCs) and injectables. Former START RAs Andrea Rivas-Nieto and Abigail Mulugeta, and current START RA Bih Moki-Suh, successfully submitted an abstract and poster to CUGH, titled ” A Quantitative Synthesis of Evidence on the Association Between Hormonal Long-Acting Contraceptive Methods and Iron-Deficiency Anemia Reduction.”

Click Here to View the LARCs and Anemia CUGH 2025 Poster

Click Here to View the LARCs and Anemia CUGH 2025 Abstract

In the winter of 2024, the START Center performed literature reviews to understand the underlying barriers to parental acceptance of the HPV vaccine for their adolescent daughters aged 9-14 years, assess the relationship between HPV vaccination and increased sexual activity in adolescence, and understand if parental amenability to the HPV vaccine for their daughters changed if the vaccine was aligned with cervical cancer prevention rather than with sexual and reproductive health, in support of the Global Development team at the Gates Foundation. Current START RAs Greg Zane and Anna Sutton, and former START RAs Madalitso Khwepeya and Sarah Hicks successfully submitted a poster abstract in December 2024 for the CUGH conference titled, “Repackaging Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination as Cervical Cancer Prevention to Boost Adolescent Uptake and Caregiver Acceptance.”

Click Here to View the HPV CUGH 2025 Poster

Click Here to View the HPV CUGH 2025 Abstract

You can learn more about the START Reframing the HPV Vaccine project, including access the final report and presentation, here.