Episode 010: Global Health Research and Advocacy with Marni Sommer

The Days for Girls Podcast

Marni Sommer is a renowned researcher, professor and author in the menstrual health field. She specializes in puberty research and adolescent-focused interventions, gender and sexual health, and the intersection of public health and education. Marni currently leads the Gender, Adolescent Transitions and Environment (GATE) Program in Columbia University’s Department of Sociomedical Sciences: a research-based program that examines puberty-related challenges and solutions in low-income settings, and aims to improve the integration of MHH into global humanitarian responses.

Marni is also the founder of Grow and Know, an organization that empowers girls and boys going through puberty with story-based, culturally-tailored books about their changing bodies (based on research conducted in nine countries). In this episode, she talks to DfG about the challenges, learning lessons, outcomes and inspiration behind these game-changing projects and so much more. You won’t want to miss this deep dive with one of the best and brightest in menstrual health research!

Highlights:

• The origins and ongoing impact of Grow and Know
• The importance of including boys in puberty and menstrual health education
• Her work with the Gender, Adolescent Transitions, and Environment (GATE) Program – including two recent projects revolving around menstrual health and humanitarian/emergency response efforts.
• What inspired her to start the GATE Period Posse webinar series, which brings together cross-sectional MHH experts to discuss key emerging issues each month.
• The impact of COVID on period poverty and menstrual health management in low-resource contexts.
• Ongoing challenges for menstruators experiencing homelessness in urban settings and possible solutions (like improved budget allocation for period products and better administrative policies in shelters).

Connect:

• Email: [e-mail]
• Website: Grow and Know: www.growandknow.org | GATE program: www.publichealth.columbia.edu/research/gate
• LinkedIn: Marni Sommer
• Twitter: @marnisommer

Bio:

Marni Sommer, DrPH, MSN, RN, has worked in global health and development on issues ranging from improving access to essential medicines to humanitarian relief in conflict settings. Dr. Sommer's particular areas of expertise include conducting participatory research with adolescents, understanding and promoting healthy transitions to adulthood, the intersection of public health and education, gender and sexual health, and the implementation and evaluation of adolescent-focused interventions.

Her doctoral research explores girls' experiences of menstruation, puberty and schooling in Tanzania, and the ways in which the onset of puberty might be disrupting girls' academic performance and healthy transition to adulthood. Dr. Sommer presently leads the Gender, Adolescent Transitions and Environment (GATE) Program, based in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences. GATE explores the intersections of gender, health, education and the environment for girls and boys transitioning into adulthood in low-income countries and in the United States. GATE also generates research and practical resources focused on improving the integration of menstrual hygiene management and gender supportive sanitation solutions into global humanitarian response.

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