News
Meet CONVERGE's Newest Addition, Erin Rockwell
Meet Erin, our new Research and Evaluation Manager for Talabi Labs!
Pitt named Maternal Health Research Center of excellence
Drs. Dara D. Méndez, Mehret Birru Talabi, and Hyagriv Simhan received the Maternal Health Research Center of Excellence from the NIH to lead a new effort to develop and evaluate innovative approaches to advance maternal and reproductive health and justice among Black people in Allegheny County.
Instituting Racial Equity: The Allegheny County Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Initiative
In-depth interviews with organizational partners revealed that racial equity was of concern and as a result, coalition members developed a racial equity statement and theory of change focused on implementation and an equity audit.
Reproductive hormones in relation to white matter hyperintensity volumes among midlife women
Despite widespread belief that sex hormones are important to women's brain health, little work has considered how these hormones in women relate to white matter hyperintensities, a major indicator of cerebral small vessel disease. Dr. Thurston's team considered relations of estradiol, estrone, and follicle-stimulating hormone to white matter hyperintensities in midlife women. She found that reproductive hormones, particularly estradiol and follicle-stimulating hormone, are important to women's cerebrovascular health.
From stigma to solutions: harnessing local wisdom to tackle harms associated with menstrual seclusion (chhaupadi) in Nepal
Dr. Baumann and her team used human centered design and a community-engaged approach to contextualize chhaupadi and the development of 5 community-created interventions.
These interventions prioritized tackling deleterious aspects of chhaupadi, as well as acknowledge the deep-rooted significance, history, and positive aspects that some women may wish to preserve.
Co-occurring conditions during pregnancy and hospitalizations in the first year postpartum among persons with opioid use disorder
Drs. Jarlenski and Krans' findings highlight the need for long-term, multidisciplinary healthcare delivery interventions to address comorbidities and prevent adverse postpartum outcomes.
Abortion After Pregnancy Occurrence with Contraceptive Use Among Veterans
What happens to Veterans who become pregnant when using contraception?
In a study published by the Journal of Women's Health, CONVERGE's Drs. Chang, Callegari, Borrero, and Quinn found that these pregnancies are more likely to end in an abortion than live birth. Given widespread reproductive health restrictions across the US, ensuring Veterans' access to comprehensive health care, including abortion, is critical to supporting reproductive autonomy and whole health.
Prioritizing sexual and reproductive health research and care for people with cystic fibrosis
Sexual and reproductive health is an important and emerging area in cystic fibrosis (CF) and thoughtful consideration of community perspectives can ensure that future research is relevant and responsive to topics such as: 1) effects of CF modulator therapy on sex hormones; 2) effects of sex hormones on CF; 3) fertility; 4) pregnancy; and 5) sexual and reproductive health/mental health.
Mobility narratives among female sex workers living with HIV in Tanzania and the Dominican Republic
Around the world, mobility is an increasing component of people’s daily lives and livelihoods, often in response to economic circumstances, climate change, emergency, and more. Researchers can learn from the lived experiences of female sex workers to improve HIV care and treatment interventions moving forward for those who are mobile. This study by Dr. Zoé Hendrickson and her team can inform the design and implementation of tailored, community-based HIV care and treatment interventions that meet the distinct needs of female sex workers living with HIV with diverse stories of mobility.
Implementation and early effects of medicaid policy interventions to promote racial equity in pregnancy and early childhood outcomes in Pennsylvania
Drs. Jarlenski and Mendez's mixed methods research evaluating Pennsylvania Medicaid's equity payment program and equity focused obstetric bundle show how Medicaid policy interventions can promote racial equity in pregnancy and child health.
Clinician perspectives and practices related to sexual and reproductive care provision for males with cystic fibrosis
Multidisciplinary cystic fibrosis (CF) clinicians perceive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for males with cystic fibrosis (MwCF) as important, yet they report suboptimal SRH discussions. The majority believe the CF team should have the primary role in SRH discussion and provision for MwCF. Pediatric clinicians report significantly less comfort and skill in discussing and managing male SRH. Identified barriers and facilitators should be used to improve SRH care for MwCF.
Associations Among Plurisexual Identity, Intimate Partner Violence, Reproductive Coercion, and Parental Monitoring in a Sample of Adolescent and Young Adult Pregnant People
These findings are aligned with past research and extends this work by focusing on pregnant plurisexual adolescents and young adults, a population with multiple marginalized identities, and those who experience chronic stress due to interpersonal and structural discrimination
NIH funding to support the EMBRACE maternal health center of excellence
Congratulations to Drs. Mendez, Talabi, Simhan, and their team for being awarded NIH funding to support the EMBRACE maternal health center of excellence. We're so excited to see this work move forward
Feasibility Testing of a Web-Based Reproductive Decision Support Tool for Cystic Fibrosis
MyVoice:CF is acceptable, appropriate, and usable for those with cystic fibrosis (CF). Among a sample of 43 participants, preliminary effectiveness evaluation suggests that MyVoice:CF improves self-efficacy in and frequency of reproductive health communication.
Policy Internships Available!
Connect with the Institute of Politics and Elise Hillman Civic Forum network of community leaders, elected officials, senior academic administration, and policy experts to increase the quality of life of individuals in the region.