Faculty in the News

Dr. Aubrey Madkour gives an overview of her research career examining predictors and consequences of early sexual initiation among adolescents; determinants of longitudinal trajectories of dating violence between adolescence and early adulthood; adolescents’ perceptions of dating violence definitions and etiology; and most recently, causes of substance use behaviors in early adulthood.

Dr. Gretchen Clum reflects on her history as a public health researcher from studying the effect of sex abuse on HIV treatment adherence to mindfulness training and analyzing the data from Tulane's sexual misconduct climate survey. Her current projects include looking at the impact of police raids on the health and wellbeing of female sex workers and teaching the “Public Health Approaches to Sexual Violence” undergraduate course.

The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and Louisiana consistently ranks among the top states for rates of death among pregnant and postpartum women. Dr. Maeve Wallace studies pregnancy-associated mortality and the state-level policies that could be contributing to the higher rates seen in Louisiana and the U.S. more broadly. Wallace and her team will also look at how factors including income inequality, structural racism and residential segregation play a role in the increased mortality rate among black women, who are currently three to four times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy or post-partum periods.

Tulane researcher Dr. Katherine Theall was just awarded a $2.3 million grant from the NIH for a first-of-its-kind study. The study seeks to learn if cleaning up overgrown, vacant lots and blighted houses can decrease youth and family violence. “To our knowledge, no other studies have examined the impact of blight remediation on youth and family violence, specifically,” said principal investigator Katherine Theall, PhD, Cecile Usdin Professor in Women’s Health. “However, research on other forms of neighborhood disorder suggest that it could have a substantial impact.”

A recent study conducted Dr. Patty Kissinger found that the standard prescribed single-dose treatment for trichomoniasis is not as effective as multidose. Kissinger hopes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will change its recommendations for trichomoniasis treatment based on the results of her study. She has been asked to work with the CDC on STD prevention guidelines.