Institution George Mason University
Principal Investigator:
Jhumka Gupta, ScD, MPH
Key Personnel:
Julie E. Painter, PhD. (Co-Investigator). Dr. Painter is Assistant Professor and Behavioral Scientist in the Department of Global and Community Health at George Mason University
Noemie Elhadad, PhD. (Co-Investigator) Dr. Elhadad is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University.
Miriam Adil, MA (Gaming Developer) Ms. Adil is the Founder of “GRID-Gaming Revolution for International Development”
Lauren Cardoso, MSW (Project Coordinator) Lauren is a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania.
SUMMARY
This study will benefit the broader endometriosis community in several ways. First, the survey data will provide much-needed data on the prevalence and psychosocial impact of endometriosis among young adult women. Through our various dissemination strategies, the data will be poised to inform community-level and national-level health policy and priorities. This effort will be spearheaded by Dr. Gupta who is based in Washington, D.C. Second, by designing a game for stigma reduction, we will be creating an effective, cost-efficient, and replicable toot that can be adapted as the provider level. This game has far-reaching potential for endometriosis-related stigma reduction. Further, this intervention targets the social network of young women with endometriosis, and that sets the critical precedent that behavior change should happen among those perpetuating the stigmas, not the women herself. Third, by reaching out to influential organizations such as Planned Parenthood with our findings, we expect this research to elevate endometriosis as a key issue on the global reproductive health agenda.
Bio
Jhumka Gupta, ScD (PI): Dr. Gupta, an Assistant Professor of Global and Community Health at George Mason University, is a social epidemiologist whose research focuses on the social determinants of sexual and reproductive health of women and girls. Specifically, she investigates the psychosocial implications of women’s sexual and reproductive health issues, including gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, and endometriosis. Dr. Gupta also conducts intervention studies aimed at reducing violence against women. She is currently PI of an adolescent study (in partnership with Endometriosis Foundation of America) to examine perceived stigma of endometriosis among teens. Through her research and dissemination efforts, Dr. Gupta has leveraged the visibility of stigmatized issues such as human trafficking and violence against women and girls in the realm of public health and serves on has over 50 peer-reviewed publications on these topics. She holds a doctorate from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
