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Written By: Mary Ann Fahmy, MsGH '27 At the first Think Global event of the Spring 2026 semester, an interdisciplinary panel of faculty and trainees shared expertise about cultural, clinical, and community-based aspects of menstrual health equity. Dr. Megan Huchko, Director of the Center for Global Reproductive Health and OB/GYN at Duke, moderated the discussion and highlighted the many layers of stigma, structural barriers, and social norms that influence menstrual experiences across the lifespan. Dr. Huchko opened the session and emphasized the recurring theme of “menstruation rhetoric” or the ways language, beliefs, and cultural narratives contribute to society’s understanding and response to menstruation. Dr. Hannah Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program, examined how the cultural narratives influence menstrual stigma and identity. Through interdisciplinary research and rhetorical analysis, Dr.…

Written By: Colleen Mader, MsGH Candidate '27 This past October, the Duke Center for Global Mental Health (CGMH) and Duke Global Health Institute held a Think Global event focused on community and family-based mental health interventions, with a particular emphasis on three projects addressing the mental health of adolescents and families in Kenya. Dr. Eve Puffer, Director of the CGMH and Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience moderated the discussion. Dr. Ali Giusto, psychologist and Assistant Professor at Florida International University, opened the event by highlighting the often-overlooked role of fathers’ mental health in family well-being. She shared findings from LEAD (LEarn, Engage, Act, Dedicate), an intervention in Eldoret, Kenya designed to reduce depression and alcohol use among fathers while strengthening positive family engagement. Dr. Florence Jaguga, psychiatrist and Director…