Bio: Alena Pauley, Msc., is a researcher working under the mentorship of Catherine Staton, MD, MSc. and Blandinda Mmbaga, MD, Ph.D. Under their guidance, as a graduate student, she led a study on gender and alcohol use in Moshi, Tanzania which aims to understand how and why alcohol use differs between men and women in this region. As she continues to work on analyzing this data, she hopes that her research will help to inform the design and implementation of culturally-appropriate programs to effectively reduce unhealthy alcohol use among women in particular.

Alena received her bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal, and is a recent graduate of the Masters in Global Health program at the Duke Global Health Institute. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, she now currently works as a Clinical Research Coordinator within Duke University Hospital’s Emergency Department which she balances alongside her ongoing research endeavors.