Dr Emma Fisher is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bath’s Centre for Pain Research and member of the MeJARa team. Emma recently joined a panel discussion at the United States Association for the Study of Pain’s 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle, Washington. The session, ‘Menstrual pain in lower income countries: what do we know and what can we do?’ shared innovative and exciting research outlining the risk factors and impact of dysmenorrhea in community and clinical cohorts (including those in lower income countries), and emerging interventions. Emma provided a cross-cultural perspective and described barriers to menstrual health such as resource limitations and sociocultural context. She also shared details of the MeJARa project, specifically the development and implementation of an intervention targeting pain and menstrual justice.

Over the next few months, other members of the MeJARa team will be presenting their research at both the Menstruation Research Network (MRN) Conference in Liverpool in May and the 4M Conference in Exeter in June. Details of these presentations are below. We look forward to connecting with fellow menstrual health researchers, practitioners and activists during the events.

MRN presentations

Rebecca Evans:

  • Dysmenorrhea affects school participation in the Philippines and in the UK (poster)

Josephine McAllister:

  • Exploring the Impact of Social Norms on Adolescent Girls’ Menstrual Health in Nepal (5 minute presentation and Q&A)
  • Where is menstruation in global health policy? (5 minute presentation and Q&A)

Melanie Channon:

  • “No one really cares” – Understanding Adolescent Girls’ Experiences of Menstrual Pain in Nepal (video)

4M presentations

Rebecca Evans:

  • ‘I wish I was a boy’: Comparing the Mental Burden of Menstruation Among Schoolgirls in the UK and Philippines (oral presentation)

Minakshi Dahal:

  • Mental and Psychosocial Aspects of Menstruation: An Analysis of Public Policies in Nepal (oral presentation)

Josephine McAllister:

  • Exploring the Impact of Social Norms on Adolescent Girls’ Menstrual Health in Nepal (poster)

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Written by:

Josephine Mcallister