Global Health Day 2025 | Addressing Stigma in Global Health: An Ethical Approach to Research
Join the Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility for Global Health Day 2025 — a celebration of global health work by UMN faculty, staff, and students.
Addressing Stigma in Global Health: An Ethical Approach to Research
Stigma is present in health care around the world, and can result in subpar care for those who face preconceived notions about their health status.
Members of the LGBTQ community, women, and those with sexually transmitted diseases are examples of individuals who may face stigma due to long-held societal and cultural beliefs. Mental health is another stigmatized condition in certain parts of the world.
How can global health researchers acknowledge instances of stigma while respecting community customs and beliefs? And what should be done when stigma hinders the ability to conduct meaningful research?
Our panel will highlight the experiences of global health researchers who have faced these questions and had to balance deferring to local communities while also maintaining the integrity of their work.
Speakers
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UMN Medical School
Dr. Kathryn Cullen is a tenured Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Her research examines the neurodevelopmental underpinnings of depression, self-injury, and suicide risk in adolescents and young adults. She has also done work testing the efficacy and mechanisms of novel interventions — including neuromodulation, pharmacology probing oxidative stress and glutamate systems, and creative arts-based approaches — aimed at promoting recovery and thriving among youth.
Her areas of expertise include depression and non-suicidal self-injury, child and adolescent suicide, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Professor, Division of Pediatric and Infectious Diseases, UMN Medical School
Dr. Nadia Sam-Agudu is a clinician-scientist in pediatric infectious diseases, implementation science and global health. She splits her time between the US and Nigeria. Dr. Sam-Agudu is a Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Global Pediatrics Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School. She also serves as Senior Technical Advisor for Pediatric and Adolescent HIV and is a Senior Research Faculty at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria.
Her research is focused on the application of implementation science methods in the prevention and treatment of HIV and other major infectious diseases affecting children in African countries. She also provides her expertise in collaborations and networks for implementation science training and capacity building in the US and in Nigeria and other African countries. Dr. Sam-Agudu is a member of the Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance (NISA) and leads the Central and West Africa Implementation Science Alliance (CAWISA).
Associate Professor, Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, UMN School of Public Health
Dr. Kumi Smith is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology & Community Health. She studies health disparities at the intersection of infectious diseases, substance use, and unstable housing. She has also developed structural interventions to better support clinical workers in providing culturally-specific and trauma-informed care for marginalized patients.
Much of her international work is based in China, where she has lived and worked for several years. Kumi’s areas of expertise include HIV, STIs, infectious disease dynamics, intervention science, sexual health and healthcare stigma.