Friday, September 11, 2026

Lindsay Stark and Luissa Vahedi

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Lindsay Stark is a social epidemiologist and internationally recognized expert on the protection and well-being of women and children in situations of extreme adversity, with more than a decade of experience leading applied research with operational agencies such as UNICEF, UNHCR, International Rescue Committee and the Women's Refugee Commission. Stark measures sensitive social phenomena and evaluates related interventions to reduce violence, abuse and exploitation of women and children. Stark co-directs the Center on Violence and Injury Prevention and the International Center for Child Health and Development; holds affiliate appointments with the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the Institute for Public Health; serves on the editorial boards of PLOS One and BMC Public Health, and has published more than 100 chapters and peer-review articles. Before joining the Brown School, Stark was an associate professor at Columbia University, where she served as director of research for the Program on Forced Migration and Health and director of the CPC Learning Network. Currently, projects include: -The Study of Adolescent Lives after Migration to America (SALaMA) to identify sources of daily stress and resilience and assess psychosocial well-being of adolescents resettled from Arab-majority countries. -Sibling Support for Adolescent Girls in Emergencies (SSAGE) to bolster family functioning and shift gender norms in northern Nigeria, Jordan and Niger. -A UNICEF study that examines how women’s and girls’ safety and wellbeing has been affected by COVID-19 in Italy, Iraq, Guatemala, Brazil, and Zimbabwe. -Journey of Life, an evaluation of the effectiveness and implementation of a psychosocial support intervention for conflict-affected refugee populations in Uganda. Luissa Vahedi is a PhD candidate at Washington University in St Louis.

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