Department: Community and Behavioral Health
Year intended to graduate: 2026
Previous Education: B.A. Biology with an Emphasis in Research, B.A. Music, B.A. Spanish (University of Northern Iowa, 2015); M.P.H. Community and Behavioral Health (University of Iowa, 2020)
Research Interest: Abby investigates the influence of stigma related to sex and reproduction on our health and well-being. Specifically, she studies how stigma is expressed and experienced, what core beliefs influence systems of stigma and how those beliefs are formed, and how we can accurately measure various attributes of stigma. Ultimately, she aims to illuminate the impact that sexual behavior stigmas have on our mental health and quality of life using community-engaged and mixed methods.
Current Activities: Abby has been a graduate research assistant on two projects co-led by Dr. William Story (UI CPH) and Dr. Nema Aluku (Africa Community Leadership and Development and Tangaza University): Stepping Up! Building Stronger Relationships among Youth and Parents to Increase Family Planning Use in Western Kenya (John Templeton Foundation) and Building Capacity to Reduce HIV-Related Stigma among Adolescents in Western Kenya (NIH). She has also worked with Dr. Nichole Nidey (UI CPH) on a community-engaged project focused on the language preferences of people with intersectional experiences of substance use at or around the time of pregnancy during interactions in healthcare settings.
Abby has served her departmental and collegiate community through student representation on various committees and boards including the College of Public Health International Student Advisory Board, the Curriculum Committee, the Awards Committee, Student Ambassadors, and as a mentor in the Graduate College Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program. Abby loves being in the classroom and regularly guest lectures for public health, global health, and research methods courses in the College of Public Health and the Department of Global Health Studies (CLAS). She has also designed and delivered trainings in qualitative methods and the use of Dedoose for qualitative analysis.
Currently, Abby is developing her dissertation titled, “Sexuality, Stigma, and Mental Health of Adolescents in Western Kenya.”
Please feel welcome to reach out via email at abigail-lee@uiowa.edu!