Megan Dunbar, DrPH, MPH

Vice President of Research and Programs
Megan Dunbar, DrPH

Dr. Megan Dunbar, Vice President of Research and Programs at Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, has primary responsibility for the planning, execution, oversight, and monitoring of all Pangaea programs, projects and technical assistance related activities. Megan is an emerging leader in global HIV prevention efforts among women and youth. Her particular expertise is in designing and evaluating interventions that address the social and economic factors which increase HIV vulnerability, such as gender-based violence and inequities in educational and economic opportunities for girls and women.Formerly with the University of California, San Francisco, Megan has spent nearly a decade leading initiatives in Tanzania and Zimbabwe, where she lived for several years.

In her own work, Megan supports initiatives designed to link HIV prevention and treatment activities, with a particular focus on designing and evaluating special programs on the intersection of poverty, gender and youth development. The major objectives of her research portfolio are to reduce the risk of HIV among women and youth, including orphans and vulnerable children, through the development and evaluation of interventions that combine improved educational and economic opportunities with programs designed to encourage positive health behaviors. Megan has served as principal investigator on federally and privately funded research projects in Tanzania and Zimbabwe, with similar efforts expanding her work include adolescents in Oakland and San Francisco.

Megan received her MPH. and DrPH from the University of California, Berkeley, where she focused on international maternal and child health, and research design and policy evaluation. She was awarded the International AIDS Society Young Investigators award at the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona in 2005, and a bronze medal at the 17th International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research in 2007 for her work in Zimbabwe. In addition, she consults with the World Health Organization on a special task force that reviews issues that intersect the fields of reproductive health and HIV, such as the use of hormonal contraception on HIV acquisition and disease progression.

Selected Publications and Presentations

  • Dunbar, M.S. Livelihoods approaches to HIV prevention among adolescent girls and women:  Lessons learned from the SHAZ! intervention in Zimbabwe. CEGA Symposium 2011 - Evidence to Action: Returns to Investments in Girls.  Invited Speaker.
  • Averbach S.H., Gravitt P.E., Nowak R.G., Celentano D.D., Dunbar M.S., Morrison C.S., Grimes B.,  Padian N.S.  The association between cervical HPV infection and HIV acquisition among women in Zimbabwe.  AIDS 2010 24(7):1035-42.
  • Morrison, C.S.; Demers K.; Kwok, C; Bulime, S.; Rinaldi, A; Chen P.-L.; Munjoma M.; Dunbar, M.S.; Chipato, T.; Byamugisha, J.; Van Der Pol, B; Arts, E.; Salata, R.A.   Plasma and cervical viral loads among Ugandan and Zimbabwean women during acute and early HIV-1 infection.  AIDS 2010 24:573-582.
  • Dworkin S.L., Dunbar M.S. Drph Mph, Krishnan, S. Phd Mph, Hatcher A.M. Mph, Sawires S. Ma.  Uncovering tensions and capitalizing on synergies in HIV/AIDS and antiviolence programs.   Am J Public Health 2010 191106v1
  • Dunbar, M.S. Livelihoods approaches to HIV prevention among adolescent  girls and women:  Lessons learned from the SHAZ! intervention in Zimbabwe.  138th American Public Health Association Conference 2010.  Panelist.
  • Dunbar, M.S.  Eliminating HIV vulnerability among girls and women through research and advocacy for structural change.  XVIII International AIDS Conference 2010. Panelist.
  • Dunbar, M.S., Maternowska, C., Kang, M-S. J.., Laver, S.M., Mudekunye, I., & Padian, N. Findings from SHAZ!: A feasibility study of a microcredit and life-skills HIV prevention intervention to reduce risk among adolescent female orphans in Zimbabwe. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community.  2010
  • Dunbar, M.S.  Economic Livelihoods and STI/HIV Prevention for Orphan Girls in Zimbabwe–SHAZ! Phase II. 18th International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases 2009. London, England.  (Session organizer and panelist)
  • Dunbar, M.S.  (2008, July).  Integrating HIV prevention, care and treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa: the testing and scaling up of intervention models involving women and youth.  17th International AIDS Conference. (Session organizer and Panelist).
  • Dunbar, M.S., Morrison C, Chipato T, Byamugisha J, Salata R.A., Padian N.S. Hormonal contraception and the risk of HIV-1 acquisition among young African women. XVII International AIDS Conference 2008. (Poster presentation) .
  • Kang, M., Dunbar, M. S., Laver, S., & Padian, N. P. (2008). Maternal versus paternal orphans and HIV/STI risk among adolescent girls in Zimbabwe.  AIDS Care 2008 20(2), 214–217.
  • Krishnan, S., Dunbar, M., Minnis, A., Gerdts, C., Medlin, C., & Padian, N.  Poverty, gender inequities and women’s risk of HIV/AIDS. In S. G. Kaler & O. M. Rennert (Eds.), Reducing the impact of poverty on health and human development: Scientific approaches. Special issue of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2007, 1136.
  • Pettifor, A. E., van der Straten, A., Dunbar, M. S., Shiboski, S. C., & Padian, N. S. (2004, July). Early age of first sex: A risk factor for HIV infection among women in Zimbabwe. AIDS 2004 18(10), 1435–1442

 

 

 


 

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