Conference Committee

Meera’s research explores the role of dignity in menstrual health, investigating how societal taboos, cultural norms, and discriminatory practices affect gender equality and well-being. Her work has led to the development of the Dignity Indicators for Improving Menstrual Health (DI-IMH) framework, which has since been adopted by organisations across the UK, India, and Nepal to improve menstrual health outcomes. An important aspect of her research is examining how dignity can address broader issues of stigma and marginalisation. 

Meera has published extensively on menstrual health, gender equality, and development, including her recent work on using theatre as a data collection tool in menstrual health research (Researching Development NGOs: Global and Grassroots Perspectives, Routledge, 2023) and the role of dignity in menstrual health (Period Matters: Menstruation in South Asia, 2022). She is also the author of Why Some Development Works (2021), which examines successful development strategies across seven countries. 

In addition to her extensive research, Meera serves as Vice President of the Human Development and Capability Association and as Director of Research Impact and Innovation at the University of East London’s School of Childhood and Social Care. Her contributions to the field have also earnt her international recognition, including the prestigious 2016 CROP Poverty Prize. 

Abigail’s research focuses on improving menstrual health outcomes in the UK, addressing societal taboos and reframing public perceptions of menstruation. Her ESRC-funded doctoral project integrates critical and decolonial perspectives to explore how successful menstrual health strategies from the Global South can be adapted and implemented in the Global North. Abigail has also collaborated on “The Role of Dignity in Menstrual Health” project led by Professor Meera Tiwari, contributing to application of the Dignity Indicators for Improving Menstrual Health (DI-IMH) framework. This work emphasises dignity as a key driver of improved menstrual health outcomes and has been adopted by organisations in the UK, India, and Nepal. 

Abigail holds an MSc in International Social and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and a BA in International Development with NGO Management from the University of East London. With over a decade of experience in the third sector, Abigail has tackled pressing social challenges, including homelessness and human trafficking, through leadership and advocacy. This extensive background informs her commitment to fostering dignity, equity, and transformative change in menstrual health, driving her efforts to create lasting impact both locally and globally. 

Bettina is the lead researcher on the RSE Ending Period Poverty project, looking into the gendered conceptions of bodies underlying the current campaign. She has researched medical, artistic and social views of menstruation in the Middle Ages and has published on this at length in her monograph Medieval Blood (2006/2009), in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (2013) in Menstruation: A Cultural History (ed. Andrew Shail and Gillian Howie, 2005) and elsewhere. Her core argument is that menstruation was often seen as polluting and uncontrollable, marking women’s bodies and identities as less coherent and integral than men’s. She also works on modern conceptions of the Middle Ages (especially on film), and on material things in medieval literature. Her research has won the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2009 and the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Prize in 2020.

Camilla is Associate Professor in History at the University of Agder. Her first book, Cash Flow: The Businesses of Menstruation explored the menstrual product industry. She has also written about menstrual art and advertising.

Kay has research interests in menstruation in the UK and Nepal, cancer and surgical menopause, education and gender based violence. She is interested in cultural narratives around menstruation and how these are shaped by religion, myth, medicine,  media (mis)information and traditional ideas about femininity, and these can be challenged and changed through activism and education. Recent publications include two edited books, Standing K, , Parker S, Lotter S. 2024. Experiences of Menstruation from the Global South and North: Towards Visualised, Inclusive, and Applied Menstruation Studies Oxford University Press, and Parker S, Standing K, Subedi M. 2024. MENSTRUATION IN NEPAL: Dignity Without Danger, Routledge. Kay is currently coediting the Sage Encyclopedia of Menstruation and Society with Dr Bee Hughes. She is a founding member of the MRN.

Dr Bee Hughes (they/them) is an interdisciplinary researcher and Senior Lecturer in Media, Culture, Communication at Liverpool John Moores University. Bee’s work spans contemporary art practice, art history, and visual cultures and cultural studies. They are Co-Lead Editor (with Prof. Kay Standing) of The SAGE Encyclopedia of Menstruation and Society (2026) and Co-Lead of the Textual and Cultural Studies group at the Liverpool Centre for Cultural, Social and Political Research. Their research examines experiences of gender and how everyday visual cultures and fine arts represent and (re)construct menstrual norms.

Bee’s Website

Gemma Sharp is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Exeter where she runs a research programme around women’s reproductive and mental health. She has a background in reproductive biology and much of her previous research focuses on epigenetics as a mediator of the social and environmental influences on health. Gemma is founder and director of the Menarche Menstruation Menopause and Mental Health (4M) Consortium, a global network of over 350 academic and non-academic members working at the intersection of menstrual and mental health. She is currently leading the MenstruLife project, which explores the prevalence of heavy and painful menstrual periods across the life course and their relationship with depressive symptoms. Gemma lives in Cornwall and spends her spare time exploring the south west coast path.

Atefah is a final-year undergraduate student at the University of East London (UEL), studying Sustainable Development and Social Change, where her academic focus includes menstrual inequalities, global perspectives, and activism. She has recently assisted the UEL Centre for Justice and Social Change with research on the localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Newham and Tower Hamlets. Atefah is supporting the planning and communications for the Fourth Annual Menstruation Research Network (MRN) Conference, as she is interested in collaborating with researchers, practitioners, activists, and policymakers in the menstrual health field to drive meaningful change.

Delnaz Kazemi is a 2nd-year undergraduate student at the University of East London studying Politics and International Relations. Her interests include exploring various social and political issues and seeing how they intersect with each other. Specifically, she is interested in studying the effects of disinformation and misinformation in relation to various issues, including menstruation as it relates to dignity, healthcare, and acceptance. She founded the news literacy organization, Do You Know What You Know? She is a program assistant for the Menstruation Research Conference.