Celebrating Women Studying Women: Four Years of Listening, Science, and Partnership

On March 9, 2022, we gathered at the Kolping Hotel in Kampala to launch the TOPOWA Project. The world was just beginning to emerge from the disruptions of COVID-19, and bringing researchers, community leaders, and partners together in one room felt both hopeful and uncertain. By that time, we had just received funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and the scientific architecture of the study had already been carefully designed. Yet that gathering marked something much more important than the start of a research protocol. It marked the beginning of the relationships and shared commitments that would ultimately shape the large and complex project.

Photo of Dr. Jane Palmier and I getting ready for the TOPOWA project launch, visiting the Kolping Hotel to ensure logistics were ready.

This International Women’s Day feels especially meaningful because it also marks four years since that moment. When we first envisioned TOPOWA, we set out to better understand the well-being of young women living in Kampala’s informal settlements. What has unfolded since then has been far more than a study. It has become a journey of listening, partnership, and learning alongside the young women who have chosen to share their experiences with us.

Photo collage of the TOPOWA project launch at the Kolping Hotel, March 8, 2022.

Today, TOPOWA keeps following 300 young women aged 18–24 at baseline, living in the communities of Banda, Bwaise, and Makindye. Together with our partners at Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL), our research teams, and the young women themselves, we are building one of the most comprehensive studies of young women’s mental health and life experiences in this context. The study integrates surveys, biological stress markers, translational neuroscience, wearable sleep data, geospatial information, and daily diaries to better understand how social and environmental conditions shape mental health and well-being.

Photo of Dr. Jane Palmier in Banda discussing project and next steps with Caroline Nakkonde (UYDEL) and young women in the community.

But four years into the work, I find myself reflecting less on the methods of the study and more on the lessons that have emerged from listening to young women’s lived experiences.

The first lesson is that mental health cannot be separated from daily life. For many of the young women in the study, emotional well-being is deeply intertwined with everyday realities—finding stable work, navigating unsafe environments, supporting family members, or managing uncertainty about the future. Depression, anxiety, and stress do not exist in isolation; they are embedded in the broader social and economic conditions that shape daily survival.

Photo collage of the 15 members of the TOPOWA Project Youth Advisory Board at our first meeting in 2022.

A second lesson is that resilience often looks different than we expect. In conversations with participants and our Youth Advisory Board, we frequently hear the phrase okugumira embeera—persevering through difficult circumstances. The concept captures something powerful: resilience is not the absence of hardship but the ability to continue moving forward despite it. It reflects determination, resourcefulness, and hope, even in environments where opportunities are limited.

Photo of a visit to the cosmetology training at the UYDEL center in Banda

A third lesson is that the young women themselves are powerful sources of knowledge, they have lived experience. Through our Photovoice project, focus groups, and ongoing dialogue with participants, the study has created space for young women to reflect on their environments and share their perspectives on what shapes their well-being. Their insights remind us that research is not only about collecting data; it is also about listening carefully to how people understand their own lives and communities.

Photo of one of our TOPOWA Youth Advisory Board meetings (we meet twice per year)

Finally, this work has reinforced that meaningful research depends on partnership. The TOPOWA Project would not exist without the dedication of our collaborators at Uganda Youth Development Link, our research teams in Uganda and the United States, and the many individuals who support the project in ways that often go unseen. Colleagues help design studies, manage approvals, coordinate fieldwork, support logistics and progress reports, mentor students, and help translate research findings into action. Behind every publication or dataset stands a network of people committed to the same goal. We are so grateful to all those who have supported us in various ways.

Photo of Charles Chandia, me, and the UYDEL Leadership Team with Anna Kavuma, Rogers Mutaawe, and Dr. Rogers Kasirye

Over the past year, the project reached an important scientific milestone when our first major findings were published, revealing alarmingly high levels of mental health challenges among participants. Nearly three in four young women reported at least one mental health concern, with high levels of depression, anxiety, and suicidality. These findings drew national attention and helped bring greater awareness to the mental health realities facing young women living in urban poverty. (Read article here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41275257/)

Photo of our press release regarding key new study findings of the mental health burden among the young women in the study December, 2025.

Yet some of the most meaningful moments in this work do not appear in journal articles. They occur in conversations with participants, in meetings with our Youth Advisory Board, and in the quiet recognition that the stories being shared represent trust. The young women in TOPOWA are not simply research participants; they are partners in helping us understand how social conditions, opportunities, and environments shape mental health.

Photo of a young woman participating in UYDEL activities and learning local dance.

Another reflection that feels especially meaningful on International Women’s Day is the community of women who have helped shape this project. The young women who participate in the study are at the center of everything we do—they are not simply respondents in surveys, but individuals whose experiences guide our understanding of health, opportunity, and resilience. Surrounding them is an extraordinary group of women who help carry this work forward: the research assistants who conduct interviews and collect data in the field, the community leaders who build trust and connection, and the scientists who design the studies, analyze the findings, and mentor the next generation of scholars.

Photo of the fantastic research team at the hub in Uganda from left to right, Enid, Gideon, Julia, Charles, Monica, Hadijah and Josephine.

While many dedicated men contribute to this work as valued partners and colleagues, the scientific leadership of the TOPOWA Project is largely women—women committed to studying women’s lives with care, rigor, and respect. In many ways, TOPOWA reflects the power of women supporting women: sharing knowledge, amplifying voices, and working together to better understand the conditions that shape well-being.

Photo collage of some of the presentations we have made about the project and featuring from top left to right, Dr. Kate Mobley (a TOPOWA project funded doctoral student who has now graduated; me presenting on key alcohol findings from the project, Kelly Murray (doctoral student with Dr. Karen Nielsen presenting at the APHA annual meeting; Dr. Shannon McMorrow who is working with us on the Photovoice project; Drs. Matt Lyons and Jane Palmier and I at the urban health conference; Dr. Rachel Culbreth sharing findings on sleep and distress; our poster at the urban health meeting; Dr. Karen Nielsen sharing strategies for the wearable data collection; and Anna Kavuma highlighting key priorities for UYDEL.

On this International Women’s Day, I feel deep gratitude for the young women who share their experiences with us, for our partners at UYDEL and in the community, and for the many collaborators and supporters who help sustain this work.

Photo of an outreach event at the INTEGHRAL Hub with Dr. Tanja Jovanovic who leads our translational neuroscience project component.

Four years into the TOPOWA Project, one thing has become clear: what began as a research study has grown into a community of women learning from one another—participants, researchers, and partners—working together to ensure that the lived experiences of young women are not only heard, but understood and translated into knowledge that can shape a healthier future.

Photo collage of several project visits and meetings between our research teams and our youth advisory board.