Our Team
Marni Sommer, Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Director of GATE
Marni Sommer, DrPH, MSN, RN, has worked in global health and development on issues ranging from improving access to essential medicines to humanitarian relief in conflict settings. Dr. Sommer's particular areas of expertise include conducting participatory research with adolescents, the intersection of public health and education, menstrual health and hygiene (MHH), and the intersection of health and the environment. Dr. Sommer presently leads the GATE Program, based in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences. GATE explores the intersections of health and education for girls and boys in low-income countries and in the United States. GATE also generates research and practical resources focused on improving the integration of menstrual health and hygiene and supportive sanitation solutions into humanitarian response.
Sarah Combs, Associate Director of GATE
Sarah Combs, PhD, MPH, MSW, is a community psychologist who blends approaches from psychology, public health, and social work to adopt a holistic approach to research and evaluation. Her work concentrates on understanding issues surrounding reproductive health, housing insecurity, and well-being through an ecological framework. Sarah is a qualitative researcher who draws from decolonizing and participatory methods and her background reflects a balanced focus on research and program management. She has worked in domestic and international settings including New York, California, Hawaiʻi, and Southeast Asia. Sarah is particularly passionate about ensuring research is translated into digestible and actionable materials that can be used to affect change. Sarah holds a PhD in Community Psychology and MSW from the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa, and a MPH from the Sociomedical Sciences Department at Columbia University.
Sarah Blake, Senior Research Program Manager
Sarah Blake, PhD, MPH, MSc has worked at the intersections of research and programming in gender, adolescent health and well-being and rights across diverse global contexts, including West Africa and Central Asia. Her research focuses on qualitative and participatory research on the health and social dimensions of adolescents’ transitions to adulthood. Dr. Blake has contributed to policy and evidence reviews, and program evaluations of health and educational interventions in school and community settings. In addition, she has worked with community, national, and international non-governmental organizations to gather and translate evidence into adolescent-centered, community-based programming. Dr. Blake holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, San Francisco, an MPH in Population and Family Health from Columbia University, and an MSc in Gender, Development, and Globalisation from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Angela Nguyen, Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Angela Nguyen, DrPH, MPH, is a postdoctoral research scientist for the GATE Program. She earned her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health and her MPH from the New York University School of Global Public Health. Angela’s interdisciplinary research to date has focused on vulnerable populations, social determinants of health, and environmental exposures. Her dissertation centered on the epidemiology of disaster mental health, particularly the community- and individual-level factors associated with mental health recovery among displaced women survivors. More recently, she collaborated on a quantitative research study on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on period poverty in the U.S. With GATE, Angela will engage on several research projects ranging from examining the dissemination of puberty educational content to young people, to assessing the impact of menstrual health on the daily lives of those with periods.
Mallary Taylor, Project Director
Mallary Taylor (she/they) is the Project Director for the Architecture for Menstrual Health Indicators (AiMHI) project, which aims to advance Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) priority indicators for national level monitoring, generating evidence, and shaping the global MHH agenda. Mallary has a background in grants, operations, and program management for sexual and reproductive health programs in humanitarian settings. Before joining GATE, she worked with the International Rescue Committee for six years, most recently supporting a research consortium that generates evidence on effective approaches to deliver life-saving maternal and newborn health care in DRC, Nigeria, Somalia, and South Sudan. She received a BA and a BS from Furman University and an MPH in population and family health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Isabella Brocato, Research Assistant
Isabella Brocato is a second-year MPH student in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences with a certificate in Sexuality, Sexual and Reproductive Health. As a certified puberty and adolescence educator with a background in survivor advocacy and violence prevention, Bella is passionate about advancing menstrual health equity and literacy as a means of ensuring agency for women, girls, and others who menstruate. Her research interests include global menstrual health, adolescent sexual development, comprehensive body literacy program design, and the restoration of sexual agency through an embodiment framework. Bella is from Louisiana and has a BA in Political Science from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Isabella Wegner, Menstrual Health Fellow
Isabella “Izzy” Wegner (she/her) is an MPH student in Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, pursuing a certificate in Health Promotion Research and Practice. She is passionate about menstrual health education, the social and emotional impacts of menstrual disorders, and addressing period poverty. Izzy earned her B.A. in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, where she worked on menstrual health research in South Asia and arts-based projects on mental health and empowerment. She also has experience developing menstrual health curricula to support knowledge and reduce stigma.
Kendal Furman, Sid Lerner Women’s and Adolescent Health Fellow
Kendal Furman is an MPH student in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences with a certificate in Public Health Research Methods. She graduated from George Washington University in 2024 with a BA in International Affairs and a concentration in Global Health. Her academic and professional interests lie in developing sustainable, culturally competent solutions to gender-based violence, menstrual health inequities, and broader sexual and reproductive health challenges in humanitarian and low-resource settings. These passions led her to Uganda, where she worked to support female survivors of sexual violence through qualitative research, strategic planning, and community engagement initiatives. She has also contributed to U.S.-based menstrual equity efforts as a grant writer for PeriodKits Ohio.
Roma Yi, Research Assistant
Roma Yi is a 2025 Post-Baccalaureate graduate from the School of General Studies, with a BS in Public Health from Rutgers University in 2018. Her previous research experience for New York University Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, and Prevention Studies (CHIBPS) focused on improving the well-being of men with HIV, substance use disorder, and mental health disorders. Roma’s previous professional experience includes serving in the United States Air Force as active-duty airman from 2019 to 2023, working as a dental lab technician and base Honor Guardsman. While in the military, she provided logistics and medical support with base-wide vaccination measures during the height of the pandemic. Her research interests include menstruation related disorders, women’s reproductive health, and women’s sports physiology.