Leso Munala, PhD, MSW

Associate Professor Leso Munala, PhD, MSW, is an Associate Professor on the tenure track, with her home in the Child and Family Health Cooperative. Her research focuses on the intersection of gender-based violence, climate change, and health outcomes, emphasizing community-engaged scholarship. Leso Munala holds a PhD in Public health with a concentration in Community Health Education and a minor in communications from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, a masters in Social Work from the University of Chicago, and a BA in Psychology from The Ohio State University. Her extensive experience includes curriculum development with the emphasis on social justice, leading study abroad programs and university wide committee service. Dr. Munala is also involved in professional associations and has experience as a principal investigator on numerous funded studies.

Climate Leadership Award, 2023
Center for Climate, Health, and Equity
American Public Health Association 

Poster Session Award Winner, 2023
Health Impacts of Climate Change
Minnesota Psychiatric Society Fall Program

Abigail Quigley McCarthy Collaborative Research Award, 2022 
St. Catherine University Center for Women 

Interprofessional Faculty Development Workshop, 2022 
St. Catherine University Office of Global Studies 
Child Family Health International, Oaxaca, Mexico 

University Patricia O’Connor Myser Excellence in Faculty Mentoring, 2021-22 
Award Nominee 

Faculty Fellowship Award - St. Catherine University, 2020/21
Funded by: GHR-AEG grant 

St. Catherine University Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award, 2019 
Nominee (2018,2022,2021,2022) 

Abigail Quigley McCarthy Collaborative Research Award, 2018
St. Catherine University Center for Women

*Next to a name denotes student co-author

Munala, L., Allen, E. M., Frederick, A. J., & Ngũnjiri, A. (2023). Climate Change, Extreme Weather, and Intimate Partner Violence in East African Agrarian-Based Economies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(23), 7124. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20237124

Allen, E. M., Munala, L., & Ward-Rannow, J. (2024). Do gender-based violence interventions consider the impacts of climate change? A systematic review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 25(3), 2421–2435. doi.org/10.1177/15248380231214793

Munala, L., Allen, E. M., Beall*, O M., Phi*, K. M. (2023). Social justice and public health: A framework for curriculum reform. Pedagogy in Health Promotion, 9(4), 288-296. doi:10.1177/23733799221143375

Okunna, N., Ezeama, N. N., Ezeama, C. O., Munala, L. (2023). Exploring physicians′ experiences under the national health insurance scheme in Southeastern Nigeria. International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 38(2), 398-415. doi.org/10.1002/hpm.3591

Munala, L., Yewhalawork, B., Okunna, N., & Kihuha, J. (2023). “Girls Are the Ones Who Save the Family”: Factors and Consequences of Engaging in Age-Disparate Transactional Sex Relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(5-6), 4768-4789. doi.org/10.1177/08862605221119521

Munala, L., Mwangi*, E., Harris*, M., Okunna, N., Yewhalawork*, B & Ong’ombe, M. (2022). “I was forced into it”: The continued violation of widows from the Luo community of Kenya through sexual cleansing rituals. Frontiers in Global Women's Health, section Women's Mental Health, 3, 942635. doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2022.942635

Munala, L., Harris*, M., Mwangi*, E., Okunna, N., Hohenshell*, E., & Ong’ombe, M. (2023). Submit to survive: An exploration of sexual cleansing as an act of violence against widows in the Luo community of Kenya. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 25(6), 698–710. doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2022.2091797

Okunna, N., Ezeama, N.N., Ezeama, C.O., & Munala, L. (2022). Awareness, knowledge and perceptions of physicians of the National Health Insurance scheme in Nigeria: An exploratory study. International Journal of Healthcare. 8(1), 51. doi:10.5430/ijh.v8n1p51

Allen, E. M., Munala, L., & Henderson, J. R. (2021). Kenyan women bearing the cost of climate change. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), 12697. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312697

Harris, M*., Ekwonye, A., Munala, L., Buesseler, H., & Hearst, M. O. (2021). Exploring knowledge, prevention methods, and prevention barriers of COVID-19 among Somali, Karen, and Latinx community members in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 12, doi.org/10.1177/21501327211056595

Award: Exploring the intersection of climate change and violence against women and girls in Kenya
Project Investigators: Munala, Leso (Principal)
Sponsoring Organization: St. Catherine University Innovative Scholarship Grant
Award Dates: 2023

Award: Understanding the differential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among immigrant and refugee communities
Project Investigators: Munala, Leso (Co-Investigator)
Sponsoring Organization: St. Catherine University Innovative Scholarship Grant
Award Dates: 2020

Award: Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gender-Based Violence (GBV): A Focus on school-aged girls in Kenya
Project Investigators: Munala, Leso (Principal)
Sponsoring Organization: St. Catherine University Academic Excellence General Research Grant
Award Dates: 2020

Award: Exploring the Social Context and Drivers of Age-Disparate Transactional Sex Relationships in Mutomo and Ikutha Districts of Kitui South Sub County
Project Investigators: Munala, Leso (Principal)
Sponsoring Organization: St. Catherine University Innovative Scholarship Grant
Award Dates: 2019

Award: An exploration of the sexual cleansing ritual as a public health issue in the Luo community of Kenya
Project Investigators: Munala, Leso (Principal)
Sponsoring Organization: St. Catherine University Academic Professional Development Grant (APDC)
Award Dates: 2018

Award: Exploring community and environmental factors associated with sexual violence  against school-aged girls in Mutomo, Kenya
Project Investigators: Munala, Leso (Principal)
Sponsoring Organization: St. Catherine University Academic Excellence General Research Grant
Award Dates: 2018