Dr. Mendenhall will introduce the concept of syndics, a theory of how social and health problems travel together within and between populations. She will discuss the concept of syndemic diabetes (type 2) through the discussion of her mixed methods research among low-income urban communities int he United States, India, South Africa, and Kenya. In doing so, she argues that it is impossible to understand diabetes in such contexts without taking seriously the implications of poverty, trauma, mental illness, and AIDS.