Changemakers in Family Planning: Nafeesa Andrabi
Abortion and contraception
Awarded 2025
Changemakers in Family Planning
Nafeesa Andrabi, PhD
University of Michigan
$84,000

Nafeesa Andrabi is an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Michigan and the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research. Dr. Andrabi is a mixed-methods social scientist with expertise in demography, medical sociology, and social epidemiology. Her paradigmatic research on the reproductive and maternal health of newcomers to the U.S. considers the interrelated factors of individual demographic characteristics, the sociopolitical context of reception in receiving countries, cultural adaptation, and social support processes and conditions in the sending country. The proposed SFP Changemaker Award grant supports the early career development of Dr. Andrabi as a reproductive justice-informed leader in the scientific study of how sociopolitical stress in countries of origin and the United States informs family planning among multiple generations of Muslim immigrants. Her research goal is to lead a novel intergenerational study among multiple generations of ethnoracially diverse Muslim immigrants in key states across the U.S. that centers qualitative data collection on how family planning and reproductive autonomy is impacted by individual understandings of federal and state-level policies, survey experiment on beliefs and attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and rich contextual data on social support and community health contexts in which these families live and grow. She also intends to gain skills in managing and growing a research program and diverse team that will lead to the eventual establishment of a center on Muslim Health and Wellbeing. Lastly, she will receive training in translating research outcomes into a) effective state and federal health and migration policy that humanizes Muslim immigrants and b) adoptable tools for healthcare institutions and community-serving organizations that support vulnerable populations towards goals of reaching family planning equity. She envisions that her future leadership and intersectional approach to research will bring insights into a conversation that considers immigration, racism, and religion as meaningful axes that can inform equitable family planning practices.