Leah Koenig is a PhD Student in Epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a data analyst at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH). She is drawn to family planning research because of the belief that the ability to actualize reproductive goals plays a central role in autonomy and equity. Prior to pursuing her PhD at UCSF, she received a Master of Science in Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University with a focus in family planning and subsequently remained in a Study Director role focused on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. She is passionate about conducting research that contributes to expanded and equitable access to abortion care.

Koenig’s project will involve secondary analyses of data from the California Home Abortion by Telehealth (CHAT) Study to evaluate medication abortion follow-up protocols, with 2 aims: 1) to use extended follow-up data collection efforts to estimate the incidence of adverse events among patients who do not return for telehealth medication abortion follow-up and identify the most appropriate statistical methods to address missing data due to loss to follow-up in medication abortion research and 2) to assess the timing and process of adverse events identification after medication abortion. These results will inform abortion providers about the outcomes of patients who do not return for follow-up and identify whether routine medication abortion follow-up protocols can be safely replaced with a pro re nata (as-needed) approach.